Our Kiwi House January 25, 2001
(This one fell through.) Just when we were thinking it might be next year before we find a house to buy, we've managed to find one.
We were driving around on Sunday,
following our normal Open House routine. We check the listings in the paper, select
the ones that seem OK (lots don't have prices, so it's hard to know what to
expect); note the times (they're only open for 30 to 60 minutes!) and build a
schedule. Fortunately, the neighborhoods we're looking at are near each other,
usually making it possible to juggle the houses we want to see.
This Sunday we had a half hour gap with nothing scheduled. We passed several Open House signs and stopped at a couple. As expected, they weren't what we wanted. Really, what are the odds that some random open house would be?
Still, we stopped in front of a third
open house. Dick
said, "Doesn't look like it'll be what we're looking for. You
go in a check it out." As it turns out, the house had been 
TOTALLY fixed
up and expanded. The bedrooms and bathroom are in the old part of the
house, the rest is
recent addition. The two halves have been superbly integrated and feel
right together. The owner, Gareth, is a builder and has done the
remodeling and renovations really well.
So, here's the view of the
kitchen that you see from the entry way. Pretty cool. The house has a
large,
airy and bright, combined dining/family room, 2 king-sized bedrooms, a third smaller one, an
office and a totally redone bath; the master has several (well-maintained) old windows that have a
lovely, simple, stained-glass pattern. The
house is bright, has high ceilings, and decks and
gardens around (actually, perhaps a wee too much garden.) 
I called Dick in and he looked around. There seemed to be only one real problem: the house didn't have a second bathroom, and that was one of our KEY requirements. So alright, we can modify our requirements. There needs to be room for a second bath. And sure enough, this place has an old front porch that can easily be converted into a second bath without interrupting the nice flow of the house.
Gareth was selling because he'd bought a piece of land and will be building a new house, but he was happy to rent (and maintain) the house until we return. He's also more than willing to put in the second bath while we're gone!
So here we are. We've made
an offer; it's been accepted. The house has been inspected, and it's in
terrific condition. All we need to do now is figure out how to get some
money transferred from America to NZ. (Auto-teller machines can only get you so far.)
Assuming we can get our banks communicating, we'll be closing in less than a month. After two and a half years of homelessness, we'll finally have a place to call our own, even if we won't be moving in until November!