Today was a busy day. Kevin was informed yesterday that he was scheduled for security briefings at his squadron during the time we had allotted for house viewing. This was a bit of a problem because transportation is hard to come by here and the only time the housing agent could take us to view houses was during Kevin’s briefings. The security briefings couldn’t be delayed and so, I went house hunting alone.
At first, I was going to take Weslee with me to see houses. But, he went to bed at a weird hour last night and woke up really early and wasn’t happy when he greeted the morning. Kevin decided to take him so that I could pay attention to the different houses and use more scrutiny when finding us a place to live for the next few years.
In the morning, we drove out west, first to a little farming community called Burnt Fen. The house we were supposed to look at out there said that it was close to base but “away from it all”. I think they emphasized the “close to base” part too much and didn’t put enough emphasis on just how “away from it all” it really was. After a 15 minute journey down the most dangerous road in the area (there have been 7 military fatalities on that road in the last few years. That alone was making me have some second thoughts about Burnt Fen as a housing option for us), we turned off the main highway onto a deeply potholed dirt road that went on for what seemed like forever. The agent jokingly remarked that she hoped our car had 4 wheel drive if we planned to move out there. The exterior of the house itself was cute. It had a long row of black berry bushes lining the fence, a gorgeous view in all directions of the fen (which is basically very fertile, black soiled farmlands) and a big front yard. But, I nearly killed myself walking up to the front door. The sidewalk was covered in a slimy moss. And, the moment we opened the door to the freezing house, I knew it wasn’t the house for us (as if the million other warnings before hadn’t been enough). It smelled rotten and dank inside. As we viewed the bedrooms, you could tell that the radiator was leaking. The agent kept talking about the gorgeous views and how she’d like to wake up every morning to those views. I was still looking at the huge, wet stain on the carpet and thinking about the horrid smell. It also crossed my mind that I would be the only person alive out there for miles…and it was a frightening thought, particularly when Kevin is deployed. I quickly told her that I didn’t think it was the right property for us. She accepted that with little complaint and we moved on to the next property, even further west (on the same treacherous road) in Littleport.
In Littleport (such a cute little hamlet), we saw two houses. One was completely unfit for renting. The house itself was in good repair, but it was on a VERY busy highway and the fence had all sorts of holes in it. Wes could have just run out the back door and into the highway. The agent told me that all of the houses the military rent have to go through a “safe living” inspection before we can rent them. She said that the house had too many large problems and that it wouldn’t pass the inspection. We moved on without doing more than looking inside the windows at the property. Honestly, if we were purchasing a house, it would have been a good home. The problems would have taken time to fix, but would have been worth it if we were planning to own the home. Like I said, the house itself was a gorgeous, well taken care of, Victorian style home. The other house was more modern and honestly, I loved it. It was spacious, cute, had a great back lawn and a ton of parking. It had a giant kitchen for the UK and even a green house out back. At the end of the morning, if I had to choose a house, I would have taken this one. I could picture our family there. The only problem was that Littleport wasn’t close to ANYTHING. We would have had to drive 20 minutes to the base where Kevin works. 35 minutes to the base where we will buy groceries and other supplies. 45 minutes to the base where Cricket will get veterinary care and 30 minutes to church. The expense of gas would have killed us and we again, prefer to use that money to actually tour the country instead of just touring (over and over again every day) the same stretch of road.
When I returned home from my morning of house hunting, the CUTEST sight awaited me! Kevin wasn’t able to take Weslee with him to his briefing, so one of the staff took Weslee to a place on base and kept him busy for a couple of hours. When Kevin picked him up, she said they had “gotten creative” with some of the supplies in the room. He looked like a little Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with pipe cleaner antlers and a red nose. I couldn’t quit taking pictures when they got home! I know he’s my kid…but I can’t help saying it…he is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!
Later in the afternoon, while Weslee was taking a nap, (Kevin stayed at the room with Wes while I toured the properties), Kevin’s sponsor took me to see two more houses. We saw one 20 minutes north in Brandon first. I had loved the pictures of this house. It was a really large, red brick home with beautiful landscaping. The location wasn’t terrible. It was basically in the middle of everything. Not terribly close to anything in particular, but a short driving time from everything that’s important to us. However, the landlord was ambiguous about the rent, kept changing her mind about the deposit amount, and mentioned that she would be coming to Brandon (this was her retirement home when she was done with the military…she was American) every month to check on things. I just didn’t feel right about it. I loved the house. The neighborhood seemed nice. But honestly, the whole thing seemed like it could be a real financial hassle. So, I moved on, even before seeing the next house.
The next house was in Mildenhall. I’ll be honest. I had already fallen in love with this house before ever visiting it. I kept going back to it on the Right Move website to look at the pictures. After touring it, I loved it even more. When I returned home, I told Kevin all about it and he wanted to see it immediately. We scheduled a time for tomorrow to view the property and decide for sure if it’s the one for us.
At first, I was going to take Weslee with me to see houses. But, he went to bed at a weird hour last night and woke up really early and wasn’t happy when he greeted the morning. Kevin decided to take him so that I could pay attention to the different houses and use more scrutiny when finding us a place to live for the next few years.
In the morning, we drove out west, first to a little farming community called Burnt Fen. The house we were supposed to look at out there said that it was close to base but “away from it all”. I think they emphasized the “close to base” part too much and didn’t put enough emphasis on just how “away from it all” it really was. After a 15 minute journey down the most dangerous road in the area (there have been 7 military fatalities on that road in the last few years. That alone was making me have some second thoughts about Burnt Fen as a housing option for us), we turned off the main highway onto a deeply potholed dirt road that went on for what seemed like forever. The agent jokingly remarked that she hoped our car had 4 wheel drive if we planned to move out there. The exterior of the house itself was cute. It had a long row of black berry bushes lining the fence, a gorgeous view in all directions of the fen (which is basically very fertile, black soiled farmlands) and a big front yard. But, I nearly killed myself walking up to the front door. The sidewalk was covered in a slimy moss. And, the moment we opened the door to the freezing house, I knew it wasn’t the house for us (as if the million other warnings before hadn’t been enough). It smelled rotten and dank inside. As we viewed the bedrooms, you could tell that the radiator was leaking. The agent kept talking about the gorgeous views and how she’d like to wake up every morning to those views. I was still looking at the huge, wet stain on the carpet and thinking about the horrid smell. It also crossed my mind that I would be the only person alive out there for miles…and it was a frightening thought, particularly when Kevin is deployed. I quickly told her that I didn’t think it was the right property for us. She accepted that with little complaint and we moved on to the next property, even further west (on the same treacherous road) in Littleport.
In Littleport (such a cute little hamlet), we saw two houses. One was completely unfit for renting. The house itself was in good repair, but it was on a VERY busy highway and the fence had all sorts of holes in it. Wes could have just run out the back door and into the highway. The agent told me that all of the houses the military rent have to go through a “safe living” inspection before we can rent them. She said that the house had too many large problems and that it wouldn’t pass the inspection. We moved on without doing more than looking inside the windows at the property. Honestly, if we were purchasing a house, it would have been a good home. The problems would have taken time to fix, but would have been worth it if we were planning to own the home. Like I said, the house itself was a gorgeous, well taken care of, Victorian style home. The other house was more modern and honestly, I loved it. It was spacious, cute, had a great back lawn and a ton of parking. It had a giant kitchen for the UK and even a green house out back. At the end of the morning, if I had to choose a house, I would have taken this one. I could picture our family there. The only problem was that Littleport wasn’t close to ANYTHING. We would have had to drive 20 minutes to the base where Kevin works. 35 minutes to the base where we will buy groceries and other supplies. 45 minutes to the base where Cricket will get veterinary care and 30 minutes to church. The expense of gas would have killed us and we again, prefer to use that money to actually tour the country instead of just touring (over and over again every day) the same stretch of road.
When I returned home from my morning of house hunting, the CUTEST sight awaited me! Kevin wasn’t able to take Weslee with him to his briefing, so one of the staff took Weslee to a place on base and kept him busy for a couple of hours. When Kevin picked him up, she said they had “gotten creative” with some of the supplies in the room. He looked like a little Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with pipe cleaner antlers and a red nose. I couldn’t quit taking pictures when they got home! I know he’s my kid…but I can’t help saying it…he is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!
Later in the afternoon, while Weslee was taking a nap, (Kevin stayed at the room with Wes while I toured the properties), Kevin’s sponsor took me to see two more houses. We saw one 20 minutes north in Brandon first. I had loved the pictures of this house. It was a really large, red brick home with beautiful landscaping. The location wasn’t terrible. It was basically in the middle of everything. Not terribly close to anything in particular, but a short driving time from everything that’s important to us. However, the landlord was ambiguous about the rent, kept changing her mind about the deposit amount, and mentioned that she would be coming to Brandon (this was her retirement home when she was done with the military…she was American) every month to check on things. I just didn’t feel right about it. I loved the house. The neighborhood seemed nice. But honestly, the whole thing seemed like it could be a real financial hassle. So, I moved on, even before seeing the next house.
The next house was in Mildenhall. I’ll be honest. I had already fallen in love with this house before ever visiting it. I kept going back to it on the Right Move website to look at the pictures. After touring it, I loved it even more. When I returned home, I told Kevin all about it and he wanted to see it immediately. We scheduled a time for tomorrow to view the property and decide for sure if it’s the one for us.
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