BlsdMama Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 We are beginning The Search. You know, that search for the perfect house. We've moved back to the Midwest and for better or worse plan on being here 'til we're dead. :P ;)So, it's time. We know many of the things we're looking for.... Acreage (min, 4 acres, max 10)4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms No more than 25 minutes from DH's work, preferably north or west of that location. We've looked at four houses so far. One was beautiful and perfect in all categories, but required an almost hour commute. One was frightening. Truly. Just horrific. The others were meh. We're in a good financial category for what we're looking for. Not at the top, but not looking for a bargain either. Granted, it's the middle of a really nasty winter. Houses aren't on the market, especially acreages. But we're feeling a little anxious, a little hopeless... As one might if one was living out of boxes with one's parents and their ten children as adults............ You get it, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freckles Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Good luck in your search! Could you get into a month to month lease to give yourself time to find the right home? We regret jumping into a home purchase due to time constraints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Well, our first house was the most decent of what we could afford at that time. It grew on us but the list of 'future' projects was there the day we bought it. Our second house we had more of a good feeling. The agent didn't like it b/c it backed up to open space/power lines. but we knew there were trails in that space and it was a cul-de-sac, so for us it was perfect. Our third house again was just meh, but good location and had enough space. It grew on me and I really liked the floor plan after being in there awhile. I think you really need to focus on location and what is has you can live with....everything else you can fix/change later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Do houses exist within 25 miles of your husband's work that meet your qualifications? How many of them? How often do they turnover? The one thing on our "MUST have" list that we ended up dropping due to getting a house in our time limits was no HOA. We settled for a less restrictive HOA. We were looking at houses without sidewalks but luckily were able to find one with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Good luck in your search! Could you get into a month to month lease to give yourself time to find the right home? We regret jumping into a home purchase due to time constraints. We're working that angle actually. We found a place that needs someone to finish out a lease until mid May. I don't know if we'll be approved though. This many children scare people. True story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Do houses exist within 25 miles of your husband's work that meet your qualifications? How many of them? How often do they turnover?They do. :) Obviously finding four bedrooms are more of a challenge as is finding acreages, but we live in farm country so it's realistic. Our budget is very realistic I think, setting this based on what we've looked at so far. Really the last house we looked at was anabsolutely perfect fit for us... Except we really don't want a fifty minute commute for DH. And that really is a deal breaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 It's just not a great time to be looking. March and April will be way better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 January and February are tough times to sell a home. Inventories are usually lower. Closer to the end of the school year is better as families plan time to sell before moving in time for the new school year. It may just take you awhile. Almost every time we moved it was during the winter months. We had to find temporary housing before finding the right place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 I've bought two houses. Well, the first on my own and the second with DH. I really knew they were THE house both times. Although it took some looking both times. For the first house, I saw it about 6 months before I bought it. It was a HUD house in HUD shape. It was one of the first houses I looked at and the HUD-ness of it sent me running. Someone bought it and then wasn't able to complete the purchase. When I saw it the second time, I was able to see that it was exactly what I was looking for. With the second house, it was really love. Some homes give off such a happy loving vibe. This one really did. Fortunately, it met our criteria too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 We are in our 4th purchased house. The first three were in Southern California, so they were SMALL and we took what we could afford. We now live in NC and have a huge house on acreage, but is it my dream home? NOPE! We drive in to absolutely EVERYTHING we do. DH works 25 miles away. I drive in almost every single day at least 15 miles to all of our HS activities, scouts, church, you name it. It also was a perfect layout when we had 2 kids, but is not so perfect with 3 kids. I don't know that you ever really know until you live in it, although I have a much better idea of what I can and cannot tolerate now. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 With the house we brought we brought it because it met all our criteria. I don't know that I would call it love but I liked it a lot. It was in our price range and not at the tippy top of it. The house had a decent yard for the burbs. It had a lot of south facing windows and the windows on the north were smaller. A lot of the yard was south facing, It had more square footage then we needed but still had a small footprint because the bedroom and laundry floor was a finished basement. It also had a fully fenced in yard and a huge tree in the north facing front yard where the kids would play that offered privacy (the tree fell down in a wind storm lol) Even though I wasn't using the neighborhood school I wanted it to be zoned for a school that was at least a little above average. It was only 1 mile from the charter school my oldest got into. It was an older home but it wasn't in terrible shape. It needed some stuff done but it wasn't falling apart. The one thing I didn't like is that it had new wall to wall carpeting. I am not a fan of carpeting. The house ended up more work then anticipated being an older house but so far it has been okay. I can see myself here if we stay in this city but I am kind of itcing to get out of this city one day and be somewhere a little warmer and closer to family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 The selection will be so much nicer in a few months! I wouldn't put a Midwestern house up for sale until winter was over unless I was desperate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Don't lose hope -- you'll find something! :) Just keep an eye on all of the new listings. Sometimes you can get a good deal in the winter because fewer people are house hunting, and some of the people who list their homes for sale in the winter do it to because they need to move quickly due to something like a job transfer. You don't need a million listings. You just need the one perfect one. You should have your realtor set up search parameters for you and send you automatic emails every time something is listed that fits your criteria. Good luck!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Don't lose hope -- you'll find something! :) Just keep an eye on all of the new listings. Sometimes you can get a good deal in the winter because fewer people are house hunting, and some of the people who list their homes for sale in the winter do it to because they need to move quickly due to something like a job transfer. You don't need a million listings. You just need the one perfect one. You should have your realtor set up search parameters for you and send you automatic emails every time something is listed that fits your criteria. Good luck!!! Yes, Get in a month to month if you can and keep looking. This time of year there IS less inventory, but many times you can get a better price. We were able to bargain quite effectively when two house purchases at this time of year because the owners were wanting to just MOVE, and were tired of dealing with house selling. Since there were so few buyers, they knew they might not get another offer for a while, so they were willing to come down to a price that we were willing to pay for the houses in the condition they were in. Best wishes!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 We looked at a ton of places as we were outsted by the a highway project which tore down our previous home/mini farm. We had trouble as there were several other families looking for something very similar in the same area at the same time. When we walked into this house both DH and I said THIS IS IT. It was pouring rain so we didn't really even seen the yard/acreage. We had though looked it up on line and saw the aerial view and knew that it has 5.03 acres. We HAD to have 5 acres for our horses so this one just made it for zoning requirements. A few things you might consider------post a WANTED ad on Craig's list or the facebook page for the communities you are looking at. There might be someone thinking of selling but waiting until spring to actually list the house. Another thing my sister did that worked for her was she found the ideal place they wanted but it wasn't for sale. She went up and knocked on the door and asked if they would consider selling.....and they did. Just watch taxes and zoning rules in the various areas you are looking at. I do think you are wise though to avoid the long commute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 hang in there, when the weather improves, the market should pick up. how common is acreage where you are? that will be another thing. I went through it with dd. (tight market never more than a few houses at a time, the good stuff was gone within days. if you're lucky.) we did lots of looking below what she wanted, just to have things to compare - so when we found a good match, we knew it was a run don't walk. it got even tighter through the holidays (after she'd had her offer accepted.) it's just starting to pick up again here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Family homes really tend to go on the market starting in April. A lot of people try to time their home sale and move so as not to disrupt their children's school schedule. I would stretch out renting a few more months so you have more choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Don't lose hope -- you'll find something! :) Just keep an eye on all of the new listings. Sometimes you can get a good deal in the winter because fewer people are house hunting, and some of the people who list their homes for sale in the winter do it to because they need to move quickly due to something like a job transfer. You don't need a million listings. You just need the one perfect one. You should have your realtor set up search parameters for you and send you automatic emails every time something is listed that fits your criteria. Good luck!!! Yes, this. I'm currently working with two families who need acreage...location, price, and condition all factor in. From late November through the holidays there were only sad, sad, sad places for sale. In the past two weeks a few promising places have popped up. Hang in there...the house you will love is going to hop on the market any day now. Be ready! (Pre-approved with your mortgage, credit issues addressed and cleared, etc.) Happy house hunting!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Another idea. Look at larger 3 bedroom homes, esp. if they are newer. Our current home was listed as a 3 bedroom and I almost didnt' even come look at it due to that but a friend encouraged me. It was listed online at 6am, we got the earliest showing possible---an 11am, by noon we had made an offer, and by 1pm they had accepted it. The thing is, the house was listed as a 3 bedroom but there is a loft room with a slanted roof with sky light that could easily be another bedroom by adding a window. The daylight basement was unfinished but now has 2 more bedrooms down there, another bath and family room as well as a small office for dh. I guess the point is, take a look at 3 bedrooms that might have the space to finish off more bedrooms/bathrooms. Our house listed as a 3 bedroom is now a 5 bedroom and could easily be a 6 bedroom. It was listed as 2 bath but really had 2 full baths and a 1/2 bath plus was plumbed for a 3rd full bath. Sometimes the listings are just wrong so if something look really good, esp. if there is a bit of money for finishing off space then go take a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 Rereading this for encouragement, lol. Our stuff has been in boxes for almost three months now. Really want to get settled, kwim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 We will be in exactly the same situation as you when we return to the US in two weeks. All our stuff is in storage. We will be living with relatives. We are moving to a northern, cold, wintery area and most people took their unsold houses off the market in November because they know there are no buyers there in winter. What is left are the fixer-uppers that have been on the market for three years and are stubbornly overpriced. However, just this week three new listings came up and two that disappeared last November were relisted. My realtor says April is the time. He also knows the town so well, he knows who is planning to put their houses on the market and reassures us that waiting will be the better choice. Of course, dh is super impatient to find a house right away, but I would sure hate to pick a compromise house in March when a good house is in the pipeline for April! Last time we moved, we were under such time pressure that we overbought, paying far too much for a house that wasn't right and which lost value quickly. As hard as it is to be living in limbo, it is harder to live forever in a house that isn't right. In your case, renting month to month and watching the market like a hawk ready to strike might be the best option. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I think if you can wait a month you'll see lots more on the market. People, when they have the option, like to market in early spring. The house shows better than in winter, and folks want to get it sold and moved over the summer so not to disrupt the school year. I think you're just on the cusp of seeing more offerings (making it a better buyer's market for a number of reasons). Choose an area you like, and watch the new listings pop up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 Update: Nothin'. It would almost be funny if it just wasn't so very NOT funny. The kicker? We found out today that financing an acreage with a barn on it may not be as easy peasy as we had thought. We really want to do a VA loan and apparently that's tricky if you don't go conventional. Sigh. So, ironically, all this time we may have been holding out fir something we aren't going to have anyway. Like I said it's almost funny. Almost. Sigh. Ignore the pathetic tone. Have I mentioned we live in somebody else's home trying to homeschool ten kids with miso of our stuff packed? And it's been since the end of November? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Really the last house we looked at was anabsolutely perfect fit for us... Except we really don't want a fifty minute commute for DH. And that really is a deal breaker. It is really, really good to know this and to stick to it. Long commutes are awful, and it's one thing that would be very difficult to change. Our home searches were different. First one was the best we could find in a seller's market. Not our dream home, but it worked and we could afford it. The market was red hot (early '90s), and we got the house through a back up contract when the first contract fell through. We knew with the second home. There were a lot of homes for sale in a larger development (bigger city), and we looked at about eight that first day. We knew when we walked in the door. Third home met dh's requirements: acreage and newer. It wasn't ideal, but it was the only house that fit those requirements. We moved three years later. Current home. Once I convinced dh to move, I looked online for fun. We could not get this one house out of our minds. We finally went to look at it, thinking we wouldn't like it. We made a couple offers over a month + period, one of which was finally accepted. While we drove around and checked out other homes from the outside, this was the only one that we actually stepped inside. I love this house, and I'm never moving again--unless it's beachfront, and I don't live near a beach. If you have the opportunity to rent, I'd encourage you to do so. If someone's not willing to offer a short term lease, perhaps you can offer to pay a slightly higher rent for that privilege. It will make your wait well worth it, and you will find that perfect home that you love! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 It is really, really good to know this and to stick to it. Long commutes are awful, and it's one thing that would be very difficult to change. If you have the opportunity to rent, I'd encourage you to do so. If someone's not willing to offer a short term lease, perhaps you can offer to pay a slightly higher rent for that privilege. It will make your wait well worth it, and you will find that perfect home that you love! Thus far we've been looking for country homes to rent as well, with at least three bedrooms, and nada. It's a wee bit discouraging. I keep reminding myself April is almost here and we should hopefully see a glut? Almost all the snow is melted, it is nearly 60 today and if someone isn't motivated to get their house on the market, well, they're crazy. ;) Anxious. I know God has a plan here, but I wish I were privy to it. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 the market should still just be starting to warm up for what is availabe, so something you love might come up soon. if you are prayerful, keep that in your prayers to know. i do know peopel who "knew" it was the right house. that said - dd bought a house in nov. it didn't jump out and make her all warm and fuzzy. BUT, it meet her requirements and some wants (did need some work), the market was very, very tight in her price/requirement range. we'd seen enough houses we knew this was a great house for the money. almost all decent/good houses ended up in bidding wars. her's was being sold by a relo company that didn't care about getting top dollar, just getting it sold. it listed on wednesday, had two offers on wednesday, the third (full price only, no escalation clause so the relo co just threw it out.) on thursday. (if selling, always wait for the weekend before accepting an offer . . . . ) so, they got their three offers - and didn't accept anymore (or it would have quickly gone out of her price range.). too bad for the seller, as there were half a dozen or more people that weekend who came through who wanted to make an offer, but her offer had already been accepted (wtih earnest money down) - it just didn't make it into the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SebastianCat Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 When we bought our current house (5 years ago, so the market was different then) we looked for 6 months and were very discouraged. We were looking for a large lot (not necessarily acreage, but 1/2 to 1 acre would have been ideal) with a mother-in-law suite. The very first house we looked at was perfect, within our budget, but we hesitated and someone else made an offer before we could make up our minds. After that, we went through house....after house....after house - and every single house that fit what we wanted was over our budget. We saw the listing for our current house when it came onto the market, and while it appealed to us, it was at the very upper end of our budget and didn't have the mother-in-law suite we wanted. But when the sellers lowered the price, we jumped at it. We ended up getting a wonderful house that fit *most* of our "wants" and are very happy where we are now. The biggest piece of encouragement I can give you is to have your realtor send you automated listings on every house that fits your criteria as soon as they hit the market, and be prepared to JUMP quickly. Maybe this could be a daily assignment to have one of your oldest children look through house listings each day? Yes, I also think you'll start seeing more homes on the market in the coming months, but there will also be more buyers. Praying for you today that you'll know quickly when the right house comes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 also if you have redfin.com or another similar service in your area - they can also do automated updates with tailored searches. I admit to stalking the site. (I found zillow and one other one here to be complete rubbish.) because the MLS our relator used only sent an update once a day, and 'her' house hadn't hit the mls before dd's daily list was sent out, we wouldn't have seen it until the next day. because I was stalking redfin (which gets info from the MLS within 24 hours or less), I found the house the day it hit the mls, there were two offers (one dd's) by evening. If I hadn't seen it that day, and we hadn't gone to see it that day, -she probably wouldn't have been able to buy it because it would have been sold to someone else already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Crossing my fingers that April (and maybe a big snowmelt--my hometown-to-be just got another foot of snow last night) brings a huge flood of houses onto the market too. My realtor is teasing me with the "perfect" house priced to sell that he's listing that comes on April 1st. Of course, another realtor in the area says he often puts good condition houses on the market underpriced and that always leads to a bidding war--exactly what we want to avoid. Other than that there are two leftover houses (been on the market over a year) in our search area that we could consider. They each meet some of our criteria. They would sort of shuttle us into two different lifestyle choices: one on acreage with a barn (yay!) and some fixing up or one in perfect condition on a tiny wooded lot (not even a garden without cutting trees kind of lot). At this point, I have had to purchase things that I already own but are in my storage unit in another state because I have needed them here! This is going on a little long. Good luck to you! April is only a week and a bit away. Hang in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafdog Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 I feel your pain. We are in the buying/selling process at the moment. Of course, we always manage to buy in a "Seller's" market. LOL The houses in the Bay Area are getting snapped up in a day or two. Craziness. I'm just taking deep breaths, and trying not to freak out at the ridiculous prices in CA....even though I've lived here for ten years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 So so sorry you are still in the middle of this mess. I hope with all my heart that an amazing house comes on the market in your price range soon. Well, tomorrow, actually. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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