Dear Diary,
What a beautiful day for house shopping! Clear and sunny and lovely- just the right weather to match my excited, hopeful mood...nervous too. I'm feeling pressure to find a house for me and the pups so we can really get settled into our new life here in Wisconsin. I have been reminding myself not to let that pressure push me into making an offer on a house I don't really really love.
Anyway, my Realtor had 5 houses lined up - most of which I asked to see, though he decided to throw one in that was just listed yesterday. House #1 was tiny... maybe "quaint" would be the term used in an ad... It had features that I liked, but I was worried that after getting me and the dogs in there... there wouldn't be much more room! I started to feel a little discouraged and wondered if I should really take some time to save more money so I could afford a larger, higher priced house. Houses 2 and 3... um, no thank you. House #3 or 4 (I don't remember anymore) was a big disappointment. Grrr.
Then there were the last 2 houses. Not bad. They were vacant and move-in ready, but both needed some work. My brother and I talked it out the whole way home and planned out what could be done to update a few things. They would both need to have fences put in... one kitchen definitely needs updated appliances... It was fun to start dreaming about new appliances and doing a tile backsplash and painting!
But I'm nervous. I could put in an offer on the house I like better but I'm nervous. Everyone says that you'll know when you walk in the house. You'll be able to picture yourself there. And Diary... I'm not sure I can picture myself in either house right now. I have that feeling that if I offer too soon, I'll be missing out on something better. I'm nervous that the house I like is priced at the higher end of my range AND needs a fence and appliances ... I mean, I could live with the appliances for a while, but I'm not sure I want to be without a fence for too long, especially with summer coming.
I think I will sleep on it...
XOXOXO
Heidi
Honey-Sweetened Spiced Peach Jam
4 days ago
2 comments:
We house shopped for about 1.5 years before we found "the one". We had lots to compare it to so that made it easier. It was the best we'd seen around even though it wasn't THE PERFECT DREAM HOUSE. And look 10.5 years later...we're still here. New houses are always going up. Your realtor should be working for you and on the hunt for your wish list items. You probably won't get them all, so keep that in mind. What's the most important things? What won't you compromise on? The rest is just details.
Umm... I didn't get that "THIS IS THE ONE!" feeling when I walked into our house. And you might not either. (I actually had an "I really like this house" feeling on a different house that was smaller, in a not that great location, and no yard...We were going to put in an offer but found out there already was an accepted offer. although we were disappointed at the time, we are glad we didn't take that house now.) When we looked at our house, I compared it to all the other houses I'd looked at in the same price range and realized, this was the nicest looking house, though it too needed updates. It had a lot of the things we were looking for, but not everything, thus, we had to compromise. I don't think any starter home is supposed to be your dream home...for most people anyways.
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