A Second Home

I mentioned in a earlier post that Jonathan and I had always planned to live in our first home for about 3 years.  The reasons being:

1.  We received the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit.  One of the requirements is that you live in your first home for a minimum of three years.  If you don't, then you have to pay back the money...and we don't want to pay it back!
2.  We bought our home during the historic real estate low so we knew we would have to live here a few years in order to make money off of our house.
3.  When we purchased our home we knew Jonathan would graduate with his first masters in May 2011.  Once he graduates he will get an assistant principle job but we don't know where.  We knew we would have to be open to moving in order for him to get a good job.

Now, to the fun stuff!  What Jonathan and I are looking for in our second home.  And, when I say "looking" we're not looking right now...I guess I should say "dreaming".  This April will mark two years in our house then we still have another year before we won't have to pay back the tax credit.  Anyways, here is what Jonathan and I want:

-  Must be 2000 sq ft or over.  That is around what we have now and there is no way we could down size at this point.  We have a house full of furniture.  But, we don't want too big either.  I don't really like "sprawling" space.  I want our house to still feel "homey" and not waste space.
- We want to be able to live in our next house for about 10 years if we can.  So, our next purchase will be long term.
-  We want a one story.  It's not a SUPER MUST but it's high up there.  I'm not ever particularly drawn to two stories for curb appeal for some reason, I'm not fond of stairs and, and hot air rises so I like our A/C bill in our one story.  If the house had everything we wanted but was two story then we would consider it but overall we want a one story.
-  In terms of rooms we want 4 bedrooms, at least 2 bathrooms, an open desk area near the kitchen (like we have now or larger), a breakfast area and a formal dining room, and a den or office would be a perk.
-  In terms of area we want a more well established area with large trees.  We went with a brand new neighborhood with our first house and for the second we don't want that.  I would really like an older home that is remodeled...something with charm.  We don't mind doing some work but nothing huge!
-  We want a bigger lot, a detached garage or a garage that doesn't face the road, and a fireplace is a must.

That's all I can think of at the moment.  Here are some houses from HAR.com that I like in our price range and area we would like to live in.  As in, if we could buy them right now and not have to pay back the tax credit we would :)

The first house is two story but its GORGEOUS! I would make this house the exception to the rule and obviously I have a thing for white houses with red front doors and porches...so charming!