After irritating me enough, Karina eventually got me looking for a house for us. Nita did a great job in carting us around from one complex to another and area to area. When you first start looking for a home, its quite a daunting process as the first few houses we saw I really didn’t like. I went home feeling really depressed about this whole finding a house thing. These days the rooms are so tiny, you can just fit a double bed and 2 bedside tables, never mind anything else! There are always pro’s and con’s to every place, but most of the places we came across had way to many con’s.

So after looking a while, we came across what we are going to call River Cottage.

River Cottage

I actually can’t believe houses like this exist in the price range we were looking at. We had to put up a fight for this place as the day after Karina and I saw it, they had an offer come in. Luckily it was a subject to the selling of their place, so we jumped in and applied for a straight bond, which gave the first offer 72 hours to sell or come up with the cash. But when they heard of our offer, they gave up… which meant the place was ours!

What makes the place so special?

• Its in a really quiet area in Somerset West
• 2 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, dining room, automatic garage and parking bay
• The main bedroom takes up the entire top floor of the home - so OUR room is massive!
• The back garden opens up onto a large grassy area that….. wait for it…. wait for it…. opens up onto a flowing river!
• The main bedroom overlooks the river and that is the only noise you can hear. The sound of flowing water is so calming.
• Anyone want to come around for a trout braai? There are even fish in the river!

For me, the house has this holiday type of vibe to it. Especially when you walk out into the back and can hear and see the river. It really is amazing. Our cats are going to love the grass!

With that said, it is going to be exciting as well as nerve racking. With the way cost of living is increasing almost on a weekly basis, it might be Salticrax for supper all month, not just at the end of the month, but with God’s Grace and blessings, Karina and I are really going be happy living in River Cottage.

This is probably the most difficult thing Karina and I will have to do. Try and find a home.

Everyone wants to live in a cosy and spacious home with a garden, double garage with friendly neighbours and a half decent view to have drinks outside in the summer. Ok, maybe not all the above criteria applies to everyone, but it applies to Karina and I!

We already own a flat in the Strand that we are currently renting out. The flat is really an investment more than anything else because I wouldn’t want to live in my flat. (It’s not that its old or anything, actually it is a very neat flat, just way too small with only 1 parking bay and it is a FLAT. Also the neighbourhood isn’t really somewhere I would consider living.)

So, there are few of options that we could look at. Sunday, Karina and I went to look at a neat townhouse complex in the Strand. The houses are definitely larger than normal sized Strand townhouses. I.E. these homes were 2/3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms with 1 on-suite and single or double garage to choose from. Then there were options of a small backyard for a braai. The prices ranged from R800k - R1m. You select a plot and then have a few plans that you can choose from.

I “liked” it, but my idea of my first home is I think way over our heads. Even though these houses were, as I said, larger than normal, they still are small compared to what I actually would like. I think my Mom is right when she says I always aim for the top/best of everything. I wanted to run before I could walk type of thing.

The big plan

Then there is the “big plan”, which is a dream that I “will” turn into a reality (think positively Jason!). I really want to live on a golf estate one day, and they are currently building a brand new Golf Estate on the N2 called Sitari Fields. My idea was to put down a deposit on a place there (once they eventually released pricing), rent a house/flat from the end of 2008 until the houses on Sitari are completed near the end of 2009 and then beg, borrow and steal the money to afford the house if it came to that. I would obviously try and predict what size bond Karina and I could afford by then, so as to know what house to put a deposit on. If things totally fall apart, well then I won’t loose anything, except the chance of owning an amazing house in an amazing area! (With, I might add, a golf course membership!)

Then things sort of came crashing down. Well only slightly in my mind. They released pricing on phase 1 plots (there are plots ) this week and they the prices are way over what I anticipated, but also, maybe I was being optimistic. 500sqm plots are going for 1.2m, with the 1000sqm plots currently priced at 2.4m. So, with that in mind, I am now awaiting the prices on the plot and plan areas. Those plots I know are smaller, so maybe their pricing might be within reach.

Buying a house / choosing a place to live is one of the most difficult decisions that Karina and I have to make. I have always set myself lofty goals and I almost always make them, so maybe if I have those figures in my head as my goal, you just never know. (Never underestimate me pal! :-D)

Do you have any ideas or wise words for Karina and I regarding buying our first home? Leave us a comment below.