House hunting with powertools

Tiring day.  At 9am we were in a Ford minivan heading out to look at our first house with Janis, our real estate agent.  It was a gorgeous brick house in a great location, hardwood floors, dry basement, great kitchen, two bedrooms instead of three, but lots of space.  It had been on the market for one day, and someone had already placed an offer on it.

The second house was interesting.  Janis couldn't get the key out of the electronic key box, so the rehab guy and the owner, who got there just before us, basically broke in in to the house and we went in the back door.  It's amazing what you can do with a cordless drill.  The rehab guy managed to cut his thumb drilling the lock out, so the Band Aids (plasters) I always have in my handbag were gratefully accepted.  The house was big, but with narrow doors and steps, one bathroom on the main level, basement in progress, so that one's out of the running.  Nice, but too many niggling things wrong with it.

We saw another three houses in the afternoon.  In summary, one was right next to I-270 and had mold in the basement, one was a bit far north, and one had a garage and a hot tub, but was a bit too small.

The ideal house would have a full, dry, basement with no water in it, for serious storage space and as shelter from tornados.  There would be two or three bedrooms, off-road parking for at least two cars, solid construction with no work to do, no mold, mildew or other organisms, and a safe and quiet neighbourhood.  And within our budget.  It's got to be out there somewhere, we have another 3 months to find it.