April 21, 2010

Adventures in House Hunting...

The first time home buyer tax credit ends in a little over a week...and somehow, last week I got it in my brain that I wanted to start looking for houses. Yep, I'm a genius.


Given the oddities that I've seen in the past week, I decided that I should share my housing chuckles and horrors as I go through the process. :-)

I got the name of a good real estate agent from my friend last Thursday and Saturday I looked at my first two houses.

House 1: Cute house, fairly good condition, great location. Plus, the back yard is already fenced in and ready for the pups!!

This house had been on the market for 3 days when I went to the open house. I got there, and there were 50-60 people outside waiting for the seller's agent to arrive. We all wait our turn to wander through and the house pretty much looked as good as the online pictures. However, the seller didn't clean her house. At all. To the point where everyone had to hop over trash. The seller also stayed in the house - with her dogs while everyone was wandering through. I've never heard of that happening! Then I realize that one of the doors to the house goes through the bathroom. Yep, you heard that right... the bathroom has a door that leads to the backyard and driveway. I'd be afraid that someone was going to come visit me and walk in while I was peeing!! Then, the selling agent announces that they are only accepting offers submitted that day! Um, I like the house (despite it's oddities), but you want an offer now? Like now, now?

Bye-bye cute little house. If only I had started this whole process a month ago, you could have been mine!

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House 2: Big house. I was charmed by the prospect of owning an antique farmhouse....

Where to start? OK. This house had been unoccupied for a year and a half, which didn't do it any favors. There is sooo much potential for this house. Great corner lot, new carpeting & water tank. However, there was a lot wrong too. As in, it would need to be fixed before I could inhabit the house. The roof needs work, the electric isn't up to code, all the windows (ahem - 21 of them) need to be replaced, the back yard needs to be fenced in. And theres a bunch of fixes that would need to happen in the next few years too. The kitchen needs to be re-done (the refridgerator is in front of the window because there are three heating registers that prevent it from being anywhere else), you can see through the floor slats in the barn straight down to the basement, there's tons of over-growth in the yard to be cleared.

Bye-bye antique farm house. Unless the seller cuts the price by $50K, I can't buy the house AND do the repairs.

Fingers crossed, I see a few more houses this weekend.  :-)


13 comments:

  1. wow and I thought we'd seen it all when we were house hunting 2 years ago! lol that first house-unbelievable!!! and to think I worked my butt off to keep my house in "magazine cover" condition just for regular showings! I could have left my garbage laying around. ;-) lol

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  2. I bet it's all so fun!
    I love hearing the great/horror stories of each one! :)

    Can't wait for you to find your perfect little abode!

    :)

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  3. Househunting is something to me that always SEEMS like it would be fun, but then is actually a nightmare once I get into it.

    Agents and boyfriends/husbands get really sick of me. I just KNOW what I want when I see it, and I can't articulate it or explain. If a house just FEELS wrong, I can't do it.

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  4. That's great that you've started looking at houses!! Hope you find the right one for you!

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  5. Too bad you aren't in the Midwest, you could buy our house. We too decided to jump on the band wagon and put our house on the market 3 weeks ago. We actually stumbled upon a house in the neighborhood we LOVE and it was a great deal so we went for it, we close on June 25th, however, have to sell our current home first. Needless to say I have had a lot going on, therefore haven't been blogging very much! Good luck, you will find one, you are definitely in the right position.
    Oh yeah and 50-60 people waiting to go through an open house, I wish we are lucky if we get 7-10 in STL. :)

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  6. Sounds like fun! I hope you find something!

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  7. House hunting can be fun and not fun. We'll keep our paws crossed that we find the pawfect one for you.:)

    Love,
    Teddy Bear

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  8. Sounds like you are going to have interesting times ahead looking for a house!
    Good luck!
    Kisses and hugs
    Lorenza

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  9. What an adventure. If it doesn't feel right...it's not meant to be yours. Happy househunting!

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  10. Ahhh! All the joys of house hunting. Good luck finding the right one, Cole!...Christine

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  11. Oh my gosh I about died laughing over house 1. That would be scary having someone just "pop on in" during tinkle time. :)

    At least you're brave enough to look. I figure we'd get shot down. Perhaps in a few years I will have the guts to at least "peek" :) Best of luck finding what's perfect for you and the weens. :)

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  12. I guarantee that you will see a lot more bizarre things before this is all over! I do hope you find a house you love soon though.

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  13. We actually stumbled across a house and it seems to good to be true. So far we are on our way to getting the tax credit, however we are waiting for the title to come back free and clear... I hope you had luck!

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