The Highs and Lows of House Hunting

I thought I found the perfect home; hardwoods throughout, private porch, one car garage, 3/2, safe neighborhood, HOA took care of the yard, nice architectural details, well-built and it had a roman tub (I love baths!). It was overpriced and the seller was unwilling to come down. Even if I wanted to pay full price, I couldn't because chances are it wouldn't appraise at the selling price, and the bank would refuse the loan - and I would lose my "due diligence" money. (Not sure about other states, but in NC it is customary to pay a fee to the seller for their time lost by taking the home off of the market temporarily.) My realtor made an offer at what the market value is, but the seller wouldn't budge. His home has been on the market for 7 months. A couple days later, the home two houses down came up for sale for much, much more - same deal; the seller's agent said they seem to be in "cahoots" to drive the value up. If they were intelligent, they'd realize after a while that if banks are refusing loans due to high appraisals, they're not going to sell their homes!!!

Next up: 2 homes - one is closer to work, has lots of land and even a pond, almost half of which I  would own! It's private, well-built. But - I'd have to take care of the land :) and the driveway is long and steep so I'd have to shovel my way out if it snows. The rooms are small, it's all carpeted, outdated kitchen and it smells of cigarettes. I could renovate everything but....do I really want all of that land if I'm really not going to use it? I spend more time inside - and the inside is old and small. The location, however - is wonderful.

The other was built in 2015(!), spacious, hardwoods throughout, granite countertops, etc. It is in the very same neighborhood that I really liked in the two mentioned above. So I decided to make an offer - my realtor said it will appraise around what they're asking, so it's realistic to make the offer. Imagine a brand new home practically! This means I won't have to worry about leaky faucets, roofs, the HVAC system, etc. I asked for 3k closing costs and $500 in home warranty (which I probably won't need). I haven't heard anything back yet, but it was submitted late last night or early this morning. The home is next to a house with two cop cars, one of which is a sheriff's car. Two houses down, is another house with a cop car. So at least I know it's very safe (well...I should say, I hope so). Even if I paid full price for the house, I'd still be paying approx. $100 less than I do per month in my current 1 bedroom apartment that I'm renting. The downside? To get a nicer home for less money, and a loan with zero down payment - you have to look a little further out of the city - so my driving time to work is double (35 without traffic; 45 or more with traffic).

There are also 2 more homes in a prime location, well-priced that I'm waiting to look at. Both look very nice and are well-priced. We'll see. I have until the beginning of February to find something in order to safely close so I can move out before my lease expires here. My fingers are crossed.

It's SO exciting and stressful at the same time. And scary! Really scary. Sometimes I can't sleep at night stressing over whether or not I'm making the right decision.  Should I move so far away? Should I just continue to rent? What if I lose my job, benefits, etc.? (I say this because my boss was just let go, others are leaving, my department structure changed last week, etc.) What if my car breaks down? I mean, realistically, I've lived in this apartment for the past 2 years without a problem, so what makes me so concerned? Especially if I'll be paying less per month? 

Ugh...just brain dumping here. I'm sure everything will work out for the best. Also, no matter what happens, it'll nice to be able to look back and this blog post to see the homes I was considering.