home bound

So we did a little house hunting while down south last week.
A little being a lot.

House hunting, for us, in Nashville, is crazy. We are so all over the place.
Our realtor down there keeps wanting us to narrow down an area, a subdivision, a neighborhood, so we can find the house for us. I'm of the mindset that I don't care where it is, we can't afford to be picky ($-wise as well as time-wise) in zeroing in and loving a particular neighborhood and hoping for a house there. I just want to find the best house for us in the best neighborhood for us for the best price, wherever it is.

The problem with Nashville, from a relocation viewpoint, is that every area has so many aspects that are completely different. In different ways.
There are so many areas to choose from; west of Nashville we're looking at the Bellevue and Riverwalk areas, southwest of Nashville we're looking at Franklin and Spring Hill, and south Nashville with parts of Brentwood all the way east to the borders of Antioch. Every area has it's pros and cons, and houses and neighborhoods that work for us in different ways. The problem is, the goods and not-so-goods that come with each individual house and area that we like do not translate straight across the board to other houses and areas... it's like comparing apples and oranges. There's no way to weigh out the options evenly. And it's hard to know where the right balance is for us.

Don't know that that makes sense to anyone but me, but I don't know how else to explain it. Basically, the priorities of a decent area, a great neighborhood, good schools, a decent commute and a house we like and have room to stretch in, don't all add up to a nice tidy package. Or at least not one that we can even come close to affording. We can get a little bit of this and a little bit of that and a hint of this but so far away from that and that's how it goes. And every area is a totally different equation.
We have to pick and choose and pray and guess and hope for the best.

We have (finally, after this last trip) about 4 or so houses that we like okay and are definite possibilities. Problem is, with the above mentioned unbalancing act, I feel like we're playing russian roulette with picking a house. Honestly, every day Ryan and I can say to each other, "which house are you leaning towards right now?" and every day it's a different answer.

...................

All of which is moot until we can get rid of this here house we're sitting on.
Seriously. Why does no one want this house? It kills us to have to leave it, this neighborhood and this community... this is a fabulous house and we have been grateful to have been lucky enough to have landed in it in the first place.
Almost every single person who knows us or who has ever been in our house has voiced their puzzlement over the fact that we've had absolutely no offers in what's going on 4 months on the market. And I don't think they're [all] just being nice. They make the comment more than once. And a few even, who aren't at the moment in a position where they can buy a house, have mentioned more than once that they wish they could buy it themselves, saying they'd jump on the chance if they could.

I just keep telling myself THE right family just hasn't come along yet.
but I'm still wondering why and where the heck they are....