A perspective neighborhood
As you know from my last post, I am house hunting. I’ve been searching online, driving through neighborhoods, talking to my Realtor, and trying to get an idea of where and what I want. It’s starting to come together.

I walk most every morning, so I figured that I’d kill two birds with one stone. I know, a most violent idiom, to be sure. But, simply put, it means to satisfy one or more tasks with one effort.

Actually, I could say that I knocked off 3 birds with one stone.

1 – Cruising a neighborhood and getting a sense of it.
2 – Looking at some perspective houses.
3 – Doing a bit of photography.

There is so much to be learned and discovered walking. There are things that, legally, a Realtor cannot tell you. For example, they cannot tell you the demographics of the area: Age, color, children, income, etc. Nothing. It’s against the law. You have to find that for yourself. All that they can provide is previous sales data and a way to get into the house.

Walking is a great way to get a flavor for it. A simple walk in the morning will give you an idea of the number of children. A simple look around the street corners where they wait will tell you. It will also give you an idea of the racial makeup. I much prefer to be in diverse neighborhoods. Also, a walk through many of the streets will give you an idea of how strong the neighborhood association might be and, in general, how well the neighbors keep up their properties. And, you can get a general idea of how friendly people might be. I’ve seen several other walkers, all very friendly, and even met a man and his quite friendly and curious dog.

I’ve lived in all sorts of neighborhoods, from the somewhat ritzy neighborhoods where the yards are perfectly landscaped, immaculate, not a blade of grass out of place, but the place has a decidedly empty feel about it, desolate. There seems to be no one around, save for the people tending to the all important landscape. All cars and SUVs are tucked away in the two or three-car garages, the children are busy elsewhere, Scouts, soccer, tennis, boarding school, whatever. The parents are working hard, away from home, trying to support this lifestyle. You’d hardly ever see anyone out playing. Not my kind place. Even the walkers keep their heads down and don’t say anything.

Then, there are the yuppie villages, like one that I saw in Fort Mill, SC, called Baxter Village, homes starting at $200, 000. Here, the houses are crammed closely together, but have big front porches to try to give the place a feeling of community. At the entrance there are all sorts of trendy spots to hang out and have dinner ‘on the patio’. There are several club houses, pools, etc, and the association fees are sky-high, sometimes hundreds of dollars per month, just for the privilege of living there.

Finally, there are the regular neighborhoods, both upper-middle, and middle class neighborhoods. Where your every day working guy/gal live. They may or may not be able to afford someone to take care of their grass, so you see them out on Saturday morning doing it while the kids are playing in the street. Lots of life here. My kind of place.

So, it was a very productive time, I must say. I am going to look at a house tomorrow that I really liked. I may even make an offer. Regarding the photo at the top of this post, that is right across the street from the house. Not a bad place to be, actually.

A final word: I must say that no birds were hurt during the making of this blog post. I did, however, take a shot at one of them!

When I was younger I remember that, after a time, I wanted to move. I didn’t want to stay in the same neighborhood. I had met kids that moved into the neighborhood, we became friends, some moved out of the neighborhood and they were missed. Others, not so much. Anyway, I always thought that it would be exciting to move, to have a larger house, a house in a different neighborhood, but that never happened. My first time that I ever moved was slightly before my 22nd birthday when I moved to Texas to begin life on my own.

Since that time, I’ve moved and moved and moved. Most of my early adult years spent in various apartments, moving to be closer to work or ‘upgrading’ apartments. From the time that I moved out until today, the longest time that I’ve ever stayed anywhere has been about 6 years, twice. Not bad, I suppose. During those times, though, I never really made that space my own by decorating, putting in a garden, or whatever one does to make that place home. When I moved out nearly 2 years ago, I knew that an apartment was a temporary situation. I didn’t know what I wanted to do going forward, so the apartment offered the most flexibility. If I needed or wanted to leave the state, or area, I could do so quite easily.

The other day I went to the apartment office to check on something. While there, I picked up the price sheet and saw that the same size apartment that I’m in is now almost $1,000/month. When I moved in, less than 2 years ago, it was $845. I talked to one of the staff and they indicated that they were going to have yet another price increase, bringing it over $1,000. I told her that she needn’t worry about me signing another lease. I then left and set about looking for homes.

As I commenced my home search, thoughts about how much to spend, location, how I want it too look, how I wanted it to feel (feng shui), etc began to pop into my head. I’ve decided on the easier parts of the equation – where I want to live – Fort Mill, SC, just over the border from Charlotte where property taxes and most things are cheaper, and price range. Now comes the more difficult part, deciding on a size, exact location, and a layout. This Saturday I have an appointment with a realtor. We are going to look at 7 houses that I picked out from the approximately 20 that she sent me that met my ‘wish list’ that I provided to her.

It’s an exciting time and a little bit daunting at the same time. I’ve to a few months to decide, as my lease expires on July 31st, so the decision and the closing have to be done by that time. I’m targeting July 27th.

Regarding the photo, this is a shot from my walk around Greenville, SC, some 90 miles from here. If it weren’t so far away from here, I’d certainly live there. It’s my kind of town.