[skyguy79]

When we were looking for our home we only had three mandatory requirements with one being that the house have a roof on it. We figured that without one, the air conditioning bills would be astronomical and that it would take a lot of mopping whenever it rained. On the other hand the heating bills would be non-existant during certain times during the year, especially when it wasn't cloudy.

The second requirement was that there be doors so that we wouldn't have to use windows to get in and out. If we had to use the windows we would consistantly be getting finger print smudges on the panes that we would consistantly be cleaning. The bills for just the Windex would have been unbelievable. Don't even speak to me about the wear and tear on the blinds!

The last requirement was that the house was accessable by car... and I don't mean golf car. Not only would a park and walk by trail have been a deal breaker for me, but the time it would take to get to the car and a restaurant when I'm hungry would have been unacceptable!

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We really had no hard and fast requirements when we were looking. Our main concern was that it be suitable should we decide to live here permanently. We haden't decided if we would be froggies or flip-floppies! We would of course like such things as a golf or water view, golf car garage and lots of space, but we also had to temper our desires with reality.

We were never to TV before, and while looking at what was available online we started to become concerned that homes that we seriously liked may not be available by the time we would arrive for our lifestyle. So we asked friends that already lived in TV to be advisors and our eyes. We saw a condo around SS that looked interesting and they were already familiar with what we were looking at and advised us against it.

Our friends then started looking at pre owned designers that we were interested in. So as we found what we were instered in, they went to see the place with our agent and reported back to us. We literally started in the north-west corner of TV around the Lopez area where they advised us against the first two we had them look at.

We then became very interested in one that was more centralized. I showed beautifully on the TV website, but on closer examination they told us that they noticed a lot of problems and especially for us there was too much landscaping to try and keep up with. Oh well!

The next was a house on Maverick in Hadley. They called us from the house and said that it looked good but that our agent suggested that we look at one near where we were. So they headed to the south eastern part of Hadley to look at a Gardenia.

From the Gardenia house they again called us and said that the house was unfortunately no longer available... then said "We loved it so much that we're buying it!" Needless to say they were just kidding around!

The Gardenia had an expanded garage and master bedroom, it had a roman bath, but it didn't have a golf car garage. No big deal we though since the garage was expanded. Right... 4 feet, big deal! Anyway, the back yard was large enough that you didn't have to worry about opening you liani door and being so close to your neighbor that they could open their liani door and we'd be close enough to kiss each other!

To make a long story shorter, we placed on offer on the Gardenia and all paperwork was processed by the time we arrived in TV and we closed on the next day! The rest is history now and we're happy... except mayby for there being no GC garage! Oh well, can't have everything!