So we've decided to make the move! We're headed to Kigali in a couple of weeks! Yayyyy!!! While we will absolutely 100% miss our home we've made for ourselves in Rubengera, and all of our friends, it is time for our transition to the big city! :) We're about at our year mark of living in Rwanda, and about my limit of the unemployed lifestyle. I was able to work on some E-Design projects here and there, and working on the wedding and house renovations in the beginning were PLENTY to do.. but lately, my To-Do list has started to run low, and the city holds so much more potential for me. Plus Patrick has an office in Kigali too! So we started searching and negotiating for houses in the city. Let me start by showing you through our last 4 months of the Kigali home search. It is SO much fun looking for a house!!!! :) (I'm not meaning that to sound sarcastic- I really love it..) hahah
This was the first house we saw...
Big front patio, three french doors entering the living room for a super indoor/outdoor feel, a gorgeous stone wall and (non-functional, but pretty) fireplace, an open feel, plenty of windows, painted white, with a fun glossy white ceiling too! Tiles that aren't offensive. Nice big yard, and in the neighborhood we wanted- Kimihurura, which has tons of restaurants and things to do all in walking distance, while still feeling pretty calm and suburban. I loved it. But you can't just go with the first house you see, can you???? And the price was a little high. The bathrooms and kitchen weren't very nice. It's near a night club, so it could be loud. I think we were spoiled from here on though...
Then we saw this one!
This one was WAY over our budget, but the pictures drew us in. As you can see, it's really nice! The kitchen was finished, and open, and the house felt very new. The problem? While it was finished, none of the finishings were things I would have chosen. It was being rented as a furnished house, so the sectional and all were included. Even the dresser that blocked the bedroom door. Had to keep it. That cool patio room with the windows- looks great! But you step inside and the ceilings are only 6' tall. Patrick had to duck. The house was a mirage. It looks great on film, but it's just not what I would choose. Great kitchen and bathrooms, very clean and new. But I'm more of a fixer upper gal! Patrick wanted this one. He loved it. (at first) To him the important part of a home is clean new kitchen and bathrooms, and for me, I just figure I could make anything look good, and the older homes have more room for improvement, where the new ones have just been renovated, they wouldn't do it all over again.
Then we saw this guy.
He was definitely in our price range. And I did see some potential, but knew it would be a lot of work. Plus- all of that furniture had to stay too. And I didn't want any of it. The kitchen wasn't up to par for Patrick either. I did love the outside of the house, and the garage. It reminded me of a cool 70s Brady Bunch style house or something. :)
Then it was Christmas, and we were traveling to the US. We came back and made final touches on our village house. We were content for a while. Until the next round of houses we looked at in January. This time we focused only on houses in our price range in the neighborhood we preferred, Kimihurura... Which were a sad showing-
This one obviously needs a ton of work. But we (Patrick) liked that it had a basketball hoop. ;) They said they would do renovations, but we didn't ask the extent of renovations, assuming our ask would be too much, and we moved on. I think its still available though in Kimi and they'd be willing to do a lot of work! (If you need a house- I could definitely help out with re-designing this one!) There's also an avocado tree in the front yard. :)
We saw a couple more like this-
Most of these ones we saw had some really weird feature, or overly ornate something, or weird layout, dark interiors, hidden small kitchens, etc. We weren't feeling very lucky.
And then we visited that first house we saw again. It was still on the market!
The second time around, Patrick realized how much better this house was than its competition. The kitchen isn't SOOOOO bad is it? We discussed, and realized, we should probably go with this one! Yes! We decided!!! And then we went on our honeymoon for a while in February, and kept in touch with the realtor, committing that we wanted this one. When we came back- we had a meeting to sign the contract, we were all in! By the time we arrived- another couple had seen it, cash in hand, and the owners signed a contract, renting it to them. We lost it at the last second!😒
At first, I was ok, thinking well now we get to keep looking at houses, that is fun anyway! And then the more and more I talked to realtors and searched online, it seemed like there was nothing left in Kimihurura that we hadn't seen. I was starting to get really upset that the landlord gave away OUR house after we had agreed. I was trying everything... Until we heard about the other side of Kimihurura- Rugando. We were in luck! There was a house that had a ton of potential, and it wasn't very far from the area we liked! And a little cheaper! Here she is-
This was the first house we saw...
Big front patio, three french doors entering the living room for a super indoor/outdoor feel, a gorgeous stone wall and (non-functional, but pretty) fireplace, an open feel, plenty of windows, painted white, with a fun glossy white ceiling too! Tiles that aren't offensive. Nice big yard, and in the neighborhood we wanted- Kimihurura, which has tons of restaurants and things to do all in walking distance, while still feeling pretty calm and suburban. I loved it. But you can't just go with the first house you see, can you???? And the price was a little high. The bathrooms and kitchen weren't very nice. It's near a night club, so it could be loud. I think we were spoiled from here on though...
Then we saw this one!
This one was WAY over our budget, but the pictures drew us in. As you can see, it's really nice! The kitchen was finished, and open, and the house felt very new. The problem? While it was finished, none of the finishings were things I would have chosen. It was being rented as a furnished house, so the sectional and all were included. Even the dresser that blocked the bedroom door. Had to keep it. That cool patio room with the windows- looks great! But you step inside and the ceilings are only 6' tall. Patrick had to duck. The house was a mirage. It looks great on film, but it's just not what I would choose. Great kitchen and bathrooms, very clean and new. But I'm more of a fixer upper gal! Patrick wanted this one. He loved it. (at first) To him the important part of a home is clean new kitchen and bathrooms, and for me, I just figure I could make anything look good, and the older homes have more room for improvement, where the new ones have just been renovated, they wouldn't do it all over again.
Then we saw this guy.
He was definitely in our price range. And I did see some potential, but knew it would be a lot of work. Plus- all of that furniture had to stay too. And I didn't want any of it. The kitchen wasn't up to par for Patrick either. I did love the outside of the house, and the garage. It reminded me of a cool 70s Brady Bunch style house or something. :)
Then it was Christmas, and we were traveling to the US. We came back and made final touches on our village house. We were content for a while. Until the next round of houses we looked at in January. This time we focused only on houses in our price range in the neighborhood we preferred, Kimihurura... Which were a sad showing-
This one obviously needs a ton of work. But we (Patrick) liked that it had a basketball hoop. ;) They said they would do renovations, but we didn't ask the extent of renovations, assuming our ask would be too much, and we moved on. I think its still available though in Kimi and they'd be willing to do a lot of work! (If you need a house- I could definitely help out with re-designing this one!) There's also an avocado tree in the front yard. :)
We saw a couple more like this-
Most of these ones we saw had some really weird feature, or overly ornate something, or weird layout, dark interiors, hidden small kitchens, etc. We weren't feeling very lucky.
And then we visited that first house we saw again. It was still on the market!
The second time around, Patrick realized how much better this house was than its competition. The kitchen isn't SOOOOO bad is it? We discussed, and realized, we should probably go with this one! Yes! We decided!!! And then we went on our honeymoon for a while in February, and kept in touch with the realtor, committing that we wanted this one. When we came back- we had a meeting to sign the contract, we were all in! By the time we arrived- another couple had seen it, cash in hand, and the owners signed a contract, renting it to them. We lost it at the last second!😒
At first, I was ok, thinking well now we get to keep looking at houses, that is fun anyway! And then the more and more I talked to realtors and searched online, it seemed like there was nothing left in Kimihurura that we hadn't seen. I was starting to get really upset that the landlord gave away OUR house after we had agreed. I was trying everything... Until we heard about the other side of Kimihurura- Rugando. We were in luck! There was a house that had a ton of potential, and it wasn't very far from the area we liked! And a little cheaper! Here she is-
Beautiful right!? We were so excited. It needed a little work, but the owner was willing to clean it up for us. The view was amazing. It had an upstairs, and was right next to our favorite restaurant, Inka. We were all set! Until we heard the couple from the original house ended up backing out of their agreement, and the first one we saw was BACK ON THE MARKET. Now we were hurt by those landlords, and lied to, and they wouldn't negotiate or compromise on anything with us, and now we had this other option on the table that we mostly loved, and it was cheaper. We were SO confused. Two great options. We stalled for as long as possible to make a move, but eventually chose......
TUNE IN to the next blog to find out what we ended up doing! :) :) :)
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