Home Buying Process Part 1: Deciding what you want

Finding a home (in the country especially) is a process.  For us, it's been a 4 year process and we are still unable to buy what want in the area that we want.  We can find homes outside of our area pretty easily, but within our area it's been a challenge.  These next few posts will detail the steps we've taken in trying to secure our dream home and the ones you'll most likely need to take as well.  If you are looking to buy in the city, well, this should go a lot faster for you.  Our suburbia home took just a couple of weeks to find as did most of our friends' city/suburbia homes.  It's the country homes that you have to brace yourself for the long haul.

Step 1: Decide on the type of home you'd like, the location, and what features you desire and need

For us this was simple-or so we thought.  After 4 years of searching we've revised our list several times, but the main idea is still the same.  In short order, we want a home that has good bones but doesn't need to be completely gutted.  We don't mind putting in some sweat equity, but we are not willing to completely renovate the entire house (yet-ask us again if we are still searching in 5 years).  Hubby thinks that if we have to completely renovate down to the studs in every room, we might as well have built a home with all our specs and not have to deal with any other "old age" issues.  We'd like a 1,500 to 3,000 sq. ft. home with no neighbors directly bordering the property within 40 minutes of each of our jobs.  Herein lies the challenge.  Apparently homes are magnets. When one home is built in the middle of nowhere others just start popping up around it.  To further complicate matters, we work in somewhat opposite directions. So we don't get to use that circle that most people use, we have a fat rectangular line.  We'd like to have between 5-20 acres; see we are flexible!  Hubby wants a large pole barn for his mechanical exploits; I'd like one for animals, but we both realize this is something that we could build.  We're willing to spend somewhere around $200,000 dollars because we know that's probably close to what it will cost to get most of what we want, but we'd rather spend closer to the $150,000 range simply because who wants a big mortgage!  Not us!

Now here's where it gets interesting.  Hubby desires something that's more modern.  If the house is less than 15 years old, he'd love that.  He also likes more sterile modern furnishings.  I on the other hand am a connoisseur of history.  The older it is, the more likely I'll love it.  The more intricate the details, you guessed it, the more likely I'll love it.  Does it look like it's straight out of the 1800s?  Be still my heart! Needless to say, every home viewing is an adventure for our polar opposite desires and we have to remind ourselves that we can change the looks and their ugly decorations are not staying.

So, desires and needs are two very separate things.  Desires are the things that we will say "eh...we can make that happen" whereas needs are the "oh....it doesn't have this; forget about it." For example, we looked at a home that had a bad foundation-NOPE! Not gonna touch that with a 10 ft pole.  Oh, you say you fixed that yourself. Good for you, but I still don't trust your sketchy solution.  We also looked at a "newer" home that had mold (and lots of it) in the attic and basement as well as a variety of other issues.  We could tell that cause of the mold issues were far more extensive than either one of us wanted to tackle.  I mean we're adventurous, but we're not dumb!  (Side note: someone else did buy the moldy house.  Two months later, they put it back on the market and a year and a half later it still hasn't sold again!)

Now if we come across a house happens to be move-in ready, have a two car attached garage, a large pole barn, 20 acres and in our price range would we be okay with that? Absolutely.  However, we realize that the likelihood of that happening is next to nothing.

To summarize, make a list of "must haves" and "would be nices," but also have a list of issues and if they come up, you always walk away as difficult as it might be.

Below are some homes that I think are adorable-be sure to put on your spectacles to read my adorations for each!  Despite the fact they are dreamy, they are not in ready supply.  So, as long as it has good bones and is in a convenient location, we're game.  Also, some of these homes would be out of our league.  In my next post, I'll detail the fun important topic of financing.