Housing Update

Here are the priorities we have for our next house. Now please understand that my Mom is a realtor...a really good, successful realtor. I feel like I know a little bit about looking at houses....or maybe she's ruined me and I just have expectations that are unreasonable.

The criteria: ***these criteria may seem slightly extravagant-but with our very generous OHA (Overseas Housing Allowance) our search isn't limited necessarily by our budget. It has been limited by the number of homes available. So thank you, American taxpayer, for subsidizing our dream house!
1. Location, location, location--ideally, Phil would be able to ride his bike to work, and I would be able to walk to the grocery stores/markets/schools. Or at least we'd be able to manage getting around with our ONE car!

2. Three bedrooms--and ideally, four, so that all of YOU can have a comfortable, quiet place to stay when you all come and visit lonely, old me.

3. Some sort of a yard/garden area where we can let the dog and kids run around.

4. A single-family, individual home. Not attached to anything or anyone else.

The bonus criteria:
1. A bathroom with a standing shower (for Phil, he'd love this!)

2. A view--the mountains meet the sea here and there are a lot of beautiful houses perched on the rocky hillsides with a spectacular view of the water.

3. A pool--I haven't decided whether or not this would be a huge pain or a fantastic way to spend the summer as family. If we end up with a house with a pool, I will permanently put Scout's retractable leash on Zachary.

The last two days have been a bit disappointing for us on the housing front. Phil and I both had big expectations for a house we looked at Tuesday afternoon. The location was pretty good (although Phil would have to drive to work), and the house itself was very large. From the photos we saw online we were both thinking it could be THE HOUSE. But we were frustrated after the first two minutes inside. The house was built in the 1950's and I'm pretty sure NOTHING had been done to it since. It needed a lot of work. The bidets had been removed in the bathrooms but the holes and bolts in the floor were still there. There was cat poop in the closets, moldy caulking around the bathtubs, and peeling linoleum flooring in all bathrooms. And from what we could gather from the owner (speaking a mile a minute in French to us as we stared blankly at him), it was being rented "as is". The outdoor space was fabulous and the realtor lady told me in the summer everyone spends all their time outside. Maybe. But with the condition on the house, I would want to spend all year outside. The pool looked like something from a magazine, it was so clean and spectacular. Such a stark contrast to the home itself. As we left, we were still considering taking the house...thinking maybe we could do a little bit of work to it and clean it really well. But a definitive "no" was decided as we stood outside the gate and were assaulted with fits of barking by four neighboring yappy, terrier dogs. As I slowly approached the dogs (because Zack was so interested), they went ballistic, snarling their teeth and growling...we took it as a sign. This was not the house for us!

Yesterday we saw another highly anticipated house. Again Phil would have had to drive to work, but I could have walked to a lot of stuff. From what we knew before arriving the house had three bedrooms and a open third level (we were thinking it would be perfect for guests). But just like the Tuesday house when we walked in we were totally discouraged by the condition. The yard was trashed--overgrown with shrubbery and ugly, palm trees with deadly thorns. The third level turned out to be a half finished project that wasn't going to be completed. It had paneling on some of the walls and unfinished drywall on the others. There was a non functional toilet in the room, with the plumbing for additional fixtures, but like the other house, this house was being rented "as is". There were holes in some of the walls of the bedrooms...like from someone punching the wall. It didn't take yapping dogs to convince us this wasn't the house for us. This house didn't even have a nice yard to make up for the "re-hab" condition of the inside. We drove home.

Phil and I didn't say much on the drive back to Hyeres last night. We were both too discouraged. But at dinner time Lily prayed a very poignant prayer for our family. "Dear Lord, thank you for everything you have given us. Thank you for our food and our bodies. Thank you for our time together as a family. Please help us find a good house to live in...one that doesn't have holes in the wall. Amen."

We've decided to rent another furnished vacation home through January 2010. We'll wait until after the holidays to see if any new houses become available. It will mean ten more weeks without our stuff (like most of clothes, our furniture, the kids toys), but I'm trusting that our amazing, good God will answer Lily's prayer and lead us to a house without holes in the walls--and maybe a fantastic view of the Mediterranean.