Dating for Houses

Is RealTracs.com like Match.com?

When we started looking for Tara, our fabulous realtor told us that after all her years of experience she could most accurately compare the process of looking for and buying a house to one thing: dating.

Rhett and I identified things we wanted as we searched through RealTracs: more land, a garage, bedrooms all on the same level. Ultimately while Tara had these basic charms, the house had attributes we now love that we didn't even know to originally ask for- and isn't that how it is with dating and utimately choosing someone to permanently share a life with?

For instance when Rhett and I first met I knew he had some baseline appealing qualities, like his commitment to faith, his willingness to go running with me, and a desire to have a family. But what made me want to commit were the bonuses that I didn't even know to ask for (He cooks?! He can fix and build anything? Where do I sign?!)

Well, kids, it seems we're at it again. No, we're not polygamists and yes, after renovating this house we still like each other enough to be in this marriage for the long haul. In fact, we've had so much fun with this house that why not go for another?

That's right.

Although our love for Tara is real (I feel guilty just looking at other houses...) we've been looking around a bit. And, well, I don't know how to say this...

See, it's not Tara, it's us.

We've met someone. It's been going on about two weeks. She's a ranch, too. She has about 700 more square feet and about another half acre. The master bedroom is huge. The closets are too.

*sigh* It feels good to get that off my chest.

You should also know, reader, that's it's gotten serious. We made an offer on the new house last Tuesday. It's now Monday night, and after spending nearly a week back and forth with the owners, it looks like we've got a deal. We'll have a home inspection of course, but we wanted you to know we're pretty committed to the new place. We just didn't want to say anything until we knew it was getting serious.

So are we two-timing Tara? We're not sure what to call it yet, but we'll keep you posted.