Buying your first house is both exciting and nerve wracking. Home loans, approval, paper work, and the seemingly endless search can all be daunting, but is totally manageable. Today we went house hunting. Roger, me, and Xander (Emmah was with J) met Ariana and her mom to look at a few potential houses. Ariana’s mom is a seasoned home buyer so I really wanted her input on the houses and the questions we needed to ask.
The first house was beautiful 3 bed 2 bath, but there was a den that could easily be a fourth bedroom. The only downside was there was little yard. Yes the backyard was fenced in, and we could have a small (really small) garden, but there would be no room to expand. And it was in a really quite neighborhood. We’re not loud people, but at the same time my husband likes to shoot occasionally. There was also a small leak in the basement which was concerning.
The second house was fabulous! It was in the location we wanted, and had ample space for kids to play and whatever sized garden we wanted. It was a 3-4 bedroom, 1 and a half baths, and a full basement. The only downside, it was downwind from a dairy farm so occasionally there is a “fresh country air” smell – ha. Country air doesn’t bother me, but I can hear Emmah now. “Mommy it’s stinky.”
The third and fourth houses were busts. I liked the yard with house three (it had a small apple orchard), but that’s about it.
The last house we looked at was a large farm house. Wood floors, three levels, big yard, pretty wood work, but it needed some work. The kitchen had been gutted, the upstairs bathroom didn’t have a tub, the windows needed to be replaced, and the roof needed a little repair. That one was a for-sale-by-owner. We had talked to her before. That house would be absolutely wonderful, if we had an extra $30K laying around for renovations and 72 more hours in a week.
The entire house hunting experience had been wonderful…until we got there. She was nice the first time we had met her, eager to sell but not over pushy. This was not like that time. I’m sure she thought, as first time buyers, that it would be an easy sell. While it was priced to sell, it wouldn’t do anyone any good unless they had the reno budget. Once she realized we weren’t going to be buying she tried to convince us to buy any way she could. She was so pushy it was rude and she challenged everything Ariana’s mom said or asked.
After talking in circles for far too long I couldn’t stand it anyone. I put my foot down and said we didn’t want it. We left after that, laughing about how pushy she was, but we didn’t let her get us down. We’re going to keep looking, maybe make an offer on house two, but house hunting is kind of fun.
Free to Keep Breathing 