House Hunting

We are moving - someday, hopefully soon. Within the same town but something of our very own.  We have been renting for 7 years as we waited to decide if this was a permanent arrangement (living in the states instead of canada). Well, we are here for good and are finally ready to buy!!! Yeah - huge dolphin claps. I like our rental house but the list of things that need to be fixed is long and expensive, so even though we could probably get it fairly cheaply and even though we love the yard and neighbors we are house hunting!!
I went out today for the first time with our real estate agent. Soooo exciting. I could have moved into either of the two houses I saw.

This is the view from the upstairs looking down into the family room. Kitchen and eating area to the right

This is the kitchen: the range hood is not shown over the stove but is very modern - my DH loves to cook and I love to bake. The kitchen is the single most important room in the house to us.

There is an eating nook to the right so I don't know what this area would be called. (how do I add arrows Draz? you do this all the time)  This pic is looking out across the kitchen sink. The  fireplace in the other picture was to the left.
This house is brandspanking new!!! They were laying the carpet as we walked about. Its already sold but another one, exactly the same is going in right next door and could be finished by September! That means we could make small changes to things to customize it just for us!! The backyard is not quite what we're looking for, so I don't think it will fly but I LOVE these rooms. Unfortunately the $ is not really negotiable.

This is the other house - cool curb appeal huh?! Over the garage to the right is an extra room. There are already 5 bedrooms!!  Each person can have their own room and playroom including hubby and me!

  (crap that means I have to clean each room)

This is the only part that won't work. The kitchen is shut off from the rest of the house. We like to be able to cook and entertain and see the family room from the kitchen. I'd love to move the staircase that closes in the kitchen 180 degrees and open it up more but I suspect it is a load bearing wall and I probably can't do that without the house coming down on me. The best thing about this house though is that it is a short sale so we could definitely haggle about the price.
I hate waiting to see what houses come on the market next but its so exciting to find THE house for our family.

What's your favorite room in your house? Happy Tuesday lovelies!!