Homeowners: How Picky Were You?

[scrapquitler]

How many houses did you look at before buying?

Stepdaughter and her fiancee have been living with DW and I since September 2017. He lost his job in a mass layoff in spring 2017 and a month later the bank where she works was going to be taken over by another bank and she was unsure whether they'd keep her on. So when their apartment lease was up we let them move in with us.

She kept her job and he was able to find another one in late 2017, albeit at a lesser salary. They started looking at houses in spring 2018 and they must have looked at 100 different ones since then. According to them something was wrong with every one. It will be their first house and apparently it must be absolutely perfect. It's not a problem having them here but I think they're just being too picky.

I found out yesterday they finally put in an offer and hopefully it will be accepted.

Back in 1989 I only looked at about 7 or 8 houses before finding mine.

We looked at about 10 houses.

I think if you look at 100 houses, you are being too picky. You are never going to find a house that is "Perfect" you are just setting yourself up for disappointment if you expect to find a house that is perfect.

 

[DebbieB]

I bought my townhouse in 2012. I had been watching the online sites for a couple years for townhouses in a large plan. All seemed to have things I didn't like until I saw one that was "perfect". That was early 2011, the price was out of my range. Came down a little but not enough. Taken off the market in fall 2011, I assumed it was sold. Early 2012, it came up again with a small price reduction. Keep watching it and it was reduced 2 more times. That's when I decided to go look at it, it was close to my range. Looked at it once, made an offer within 2 days.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

A DIS miracle!!!!

Kids' offer was accepted. I'm crossing my fingers that things go well. The house is vacant. They were pre-approved for a mortgage, so hopefully they can move out by Memorial Day.

 

[pixiedustedme]

How many houses did you look at before buying?

Stepdaughter and her fiancee have been living with DW and I since September 2017. He lost his job in a mass layoff in spring 2017 and a month later the bank where she works was going to be taken over by another bank and she was unsure whether they'd keep her on. So when their apartment lease was up we let them move in with us.

She kept her job and he was able to find another one in late 2017, albeit at a lesser salary. They started looking at houses in spring 2018 and they must have looked at 100 different ones since then. According to them something was wrong with every one. It will be their first house and apparently it must be absolutely perfect. It's not a problem having them here but I think they're just being too picky.

I found out yesterday they finally put in an offer and hopefully it will be accepted.

Back in 1989 I only looked at about 7 or 8 houses before finding mine.

I live in an extremely popular and overpriced city that is perpetually a sellers' market. I think we looked at 3 or 4 houses before putting in an offer. I was so happy to find a decent house in a decent neighborhood in my price range. There was no time to be picky.

 

[barkley]

A DIS miracle!!!!

Kids' offer was accepted. I'm crossing my fingers that things go well. The house is vacant. They were pre-approved for a mortgage, so hopefully they can move out by Memorial Day.

start 'helping out' by bringing home boxes so they can get stuff packed up b/c you don't want your home to become the storage center for stuff 'we just l don't know where to put right now/not sure if we want to keep it but don't want to get rid of it just yet'.


btw-CONGRATULATIONS!

 

[Julie's Haircut]

start 'helping out' by bringing home boxes so they can get stuff packed up b/c you don't want your home to become the storage center for stuff 'we just l don't know where to put right now/not sure if we want to keep it but don't want to get rid of it just yet'.


btw-CONGRATULATIONS!

Most of their stuff, like dishes, pots, books, sheets and towels, etc. is already in boxes and totes in the basement from when they moved in here from their apartment. Their living room and bedroom furniture is also down there. They put their TV, computer desk, and Play Station into the other spare bedroom, which is also the "cat room." Litter box, cat tower, and feeding area are in there. They also brought their cat. (4 in the house now.)

We expect them to remove ALL of their stuff when they move.

I'm one to talk. Some of my stuff was in my mother's basement for 20 years.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm one to talk. Some of my stuff was in my mother's basement for 20 years.

When my husband and I moved into our house my mom gave me about a month or so before it was "come get your crap" lol.

Apartment living never helped for storage and then the rental house we moved into and stayed in while our house was being built had zero storage so technically my husband and I had some of our stuff at our parents homes. All bets were off when we moved into our home that has ample storage and more bedrooms than needed (so those rooms can be used for storage lol).

 

[barkley]

When my husband and I moved into our house my mom gave me about a month or so before it was "come get your crap" lol.

Apartment living never helped for storage and then the rental house we moved into and stayed in while our house was being built had zero storage so technically my husband and I had some of our stuff at our parents homes. All bets were off when we moved into our home that has ample storage and more bedrooms than needed (so those rooms can be used for storage lol).

my mom just made a habit of packing up her car every time she came over so all the odds and ends we i had left at her place when i originally moved out as a young adult ended right back with me.

 

[clh2]

Back to the original question, when DH and I moved 4 years ago due to jobs, we rented a townhouse, prior to selling our house.

We looked online at every single house that hit our criteria, even drove past a few. We were ideally looking for a split ranch, with at least a 3 car garage. And, we wanted to downsize a little from the 2650 ft 2-story house we had been living in for 20+ years.

There were many we nixed, kitchen too small, no master bath, living rooms too small etc. we actually saw one house that was perfect on paper, but was a horrible layout.

The 2nd house we saw, 4 months after the first, was 90% perfect. Priced less than our budget. Bedrooms are all on one side of the house, but there is plenty of separation from master to any other rooms, due to the placement of bathrooms and the awesome master closet. The two downsides, the garage is “only a 3-car”, our old house had a 3.5 car, and I wish there was a different configuration for the laundry room. DH was out of town when I saw house, while I did consult DH, made offer for 4K over asking, with a deadline of 3pm the next day. And then, since DH was not really available to sign documents, I simply handled that too! The house has been built by an empty-nesting couple, who were moving due to health issues. It is a 2200 ft ranch, that checked off just about everything we wanted.

We love the house! And DH is glad I simply handled i, as the house came on the market as he was leaving for a trip.

 

[ronandannette]

We looked at about 10 houses.

I think if you look at 100 houses, you are being too picky. You are never going to find a house that is "Perfect" you are just setting yourself up for disappointment if you expect to find a house that is perfect.

And if you look at 100, the one(s) that were "close enough to perfect" are going to be sold to others very quickly. Funny how FOMO results in actually MO quite often.

A DIS miracle!!!!

Kids' offer was accepted. I'm crossing my fingers that things go well. The house is vacant. They were pre-approved for a mortgage, so hopefully they can move out by Memorial Day.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Home inspection report was positive. Everything else is in order.

Closing date is set for Friday, May 31.