That's right, we have started the house hunt! Our budget is pretty low, so the few condos we looked at today weren't in perfect shape to say the least. One of them literally had all of the paint peeling off the bathroom walls and ceiling. Another was faux painted EVERYWHERE! One was definitely owned by some dudes before because there was wiring everywhere in the house. All of them needed new carpet and some needed more paint than others. Chad felt pretty discouraged by the end. I wasn't so much, I just thought we would have a lot of projects ahead of us. We are going to wait a while and see what else comes up. Hopefully more in our price range and without a bedroom downstairs. I am hoping that Chad will get excited soon, but I know he likes things to be perfect and not have to do any of the work. One day, when we have money, I know he will buy us a house that will need no work whatsoever. That is his idea of the perfect house. I just hope I can find one that will be good for our family and that I can make our own. I hope I can walk into one and just feel at home. For those of you that own your home, when did you know that you wanted to buy it? What made it different from the others? I just want to make a good choice for our first home!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
A hunting we will go...
The latest by The Trotter Family at 1:49 PM
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You're looking???? I LOVE looking at houses - I'm so jealous! I'm excited for you guys! I had no idea! And don't be afraid of having to do repairs, oh goodness, a badly needed paint job should look like money dripping off the walls. Okay, slight exaggeration. But really, our realtors have told us they have had several buyers look at a house, and even though it may have everything they wanted, they didn't want it b/c they didn't like the paint colors. That's a bit crazy. It takes a little imagination, but just focus on the size of the room, the layout of the house, the neighborhood, potential curb appeal, and watch for any badly needed repairs. Then look completely past paint colors, dirt, weeds, and things like bad hardware or whatever. Just stay focused on the essentials. And then we started making notes - after looking at so many it got hard to remember which was which.
And you asked how we knew we found the house we wanted? We prayed a lot a lot a lot, and we started making offers like crazy, and then took the first one we got felt good about (and one of the few we got accepted on). Seriously, we would drive past a house and could size it up in a matter of moments (from the curb appeal, the stats on the house - like sq footage and stuff - and the neighborhood) then we would make an offer. I'm not even kidding. There were houses we didn't even go through that we placed offers on. They all look the same when you're trying to stay w/in a certain price range that it stopped mattering to us little details that we cared a LOT about in the beginning. We were really humbled, let me tell you! You start realizing the core things you want in a house and stick to those.
Also, I found it REALLY helpful to find out what the final accepted offer was on a house we also placed an offer on. I could go on and on about the market here, but suffice it to say it's a tad crazy. There would be like 20 or 30 offers on some houses. (Maybe that was just our price range, who knows) but when we found out what the actual accepted offers were then we could better gauge what we should offer. We started off low-balling, but then realized that wasn't working. We actually offered quite a bit over the asking price on our home, and people who aren't looking for a house right thought we were CRAZY, but little did they know that was (and is) the norm (at least from the several we followed).
I'm realizing as I'm writing this maybe we won't have the same exp - I think we want 2 separate things (Paul wanted a fixer-upper and Chad doesn't), and you're in Ca and I'm in Az, but still, I hope this helped a little bit!
And I apologize for the loooong essay. But you're one of my best friends, so I don't worry about you thinking less of me. :) Ha ha. Love ya Rach. And good luck!! Keep me posted!
Buying a house feels like a huge, monumental, decision. Our house was the third one we had put an offer on. It's hard to say what makes you think it's the right one. Our realtor had the 2 of us write the top ten things we want in a house. We compared lists after we had narrowed it down to the top 5. It helped us both see what we wanted. At the end of the day we bought a house built in 55 and renovated in 75. We had a lot of project opportunity, but the rooms were the right size. The layout flowed. I could imagine having people over. Oh, and the master bath was attached. But, in hindsight, it wasn't the house I pictured when I set out to find THE house. I've also come to the reality that it's not the ONLY house we'll ever buy. We will upgrade when we can, but at least we aren't throwing our money away. We're earning quity...thank goodness! And as much as projects can sometimes lag and be tedious, they make the house really feel like yours. Good luck. It took us a while. Don't rush it, and don't feel pressure to buy something you don't want. But I can definitely vouge for the fact, that it is rare to buy your dream house 1st round out. Even though I think most of us thought we would.
I second all of what Kristin said & be sure to pay attention to the home inspection report. It's pretty easy to fix superficial things with a house, but if it has probs with piping or air conditioning it can be too pricey. We didn't really plan on buying our 1st house. I mentioned that it was the least horrible & the realtor handed us papers to sign. I was pretty overwhelmed & we did go check out the house again to be sure we wanted to go through with it. I guess we're lucky that we got the first house we made an offer on & it was on the market less than a month before we accepted the final offer to sell it. We made sure to get one with bigger square footage even though it needed more work. Good luck finding a good home for your family!!!
We cheated- we bought brand new in Vegas. We looked at a ton of repos and short sales (because our budget was pretty small too) but we kept being out-bid by investors with cash...if that is any hint to how low our budget was ;) Thankfully, in Vegas there are a ton of new builds. That took away the stress of waiting to be outbid and all, but then we got to wait. We knew our home was the perfect starter home- mostly because my sweet husband said it was exactly what he had picture. We lucked out with a bunch of pre-selected upgrades and everything.
The whole process gets a bit frustrating and hairy once it's down to the nitty-gritty but it sure is a good feeling to own where you live :) I hope you guys have a great realtor on your side and do be aware of the comps in the area and shop lenders when the time comes. The rates, fees, etc will vary and that was probably more stressful to me than finding the house!!
Hope to see pictures of YOUR place soon.
that is exciting news. We will be in the same boat when we start looking at the end of this year, low budget=extra projects. But you know you really appreciate it that way right? good luck
We need to chat and make sure we're not outbidding one another on a house! Can you imagine?!? Best of luck to you two... and I love the "make a list" idea. Something Nick and I have discovered is that sometimes there are things that you didn't know were important to you, or things you didn't know you didn't want. For example, I didn't think I would mind a second story place, but after we saw a few and I thought about lugging a baby and baby gear up and down every day, I took second story places off our list. Can't wait to hear about your adventures!
So I thought you guys owned the house you are living in. I guess I'm completely confused about your living situation now and what you're looking for. Ben and I have bought 2 houses, sold one, and are looking to buy a new one and sell ours again.
I tend to stay away from houses that need major work, which includes replacing carpet throughout the house etc... Life is too busy with both of us working and spending as much time with the kids as we can. I find that the newer it is, that USUALLY the better condition it is in. But, once you start looking at lots of places, you'll know what you really want. I wish you the best of luck!
Fun, and no fun all at the same time. GOOD luck!! Kristyn sounds like your ultimate resource for this one. We looked for a while, but reality (mostly baby expenses and Irvine's expense in general)came crashing down, and we're in the renter's bug for a while now. :) Best of luck!
yeah! that's so exciting! congratulations on the house hunt! I hope you find something!!!
Here is my advice and it is HARD to swallow but we are still not living in our dream home. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE my house and am grateful but things bug me about the floor plan and we back up to La Paz traffic. With our first condo, we went into it knowing it was just going to be a starting point and we just did it to make money and climb the ladder. Of course things are different now with the market but remind Chad that it will not be a forever home. Also, you will know when you walk into a place if its the one. With every place Bryan and I have both felt a common feeling of peace about making an offer. Good Luck, don't get discouraged and keep us posted!!!
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