House Hunting Update #3: We Had It, Then We Let It Go

I’ve been anxious to share this house hunting update with you guys for weeks now and things have just now settled down enough to share. If you didn’t think things could get any tougher, we both thought wrong. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you — we had it, then we let it go. Keep reading for the details on our first accepted offer and what went down.

First and foremost, read up on my previous house hunting updates in order if you haven’t already so you can understand the full story:

The joy of getting that first accepted offer

We got our first “yes” on April 24, and boy did it feel good. However, it’s only a split second of actual joy before it’s instantly suffocated with the unknown. There are so many things that have to go right before you can ever get those keys in your hand, and we knew that before we ever even heard our first “yes.” Regardless, I can’t even begin to explain how absolutely amazing it feels to get that acceptance after countless rejections. It’s like a movie moment.

First things first, we scheduled an inspector to come out right away (the final reason why we chose this one is that he had the same name as what we want to name our future son, so we thought that was a sign 😉 ). We were anxious to get our feet in the door again to look over the place with a fine-tooth comb. Was it everything we hoped it would be?

There were issues that started to come up through the inspection, and they all started piling on one after another. We cringed with every “hmmm” and “this is different,” but knew we couldn’t really make a proper decision until we saw the report in full. It was also a little frustrating to know we couldn’t have possibly known all of these things before submitting our offer originally, and this was just part of the process. We tried to keep an open mind and tell ourselves that it’s the inspector’s job to find absolutely every single error, down to a peeled up corner of flooring or an almost unnoticeable crack in the wall.

And then the final report arrived in our inbox the next day. We had to let it go.

It was just going to be too much work for us financially and too many problems we shouldn’t be inheriting, especially in our first home. As for our mindset, we’ve had to remind ourselves that no home is our “dream home” until it’s ours (which is honestly the best mindset to have), but it’s still upsetting to face yet another setback. With help from my dad (our realtor), we’ve come to the conclusion that “what will be, will be” and if it doesn’t work out, it simply wasn’t meant for us. It just wasn’t our house.

It wasn’t meant to be. That’s what we’re trying to convince ourselves of every day when we get back up and try this again.

More than anything right now, our stress comes from what we need to do with our apartment lease. Do we go with the upcharged month to month, sign a three month lease or sign a six month one and try again after summer? Some of these decisions feel like a total loss and that we’re throwing in the towel on our dream. We have to come to a conclusion, and I’m not exactly sure when we will.

Lessons learned

Personally, I’ve been blessed with so many beautiful transitions in my life, so this one has shaken me a bit. This makes me even more grateful for all the blessings that have come my way so much more naturally (seriously, so thankful), and has taught me to find the fight within me and know when to let go and move on, or give it another go. I’m very glad however that we don’t need a house right now and aren’t going to be thrown out on the street or anything, but wanting and trying for something you can’t quite seem to get your hands on is mentally and emotionally taxing.

Justin went on a trip with his school last week, so we decided to take several days off from this house hunting mess while he way gone… and I honestly loved it so much. I felt so much more at peace and instantly knew that break was overdue. However, during this break was when we made our official exit from this house.

We’re learning more and more every single day, and with each defeat comes new lessons we didn’t know we needed to learn. Here are a couple:

Newer is often better because you’re not inheriting (as many, at least) other people’s problems — though this isn’t always the case and newer homes can certainly bring along problems too, but just keep that in mind
Avoid homes with heavy costs that will be out of your price range (re-roofing, structural errors, duct work, old heating and cooling, etc.), or a large amount of small problems — most of this you won’t know until you get in for the inspection, but keep your eyes out for all of these!

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That’s the update I have for you guys. We hope to find some clarity soon on what’s the next best move for us & I’ll do another update as soon as I can — hopefully with better news! I just want to say thank you to all of you for following along on our journey. I’ve gotten so many sweet messages from you guys saying you absolutely love this series, sending us your well wishes and that you’re soaking in all the info for when you start house hunting (I even had someone reach out wanting to collaborate on this series, which I was so surprised/flattered by! 🙈). I love that I can share this process with you all and help out in any way that I can, and that each of you can learn from our trials and triumphs.

As always, thank you for being here and check back for a new post on Wednesday!