The Great House Hunt Begins!!!

So we went to our first open house today.  It was only about a mile away, so we only had to postpone Daniel's nap by about half an hour to see it.  The kids had a great time running all over and choosing which bedroom would have been theirs.  It was a 5 bedroom house -- 4 beds upstairs, 3 full baths, one half bath in the basement, 2 fireplaces, a sun room (perfect for homeschooling!), an in-law suite (complete with separate entrance)...  the thing seemed HUGE to me as I was walking through it.  At first I totally dismissed it as way too much house for us -- so many floors to clean! -- but after we left I got to thinking about all the ways I could utilize so much space.  A library!  A sewing room!  A man cave!  A secret hideout!  (There was a darling tiny room upstairs -- only 7 x 6 -- with an octagonal window.  Basically a large walk-in closet with a window.  But oh, the possibilities!)  The tour prompted a good discussion with Mr. Pickles about how much house we each consider reasonable.

Several houses have come on the market in the last few days, so I've been scrolling through the possibilities and dreaming.  I found a wreck of a house that's selling for about the same as what our house is worth.  It's labeled an "investor opportunity" and I can only say that the pictures are brutally honest.  But!  It's about 1/3 of a mile from the bus stop on The Bus Route of Happiness, plus walking distance to our pool.  And there's something in me that relishes the challenge of taking an ugly house and beautifying it.  I actually enjoy housecleaning.  (Tidying, not so much.)  This would be like housecleaning on crack.  I almost want to take a look at the inside to see just how bad it is.  I figure as long as there isn't any mold or major plaster work to be done -- if we only had to replace flooring and repaint, maybe a couple appliances -- it might almost be worth it.

Please talk me out of it.