Question about House Hunting

So DH and I have probably looked at about 15 houses or so in the past month. Our problem is that we really want to move upstate because we want big property, low taxes, and bigger house for our money. We know that our expectations are unrealistic here on LI (which is where both of our jobs are and we can't find jobs upstate) but we also don't want to settle on busting our buts to pay for something that we don't love.

Our problem is that I don't know if we will find something we LOVE in our price range on LI. We will never get the property we want, or many other things and we can't move upstate right now because we can't find jobs there.

I guess my question is did you find a house that you were absolutely in love with or did you have to settle on something. For example, one house we saw I loved but the property was SO small. Another house I didn't love the house but the property was nice and it had an inground pool.

Also, many of the houses that happen to be in our price range are Levit ranches where the doors are on the side and for some reason that annoys me

I know exactly how you feel. We looked and looked and got discouraged. Saw things we thought we just had to have and didnt get...

BUT we finally found something! We are working on the contracts right now.

The house is perfect for us. The price range we wanted and exactly what we were looking for. We actually had our eye on another house we liked better but it didnt work out. Everything happens for a reason and we are ecstatic to be getting this one now instead.

Keep looking - you will find something. House hunting is very stressful but when you find something its so worth it!!

Good luck

Kim I absolutely think I'll have to settle. Any house that I've loved is about $200k above my range so it's not even a possibility.
there are house we've liked and bid on, but were outbid.

I refuse to go above my budget..I don't want to be house poor.

Hang in there.....you will find a house u like here...it just takes time. It's a super frustrating process and you'll see lots of duds before you find a good house. We looked at houses that had restaurants next door, no backyard, needed complete upgrading----you name it, we saw it.

When we finally walked into what we hope will be our house, we looked around for under 5 minutes and put in an offer. We just knew right away that it was the perfect house. You'll get there too!

house hunting is incredibly frustrating. we looked at over 100 houses, no joke! most of them we knew right away were not for us. our only real criteria (besides price) was that it have at least 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a full basement. we looked in so many different areas, saw ranches, splits, capes. by the time we finally found our house, we knew what it was in a house that we could live with and what we could live without.

the house we ended up buying was actually my #2 choice, but DH's first choice. we weighed the pros and cons of each, then decided on the house. right now, i do not live in the house of my dreams, but it's on the way there. we knew we'd get a house that needed work, but we didn't want to have to tear down every wall and rebuild. the floor plan works great for us, the yard is a good size, even with a nice size deck, yet not too much work as far as landscaping. those were the things we realized would really end up making the decision for us. my first choice in house had a HUGE yard for the area, but DH took one look and had no desire to maintain a yard of that size. plus the work it needed would have cost us more $$ than the work we're doing in our house.

do i feel i settled, absolutley not. did i compromise - yes, a little bit, but in the end i know it's definitely worth it.

House hunting is one of the most frustrating things imaginable.

That being said most couples I know did not buy the house of their dreams, they bought the house that could be the house of their dreams. Most have since expanded or re-done thir homes and it is the house of their dreams at this stage in their lives. I think that's just how it's always worked, you buy the house you can afford and either make it into the house of your dreams or move up into the house of your dreams later on.

Good luck and just keep looking, you'll know when the house is right for you.

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Posted by skinny237

Forgot to mention....I'm not sure if you are pre-approved. I definitely recommend doing that over pre-qualification. The mortgage people are so strict right now. I know u mentioned that your DH works in construction---mine does too and we had some issues verifying his income. We're in contract now, but there's still a chance that the deal can fall through. VERY stressful....even worse than actual house hunting.

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THanks for the advice. My FIL actually is cosigning the mortgage for me because DH couldn't be on it. We are preapproved already.

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Posted by bluekat16

House hunting is one of the most frustrating things imaginable.

That being said most couples I know did not buy the house of their dreams, they bought the house that could be the house of their dreams. Most have since expanded or re-done thir homes and it is the house of their dreams at this stage in their lives. I think that's just how it's always worked, you buy the house you can afford and either make it into the house of your dreams or move up into the house of your dreams later on.

Good luck and just keep looking, you'll know when the house is right for you.

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Thank you so much this makes me feel so much better. I keep trying to remind myself that my expectations are way too high for my pocket

I try to explain this to DH that we can buy a starter house and either expand or sell it and buy our dream house with the profit we make but he can't understand this. He thinks our first house is going to be everything we want and I told him lets go play the lotto.

I agree with everyone else. Just so you know, two of my sisters own houses in LI. they bought bought in like 99 or 2000 so literally paid for their houses what I paid for my 2 br co-op in queens 7 years later.

BUT, one sister bought a small cape in Garden City South. She now has FOUR kids (yes, she's slightly insane). They have dormered their house so it went from a 2 br with a den and playroom downstairs to a 4 br, 3 bath house with the DR she always wanted for big family dinners, a playroom, den etc. My two nephews and niece were in ONE br before they did this (before she had her latest little girl). it was out of control. But they basically turned their little starter house into their house they plan to live in forever. I was AMAZED at the change.

My other sister had a house in Wantagh and while the layout was great the redid the whole thing to be the way they wanted it. So I think in some aspect you will always be compromising or settling slightly - no one moves right into their 'dream' house unless they have it built from scratch. My DH actually wants to buy a fixer upper and I'm starting to see why - he says we're probably going to remodel it the way we want to anyway, so why not pay a little less. But we're not there yet.

Don't worry, you will find something. Good luck.

We don't love our house & property but we are doing a lot of work to it. We will love it in a few years. I don't plan on staying here for the rest of our lives. I see ourselves in a bigger house once we have kids. So... this house is kinda like our stepping stone. Real estate is one of the best things to invest in. If you want to move upstate in a few years, you can sell your house. Plus, the market will go back up so if you buy now and sell later you will definately walk away with some money to put towards your dream home upstate.