Monday, February 2, 2009

House Hunting: not so much fun after all.

The Husband and I have looked at three houses since we began our search three weeks ago. And I realize that three houses in as many weeks isn't very ambitious of us, but between the hours spent being sick plus the hours spent working full time plus the hours spent in front of the TV doing nothing at all, well... three is pretty damn good, all things considered. But this is nowhere near my original point. Can I start over?

The Husband and I have looked at three houses since we began our search three weeks ago and I've come to one conclusion. We need to change states.

House number one (a townhouse, actually) was in the right location. It was incredibly close to where we currently reside and, for someone who hates changing grocery stores, this was a major plus. It needed work, sure. First and foremost, it needed a good scrubbing (the dirt, the cobwebs, the horror!). Then lots of fresh paint, new flooring, upgraded kitchen and bathrooms... but as far as the actual space? It was great.

The asking price? On the high end of our price range, naturally. And it was on a "short sale." And please don't ask me what "short sale" means, because I still don't understand it myself. But I do know it means it will be nearly impossible for us to buy on an FHA loan. Again, please don't ask me what "FHA loan" means, 'cause I don't know.

House number two was just plain wrong. Wrong location (have you seen the movie Friday?), wrong size (The Husband couldn't walk through the "dining room" without bumping his head and he's six one) (and I use the term "dining room" very loosely because I'm still not sure that's what it was), and wrong people working construction.

This was The House of Too Many Bad Additions. There was a tiny little room (a porch in it's former life) which may have fit a chair. Maybe. A third closet bedroom had been added on to the back of the house, but I don't know who would want to sleep there as it was also where the stairs to the basement were located. Yes, this house had a basement. And I went down into it. And it was dark. And I was afraid. And.

Later The Husband told me he was worried the entire time we were down there that I'd see one of the bugs, but I didn't. I kept my eyes closed.

House number three was so promising. So very promising. Within our price range, quiet and well-maintained neighborhood. Unfortunately, those are the only positive things I can say about it.

Oh, and it had a huge kitchen! Oh, the baking I could do in that kitchen! Wow.

But it was all kitchen. In fact, I think the kitchen was the biggest room in the house.

And the tile? Holy hell, this was the house where ugly, unwanted tile went to die. I mean, these people must've gotten a huge discount on all that ugly tile, 'cause it. was. everywhere. Even in the bedrooms.

And the door from the garage opened into the master bathroom. Hello? Does anyone else see a problem with this? What if I'm doing a number two and The Husband gets home from work? "Just a second, honey! I'm almost done!"

That so does not work for me or my delicate sensibilities.

So, we've only looked at three. That's not very many and there are plenty more to come (whoopee) (that was sarcasm, by the way), but trying to stay in Orange County (on an average married couple's income) is feeling more and more like an uphill battle.

On our way home from house number three, The Husband asked, "So, if we were to leave California, where would you be willing to go?"

Sigh.

17 comments:

  1. I LOVE house hunting. But I'm a home investor and it's my thing. You will know the right house when it comes along. You will have *that* feeling - like the feeling you had when Hubby came along.Quick advice - you can change everything about a house except it's location, the powerlines around it, the busy/traffic noise street and the neighbors/neighborhood. Don't let crappy tile scare you away. Run from bad floorplans (garage to master? run fast and far), foundation issues, and high,high taxes.Sorry - you weren't soliciting advice, but I. can't. stop. my.self.

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  2. p.s. Best state I've ever lived in was FL (I'm living in house #8 (in the 5th state) in 17 yrs of marriage.

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  3. UTAH UTAH UTAH.... Subliminal messages into your head.... UTAH UTAH UTAH

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  4. Keep in mind that you can actually paint over tile using the correct primer. But I'm sure you wouldn't want to do a whole wall of this. Our house had white tile with ugly trim tile around it. I was able to paint it even inside the shower. Watching all that HGTV finally paid off.

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  5. Wow this all sounds like an episode from HGtv House Hunters!Good luck. Hope something pops up for you!

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  6. Hat Chick, thanks for the advice! I need all the help I can get! And I know you're right about being able to change nearly everything, it's just a question of how much money and time we want to invest on top of the actual house. Teeter, you be quiet.okiesister, that's definitely an option, but this house was ALL TILE. Seriously. In every room, bedroom, and bathroom. And it was all ugly. I know, I can change it, but... it just looked so daunting. All that tile. Yikes.

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  7. Thanks, DVM's Wife, me too!

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  8. I agree, house hunting is the worst. Realtors always wanted to show us stuff that was out of our price range and of course those houses were nice, but not affordable for us. Just depressing. I hope something comes along for you that you like and can afford, quickly!

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  9. Dude, get the hell out of California while you can. If you buy a house there you will never be able to get out from under it. Literally. I envied my friends in So Cal when we lived there and they owned their homes. Now they are miserable and would leave in a heartbeat but they can't. Actually that's not entirely true, one of them is letting their house go into foreclosure so they can just shine it all and leave. If you like the feel of LA/OC but want to get out and to someplace similar but with out all the negatives I would suggest Austin. Yes it's hot but I tell you what, as a born and bred So Cal girl I can tell you with all honesty that it doesn't get any hotter in Austin than it gets in LA. It just stays hot longer but with the house prices here you can get a pool with your fat ass brand spankin new home. Totally serious. I'm not saying TX is a perfect state by any means (it's a red state and not turning blue anytime soon) but Austin is just like a metropolis in So Cal, really it is.

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  10. Good luck with the house hunting! Back when we were looking to buy, I had a love hate relationship with house hunting. I'd either love the house and hate the price, or love the price and hate the house. At least we found a great Realtor- he never tried to tell us a house with holes in the floor was in move in condition, and never showed us a house out of our range. If we ever stop renting and start looking to buy in the 'burbs, I'd go back to that same Realtor.

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  11. Shoot, I love Orange County. It would be so hard to leave here. When someone does a "short sale," that means they are being allowed by the bank to sell it for less than they owe on it. You have only looked at 3 houses. Don't give up yet. This is the first "hard" part. The next hard part is finding the right house and then waiting for escrow to close. :)

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  12. Thanks, Gayle, I hope so, too!Michelle, you're right. And five years ago, I would have moved in a heart beat. But I had already moved away once, so it wouldn't have been very difficult. Then we moved back, I developed a very close relationship with my family, and now the thought of moving away from them depresses the shit outta me.Theresa, I shouldn't get so down on it. Looking for a house is fun. I love walking into a place (even a dirty one covered in ugly tile) and imagining all the things I could do to it. Then I start seeing all those dollar signs. Um, Mom? What the hell is escrow anyway???

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  13. It's weird but I've always liked house hunting, you just have to find a realtor you like and can trust to find homes that will interest you and not waste your time.That said, I agree that you should get the hell out of SoCal. We love the state, and Miss Carol's youngest sister lives there, but we would never, ever want to own a home there.

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  14. Don't despair.....it took us two years to find the right house for us. (Well, we did take breaks from looking every few months.) And Hat Chick's right: you'll know your house when you see it. We saw a lot of really nice houses, but there was always something just not quite ... it. Then we decided to visit a house we were pretty sure wouldn't be the one, and BOOM! Love at first sight. And second. And now we're so, so glad we didn't buy any of those almost-but-not-quite homes.

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  15. I would also add this:When you are renting, it seems like buying is an absolute must-do. All that money! That you are throwing into a pit! Never to see again! Horrifying!Now that I've bought, I wonder what the damn rush was to be responsible for my own house repairs. Do I like owning my own home? Yes. Would I go back to renting without a wince. Yes.The California market was so bubbly that it likely isn't at the bottom yet. You are in no rush. Time is on your side here. Make them come to you. Etc.

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  16. Alias Mother, I was just thinking that same thing yesterday. On the one hand, I'd really like to raise our future children in a house, but on the other I can't help but wonder why we're so hell-bent on buying right now. I mean, we're not having kids right now. I'm sure it's due to the fact that all of our friends (well, his friends) own their own homes and now we feel like it's what we need to do as well. We know this is going to be a long process and I keep trying to remind myself that it's going to take a while and I should just enjoy the experience of looking for our first home. It is rather exciting in a holy-hell-what-are-we-thinking sort of way.

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  17. It's a great time to be looking when you're not feeling pressure to Buy Now. Gives you a chance to really figure out what you like and don't like, and what the actual most important things are in a house (we discovered they weren't the things we thought they'd be). So I'd urge you to keep looking, even if you decide to put off buying.

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