Do we always want what we can't have?

Here it is, my dream house
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=7914692 right down to the front porch and I even love the corny star. Want to bet those are lilacs at the corners?

But there it is in Didsbury. Didsbury isn't that easy a commute in the winter. It's not shorter in the summer but definitely less stressful driving at that time of year. And Didsbury is in a pretty area. And has a drive in hamburger joint....and it's halfway to Red Deer.

It's like a tease. It was initially listed at $189,900. I requested the full listing and saw the nice lot size, the picket fence that would even keep my sucky gigantasaurus dog in, the big kitchen and the hardwood floors. What? You don't really see those things? Ok, so it's a project. Those of you who know me know I'm all about projects...sad, seemingly unredeemable projects even. I might be a sarcastic prairie girl with a tough exterior but somehow I'm an optimist-softie at heart.

Then we got snow last week on Tuesday - enough that the highways were inadvisable and I worked from home and realized that an extra 30 mins on the highways would be brutal on days like that. But then the listing price dropped 30k. And it was like I could see the refinished floors, new kitchen and furniture on the porch. I could smell the fresh country air. I could see the pickup in the driveway. Today we got rain and then snow. As if to say, "ok woman, if the snow wasn't enough to make you drop that pipedream take this!".

Of course the more the price drops and the mortgage rates drop the cheaper it would be to own - before renos. Except for this little problem with my mortgage penalty which gets larger the more rates drop. (Huge lesson learned here about mortgage contracts -do not agree to an Interest Rate Differential penalty.) For those of you in the prairies...large is not 2-3k...it's like 10-12k. In a market that has dropped back to what values were when I purchased this project house that's a problem. Especially since my equity was used in no small part to getting rid of the problem vehicle (yes, I once owned an Aztek and not only was it ugly, it had major engine issues that GM was crappy about) and getting rid of the problem ex who had unfixable issues and no warranty either. Most days I figure getting rid of both were well worth the expenses. (Lessons learned here about depreciable assets - cars and husbands have both been in this category for me and about not letting the man in your life pick your vehicle)

It's not practical. It's not wise. It's not new and modern and unlikely to have great resale. It may not even be remotely possible. But I still love that house.

How do we stop falling in love with what we can't have? Or do we follow our hearts and just get good at picking up the pieces when we have to?