The Villa & Househunting in DC

Mike and I have been in the same basement apartment which we fondly refer to as the villa for awhile now (5+ years!). It's a great apartment in that its affordable, in a great location, has parking, and a washer and dryer. It's not great in that it has terrible beige carpeting throughout, a teeny tiny kitchen, and... it's in a basement (well sort of). Sometimes when I walk into other peoples homes my delicate senses are stunned by how much natural light they have! Still when I talk to other people about their apartments in DC I am definitely grateful for our little nook.

Because we have such a great deal we don't want to leave our apt. til we find a house to buy. Unfortunately this is proving to be about as easy as winning the hunger games. We've been looking for almost a year, albeit really casually at first, and we still have no house to show for it. We've come so close (walked away after a terrible inspection, been outbid, etc.) a few times, but haven't quite been able to pin one down. I feel like we're getting closer though so hopefully soon I'll be able to make all my pinterest dreams a reality!

Also, seriously, who in DC owns all these crazy homes? I am astonished at home many multimillion dollar homes are on the market in DC.