*sigh* It is only Thursday. I wish it were Friday -- did yesterday feel like Thursday to anyone else? I am looking forward to the weekend. We have plans to go out on Saturday with our realtor and look at 8 homes. I just found another that I think I want to go see but I have to clear it with J before sending it to my realtor. It has been really interesting to look at 10-12 photos of a place; get to that particular home and it looks so different. Pictures really are deceiving -- sometimes for the better – sometimes for the worst.
We made an offer on a home last weekend – I found out on Monday that the contract went to someone else. I guess the bright side to all three offers we have made is that we have heard back relatively quickly as to whether or not the seller is going to go with us.
I do feel discouraged though. I know the perfect house is out there just waiting for us to find it. Heck, the perfect house may not have hit the market yet. I have felt like all three were perfect – then again, each home has been better than the last. We’ll find it. I know we will. I’m just impatient. I know this is going to be a long process – especially because some of the homes are short sales. That doesn’t bother me though – I am all for waiting on the house if it is the perfect one I just want to FIND it. So clearly I am capable of patience but only under my terms and conditions haha!
It has been really interesting to learn about myself and what I look at first. Other than location, once I am sent a house to tell my agent if we want to go see it, the FIRST thing I look at is the kitchen. Yep – it’s true. The layout is next and finally, the dimensions of the rooms – especially the master. Here are some of the kitchens of homes I am currently wanting to go see:
Seriously – I tell J all the time that once we have a much nicer kitchen and DISHWASHER – yeah I am the dishwaher – I will be way more inclined to cook elaborate meals. We just have no space for anything and even less counter top to work on.
Seriously – I tell J all the time that once we have a much nicer kitchen and DISHWASHER – yeah I am the dishwaher – I will be way more inclined to cook elaborate meals. We just have no space for anything and even less counter top to work on.
I am excited about going to look at these homes though because they look a lot nicer than some of the other homes we were all set to see but as previously mentioned, looks are deceiving.
I look at the floors just to estimate the cost of upgrades vs the cost of the home. We are handy people – the home we are currently residing, J re-floored the entire home. So I am not worried about any additional work, I just don’t want to pay a ton for a home we will want to completely re-do. I’m a little tired of the whole thing even though I get excited – mostly because I get so attached. Then I got this crazy idea in my head that if I didn’t talk about it at all with anyone that we might get the house. Yeah…that’s the way it works. Pretty silly of me, yeah?
It seems in order to keep my sanity and that of my husband’s, I am just going to have to talk about it again. I know I make J crazy sometimes with keeping it all bottled up but I can’t help getting these crazy ridiculous thoughts in my head – like me talking about a particular home was going to help us win the contract! Haha So silly of me!
I look at the floors just to estimate the cost of upgrades vs the cost of the home. We are handy people – the home we are currently residing, J re-floored the entire home. So I am not worried about any additional work, I just don’t want to pay a ton for a home we will want to completely re-do. I’m a little tired of the whole thing even though I get excited – mostly because I get so attached. Then I got this crazy idea in my head that if I didn’t talk about it at all with anyone that we might get the house. Yeah…that’s the way it works. Pretty silly of me, yeah?
It seems in order to keep my sanity and that of my husband’s, I am just going to have to talk about it again. I know I make J crazy sometimes with keeping it all bottled up but I can’t help getting these crazy ridiculous thoughts in my head – like me talking about a particular home was going to help us win the contract! Haha So silly of me!
Alright – I have to get to work =)
What do you look at first in a home?
Oh, I wish it were Friday too! This week has dragged on...
ReplyDeleteI love love love kitchen #2!
good luck on the house hunting! hope you find the home of your dreams!
thats good that you're staying positive! the right one will come and that's so exciting!
ReplyDeletei love all those kitchens. i had to completely re-model my entire kitchen in my house so i totally understand you wanting the perfect one.
I look at the kitchen and floors too. Gotta have good things in those!
ReplyDeleteThose kitchens are so pretty! don't give up!
ReplyDeleteI'm like you Ashley, one of the first things I look at is the kitchen. It's the place I want in the best shape if that makes sense. Every other room would be easier to re-do if necessary but the kitchen is the one room I want to come in the way I want it. I'd say the top three things I look at are the outside appearance of the house, the kitchen and the layout of the home.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you're getting frustrated and impatient, but it's like you said - you'll find it. By the way, I LOVE that 2nd to last kitchen!
I like the 2nd photo of the kitchen you put up there :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm like you... I want a big kitchen :)
Oooh I love a BIG open kitchen like those in the pictures! How exciting!!! Keep us posted with the house hunting!!
ReplyDeleteThose are nice kitchens!!!! Home searching CAN be very tiring! I remember doing that with my ex boyfriend. I wish when we split up that I got his house, lol. I MUST have a nice kitchen since I will more than likely spend much time in there!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh. I am LOVING some of those kitchen layouts!! Loving #2 and #4! (counter space much?! Whee!)
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I aren't in the home buying phase of life yet; but that doesn't stop me from looking at picturse of condos etc on Realtor.com
For me? I'm all about curb appeal, and if it isn't a wow factor, what could I do to improve it? Second, I'm all about the kitchen. :) And I won't lie; I love cathedral ceilings -- makes the whole house feel huge.
I love the layouts of the those kitchens! Exactly something I want too, with the kitchen opening into the living room. I like large open floor plans like that.
ReplyDeletethe right house will pop up! and you will just know!
I LOVE the very last kitchen! It looks like it has the most counter space. I look at the kitchen first too-I love to cook and bake so it's an important room for me : )
ReplyDeleteWe are in the process of buying our first home together. I cook & bake all the time so for me the kitchen does it as well, there is no room to move in the kitchen we have now, 2 people can not fit in there, so i want a huge kitchen with lots of cupboards.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about the pictures of houses on the internet being so deceiving! You can usually tell if you won't like the house, but you can't tell if you will love it or not.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were looking for houses this time last year, it was square footage and bedrooms that I was looking for. I found that after owning a home for 10 years, the things we were looking for the second time around were so much different than the first time around.
We were much more interested in making sure we were on a street with kids and one with a cul de sac for the kids. Then having done so much work to update the last house, we wanted one we could move into without much work. We didn't even have to paint a single room when we moved in. Good luck! It's a fun, but stressful process.
Rachel
http://www.holy-craft.blogspot.com
I remember this part of our house hunting adventure. It's so tough to find something perfect, and then prioritizing what really matters to you. Hang in there, the perfect house is coming.. I promise!! :) For us, I looked for the size for a growing family, because we planned on staying there for a while. Little fixes didn't matter, it was the walls that mattered!
ReplyDeleteGood luck looking this weekend! It will all work out and then this will just be a distant memory some day! Hugs :)
ReplyDeleteHow did it go this time? I am praying that you guys find what you are looking for soon, I can't imagine how irritating the process can be if it gets dragged out! I am shocked at how many people are buying homes in FL!
ReplyDelete