So H surprised me last night by coming home from working out of town (YAY!). So we went to do a drive by of that house to see if we wanted to take things further and to look at another house we saw online (he also took me out to lunch YAY!).
The first house was a 2 bedroom which is not ideal as we're looking for a 3. However H has this "starter house" idea in his head. The reason we looked is that the house was in move-in-and-not-have-to-paint-a-darn-thing condition with a big fenced in yard. We checked it out and it was WAY off the street down a shared dirt path/drive way and kind of on a hill so the fencing was being supported by wood beams (I wish I could have taken a picture). It had no curb appeal (which is big for me. What can I say, I married H for his personality but I want to marry a house for it's looks.) and if the fencing was half-@$$ed, what else was?
The second house (the one I posted about yesterday) was in an okay, but slighty iffy, neighborhood, but had no yard. The photos online made it look like it had a small yard, but it didn't even have that. I'm not sure I could have layed down and made a snow angel, it was so small. This is a big deal for us as we have a dog and one day I want to be able to yell at my kids to go outside and play.
So back to the drawing board. Which is fine, but I'm still a little bummed. I just really want to be a homeowner. Oh well.
Re: houses suck
i'm sorry, that's such a bummer
but you'll find something awesome eventually! and you're not even technically looking yet, right? :-P
if it makes you feel any better, it took me months to find my house and my realtor took me to about 30 different houses. i put an offer on 3 different houses. one house i waited for over a month to find out that they (the bank, it was a short sale) lost my paperwork and in the mean-time it had gone into forclosure and i would have to re-submit my paperwork. my realtor and i were both like 'f it, let's move on'.
i love the house i ended up getting, i did a lot of work on it and learned a lot, but ended up moving to CO and now there are renters in it
kind of a sad ending, but you know... sh*t happens. :-P
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I was going to say this! So keep fighting the good fight for the 3BR you want - I feel like it is soo much harder to re-sell a 2BR, I'd never buy one unless I planned on dying in the house. Keep your chin up, it'll work out eventually!
MH also loves the idea of a starter home. Well, he loved it until I set him straight, haha.
Here's the thing, the housing market sucks right now. It's pretty likely that in the next 5-10 years, it'll get better. But the thing is, it could totally get worse. A lot worse. And in 5-10 years, you'll still owe more than the house is worth if the market nose dives again. That is not comforting to me and is one of the huge reasons we aren't going to but for the next few years unless the market has a huge upswing quickly.
You guys will find something you love. Keep your head up
Sorry you're having a hard time
I agree with not getting a "starter home" though.
When DH (my FI back then) and I were shopping for a house, I wish someone told me how much the process sucked. It was so hard and frustrating. It was SO worth it in the end, but just know that what you're feeling is normal!
Keep your chin up bpphoto785. Stick to what you both really want and don't settle for what you think you have to have right now. If you have just started, trust me, there is a lot more drama to come your way. Keep looking for houses and if it means that you need to wait a couple of more years to save up for the house in the area that you want, do that. I fully recommend that.
H and I bought our house 7 years ago and are actually signing refinancing paperwork today to pay it off earlier. We LOVE our house, but honestly, our neighbors leave so much to be desired! If we could just move our house to a different area, I think we would. We live in a neighborhood of lookyloos and busybodies that have nothing better to do then see what you are doing and make judgements. These are things that you learn after you move in unfortunately. We just thought it was a lovely neighborhood and were so looking forward to our own and not rent anymore.
Stick to what you both want and hang in there. The right house is out there for you, but patience is definately your best friend in this situation.