Constantchange

Good News in a month of Bad news

When I posted last week, I was filled with anxiety about our house search. I am happy to report that the husband and I saw three condos today, all of them in our price range and all in our neighborhood, within a mile of where we live now. I am so comforted. We have a good real-estate agent, something that had concerned me; so many people were, well, *pushy* about trying to sell us a home. There were calls and calls from friends of friends or people who knew somebody, trying to get us to sign with such-and-such as an agent. I picked an agent I was comfortable with and stood by my choice, despite pursuasive arguments from other people; now I am so glad that I followed my instincts.

She's not pushy; she respects that I want to stay in town; she has let us know that there are more options available than we had thought. She's going to show us places in Midtown - I thought Midtown was just too expensive, but no, maybe there are places we'd like to see. She gives us scads of information beforehand, and doesn't try to get us to pick something *she* likes. And oh, thank god, she's low key. High strung sales people bother me to no end.

There was, for instance, the real estate angent from Buckhead who called to tell me that we should move to Brookhaven. She tried to tell me that Brookhaven was the right part of town, which immeadiately got me off on the wrong foot - like I care about the "right" part of town! She completely failed to understand that I love Atlanta and urban environments. A few of the places the husband and I looked at today face the train tracks along DeKalb avenue. I was ecstatic, because this meant a 10 minute reduction on the morning walk to the train station. I can imagine that Ms. Brookhaven would think the view ugly. I thought it beautiful; a view of the train tracks is a view of another 10 minutes in my bed every morning. A view of the train tracks is another view of my husband 20 minutes a day, another hour and 20 minutes in my own home each week. What would Brookhaven do but rob me of time? I am sure it is a perfectly nice place to live, and has earned its reputation. But it's not like I'm trying to join a country club, or really give a damn about the opinions of people who are country-club types.

The new house-to-be is my new muse. I have done rough sketches of places the husband and I have seen and liked, so we can better recall the floor plans. I have begun ot dream of furniture. I feel so energized by the thought of a space completely ours, the dream of not moving for five or six years. Perhaps next weekend we'll see some of those places in Midtown. Perhaps one of the condo owners will call us with some fantasic offer. I'm so excited. A place of our own, with all the headaches, heartbreaks, and comfort of my own decisions dominates my dreams.