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House Hunting: A Shopping Nightmare

shopping

After Will and I found out about our new addition coming this August, we decided to get more serious about house shopping, which we’ve been talking about for a while. And it is hard.

I hate shopping anyways. I like the getting of the new things part of shopping, I hate the searching and trying on and not fitting and terrible dressing rooms of shopping. And I think these things also apply to house hunting.

Our eyes are bigger than our budget. I know this is our first house and we don’t need EVERYTHING we want in our first house, but then when we’re looking it’s like if we’re going to go this far in debt, and pay twice what the house is worth by the end of a loan, then we better like it, right?

I am not good at envisioning my things in someone else’s house. I know things can easily be repainted, but I can’t envision it when I’m looking at scuffed up walls and dirty trim. And dirty bathtubs and carpet. Ew. I just feel like I could never feel clean in some of these places, when really all they need is to be cleaned…and maybe some carpet needs to be replaced.

We have been looking for about a month now and we’ve already looked at about 20 houses. It’s exhausting. 1-2 times a week we meet with our realtor and drive all over the city just to be disappointed. Even when we aren’t disappointed, I’ve learned we will be.

The first house I really liked we put an offer in on, and then the sellers weren’t willing to come down AT ALL. So we walked away. The second house I really LOVED (and made me feel like walking away from the first one was a good decision) became a disappointment when the sellers accepted an offer at the same time we were getting ours together after just 3 days of being on the market. We didn’t even get a chance. Today we found another house that I was starting to get excited about. We made plans to go look at it tomorrow…and we just found out it has a contract on it.

It’s so frustrating. I’m more of an “awesome, we love it, let’s buy it!” type of shopper, but it’s not that easy, because actually someone else is buying them first. We aren’t getting to anything in time even though we spend all our free time checking for new houses. Our realtor said that the average house shopper looks at 50 houses. FIFTY????!!!! That is crazy. We aren’t even halfway there yet if we are the average shoppers. And if we’re the above average shoppers, I will lose my mind.

A few more weeks of this and I will be a renter for life.

So please tell me your encouraging house shopping stories and that we are not the only people who struggle with this?!

Author

Julie

Thursday 5th of February 2015

We made offers on 3 houses before we finally bought ours and it's perfect! Also, the house we are in now is one that we originally had our realtor call about to see if they would accept less and they said no. She checked back later (6 months though, at least) and they ended up taking less than what we would have been willing to pay :) You can do it!!! It sucks sometimes and can be super depressing when some of the photos make houses look WAY nicer than what they really are. My house actually didn't look nearly as good in photos as it did in real life though so keep your options open!

Sorry for the novel :) Good luck!

Kala

Friday 6th of February 2015

We have put in offers on 2 now and missed out on the dream house but technically we hadn't submitted the offer for that one yet. How nice that she checked back! Someday we will have a good experience with the process and then we will have a home. And I like your home alot too :)

Jenna

Wednesday 4th of February 2015

Stay positive and keep your chin up. You'll find the perfect "starter home" and will someday move onto your dream home with everything on your list.

Kala

Friday 6th of February 2015

I hope so! By the next time you visit we should have everything worked out :) Fingers crossed!

Mae

Wednesday 4th of February 2015

Oh man, K and I were looking at houses not to long ago and it was so frustrating. We ended up giving up and decided it just wasn't the right time for us. I wish you guys luck and that you find the perfect place soon!

Kala

Friday 6th of February 2015

If we didn't have this baby coming I would be re-signing the lease on our one-bedroom apartment for another year. However there is no way we'd have room for all the baby stuff. If nothing works out soon I'll be looking for a house to rent next though lol. I am just so much more comfortable with renting.

Laura

Wednesday 4th of February 2015

Buying a house so stressful! My husband and I bought our first house two years ago. The very first house we stepped into was "the one". Unfortunately, similar to your situation, someone else got their contract in while we were working on ours. We were absolutely devastated. We took that as a sign that it wasn't "the one" and tried to moved on. About 40 houses, a ridiculous amount of stress, no perfect house, and six weeks later...the contract fell through for that first house and we were able to jump in and buy it! While I'm sure the odds are not high of this happening in other situations, my husband and I learned a lot about ourselves as individuals and as a couple. Many nights I would sit and cry. I was physically and emotionally drained from the process. Just know that when you find the house and it officially becomes yours, it is so worth all of the stress and tears! Don't give up!

Kala

Friday 6th of February 2015

Omgosh I did not need to hear that story! I've been thinking of ways I can sabotage their contract so it will fall through. I've been unsuccessful at coming up with anything legal. Booo! I will try not to let this story get my hopes up but I'm so glad it worked out for you guys! We put an offer in on yet another house earlier this week and we're STILL WAITING to come to an agreement/find out if they're accept our counter offer. #stillstressful