The house bug

Maybe it's because I'll be moving out of my rental house one month from now. Maybe it's because I'm in a bit of a nesting mode. Maybe it's because I love decorating and I want a new project. Either way, I've been bitten by the house bug.

I spent most of the afternoon yesterday driving around Tuscaloosa looking at homes for sale. I am sick of throwing away money on rent. I want a more permanent home that I can work on and truly make my own. There are three major problems standing in my way, however:

1. Real estate in Tuscaloosa is grossly overpriced compared with the rest of the state. If I were to buy a home in my home town in Northern Alabama, I could afford the 4-bedroom ranch style house that I grew up in. But, with the same amount of money in Tuscaloosa, I'd be lucky to find a clapboard shack on the bad side of town. Now, if I were to eventually buy a home on two incomes, it would be a little easier to be on the better side of town, but not much. Which, leads me to point #2.

2. I guess it's because I've lived around campus for six years, but I don't want to move away. The thought of moving temporarily out to Cottondale pains me. If I bought a house it would HAVE to be within walking distance to both downtown and campus. I also love sidewalks and historic districts, and detest cookie cutter ranch style homes in commuter communities. I want history, I want craftmanship. I want a home with a story that I can add to. (Ok, this is my idealistic side shining brightly.) But, as I quickly found out after driving around, I have expensive tastes. And even the homes in cute little neighborhoods that aren't overridden by students are at least $200,000, which is out of my price range, even with two incomes.

3. My last point, is that I don't know how long I want to stay in Tuscaloosa. But, the longer i'm here, the more I'm thinking that this isn't such a bad place to get married and settle down. No, I don't want to be here forever, but I can always commute to Birmingham, and if I do decide to go to law school the state's only two law schools and within an hour radius. Plus, I won't be throwing money down the drain on rent.

What am I going to do? Wait. and live in Cottondale. In a new cookie-cutter garden home community with no sidewalks and a 15 minute drive from downtown. (INSERT GAGGING SOUND HERE.) Hopefully it will push me to the point where there's no going back and I'll take the home buying thing more seriously. Or, at least find a better home to rent downtown.