House Hunting

This is a gorgeous time of the year. We don't have the earthy, Spring smells of back home, but we do have 75 degree highs, sunshine, and beautifully swaying palms. My balcony plants are thriving again and we can leave the windows open during the day and let breezes blow through the apartment.

The beautiful weather inspired us to finally go out and start our house hunt this weekend. At this stage we are doing research and scoping out the neighborhoods on our own, so that we will have a better idea of what we want when we get started in earnest. And it gives us time to talk out our differences so that we don't have to have those awkward conversations in front of the poor real estate agent!

I think we are off to a good start! We checked out four neighborhoods on Saturday - Desert Shores, South Hills and The Trails in Summerlin, and Day Dawn Vistas up here in Centennial Hills. Day Dawn Vistas had the most house for the money, and gorgeous views. However they had no pool, no park, no community amenities to speak of. In Summerlin, The Trails was our favorite. It had gorgeous tree lined avenues, pretty parks, and lots of restaurants and shopping. Desert Shores was closest to Ross's work, but the architecture (at least where we looked) was not really our style.

Since one of our favorite things about Centennial Hills is the elevation, we decided to check out one of Summerlin's communities that is West of 215 and higher in the valley than most of Summerlin. It's called The Vistas and that is a suitable name! Great views of Red Rock to the West and the strip to the East. Not to mention that it is just across 215 from our beloved Red Rock Casino and Kid's Quest!

The area we checked out had really cute, one story homes with good sized, walled-in backyards and was within walking distance of the elementary school. Ross stopped one of the residents to ask him questions (he does this everywhere we go, I am simultaneously grateful and mortified) and the man said he moved there because the elementary school is one of only two public schools in the state of Nevada with a 10 out of 10 rating! I knew from my research that the high school is also one of the top rated in the state.If we go with The Vistas we will probably have to sacrifice a bedroom, but I think we may decide it is worth it. We will see!

Next weekend we plan to check out some of the homes closer to church, many of which have the big balconies on the second story and backyards big enough for a pool. I'll report back what we find!