House Hunting Update #6: Don't Wait For The Perfect House

We’re six months into our house hunting journey and I’ve come to a realization. Some of you may not agree with me on this, but I’ve come to understand that you can’t wait for the “perfect” house (especially your first house), because it likely doesn’t exist. Though everyone tells you to hold out for the perfect one, you are what’s going to make a house you like into a house you love. Keep reading for an update on how the sheriff sales and auctions went, the second accepted offer we just received, how we were able to take a leap of faith again and why I think you shouldn’t hold out for the perfect house.

Before we dive into this, be sure you read all of the previous posts in my house hunting series so you know what’s going on:

THE SHERIFF SALE

In my last house hunting post, I told you guys we were exploring the sheriff sale option, which we most certainly did. My dad has experienced plenty of sheriff sales from a buyer’s perspective, so he took Justin along so he could get a feel for how it all works. For July and August, we’d write down the possible house options listed for each sale, drive by them and determine which ones could be realistic for us. Not too much really captured our attention here so far and we were playing the waiting game, so we decided to keep all of our options open as well.

THE AUCTION

We came across a nearly move-in ready home (it needed new carpet) in the nicest neighbored we’ve looked at that was up for auction this month. The price it was likely to go for was at the top of our budget, but we liked the house enough that we figured it was worth a shot. We could get great money back on it when we sell it within the next 3-5 years, so the investment seemed worth it to us. Since it was such a nice home, I knew it was very likely that there would be a ton of other interest, so our chances may be slim.

I attended the auction with my dad and when I pulled up, there were at least 10 cars outside. The living room was filled with about 30+ people when the auction started. I knew this was probably going to be a no-go for us at the point, put we saw it through and it ended up going for $16,000 over our budget. It was nice to get to see someone win the house, jump for joy and hug the strangers next to him, but I couldn’t help but wonder when Justin and I would finally get to celebrate in the same way.

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

We decided to get back out there and look at homes for sale again that weren’t up for auction as we had done in the beginning. We didn’t want to limit ourselves to just auction houses and instead keep our options open, fearing that it could take longer than expected. We saw a couple a few weekends back, thought about it for a few days and concluded we wanted to put an offer in on one of them. We liked in as soon as we walked through it, and thought it was a viable option at a fair price. We ended up doing another drive by a few days later to further explore the outside of the house and yard, and thought it was a great possibility. The listing price dropped a bit and we thought this could be our opportunity.

A NEW ACCEPTED OFFER

That’s right, we heard another yes this weekend on that house while on our blog trip in Ohio. This is our second accepted offer and we’re anxiously awaiting our inspection this week. As you may remember, the mountain of issues we found during the inspection of our last accepted offer back in May is why we had to back out.

This house has a majority of the things we’re looking for and is below budget, which gives us some financial peace of mind. We truly think we’re getting a deal for the amount of square footage it has and how move-in ready it is aside from the mandatory carpet replacement in the bedrooms (which I prefer so we can pick out our own flooring). The only things that could turn us away at this point are big issues, such as too many problems with the house that it would be foolish (or impossible) for us to move forward, or if we find out the neighborhood is unsafe or something. I did my due research, but I guess you never truly know until you’re living there.

I want to say that we love this house and have a pretty good feeling about it, because we do, but I really don’t want to jinx it. We see so much potential in it and it feels like this could be the end of our hunting journey, but that will all come to the surface within the next couple days. I’ve never crossed my fingers tighter.

DON’T WAIT FOR THE PERFECT HOUSE

Confused? I’ll explain.

This new mindset/realization has changed everything for me and I needed to share it will you all. Consider this: your dream house is what you make it. Your belongings, loved one(s) and memories inside the home are what is going to make it the “perfect” house. The improvements you make here and there that fit your personal taste, the arrangement of the furniture, picture-filled frames and positive vibes are what’s going to make it feel like home.

I don’t know why it took me so long to realize this. The pressure that comes along with making such a large purchase and everyone saying “you’ll find the perfect house” definitely makes things foggy. Feeling completely inexperienced in this process, all we could do was take the advice of people around us and try to use that information to make the right decision. Everyone kept assuring us that “you’ll find the perfect one,” “you’ll know when you see it,” etc., so that’s what we had been holding out for.

It turns out we were kind of interpreting that information in the wrong way, as I’m sure many other people have too. “Perfect” doesn’t means it has absolutely everything you’re looking for and more at an amazing price. It means it has potential. It means it can be what you create it to be.

It’s so had to pull the trigger and put an offer in, especially with everything we’ve been through. The reason we were able to take a leap of faith and put ourselves back out there for this house is this new “dream house” mindset. In some capacity, we need to get our hands on something (not just anything, but something worthy) so we can get started. This first home isn’t our forever home, but a beautiful space we can begin our family in.

If there’s one piece of advice I can give you, it’s this. Select a home that’s got some great features and is the right price. The rest will come along later, and though I haven’t made it to the finish line yet, I really feel this is true.

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So that’s where we’re at, guys. With this new accepted offer, we could be moving in a month from now, or be back to the drawing board. Time will tell. I appreciate your interest, support and kind works you’ve given me during this insane journey. It really does mean so much to me and makes this process sting a little less. Once we snag our house, whatever house it may be, I’ll be sharing the entire finalization, renovating and moving in process. Keep your fingers crossed for us that this inspection goes well and this home ends up being the one we can make our dream home!