It’s hard not to think about moving when there are “For Sale” and “Open House” signs everywhere.
As anyone searching in the Boston area knows, it’s not easy to find a home with everything on your wish list. Unless your budget happens to be based on Tom Brady’s salary. Ours isn’t, so I’ve done some serious thinking about what’s at the top of my list — good schools, a mudroom, two bathrooms, and a quiet street. When you add my husband’s desires and the rest of my “also really want to haves,” it’s going to be a challenge to figure out our next move. And when to make it.
The house I live in with my little family is the home I’ve spent the longest in — nine years! I grew up as a military kid and got used to learning a new address and phone number every few years. I moved around again during college, my first job, and then graduate school, which brought me to the Boston area from Florida.
After finishing my degree, I settled into a new career and met a guy in an Irish bar on St. Patrick’s Day. Together we bought a 1,000-square-foot ranch in the Boston suburbs five years after my big move north. We took on small renovation projects and made the place ours. I delighted in buying the cute address stamp knowing I’d be staying awhile. Now we’re outgrowing our first house, and those “For Sale” signs have been catching my eye.
But we’re also considering building up. We dream of removing walls, adding bedrooms and bathrooms, where the stairs would go, and how to make a sectional couch a reality. This plan is appealing for so many reasons. Not the least of which is giving my kids what I never had — the same address, the same schools, and the chance to keep some of the same friends their whole childhood.
So I went down to town hall to find out some information on what that would entail. I learned our non-conforming lot would require a variance, which would require a survey and a hearing. Discouraged by costly survey estimates and the lengthy process just to get an inkling of whether we are even allowed to build up, I stopped. And that’s not even taking into account finding a contractor, figuring out if our foundation can handle another story, and living through a lengthy renovation.
At this point, I can’t imagine living through construction craziness with two small kids. But I also can’t imagine leaving this house that’s become my home and has so many memories in its walls.
So for just a bit longer, we stay put and wait. Save our money. Dream of our wish list that could be for a house. Or, could be for the big build-up should we take the renovation plunge.
And hope that if the time comes to throw out that cute address stamp for a new one, I can teach my kids how to memorize a new address in record time. How making new friends is a great skill to have. And how home is not as much about the walls that surround you, but the people you’re with.
