We’ve been in the throws of house hunting for a few months now and all I can say is it’s a huge pain in the butt.
Now I realize that this is one of those first world problems and that I am very lucky to be able to afford to buy a home and yada yada. But I would just like to say that house hunting is not a fun as everyone painted it to be.
Ever since our wedding was over, we have been dreaming about the day we could start searching for a house. And now that we have started searching, I dream of the day when the searching will be over.
I spend every day scouring the internet for new or reduced price homes for sale and setting up tours for our weekends. The weekends are then spent driving around from house to house as we gradually become more and more disappointed. And why are we so disappointed?
Well, inventory now is absolutely pitiful. I would say 75% of the houses we’ve seen are foreclosed vacant homes (that have mostly been trashed or neglected and need a lot of work) and the other 25% are utterly overpriced nonsense.
Most of the overpriced homes were bought in the thick of the real estate boom and now that the bubble has burst homeowners are still looking to sell their home for the same price that they purchased it. On the other hand, the older homes that we’ve seen are just as overpriced because they require A LOT of updating. And for some reason, homeowners seem to think that these homes should be priced at the same level as newer homes.
We’ve actually gotten so fed up with the lackluster real estate inventory in our area that we’ve decided to start look at to be built homes (which I was totally against in the beginning). They actually seem to be more reasonably priced, which makes sense considering the builders probably purchased the land sometime after the market crashed.
But even that hasn’t been panning out so well. Most of the new to be built homes aren’t in the nicest of school districts. And if they are, they are way out of our price range. I guess you can’t really have it all?
So while we were hoping to move by the end of this year, it looks like that will be a long shot. But at least when we find the one, we can truly say that we’ve seen all that there is to offer 
And now my house hunting whining is over…for today anyway.
Was your home search frustrating or fun?
Anybody else disappointed with the still incredibly overpriced real estate market?
Follow our newlywed journey through love, laughter and happily ever after. I'm Mr. Adam's best friend, a wedding fanatic, a health food nut, a yoga fiend, an arts & crafts-ers, a DIY-er, a wannabe world traveller, a pinterest addict and a Jesus lover. I hope you enjoy our wedding/newlywed/travel/food/healthy living/crafting adventures.
So there are probably some really nice houses in Towson. I know there are good schools
I still think you should go in with us on a McMansion
I did some house hunting briefly before I decided to use the money to move to California next year and go back to school. If I were in your shoes, I would take an older house in a great school district. Since you don’t have kids yet, you can take your time making updates over the next couple of years. One of the reasons people ask a lot for older houses is because they’re generally better built than newer ones. I work in the construction industry and have spent a lot of time on new housing job sites, and lots of corners are cut. The newer developments charge a lot for a subprime product due to demand. I wouldn’t buy a house in the DC area that was younger than 20 years. With my experience, I would be terrified to see the quality of these newer homes.
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That is exactly my concern about new homes. I think my hubby has a hard time justifying paying so much for an older home that needs a lot of updating. And I do too. What makes it difficult is the fact that we like open layouts which are very difficult to find in older homes. Guess we have to pick the lesser of two evils?
The good news is, the longer you look, the more money you can save to put down a bigger down payment/buy new furniture/etc. Patience is a virtue! Good luck, I really do think you’ll find the right place, it will just take time.
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That’s very true. Thanks for the well wishes!
You hit the nail on the head…we just bought our first home in June and it was AGONIZING. We are so in love with our house now, but the process to find it took a lot of stress and time. What part of the country are you in? We are in Southern California—can you say overpriced much??? Don’t give up though…we were a stickler for buying in the best public school districts too, and found a wonderful little house with everything we want. There are those gems out there!
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We are looking in the suburbs of DC, which isn’t much better. We have wavered a few times about the school districts (areas that have a good elementary school but bad middle or high). But I don’t want to be forced to move in a certain timeframe. So glad that your story turned out well. It gives me hope
Don’t get discouraged! Like you said, people paint this pretty picture but it is horrible. However, you WILL get lucky. We closed on our house three days after Christmas last year because it was one that we just instantly fell in love with. We had searched and searched for months, then this baby popped up and after negotiations of about a week, it was a done deal. The only advice I have is to compromise, but don’t settle. Your dream house, whether it be your forever or an interim home, IS out there and you’ll stumble upon it, even if it takes time…
Isn’t the searching the worst? I guess I’m just way too impatient for my own good. It’s nice to know that other people’s stories have a happy ending though.
I would love to have your problem. We also would love an older home that needs work, so much potential!
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[...] you haven’t noticed from this week’s posts, I’ve been in a little funk—from our disappointing house hunting search to my struggle with my exercise envy. When I get into a life funk, I generally find that they [...]