Late friday afternoon, I was struck by temporary insanity. I received and email with a new listing from Realtor.com and it looked like it could be The House. I immediately called the realtor and asked for a showing asap. As soon as Mr. A came home from work, I showed him and he was also very interested.
The only hitch? It was listed for about $50k more than we want to spend before Mr.A goes back to private practice (and hopefully makes a little more money).
But it looked PERFECT. The pictures looked amazing. Seriously. In the past year, there haven’t been any houses that peaked my interest like this one.
I started a campaign to convince Mr. A would could afford it anyway. He sat down and ran some mortgage numbers and it looked like we could just barely swing the mortgage IF we used some of my China trip money AND some of our emergency fund for the down payment AND we could find another $15k.
I am not one to let $15k come between me and my dream house. I got on the phone and started working on my mom, convincing her she should loan us the money (1/2 of which we could pay back with the tax credit next spring, the other half after Mr. A gets his new job). She sounded like she could be convinced.
I forced Mr. A to get up at 8:00 AM on Saturday to go get a new mortgage pre-approval because this house cost more than we thought we would spend. When I found out he couldn’t access his paycheck stubs in his work computer until monday, I yelled at him. Several times. Because hadn’t I already told him we needed to keep everything ready JUST IN CASE the perfect house appeared?!? ( We live in a very tight real estate market. And few houses in our price range come up. When they do, they sell very fast unless they are crap-holes.)
Commence a weekend full of ridiculous obsessing about my future life in this very pretty, modern house. (Also, I drove to a friend’s yard TWICE to spy into the house’s back yard). Mr. A spent the time obsessing about the money situation. We couldn’t get in until Sunday, which allowed for more obsessing than should be allowed.
At this point, I should mention that the house was priced $10K more than any other comp in that neighborhood (or any neighborhood reasonably nearby) in the last two years. Our town has a lot of older run-down homes, so I expected it was priced as a house that was move-in ready, well-maintained and in good condition.
When we finally got in there? Tragic disappointment.
While not exactly deal-breakers, the house needed work inside. It was kind of dark despite all the big windows (and the listing photos that made it look sunny and bright!). It needed updated bathrooms (one was particularly dire with a hideous 1980s cabinet, grey bathtub and yellow tile. Blech.). There was a weird built-in air conditioner and heater from 1957 in the family room, the removal of which would have required wrecking the lovely built-in bookshelves that were one of the things I loved the most about house. The hardwood needed refinished and had spots of water damage that would have needed replacement.
The real deal-breaker, though was discovered when we went outside. There were SERIOUS structural issues in several places, that might have led to replacing the roof or ripping of areas around it. They weren’t part of the main house (the columns holding up the carport and other columns holding up a seriously rotted trellis), but the features they added were integral to the design. The inspector of whoever ends up buying that house is going to have a field day. Adding to the concern is the development’s architectural review committee which would have to approve any changes or repairs outside.
To be sure, it was thousands and thousands of dollars of repairs that could not wait (due to the risk of the structural integrity and even the risk of one of the columns falling right on someone’s head if the wind blew the wrong way). Thousands of dollars we don’t have right now. And quite honestly, thousands of dollars that are not worth adding to the already-inflated price.
While I know it is more than a little pathetic, I was so disappointed, I almost cried. I felt like I had been scammed by the price and the pictures. (Which is obviously my own fault, but still, I am disappointed.) I have been grouching around in a cloud of house-bitterness for two days now. I know I should not have gotten so obsessed with a house until I had actually SEEN it, but it is what it is.
At this point, I am wondering if I should just stop looking until next year when Mr. A gets a new job. I know I should, but I probably won’t. I am also wondering if this is a sign that we need to look for a tear-down so we can rebuild a house that is exactly what we want. A project like that sounds like an awful lot of work, but maybe it would be worth it in the end? I don’t know. For now, I will just sulk and admit that I was being crazy. *sigh*
You came over twice? Good thing I notified my neighbor so he didn’t call the cops on you!
The realtor’s photographer is really amazing with what he can do with the camera. The pics of my mom’s house were way better too. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. I was surprised when I saw the pics of the inside, it looked so good but it didn’t seem to match the outside at all. Then again, the houses in this neighborhood really range in how they look on the outside/inside. Lots of the houses here need a ton of work… esp the ones that have been owned by the same people for a long time. I do wonder if you will like my neighbor’s house (since I know you don’t want mine) when they put it on the market…
FWIW, I don’t think you were crazy. This is a fantastic neighborhood, and I understand the desire to move into a more modern house. Hang in there, you’ll find The House someday.
Aw, that stinks. I’ve been there too. So is there no new construction in your area? Or do you want an established neighborhood? We had to choose (as many do) between older houses with trees and character, and houses where everything worked. We chose B.
We really, really want to live within walking distance of the downtown of our suburb, so we are limited. I don’t mind older construction, I just mind crapholiness. We will wait it out. Either something will come up or we will do a teardown or rehab. I don’t want to start a project like that until we get back from our trip though.
Haha… we live in a rental right now that I don’t like. Our lease isn’t up till Jan 2011, but I keep looking at Craigslist for others and every time I see one I really like, I pretty much do what you did above, except we also have to add in the penalty for breaking the lease… my husband keeps yelling at me to stop looking until next year, but I can’t help myself.
teardown and build. It is usually cheaper (we did that 1x made loads of cash) then buying your dream, which won’t ever be the dream. We bought the dream house (brand new) and it was 75k more than our original budget and well, I love it but I would have rather built my own. Now we are in an older, established neighborhood, walking to loads of stuff and great schools…I just see stuff in this house and Know I could have had nicer if we had built ourselves. (for less money)
I agree with building your own. We did that, kind of (picked a neighborhood and one of the builder’s standard plans) and even with our barely-customized home I can see that I’d have a hard time being happy in a home where I didn’t pick out the countertops and flooring. Of course, if you’re willing to do a major rehab, you get to do that anyway.
A tear down or remodel could be your next big thing…
We’ve seen TONS of houses (first while looking at HUD homes for the Officer Next Door Program and later while looking/doing our homework on auction houses) and pictures do lie so I understand how you feel scammed despite allowing your hopes to go up…we’d see pictures of interiors that looked “ok” only to find major issues once inside the houses…what a drag…hang in there…the whole process (the waiting alone does me in) is such a pain in the ass.
Ugh. I feel your pain. Before we moved to the current house, we found a house that both of us fell in love with. We saw it and decided instantly that it was the one. Then we had all weekend to plan and fantasize about living there. Well, Sunday night rolled around and we heard that we had missed making an offer by a couple days. Someone else got it. I cried. And we grouched around in a cloud of bitterness too. Such a bummer. Your house will come, yes it will.
Phew!! What a sad disappointment that must have been. After two intense days of house-hunting, I deeply sympathize with your weekend obsession and subsequent disappointment.
You know, I think it’s not a bad idea AT ALL to consider a tear down and building your own house. Then it will TRULY be *the* dream house with all the features you’ve always wanted.
Sorry this house was a disappointment…the right house is out there though so keep looking! I’m always looking at houses and always wanting to move which drives DH crazy!lol I just love houses and architecture and each and every house has a different feel for me and I love them all! What broke my heart in the house search process though is that we live in a city where multiple offers over asking price are common and we lost out on 3 bidding wars in the process of finding this house. We’ve been here 2 years now and I’ve noticed that I’m online looking at houses again…I’d love a really modern house this time…DH is getting nervous!!lol
I don’t think you’re crazy at all. At least your possibly in the market for a new house. I get all obsessed and we’re not moving any time soon. I love the neighborhood that house is in. And I’m impressed you’re considering it even though it’s on the “wrong side of town”
Maybe another one will come on the market and it’ll be in better shape!