somewhere out there

this has been a little mantra that i say to myself when
i start feeling discouraged about finding our next home.

ever since the sell of our little diamond street cottage,

i have been casually looking at homes that get emailed to me
based on certain criteria i've selected (community, price, size, etc.) 

in an entire year, there has only been one home that i've actually

driven to see, and that home didn't warrant a second trip back with c.

part of the difficulty is, we are being selective
but 
not in a traditional way

we aren't looking for the big house in suburbia with all the latest appliances,
granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, a 3 car garage and sprawling backyard.
there are plenty of communities with homes like this in the greater san diego area {and for less money}.
but we are trying to avoid moving to suburbia with the masses.

we really want a home in a community that is in central san diego,

{so we spend less time in our cars every day and more time enjoying life}
one within walking distance to cafes/shops and to recreation,
at least 1,500 square feet, and one that has a yard, even a small one.
seems easy enough right? oddly, it isn't unless money is no obstacle. *wink*

i thought i found a home that might work for us 2 nights ago.  

a property popped up on my phone and immediately i was interested. 

the home was 1,900 sf {plenty big for our family}and in point loma,
the community we currently live in {but not in the flight path}.

it was nothing spectacular from the outside - circa 1960s,
but inside it had some pretty cool architectural features -
high ceilings, lots of windows and almost every room had a loft space

{something i knew the little boys would love}.

here are a few pictures:

we walked through it and YES it was very cool,
but it had been a rental to college students for years and needed alot of work
{about $50,000+ we estimated to be where we would want it to be}.

we considered making a low offer,
but because the property backed up to a pretty steep slope,
it didn't have a usable yard at all {not even a little one}.
it only had a deck. it was nice, but with two young boys,
it didn't make sense for this time in our lives.

we've promised the boys a treehouse when we get our next home,
and this wouldn't allow for one, so the search continues.

somewhere out there is our next home
{c is hoping that home will be closer to the beach} *wink*