MattOnFire

So we’ve been house hunting for the better part of a month now, and it’s starting to get frustrating. We found a great home in the exact location that we wanted, but at the tip-tip-top of our price range. We put in an offer for considerably less (really, we put in the offer at what the house should actually be worth, according to comparable homes in the area and all that real-estate jargon) and the sellers counter-offered with a price higher than their original asking price. WHAT? We went back and forth with negotiations for a week before we finally decided to back away and let this house go.

Now we’ve re-focused our search to include areas that are a bit farther from the city, where we can get more house for our money. Bang for our buck. Garage. Square footage. Fenced in yard. Easy access to pizza and Mexican restaurants. Living next door to people with “Palin 2012″ bumper stickers. Yikes.

Many of the houses we’ve seen in our price range are in our price range for a reason. They need a substantial amount of updating or have a little bit of damage. We’re fine with performing some updates, but renovations and foundation repair are definitely not in our budget. And I certainly am not the most handy of men. I’m a writer who sometimes crafts articles about kitchen renovations and vinyl siding, but put a hammer in my hand and I’ll use it to tenderize a steak.

In all, I think we’ve seen at least 30 houses. Maybe more. The good part about seeing so many is that you can eliminate most of them right off the bat, usually as soon as you walk in – or before you walk in. Steep driveway? Forget it. I’m outta here. Cemetery in the backyard? Keep driving. The noxious blast of cat pee ammonia hits you when you open the front door? Close that door and run away.

The bad thing about seeing so many houses, though, is that the decent ones all start to look the same. It’s hard to think back and remember which house had what deck or did the living room have crown moulding or what type of countertops were installed with hardwood floors or was that laminate and I think the bathroom had new fixtures and there was a really big closet and why doesn’t this kitchen have a range hood and did you see the backyard? It was pretty nice. I think. I can’t remember.

I’m confident we’ll find our new palace soon and will be able to take advantage of the recently-extended $8,000 tax credit. However, I’m afraid we’re comparing every home we see to the one that we really liked and put the offer on. Are we being too picky? Our agent says no – we’re being smart. I don’t want to buy a house just for the sake of buying one, but I am very aware that there are a lot of crappers in our low price range. So, it’s not a matter of SETTLING for a house, it’s more of a matter of getting the most for our money, and there’s a good chance that our money can only afford a house that needs some degree of work.

I’ve been reading fellow Richmonders YoungHouseLove. I’m watching way too much HGTV (have you seen Holmes on Homes? That show is pretty frackin’ cool. He’s one crafty Canadian). And I’m working extra hard, almost doubling the amount of freelance writing I do in order to earn the extra scratch we’ll need for homestuffs.

We’re going out again today to look at more houses. There are a couple homes on our short list that I really like, but Wifey has to like them, too. It’s tough to find one that we both equally love. One that we’re going into today is one that I’ve already seen on my own. I think the Wife is really going to like it. But it’s priced at the absolute top of our range, which makes both of us nervous. Stupid money.