An update on the house hunting we did earlier this week.
House 1: We both liked it, but didn't love it. I did love the attic, it would make the perfect bedroom for me. It was spacious and had lots of storage space. But for my sister it didn't have the click. I'm a bit more pragmatic, I could have lived there even if I didn't love it straight away. Also, it was at the top of our budget so we wouldn't have been able to start making big changes straight away.
We went to the nearby shopping center and we did love that, so Nieuwegein is still an option.
House 2: We both loved this house. Very spacious bedroom, nice garden and a nice neighbourhood. The only downside, for my sister, is that the neighbourhood main road was very close (the house wasn't on the corner, but the one next to it). For me less of a problem. My sister did email her real estate agent about his thoughts on what a realistic price is. The agent who gave us the tour said there already was a lot of interest.
House 3: Didn't work for us. Due to its lay out it was really dark downstairs. With both wasted space (next to the front door, there used to be the kitchen, but now it's too small for the dining table, so it would be a reading nook or space for a desk). Yet the area for the living room and dining space felt small. The middle floor also had a weird lay out, but my sister loved the walk in closet. The attic was really spacious. There were two cats who followed us and one that demanded attention. The rabbit ignored us.
We're now waiting for my sister's realtor to get back to her. And my sister is mulling things over about house 2. I expect her to not want to compromise on the road. We'll see.
Yesterday we went to one of my happy places, the Efteling. Had a great afternoon. Today is a bit of a lazy day. Later this morning we're going to get groceries and tonight we're going to have dinner in the restaurant on the park. The rest of the day we'll be hanging out in our cabin.