A steep learning curve

There has been a new phenomenon going on around here: I have started on a housing quest even though we're not buying a house anytime soon.  It's not like I'm actually starting to look for houses, but a few weeks ago I felt the sudden urge to prepare ourselves financially for the enormous task we will face when Brandon graduates.  So I have been learning all about PMIs, 80-10-10 mortgages, and other things. Instead of being the one who likes to spend money, I'm the one talking to Brandon about savings goals and making a financial plan for the next year.  I think Brandon finds it amusing, and somewhat relieving that I've taken over the responsibility of planning all this, instead of him.  But believe me, when we go to apply for a loan, I will walk into the bank like I own the place.

But what I've learned the most about-- and what surprises me most-- is what I like in a house.  I've done a few online searches just to get a feel for market value in different areas.  I first looked in the Woodlands-- if you're not familiar with Houston's geography, it's an area that's so far north it could probably qualify as a suburb of Dallas, and where you can get a million-square-foot home for less than what we pay in rent.  (I may exaggerate, but you get the picture.) To any normal person, it would be a dream come true.  Huge houses in nicely organized communities, each with miles of counterspace in the kitchen and backyard access to the neighborhood pond.  But instead of thinking like a normal person, little voices inside my head say, "Imagine how much it would cost to furnish a home that size! Those ponds breed bloodsucking mosquitoes and are a drowning danger for kids!  It would take hours to clean that kitchen!  All your neighbors would probably have one child and two SUVs!  Suburbia!  Stepford Wives!  AAAAAHHHHHH!!! Am I unfit for the American dream?  Then tonight I looked at some inner-city houses, where houses in the same price range are half the size.  They were old, they were small.  They had exposed brick and terracotta tiles and enough character to delight even the hippest of hipsters.  And I got a little teary-eyed and thought, "Our furniture would look so cute in there! And look at that kitchen, it's so small that I would always have an excuse to not cook!"

Who knows.  Where we end up will probably have more to do with where Brandon has employment than with satisfying my inner hipster.  And there are many tempting advantages to the ones that have 7 bedrooms and a study.  But none of that is for me to decide yet, and I prefer to be just as surprised as everyone else at which one we choose.