Sorry but more home advice is needed....

Sorry but more home advice is needed....

We are going so insane about this house! We do nothing but spend our time trying to figure out if we are doing the right thing. I guess the more you research things sometimes the more confused you become. I feel like it was a mistake to get a list of prices on homes that have sold around the area - reason being - you can only get them on homes that sold over a year ago. Therefore, we passed homes on our block that sold for $100,000 less and are homes that I would die to live in. (Mine looks nothing like them)
We know everyone that is buying now is overpaying but how do you know that you are making the right decision?
We looked at so many homes and I would think that I would know how much a home should sell for - and I'm not sure I do. Every block is so different, the homes are different...
Did it feel right for most of you? Sometimes I feel we are doing the right thing and then I think maybe we are crazy - something so much nicer will come along. Am I buying a house just to buy it? or is it just time? or do I really like it? Is there such a think as seeing too many homes? Is over 100 too many?
I never ever thought buying a house would be like this - but I'm starting to think it's just us.
I know someone else looking in the same area - they looked at a few homes - found the one they just bought and (no regrets, happy as can be)
It must be nice to be one of those people!!!!
Do you have to love the home you buy? I feel that anything that we would love we simply can't afford.

I so feel your pain... (long)

We're buying a house that we know the sellers bought in 1996 for $125K less than they're selling it for. That fact alone makes me sick. I do know that they're paying about 8.25% on their mortgage and we'll hopefully lock in @ around 7%, so I feel a *little* better.

You have been looking longer than me. You've seen what's out there. You know it's a seller's market. It sucks. Plain and simple. But, look at the big picture. You're going to be a homeowner! It's really a very exciting time and you should enjoy it.

We took digital pictures of 'our' house when we were last there and I love to look at them and get ideas of how we'll make it our 'home'.

You should feel great about your decision to buy this house. Don't worry about what anyone else paid, you just can't compare.

BTW, did you have your house appraised yet? Ours was done last Friday and it appraised at 5K over the price we're paying. And we're paying 6K over ask

I hope you can relax and enjoy this time. This may be the house you spend the rest of your life in!!

:)

I think it's different for everyone...

In our case, we needed to move fast (didn't work out that way!) because of my new job, so we didn't have the luxury of looking for months on end. We were reaching the point where every house we looked at was worse than the previous. The main problems were:

**Bad location, yard or room flow/layout
**Small rooms - no storage
**REALLY bad renovations by people who should never have been allowed to touch tools.

When we finally saw a house that had a good (not perfect) location, nice yard, lots of rooms (and some were large), and needing only lots of cosmetic work and TLC, not tearing out the bad work from the previous owner, well - we jumped on it. We actually saw two others that afternoon too, that might have worked for us as well, but I liked this one the best.

No, I can't say it was my dream house but I think I'll be happy there because it has some really nice features and the potential to be fixed up really nice with lots of elbow grease.

If you have the time to keep looking, then do so. I found our best house by looking in the 'just listed' section of Newsday's Friday real estate section, or through our real estate broker. As you look you'll probably start realizing what is easier to give up, and what you want to have and as long as it's realistic for your budget then you're bound to find something. Good luck!

Sorry but more home advice is needed....

When you are dealing with as huge an investment as a home, it's hard to be 100% certain you are doing the right thing. You are not alone! I really love my house, and have loved it since the first moment I walked into it, but I still wonder. We have a 3 bedroom ranch and if I told you what we paid for it you'd probably bust a gut laughing. Everyone says we paid for location, but sometimes I still wonder if we paid too much (and we paid UNDER the asking price!). Don't think you are the only one... we're all a big unsure club, but I think we all do what is right for ourselves even though we are doubtful. : )

I so feel your pain... (long)

Try to take the focus off the price tag. I know its hard. But the price is fixed and there is nothing you can do about that - this market is crazy. And its anyones guess if its going to take a dive or continue to climb. I have heard/read very good arguments for both.

It might help to try and focus on your life together in your new home. How you will decorate (if you are into that), sharing holidays birthdays regular days etc.

Good Luck it will all work out.

Home buyer blues - LONG!

I said to my husband not too long ago that it`s so crazy how a home, the largest purchase the average person makes, it such an uncertainty. You want to buy a car, you pick out the features, color, etc. and you get what you asked for. You buy a dress, same thing, you get what you wanted - and if it`s not what you really wanted, you can return it. But a house, there are so many things you need to think about, so much ground to cover and you need to get knowledgeable to compete, and still it can be a big IF as to whether you are doing it completely right. It can make you crazy but if you have done enough checking out and know what the current market is, you can`t compare it to someone who bought a house even 2 years ago. My mother sold her house 2 1/2 yrs ago and she could get at least $100K-125K more now. But the coop she bought would also sell for about $75K more than she bought for. You just can`t compare to someone who make a purchase at another time. My hubby & I put a bid on a house right across the street from his sister. Beautiful house. They were asking much more than we were willing to pay so we just said forget it. Turns out his sis heard that the owner would be willing to accept $49K less than what they have it on the market for (talk about overpriced!!!) We lowballed even on that price. We haven`t heard back yet LOL I couldn`t justify bidding higher because we haven`t been actively looking and I know people who have gotten very nice homes in very nice areas for even less. Anyway, I don`t think there`s a science to home buying, more of an art where there is no exact way that you get to the home you ultimately own. Hang in there! Everyone is saying that it`s normal to have those apprehensions. Unless you have ignored something glaringly wrong with the whole picture, I`m sure you are doing it just fine.

Best wishes!

Junebride

We looked for almost 2 years and saw hundreds of houses before we finally found ours. We did spend more than we wanted, but we had come to the realization that to get what we loved with the least amount of compromise we had to up our budget a bit. Nothing ridiculous, but definitely more than we wanted to spend.

We actually looked at the house across the street from ours, and didn't put in a bid because we didn't LOVE it. Turns out it sold for $15,000 MORE than ours 3 months earlier! We just KNEW when we walked in that this was our house. I love it so much. People told me that would happen, and it did. But it is frustrating, nerve wracking and scary going through the process.

We were scared to death we were doing the wrong thing, spending too much, etc. One thing that made us more 'picky' was that we were not looking for a starter home -- we wanted to buy the house we wanted in 30 years! That made it tougher. Believe me when I tell you that we scared off several realtors who thought we were impossible!

In the end, it worked out for us and now, even though the price was more than we originally wanted to spend, our house has actually increased in value ridiculously thanks to the market. Just be patient, and I truly believe you should trust your instincts!