pick a house! any house!
When my parents announced their divorce, my response was, naturally, to bookmark Zillow and devote vast swaths of my freetime to househunting. When my mom idly suggested moving to Florida, I stalked city-data.com for hours to find the best Miami suburbs for our family. And, when she said she’d rather stay local, I advised her on neighborhoods based on price, location, and amenities.
If TLC ever needs a new host for House Hunters, I’ll be first in line to audition. Although I’ve long since stopped needing to househunt for my own needs, I still practically live on Zillow. My preferences oscillate wildly between big and small, rural and urban. One week, I might be enamored with a four-acre farmhouse in Paonia, Colorado with a sweeping view of the mountains; the next, a one-bedroom walkup in Jackson Heights, Queens. The only places I never gaze into are vast swaths of suburbia, although statistically it’s probably where I’ll end up by forty, with a van in the driveway and a PTA meeting to attend. I find something depressing in the endless 2,500 square feet white colonial style homes, and maybe that thing is the prospect of my imminently approaching suburban existence. It’s more fun to exotic lives in exotic places- though at times, it becomes a bit of an exercise in masochism when I look at houses I’ll never be able to afford in neighborhoods I’ll never be able to live in (hello, Santa Monica!).
I get to know a town by its listing. Name a city in side conversation and I’ll probably have a list of homes for a variety of different people at various life stages (the young single professional, the aging couple with two kids at college, mid-career professionals who just had their third child, etc) within hours. Househunting gives me control. Cities aren’t just names, they’re the adorable cottage in Pantone 2121 XGC and the downtown studio that exudes coolness and the ‘70s ranch with the sunken living room and great neighborhood schools.
Fundmentally, househunting feeds my desire to imagine a life away from here, to picture the adventures that adulthood will bring. Growing up in Champaign brings a comfortable level of mediocrity. Our transit times are short and our activities plentiful; there’s plenty to occupy an idle youth while still providing small-town comforts. Nonetheless, as a Champaign native I’ve always been aware that there’s more in the world than the sweetcorn festival. Now, as I stare down the barrel of college admissions and finally leaving Chambana, I feel a mixture of excitement, anticipation, and fear. What comforts me as I prepare to move away from my home of nearly fourteen years is that, with Zillow at my side, there isn’t a strange town in the country.
As someone who moved their entire childhood, I relate to this post a lot! My parents always had me looking for houses on Zillow whenever we planned on moving. They would always tell me to look at the price per sq foot, the payment history, tax history, etc. It's actually something that I still do now for fun just because I love looking at houses and finding a good deal is so rewarding lol.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this, and the passive joke in the first sentence is fun and engaging. You make it sound like fun to look for houses in random cities and get really sad when you realize that you will never be able to own this awesome house. I look forward to seeing you on House Hunters later.
ReplyDeleteI also am obsessed with zillow and house hunting in general. My favorite channel is still HGTV and my dream job would be to have a show like Joanna and Chip Gaines' "Fixer-Upper". House hunting makes me look forward to the future just as you said. It doesn't only make me look forward to living in a different place, but also what kind of life I'll be living at that point in my life. What kind of job I'll have, what kind of family I'll have, etc. I really enjoyed this blog post!
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has also grown up in this lovable cornfield of a city, I find your house hunting hobby very intriguing. It's crazy how big the price difference is in different cities, although, who wouldn't want a house in Santa Monica.
ReplyDeleteI actually love looking at interior design; browsing marble kitchen counter-tops is a great past time. What do you look for in a house that makes it pop out to you?
I love this. One particular home type that I've dreamed (DREAMED) of living in is the little San Francisco pastel house that are all lined up against one another. They're so cute and small and I feel like my 25 year old self would be so happy living in one of those with a small maltese. However, my dreams are crushed every time I'm reminded of how expensive these tiny little living spaces are... So I'm starting to realize my life is inevitably leading to a suburban house as well. Which is kind of sad. So I hope we both find both exotic and affordable houses!!
ReplyDeleteThis is so sweet! The way you use Zillow to feel in control of moving away is such a simple and smart idea, and I love that you say "there isn't a strange town in the country." I personally can't relate to the feeling of growing up in Chambana all my life, but I do understand the fear of going to a new place, and trying to hold on to an image of what it might be. Also, I love the phrase "as I stare down the barrel of college admissions" because that's a MOOD.
ReplyDeleteGod, I relate to this. When my parents decided they wanted to move out of our house (and eventually settled on just remodeling it), they dragged me on house tour after house tour. Middle school me hated this process. I was convinced that I would never ever enjoy looking at houses, because I was sick of living rooms and bathrooms and closets.
ReplyDeleteFast forward to today, and I'm looking at apartments in Chicago, NYC, DC... I don't know if I'll ever live in them, but it's fun to fantasize, to speculate, to consider, what life would be like and who I'd be as a person living in fancy apartments like that.