Michael and I got engaged the first week of January, and now we have a wedding to plan and two houses to sell!
We both have two separate homes with two mortgages, and it’s important to us to have one new home together. Neither of us really wants to move in to the other person’s space, unless it’s temporary of course. But we really just want a home that can be both of ours. We’d like to avoid feeling like one of us is just moving our stuff into someone else’s spare room.
Location:
We’re not too picky on the location… at this point. But we know we want to stay in Baton Rouge, so we aren’t looking at anything in Denham Springs, Prairieville or Central. In fact, we’re trying to avoid seeing any of these houses altogether because the prices are so much better than what you get in Baton Rouge! So we’re quickly adding filters to our searches so we don’t see all the amazing homes a little further out.
But Michael works in Baton Rouge, and I’m sure you can tell from my entire blog and career that being involved and in the city of Baton Rouge is really important to me. I can leave my current house and be anywhere in 10 minutes, which is how I like it.
We’ve been looking at the Bluebonnet/Burbank area, which was surprising to me. We’ve looked some at Jones Creek area. I personally love the Bocage/Jefferson area - which is where I am now because it’s so central to everything. But I’m being open-minded about leaving “my side of town” too.
What We’re Looking For:
I work from home, so I prefer that we have 4 bedrooms — or a 3-bedroom with an extra room for an office. I’ve been really surprised by how many homes have an extra room or a sun room, so I feel good about this!
This many rooms will give us a bedroom, an office, a guest room and a future nursery/bedroom.
We also REALLY want a pool. (or maybe that’s just me, but I think I’ve convinced Michael that he wants one too!)
I grew up with a pool, and in the summer, Michael and I live at the pool. Funny enough, it’s not either of our pools. We actually “break in” to a nearby apartments pool haha. We’re usually the only ones there, so it just feels like our pool anyway. BUT I know if we had our own pool that’d be where we stayed during the summer months.
Which brings me to the next most important thing for a home:
We really want a house that we enjoy being in. Michael and I go out and eat out A LOT. I don’t think we’re ready to be an old married couple who becomes homebodies by any means, but we do want a space that we genuinely love and can hang out in and not feel like we’d rather be somewhere else.
Plus, being in my home ALL day, I am ready to get OUT of my house come the weekend. I’m sure you can see how expensive this gets with us always at a restaurant or bar or something. I’m really looking for a beautiful home that I don’t feel the need to leave all the time. A couple homes I’ve looked at have an extra mother-in-law suite or a pool house, so that’d be cool to turn into the office that I can physically leave each day too.
And a final requirement is that we want the home to be move-in-ready with no urgent remodeling on our part.
Michael wants a newer home, and we’ve been looking at older homes that have been renovated too. So the home being new or updated is a must. We’re not trying to be Chip and Joanna Gaines going into our marriage.
What I Love About My Current Home:
The attic: it’s random, but I didn’t realize how good I had it with my attic. My attic is just through the door to my upstairs office. So that means no string with a ladder. It’s SO nice to just open the door and walk-in. I store my luggage and Christmas decorations in their mostly, but it’s so convenient. It’s not necessary that the new house has this set-up, but it sure would be nice!
Location: I live off Jefferson Hwy, so I can be anywhere in 10-15 minutes living between two interstates. I’m willing to venture out, but there are so many places I love over here.
Big Rooms: All four bedrooms in my house are a nice size. It seems like newer homes have such small bedrooms, except for the master. My office is actually the biggest room in the house, so I want a home office that’s bigger so I don’t feel like I’m in a closet all day. Big windows will be a plus too!
What We Love About Michael’s Home:
The Bathroom: His master bathroom is HUGE - with a big tub and separate vanities and separate his and her walk-in closets. The good news is this seems to be the set-up in a lot of the houses we’ve been looking at. My bathrooms haven’t ever been my favorite, so I’m excited to upgrade on bathrooms!
The Garage: I’ve never had a garage my whole life, but apparently it’s a big deal. I guess it would be nice to not run through the rain or get out in the cold. So I’m all about this one!
My house is actually hitting the market THIS weekend, so that’s really exciting stuff. Michael isn’t far behind - he got a new roof this week! So stay tuned for all the wedding and housing things! You can read our engagement story here.
