Mountain-Top vs. Lake-Front

I think my sister and I were on the phone for nearly three hours in the past couple of days. Thankfully, being that we have the same cell-phone service, the calls are free. We were talking about the house on top of the mountain in the Hill Country.

Not only were my sister and I discussing that house, but my husband and I have talked about it till we're just weary of talking about it. The bottom line is that the house is listed at over-market value. In the beginning, we didn't think the house was too much money, considering the land it was on and the view it had from the back deck. But then, after my husband made all the phone calls to the tax and appraisal offices, that opinion changed.

Then there's the water system for that house, which has private tanks that are just a little below the required capacity-code for that county. Which is fine for the present owner, but for a new owner facing land inspections, the water tanks would have to be brought up to code, at considerable expense. Not something we want to take on, and not something the seller thinks he should be taking on either.

Then we get to the price....... my husband's gut feeling is that his own maximum price for that house isn't going to measure up to the seller's minimum price. My husband was willing to make a second offer on the house if I urged him to do it, but I didn't. I just couldn't have lived with myself if I had to "talk him into" that house, no matter how much I love it.

And, as my husband has said all along, and as my sister has told me over the past couple of days: "There will always be other houses, other views, and you may even find something different, something better." Which, of course, is true. We also heard from the realtor up in the Hill Country.... he says that the house on top of that mountain isn't being shown all that much. Most likely due to its location, which is way off the "beaten path." Having that gorgeous view, after all, does have its disadvantages.... one of them being an unpaved mountain road to get you from the bottom to the top.

So...... out came the book on Texas towns..... we're looking at other places...... considering other options. Now my husband is finding lake-front homes. Not river-front, which could and would flood, but quiet little lakes. Lakes without marinas, so we don't have to deal with loud motorboats and jet-skis. We're looking for peace and quiet, not water-traffic.

We will look some more....... and keep that mountain-top house up on the shelf for a little while. I haven't looked at the photos of it since the last night we stayed there.... but I don't need to. I know every inch of it still.