Deciding to move to another state is not one I made easily.   I do not accept change well and moving hours away from a home we have lived in for years is exciting but also sad.  Saying goodbye to a beloved home and close friends is like leaving family.

Shopping for a house is challenging, but shopping for a house during a pandemic can seem Insurmountable.  So much of the process has become virtual.  The problem with virtual viewing is it is like using a dating app.  You eliminate and select based on photos that may not be entirely accurate, and it limits you to insight from the people who have the most to gain. 

The pictures only show the best features.  The angle of the picture hides the small and not so small flaws. Having made a list of “must haves”, we have developed a three-step process. 

Step 1:  Review the house online and make sure it has all the bells and whistles.

Step 2:  Yes–the boxes are all checked, and it gets added to the list.    No – we cross it off.  There is no swipe right to accept or left to discard.

Step 3.  When we come to town, we scout the neighborhoods as if stalking a person on social media and if it passes the stalking test, it goes on a new “tour” list.

Eventually the new list will become a list of homes we want to tour. (assuming they haven’t sold.) We are hesitant to tour occupied homes unless we love the house. It seems our lists are growing and changing daily. Four weeks into our search, we have not toured any homes in person. We are making progress, one house at a time! Stay tuned!