Posted on 09/29/2014 8:39:21 PM PDT by Califreak
Our family just started looking for a home to purchase.
Just curious.... How long did it take you to find the perfect house?
Our lender took two years.
We are finding something wrong with all of them.
Buying a home can be a difficult thing. I know some people that have bought sight unseen. Some did everything in an extremely short time. So your personality and needs and $ will determine what is right for you. We were living overseas in Germany and knew we would be retiring in about 3 years so we started to get serious in our search. We relied on the Internet to do our searching. We looked in FL as that’s where we thought we wanted to be. Our daughter was living in Jacksonville at the time. She was able to go view many places for us that we thought might be possibilities - that was very helpful (no, mom and dad, you don’t want “that” place). We went to a realtor that summer when we were home. This was just when the collapse in the housing market was beginning. We found a place we really like and made an offer. They would not budge on price and we were out of time. Disappointed we returned to Germany and began again to search for homes. Getting out and actually looking at places had really helped us to see what we wanted or could live with and - most importantly - what our amount of money could buy. That knowledge really helped us in our search that next year. The realtor we found then was also very, very helpful. We started looking in south Georgia as the homes there were more traditional in style than those in FL - and the prices seemed better. We found a place on-line and our daughter did the leg work for us again. She met a great realtor and that next summer we came home to “see” if that place was right for us. We looked at many, many other houses but finally decided on the place we had seen on-line. At that time it was more of a buyers’ market and that definitely helped us on the price. I gave all that history to say… don’t get discouraged. If you know you’re going to be in a place for a good while (10, 15, 20 yrs.) and can take your time, do so. A good realtor is a blessing. Ours was wonderful and we are very satisfied. Two years is a little long but not too unusual. Hope this helps some.
There’s no such thing as the perfect home but it took me 12 years and 2 previously purchased apartments until I bought my current abode from a private contractor.
It’s been nearly 10 years of contentment with what I have and THAT is the KEY to being happy - contentment with what you have.
Anyway, we built our own. Hubby had lots of experience with various construction jobs to work his way through college. He went to a college bookstore, and bought the architectural and other books needed and studied them.
Then we sketched our plan, and debated and negotiated and redrew the plans till we were happy with them. That took about 3 years as a part time project while we were saving money for a down payment.
Once we had the down-payment the loan was done within about a month. Hubby did most of the work alone. We were able to move in about 6 months after the basement was done. However, we have an all brick home, and he laid them all alone. That took about 2 years after we moved in.LOL
Where are you looking?
It is easier when the kids are long gone and it is just the husband and wife.
With kids, you want it all things for all ages. Nearing retirement, the urge to entertain to a certain standard is passing, the thing that are important to you as a couple take over and reality of the brevity of life simplifies the desires.
Just like a woman seeking the “perfect man”, you will NEVER EVER EVER EVER find the “perfect house”.
Find a house that has MOST of what you want, and adapt the rest of it to your desires.
You will live a wholly unfulfilled life looking for “perfect”. Life is what YOU make of what you have. Deal with reality, not some pie-in-the-sky perfection that will NEVER be there.
My gut says we’ll stumble on ours after a lengthy search.
Probably due to exhaustion.
LOL!
“We are finding something wrong with all of them.”
You’ll be looking for another two. And another two, and ....
Luckily for my wife I was out of town for most of the house-hunting years ago. She spent a week looking at homes in our area and price range. When I got back she showed me the house she liked, and then we started looking at others that she had also liked to some degree. After looking at another 4-5 houses it became apparent the first one was the “right” one.
The old rotted deck was replaced right away. A fourth bedroom six years after that. The crappy aluminum windows just got replaced 20 years later.
Yes. He communicates with us regularly and is great about following up and answering questions. We’ve dealt with several agrnts over the years and this guy is the best by far. I feel like he is really making an effort to really try and help us find something we like. Everyone else we ever dealt with tried to push things we didn’t want on us and were just kind of.... meh.
My dad was a builder way back when. Built his home, lived in it, built another, etc.
The one most of us kids grew up and he died in was nice, but... “I always wished I had made the dining room 18-inches wider, etc.” And every so often a “I miss the sunroom we had on 45th Street.”
Although once the technology caught up, he was finally able to deal with the high water-table making the basement damp in spots during the spring.
In the burbs of the SF Bay Area
We’re very happy with our agent so far. I think to avoid going on too many tangents here we will have to be much more specific than we are.
The guy is working hard to help us and I don’t want to waste our time or his.
We’re just getting started and just really getting to see what’s out there. Trying to be more open minded is really getting to be a disappointment.
There aren’t a lot of homes in our range that have decent sized bedrooms. A lot of the housing here is new which are either McMansions or two stories with dinky bedrooms. The houses we prefer in our area were built in the fifties.
I think we’ll just have to hang in there and hold out even if it takes a couple of years
It’s all great when you see a beautiful place in your range until you remember how much stuff everyone has and whip out the tape measure
A big garage is an absolute must for us. My husband and I are both fairly handy. We can’t do major renovations but we can do reasonable repairs some plumbing and enough to at least keep it from falling down around us. Need enough space for an SUV, toolbox, air compressor camping stuff and gardening stuff plus washer and dryer unless they’re in the house.
I do a lot of the house stuff because I’m not working right now(unclogged a shower drain while he was at work(he’s a mechanic)so he wouldn’t have to fool with it. I fix everything I possibly can sincd he’s the only moneymaker ATM.
Quit looking for a while until surgery was over. Wanted to make sure I could still speak properly and didn’t have cancer so I can commit to a job if and when I find it.
Yes, it will be easier after the kids have aged out. One is almost yhere and we havd at least five years on the other.
We ard in our fifties so have a bit of time before retirement. Used to look at going out of state to try and escape crazy lefties, muslims and thugs but now it’s all about getting the biggest bang for the buck since they’re defecating in ALL 50 states by now.
: (
You’re so right. But regarding our house, that’s easy to say. We really didn’t like any of the houses or neighborhoods our realtor was showing us, then husband’s boss said that the house across the street from them was for sale & we should look at it. We fell in love. I never dreamed I’d have a house like this (it was the kind of house my parents would have, but on a smaller scale.)
We’ve made some changes, but nearly 20 years later, it’s still love. It’s perfect for us.
Building a house like this would have cost more than double what we paid for it.
one day and thirty five years later we are still in our perfect home...and enjoy it more every day. Oh...p.s.
We prayed. When Yahweh is in it He knows exactly where He wants you to move...ask Him.
I have a bunch of uncles on my mom’s side of the family that operated like that. They built beatiful homes. One of them was a perfectionist bricklayer and he would work 8 hours laying brick then 8 more hours minimum for a couple of years building his home. IIRC people thought it was weird that he had bricks inside AND outside. But the house he built was absolutely beautiful! Don’t know how my Aunt stood working in that cliset of a kitchen she had. I think maybe it was kind of a “woman cave” that she would ditch everyone in under the pretense of cooking. : )
Kind of like men will hide in the crapper for a little piece and quiet sometimes may e. Who knows? : )
at the grocery stores there should be a rack of free real estate mags. Those are helpful. Also check for established builders websites. They might have a listing of all their homes. Finally most major real estate agencies have websites which have homes they are listing.
if you’re looking for big garages the above suggestions will help you alot if you research yourself.
Yes. We should pray about it. I always had a hard time asking for things though. Which thing should I buy? He takes such good care of us that I hate asking for anything unless someone is sick or going through some other kind of ordeal. Sometimes I only really want to say thank you. He knows our needs and how thankful we are.
I will pray that he helps us make a good decision. When I walk through a house sometimes my gut churns and my nose itches. Don’t know if that’s the still small voice or just signs of a rodent infestation.
It could be both.
Far as I know, there is no such thing....
It’s impossible to agree on everything, even if you build your own.
The fact is, “They ride up with wear” to quote a British sitcom. What does not suit you, you remodel. And what you remodel changes over time as you and your spouses needs and wants change.
So there is really no perfect house, or perfect town or city or location..because there is no human condition that does not change over time.
If you are not willing to build, and most first time home shoppers are not, or not even qualified to do so, you find the house that has fewer compromises to make within your time frame.
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