As I mentioned a few weeks ago (see post named :Relocation) I got a new job in Rochester.  I am excited, and a little anxious, to get back into teaching in the ESL world. But accepting this position means big transitions this summer.

If you follow my blog then you know that we have been living in Corning NY and as much as we enjoy this town of glass it’s a  long commute to Rochester (about and hour and half without weather issues). So we are moving North to Dansville; about 45 minutes north of Corning and 45 minutes south of Rochester. Dansville is a great mid-way place between Luke’s work in Bath (a half hour south) and Rochester.

At the beginning of June we contacted local banks to talk pre-approval for mortgages and their loan rates; after that round of meetings we were prepared with the financial information to start looking at homes.

We met with the relator who helped us find the rental we have lived in since moving to New York and shared with him our thoughts, preferences, and budget. After this we created a list of homes in the Dansville area we were interested in and set up to do our first day of house-hunting Sunday June 29th. It was a long humid day of going from house to house and although we had 10 on our list (which we thought was ambitious) we ended up looking at 14! 14 homes in one day!

As overwhelming as that may sound you have to remember we are on a specific timeline, hoping to be in a new home before I start teaching  in September. Plus some homes we went through pretty quickly or didn’t go in at all. As much as photos on realty sites can be helpful they can also be deceiving. The owners or whomever takes the photos is obviously wanting to make the best impression of their home as possible. So when you arrive and find the neighborhood is not up-kept well, the roof is falling apart, or the neighbor’s homes are inches from the one your are considering; its easy to move on.

Also  home owners will not take pictures of the worst qualities of the place and some will try to get away with sneaky habits. For example, we visited several homes where they listed 3 bedrooms but one of the bedrooms was in the basement and had no closet or windows.  Another place we looked at had a full bathroom upstairs but the layout was impossible for any average sized adult to maneuver.

Other than this we found many places were the “bedrooms” were little more than puzzle pieces of an attic space with a slanted roof coming down past midway on one wall leaving only enough space for a small bed and a dresser on the other wall. Now I grew up in a small house and I currently live in a small place so to say that these rooms were small; you know I am not exaggerating

Of course we also ran into: odd colored/old carpeting, ancient peeling wallpaper, startling wall color combinations, outdated  kitchens, odd themed homes/figurines (aka: country-cute, bunnies (yes bunnies), hunting/camo, roosters etc.), and cats many homes with multiple cats and unclean litter boxes.

I say most of this for humor sake. Still after that Sunday we left a little disappointed, there were several places we were excited and anxious to explore. Most of those homes we felt confident going in and frustrated leaving. We did leave with three possibilities in mind and only two that really stuck after our day-long search; but more on that to come.