Dream Home 2011 (or 2012....2013...)

It is 11 degrees below zero outside right now (-32 with the wind chill!) and I am dreaming of home ownership. I got this new job with this new salary and I started to think, "yeah...maybe we can buy a house this year!" We have a long way to go to be sure, but it is possible. This year, well, that might be a stretch. But DAMN I don't ever want to move again and if my current landlords decide to sell their house (which they want to at some point), we want to either buy this house OR buy our own house.

When it is so ridiculously cold outside, however, my desire to buy this house is pretty low. This house is 50 years old, with 50-year-old windows and 50-year-old insulation. The insides of all our windows are iced over. The curtains have frozen to one of the windows. You can feel the freezy cold air seeping in all over the house, and it is sad. That $200 heating bill we paid last month? Yeah, I'm expecting another one of those.

Since getting it in our heads that we might be able to buy a house someday, Jon and I have been talking a lot about what it is we would want to buy. The house we live in would be good for the right price (a very right price), but it needs a lot of fixing up. Like, oh, that pesky foundation/settling issue, or the aforementioned windows and insulation. Also, tiny rooms, one bathroom, old kitchen, etc.

What would my dream home look like? Jon and I have discussed the gloriousness of:

• Three decent-sized bedroom, including a larger-than-tiny master.
• An en suite bathroom to the master bedroom.
• A ranch-style home.
• A little more house than we need, because we aren't interested in a "starter home." Ideally, we'd really like to live in our first house for the next 30 years, have it paid off by retirement, and then be mortgage free.
• In a good schol district. Ideally Littleton, but maybe Cherry Creek or Douglas County.
• Yard for the dogs and Evelyn.
• Updated (if not super fancy) kitchen, bathrooms, windows, roof, insulation, etc.
• A gas range in the kitchen.
• Lots of counter space in the kitchen.
• A garage or shed or some sort of storage area.
• Lots of natural sunlight.
• Nothing scary so I feel the need to call in Mike Holmes for a "Holmes Inspection." (Oh, HGTV, you are killing me with that show.)

So there you go. A short list, in no particular order. If I look at this list, the house we live in now fits half the list (and really the most important parts). Too bad it is driving me crazy!