A Newlywed Truth

A match made in heaven or from totally different planets? You be the judge.





Now that the cats out of the bag and Mike and I are, in fact, on our way to being homeowners, I just had to share our first "homework" assignment from our Realtor way back in April when this whole crazy process began.

We set up our first meeting on a Friday night and learned the ins and outs of first time home buying. Our Realtor walked us through his role and what we could expect during the process. He also asked us a lot of questions, not only about what we wanted in a house, but the kind of home and neighborhoods we grew up in as kids. In the end he said, "now, here's your homework assignment to complete before we set out on our first adventure..." This is where I got really excited...awesome!... homework... Mike and will rock his socks off because we're so good at homework because we're both teachers!! ..."I want you both to go home and complete your wish list for your first home. There is one catch, you must complete this, separately." Being the rule followers we are, we went out for pizza dinner and did not discuss the homework... you know, because he said to do that separately (in all seriousness I was dying to talk about what we wanted but Mike is more a rule follower than I and he kept shushing me and changing the subject!). So we went home, separated, and completed our lists.

Mike's List:
Space to grill
Nice exterior
Newer roof, heating & air cond.
OK sized yard
Space to entertain
Good neighborhood for us (awwww)
Near parks/trails
Basement
Garage
Storage

Sarah's List:
Eat-in kitchen close to kitchen appliances w/ space for two/three + a highchair
Pantry or closet in the kitchen
Deck/patio with access from either kitchen or dining space
Deck space facing sun with space for a grill
Master bath separate from the guest/kid bathroom
Linen closet in hallway near bedrooms
Basement with both finished/finish-able space and storage space
Laundry room separate but can't decide if I want it in the basement or near bedrooms, I know I don't want it in the kitchen (yes I actually wrote is just like this)

Allow me to point out two things: there are only two items to appear on both of our lists and I do believe we have demonstrated our roles as male and female quite nicely, don't you think?

When I saw the lists side-by-side I couldn't tell if we had succeeded or failed with our homework. On one hand, Mike had considered many things I hadn't and vice versa but we only matched with two items! Mike and I usually match really well when it comes to "big-ticket-items" like this so I was surprised to see so many differences. In the end, we were glad we did this because it helped us recognize each others wish list items when we looked at homes. We also knew we had found a great fit when we found our soon to be home and it had almost everything on both of our lists, not just one or the other. Regardless, I still can't decide if we compliment one another or if we come from two different planets! perhaps it can be both