First Scouting Trip in Denver

The time: February 2005
The setting: Denver, Colorado

We met with a realtor, her name is Andi. Nice gal, a bit younger than me! I guess I'm finally at that age when people have specialties and fledging careers and they're younger than me! Anyway, we saw five homes and some new construction on an outing Saturday, February 12th. My parents followed Todd, Andi, and me to all the locations.

Most of the homes were 5-10 years old. All but one looked really "tired," not updated or really well maintained. It was disappointing. There was new construction that looked very nice (of course), but it's hard to say how those things will settle in the end, both physically (concrete, framing) and cost. It's always more headache than one anticipates when building from the ground up, even when building to spec.

We looked at homes our stated price range and found that in Parker we could get more house for the money than in our home city of Kenmore. That was a nice feeling, but also overwhelming. Here we were shopping for family-size homes and it's still just the two of us + dog! I felt a little choked, like I was committing to the whole shma-roo all at once! (The whole "shma-roo" being kids and the family life in suburbia).

Baby steps. First: find a home we love, regardless of the future "plan." Something perhaps a step up from what we're in now, but maybe not at the peak of our price range. Something digestible. On the one hand, I want the best we can get; I want to love my "nest." But on the other hand, I can't live feeling choked both by expectations I place upon myself (a big house is only justifiable if we're going to fill it with family, right?) or choked by a high mortgage.

We've been "bathing" this in prayer and continue to do so. I know that if I just breathe and take each day at a time, trusting God that His best for me may not look like my dreamy ideals, it will all come together. I have to work on not getting worked up over one certain home or house plan. There are going to be many homes out there I could be happy in. I must continue to remember that and not feel that time is fleeting, stealing away my only opportunity to be happy in just one particular house.

We don't know when our next trip will be, but when it happens it will probably be the "bidding" trip.

Denver Area Map

Click on image to enlarge.

We have been looking at homes in the south and southeastern portion of the Denver metro area. Namely, an up-and-coming city called Parker. There is a lot of new construction in Parker and for what we're looking at our future to be (family), it would be an ideal area. My parents currently reside in Highlands Ranch, which is mid-south on the map, about 20 minutes northwest of Parker. They are (as of March 2005) looking at the areas of Elizabeth and Frankton for retirement. These are smaller towns located southeast of Parker, about 20-30 minutes away.
Denver Area Map