Shopping for a new house is exciting, but mostly overwhelming. You have an idea of what you want from Pinterest, but quickly realize that it’s not reality. You really have to take the time and think, “can I spend the rest of my life here?” Sure – that’s a little dramatic, especially for first time home buyers, but you will spend a large chunk of your life at this house. You will quickly realize what’s important and what’s not. Unfortunately – that’s the not the same for everyone.
There are also a lot of things that will make you question the how’s and why’s of the world: basically, it’s not hard to get caught up on people’s design decision. Seriously – painter’s tape is your friend.
Once you can look passed some of these issues (there’s a lot – honestly), you will find the house that you’re ready to move on.
Offers
Putting in an offer on a house is scary and exciting. When you’ve decided “yes – this is my house” you are now waiting for someone else to decide if they agree. I can’t explain how weird that is.
The First Offer
The first house we looked at was a classic ranch in a great neighborhood. I wasn’t in love with it (let’s review the post paint to see why!) and Matt had to paint our future into the house to convince me. Once it clicked – I was all in. I was ready to start this new chapter in this cozy ranch.
We had looked at this house on Friday and put our offer in Saturday afternoon. From there – we waited. It’s the strangest experience and hard to explain. You’re nervous and excited and the time drags on. I’ve never felt anything like that before – this was completely out of my control and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.
Rejection
It didn’t take long for the rejection to come through.
Everything you had in your mind for your future just melts away in that moment. The seller had gone with a different offer, no negotiation… and that was it – back to the drawing board.
Another Viewing
We were looking in February and the inventory was dim. It was on a Wednesday that we looked at this house that I had been hawking on Zillow for months. It had a funky design and I was so excited to check it out… I was the first person to pull into the driveway and was devasted. The neighborhood, the house, everything was not screaming “oh hello, you’re home.” When you walked in and saw the kitchen – it yelled, “please leave now.”
The Second Offer
That Friday – I was spending time with Jayme, when I received the text message from Matt:
“You’re going to love this place and we can afford it.”
This was one of those magical moments where everything faded away except for my phone and me. Jayme’s voice dimmed in the background as the only thing I could see was the photos of this house.
The Hallmark House
We viewed it on Saturday and it was it. Offer number two. THIS was the house. We made an offer right away, and then followed the most excruciating 24 hours of my young life. I couldn’t plan my future in this house – losing this would be like losing a limp. This house was perfect…
Around 1, our realtor messaged us… “congrats.”
Wait – what? We got our house? I called my mom immediately… and shared the link with my close friends and family.
It was our 5th house and a dream house. I’ll be posting more about the next steps soon.
xo love kim
