When looking for a house....

In August 2006 Ty and I started looking for a house, we had a wonderful real estate agent helping us and after seeing about 8 houses we found the one we currently live in, this is what I learned from house hunting;

1) I think I can solve any problem a house has, I believe that I can make any house beautiful; forget that little roof issue or what appears to be a foundation built on randomly placed logs, I could make this place SHINE! Thank GOD for sane, level headed Ty! Seriously, I only said no to two houses, one had a bat and a toilet that appeared to be clogged with really old feminine hygiene products and the other one had this smell like someone had died there.

2) You need to find a realtor that is honest with you, that will really tell you (and this did happen) that "you cannot buy this house, I will not sell you this house because it is JUST THAT BAD" and someone that has a sense of humour about things.

3) You can always use more space then you think. When we first saw our house in all of its 4 bedroom glory Ty said we didn't need all that space, our realtor told him to close the door and leave them empty, which we never did, no. Now we're spoiled and REFUSE to have anything smaller then a 3 bedroom with den. Once we have children, we will need a mansion to fit them because we have learned - the two of us and Lulu (the cat) require 4 bedrooms.

4) Although you are not a realtor or home inspector or mortgage consultant or lawyer, you will start to get an attitude that you know EXACTLY what they should be doing, you will be the expert and you will not understand WHY no one is listening to you (this gets worse when buying house #2). You will email your team of professionals CONSTANTLY to check and make sure that they did this or that because you just want to make sure, not because you doubt them, but just because you want to make sure (not!).

5) The bank will give you WAY more then you can afford (as evident in the news currently). Basically, we sat down and figured out what we could afford per month on housing, then deducted the portion that would be bills, taxes, utilities, etc from that and came up with what we could afford for a mortgage payment, we went to the bank and were pre-approved for double, that is right, double. It may be tempting to buy that home at the top of your allowable loan, don't! So many people say "the bank wouldn't give me the money if they knew I couldn't afford it", to which I agree, but by afford it they would expect you do not eat, drink, talk, pay insurance, or travel anymore then a mile.

At this point in time I am not sure if you get better or worse when looking for your second, I know I am better at not wanting every house, I am worse when it comes to thinking I know more then the professionals, and I definitely expect more from my realtor. I think I am better now.

xo xo,
S