HOUSEHUNTING

Well, it's been a whirlwind since we have arrived here in Southlake, TX, a suburb of Dallas. We chose a location between the airport and work for my husband, not knowing how much traffic there would be commuting to and from. 

The facts we used when determining where to plant our roots-

*   Great school system. Southlake public schools rank as one of the top school systems in the DFW metro area. 

(Even though our children are grown, we are always concerned about resale, therefore, choosing a hot area with short  re-sale turn-around.)

*   Close proximity to an airport.

*   Not more than a 30 minute commute to work.

*   Cozy town feel....in this area of Texas we have found town squares which are

quaint areas where you find Town Halls and parks in the center, surrounded by

stores, hotels, restaurants and movie theaters. They are really quite lovely!

House hunting has proven to be quite challenging. Of course when we arrive in town, there is a shortage of homes! Yes, that's correct!  We have a great realtor who is working diligently to find us a home, but unfortunately nothing has worked out as of yet. I've toured about 6 homes with her, and one would have been a great fit for our family. Over the weekend we submitted a bid on that home (very similar to this one), great neighborhood, custom homes built in the mid 1990's. 

Well, remember how I said there was a shortage of inventory available? Have you ever heard of bidding wars for homes? We've come across this once before when we were looking for homes in Northern NJ very close to NYC. For some reason it didn't come as quite a shock in that area, but DFW area, especially Southlake....guess we have alot to learn! 

Our fin was down a bit when the realtor called and said they had multiple bids and suggested we write a personal letter to accompany our offer. We did, we pulled out all the stops.....I even included a family photo!   Multiple bids.........14-21 is a common theme on some of the homes lately, but after a valiant effort we lost!

Whew....we then realized we could very well have a LONG road ahead of us .Thank goodness we divided our household goods between pieces of furniture and kitchen items to hold us over in an apartment, and then the long-term storage. It could be a long time before we see the rest of our household items. Until then we'll enjoy our..........HOME SWEET HOME--Texas style!

Do you have any stories of multiple bidding wars? I'd love to hear about yours!

    Have a wonderful day!

   Kathleen