House Hunting No More

I suppose the title of this post could be a bit misleading. A "I FOUND THE PERFECT HOUSE AND DON'T HAVE TO LOOK ANYMORE" type exclamation.

I assure you that it is not.

Let me rewind back to last week.

I went and saw another house. It didn't have the same potential as others, but it had a nice brand new kitchen and a cute back porch and fenced-in yard. Suffice it to say, this house sucked in reality. It was the same age as the house I grew up in, but they had made none of the upgrades my parents have made (new windows, new blinds, updated bathroom, etc.) Whomp whomp.

So again, I was back on the disappointment train. When I turned all drama queen on my mom (who kindly drove to Greenville to look at the house with me), she finally said, "Why don't you just stop looking?" And I kind of had this gut feeling that maybe I just wasn't going to find the right house. I kept having an internal battle with myself about upping my budget, but I really didn't want to and didn't need to. So I was back to square one.

And then later that night, I met Ryan and his coworkers at Wild Wings for dinner. One of the couples at the table was married, and I actually adore their house and the location. Somehow we got on the topic of house hunting, and realtors, and Ryan just casually says, "Yeah, I don't really think it's a good idea to buy a house." UM WHAT?! Ryan and I are usually pretty good communicators, so I was kind of just stunned by his statement. I didn't want to cause a scene in front of everyone, so I just brushed off the comment until we got home.

And then the conversation went like this, "When were you planning on telling me that it was a dumb idea to buy a house??!?!?!" I can be such a real treat sometimes.

To be fair, Ryan has told me before that he's not entirely tied to his job here in Greenville. He likes it just fine, but he wouldn't have a problem leaving if he found a new one. He also misses his family, which I completely understand. And he has asked me if I'd be willing to move to Texas with him.

I think I just wanted to buy a house so bad that I figured if I was settled in Greenville, then Ryan would stay and settle here, too, with me. But I'm not really compromising here, am I? I get to keep my job that I love, see my family any time I want, and gallavant around Greenville happy as a clam. That's not fair.

So no matter what the future holds, I decided to put the house hunt on hold indefinitely. And truthfully, I feel kind of relieved having done so. I'll have so much more money to save (and spend!) not having to furnish an entire house upon moving in. My rent currently is cheap, I have an awesome roommate, we live right downtown and 3 minutes from our office, I have a huge bathroom and walk-in closet, and all the space I need. Why did I want to move again?

But thank you to all of you for the kind words of encouragement while I was looking! I really appreciated it and know that it just wasn't meant to be for me right now. I'm already excited about the free space in my brain that won't be occupied by house hunting woes!

House Hunting Update

I think I've had too many disappointments while house hunting to call this even remotely "fun." I had to wait a few days before I even wrote this update because it's taken me a few days to get over it.

You see, there haven't really been that many houses on the market that I was even remotely interested in. There was the house that I loved but the seller leased it two days before I was supposed to go look at it. Then there was the perfect house in the not-so-perfect location.

This whole time, my realtor kept telling me, "March is going to be the month we find your house. I can feel it."

So on Friday, March 1st, when she sent me a new listing that came on the market that day, in the perfect location, perfect price, perfect size, perfect everything, I immediately emailed her back and asked if we could see it that weekend.

I never heard from her on Saturday. But I was busy working in Anderson and then we had a wedding shower for friends on Saturday night, so I didn't really think much about it.

Sunday morning rolled around, and I texted my realtor at 8 am asking if we could go see the house. She replied that she was busy with showings all day but that she could make an appointment for Monday after work. While this wasn't ideal as I knew there were probably people looking at the house all weekend, I had to agree.

So Monday came along, my mom tagged along to look at the house with me, and I just knew it was the one. I was already planning furniture layouts. The house had double front porches and a back porch. It had the open floorplan I wanted and tons of closet space. My realtor and I set another meeting for Tuesday afternoon so I could walk through the house again and put an offer on the house.

I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I swear I dreamed about that house all night long.

Tuesday came. I went to work. My coworker asked me how the house showing went, to which I giddily replied, "It's definitely the one."

Not 15 minutes later, my phone rang, and it was my realtor. My heart immediately sank because she only ever calls me when she has bad news. Apparently, someone had put an offer on the house Sunday night and the selling realtor had forgotten to update the listing. So basically the house was already under contract when I fell in love with it on Monday night.

Heartbroken.

Why does this keep happening to me? The house had been on the market less than 72 hours. How is that possible?? As everyone keeps saying, "I know you're disappointed, but it just wasn't meant to be."

Ugh, I know that's true, but sometimes I really hate that saying.

So I've kinda lost interest in the whole house hunting thing. I just don't have the flexibility in my schedule to drop what I'm doing to look at a house 5 minutes after it's put on the market. And I'm not really into this whole cut-throat market where houses are getting snatched right out from under me. Maybe the right house is out there waiting for me, yet to be put on the market.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

The search continues..

I promise I didn't mean to leave you with such a cliffhanger.

But I'm sure you all know by now, if I had good news to report, I would've done so sooner.

The house was a major letdown.

Actually, the house was perfect. Hardwood floors, ample closet space, a garage, an open kitchen with an island and a direct view of the fireplace, and an extra large patio for entertaining with my best friends and family.

The location - not so much. The house was on a busy street and all you could hear was street noise when you stepped inside. This was probably something that wouldn't bother me; I live on a crowded street now. But for resale value, that was a red flag. And that perfect patio I mentioned? It had a direct view of the street. There were no trees, no fence, nothing in the way of privacy. I've been dreaming of the parties I could throw on my non-existent back porch, but I hadn't planned on inviting the entire city of Greenville to watch. Sigh.

So we're back to square one. I have no houses currently in the running as even a possibility, but my realtor promises me the right house will come along.

In the meantime, I'm dreaming up a color scheme for the yet-to-be-found new house.

I want a dreamy, cozy, dark grey bedroom like this one:

 

 

A cream, blue, grey, and yellow living room complete with a sectional couch:

 

 

 

 

And a bright, airy kitchen like this one:

 

 

 

Finding the right house is only half the battle right? Then you get to decorate and furnish the whole thing!

 

All images via Pinterest.

 

What's your favorite color scheme? I am 100% a lover of all things blue, if you couldn't tell already.





And so the house hunt begins..

You know what's probably a really bad idea? Searching for a house during my busiest time of year.

But I just can't help myself! I'm so excited to buy my first house. But the house hunt is already off to a bumpy start.

I've been casually searching for houses online since around October of last year and there haven't been a ton of homes that have caught my eye. I keep saying if I could just pick up my current apartment and move it into a house; that would be my ideal home. I'm apparently pickier than I thought!

I contacted a realtor early in January, and finally got to meet her last week over lunch. She's awesome and I really think she can find me my dream house. Once she started sending me listings, I couldn't wait to start looking. There was one house I kept going back to over and over again that I thought for sure was "the one" so Melissa and I had an appointment to go look at it last Saturday, along with a couple of other houses I liked but wasn't as crazy about.

Then Thursday came with bad news from my realtor. The house I loved had been leased to someone else. The seller got desperate (the house hadn't been on the market that long) and ended up leasing the house even though they knew they had a potential buyer coming to see the house on Saturday.

I thought I was going to cry. I don't know why I was so attached to a house I had never seen, but every time I flipped through the pictures I could imagine myself living there. So by Saturday, I was less than enthusiastic to continue the house hunting because I knew those houses weren't going to be right for me.

Ryan tagged along, entering his commentary where necessary, and summed it up pretty nicely with, "On a scale of 1-10, these houses are about a 5." Whomp whomp.

But I tried not to get discouraged! I went home Saturday and spent endless hours stalking houses again. And you know what I found? My dream house. It is almost the identical layout of my current apartment (open floor plan complete with kitchen island) and it's brand new. Construction complete last month. And the kicker? It's below my price range.

Is it too good to be true? I don't know. I'm going to look at the house tonight with my experts in tow (my realtor and my mom) and I'm hoping to report back with good news.

Have I just jinxed myself?

I sure freakin' hope not.