House hunting

House hunting has been a top priority for us. We're excited to move out of the Lodge and also to see more of the city. The process to get a house off base is pretty neat. First, you visit the housing office and go look at a board of homes that are available.

For rent, we get a certain amount in Nathan's pay each month and if we are under that amount we don't get to keep the extra if there is any. So, we were looking for the nicest homes at our price ceiling. You can select 2 at a time to go see. We were there trying to pick the 2 best ones when an employee came over and said they were posting new homes in a few minutes. Then she pulled me aside and showed me a house that looked better than any that were already listed. She said it was in a very good neighborhood. So, we waited until they were officially posted and chose that house and another one to go see. The housing office called the realtors and set up appointments that same afternoon.

Here is the first house we went to see.

It is pretty nice. 1800 sq ft with 5 bedrooms and 2.5 tatami rooms. It is a good mix of the Japanese and American style. The tatami rooms and rice paper on the windows are really nice, but it's also very spacious - which we weren't expecting.

Here is the dining table with the half tatami area. The kitchen is in through the window by the table.

Here is one of the tatami rooms.

Here is the entry way.

Here is one of the upstairs bedrooms. This room has a loft in it. (Nathan approved the posting of this picture, even though I caught him off guard. Thanks, Honey!)

The house itself is pretty great, but the neighborhood just pushed us wanting this house over the top. The streets are very quiet and part brick which makes them really attractive. The realtor told us there are lots of kids and also a shopping center in the neighborhood. Right across the street is a park, which I'm sure would be put to good use if we moved in!

We love it.

Now, we're just waiting for the realtor and the housing office to negotiate the cat. We're hoping to hear tomorrow if we get it!

 

Oh, we did see the 2nd house we picked, too, but didn't take any pictures because it was clear this 1st house was the one we wanted.