Strongly Worded

House Hunter

So. The temperature in my apartment now vacillates between a roasting inferno and an arctic pit. The real estate market has "softened". It seems that half of the houses in my neighborhood are adorned with "for sale" signs. I spend a lot of my professional life encouraging other people to Realize the Dream of owning a home.

So I am exploring this notion for myself.

I went to six open houses today. All were condos, all were well under 1,000 square feet. They ranged in price from $289,000 to $385,000. I felt like the star of House Hunters, this very staged and awkward reality show on HGTV, which follows real-life people in their pursuit of the Dream. (The host is Suzanne Whang, formerly of "New Attitudes", a 1990s Lifetime daytime show I watched obsessively as a teenager.)

I felt a little stealthy showing up at the open houses. It was weird rolling up and letting myself into these unlocked buildings--I kept expecting to stumble on people having sex or something (Oops! Open house ended half an hour ago! I guess the realtor forgot to take down the sign!). Plus, I felt like an imposter buyer, since I am not exactly hooked up financially. (Understatement.)

But the realtors didn't care. They were friendly. They were accommodating. They fed me chocolate kisses. They gave me their cards. They showed me around. They made me sign in. Did I mention that the market has softened? One of the realtors confided that she hasn't closed a deal in six months.

This was an encouraging sign. It was also encouraging to be among a handful of open house attendees--no mob scenes today. I saw several other single women, no surprise since we are the fastest-growing buyer demographic. I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand, I don't want to defer the Dream just because my soulmate is still dating that bitch he needs to break up with before meeting me. On the other hand, making payments is going to be a real stretch on one income. It would be much, much easier--both emotionally and financially--to do this with a partner. (For a somewhat related article, finish reading my blog and then check out this New York Times Magazine piece on the quest for good sperm, and single motherhood by choice).

Either way, I figure it can't hurt to look, and I had an intriguing afternoon. I saw two horrible, horrible condos in a remote and ugly neighborhood. I also saw a very adorable one in a much cooler area, for around the same price. It a funny layout and almost no closet space, but still-- it has granite countertops! I saw two very fancy condos. And then I saw this amazing one, which would be absolutely perfect if it were substantially cheaper.

This is the tricky thing: looking without falling in love, exploring without fixating, enduring ambiguity. Is "house hunting" just code for personal growth?

Posted by Dori at 8:04 PM