1. Its size. I grew up in an apartment building (think block of Stalinist flats) in Russia so having space is important to me. My husband is the same. He is also 6’2” and has hobbies that require stuff (i.e. models). We have about 3500 square feet: more than plenty for a family of four.
2. Its style. A white colonial, with black shutters and a red door. It has symmetry. Not sure why but it was important to me to have a visually appealing house.
3. The street it’s on. Our block has a lot of trees and families with similar age kids! We definitely lucked out. Both of my next door neighbors on either side are great people whose kids come over to play on the regular.
4. The surrounding plot of land. New Jersey is a densely packed state, and it can be rare to have a big yard, especially in our area (central Jersey). We have a big front yard and a bit of a “woodsy” area in the back. Like, jungle. It’s just forest but it’s nice to have that area. The kids play hide and seek and build fairy houses.
5. The price we paid for it and our interest rate. Don’t want to get materialistic but we bought this house back in 2014 and locked in a great interest rate. The price was more than fair, considering the size of the house and the fact that the prior owners really needed to sell. Since then, this property more than doubled in value. The house and the surrounding property continues to be a very valuable asset for me and my husband.
Now. Not all is bright and rosy. We are talking about real estate, after all.
The house is rather old- 1933. It can be drafty. Not very insulated and not very “green” when compared to more modern homes. It needs care, and love, and money. It takes a long time to clean due to its size.
Things break, things need to be replaced. We have already invested a lot into it: central air, a new kitchen, new Sheetrock downstairs, a new guest bathroom upstairs, and other projects.
And we still have a loooooong list of projects that we would like to complete (finish the basement, finish the attic, re-do the garage floor, widen the driveway, etc).
Your turn! What do you like/dislike about your house?
This month I am participating in #NaBloPoMo2025. A running list of participants can be found on San’s NaBloPoMo page as well as more information about this lovely initiative on this NaBloPoMo page.
Mom of Children 