Mare Moments Never End

Reid and I would love to buy or lease a house in the near future. We often talk about what we would like to find in a home: at least two bedrooms, a study, two bathrooms, granite counter tops, hardwoods, a nicely fenced yard, fresh paint, updated bathrooms, and a two car garage. Oh, and most importantly, the outside of the home must be aesthetically pleasing (we prefer brick over siding). What gets us every time we look for a house is the price tag that comes with all of those amenities. After looking at a house today I was reminded how difficult it is going to be for a "starter home" to meet all of our expectations. Not to mention, I am pretty awful at playing the real estate game.

Our real estate search began last fall. We really like an area of Dallas called the M Streets (for all you LR people it is a lot like The Heights). We spent many weekend afternoons driving around the M streets. Finally, we found a house we loved. It was newer, dark red brick with really cute shutters and a nicely landscaped front yard. The sign said, "Buy or Lease." It seemed perfect. We were worried it might be too large, but Reid said we should call anyway because it was amazing. That next Monday I contacted the Realtor. He gave me some of the specifics on the house: four thousand square feet, four bedrooms, four baths, media room, and a pool. I was silent. He asked if we had any children. I said no. He asked if this was the type of house I was looking for. I said yes. Technically, I did not lie when answering this question. Who wouldn't want a house like that? I must also make it clear that he sounded so excited that someone was interested in the house. And, I would have looked like a moron for not knowing that new builds were so expensive. So, Mr. Realtor continued telling me more about the house. He said it was listed at nearly (hold your pants) $1 million. "Is this in your price range?" Mr. Realtor asked. "Yes." I replied. Then I asked what the monthly rent would be. "Only $7,000." said Mr. Realtor, "Is that what you were looking to spend?" I had made it this far, I could only answer, "Yes." I declined when he asked me if I would like to set up an appointment to tour the house, but I couldn't say no when he asked me if I wanted to receive information on similar listings. To this day, Mr. Realtor still sends me information about million dollar listings. I am so bad at this game.