Home Question for homeowners

[laughwithme]

How many homes did you look at before you made an offer on one? 5? 10? 100? Do you wish that you had viewed more?

Did you know immediately when you fell in love with your home? Or did you debate between several homes before making an offer on one?

 

[Guilty Pleasure]

I think we may have viewed around 10-15? I can't remember. Honestly, it's not about the quantity of homes... it's quality. If you go into the process knowing exactly what you are looking for, a competent realtor should be able to narrow it down for you and show you less homes. However, if you're not really sure what you are looking for, you'll need to see more homes to figure it out.

You could see three or thirty homes... it all depends on what you're looking for and the competence of your realtor.

 

[Puppmom]

We looked at about 10 but we had to live in a specific school district that''s only 3 or 4 square miles so that limited the number of houses on the market available to us. We knew right away that our house *could* be the one but went back for a second look just to make sure. We definitely weren''t torn between multiple homes.

I kept *looking* long after our contract was in place and we settled and I''m still happy with our choice.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Hey, laughwithme. I put together a poll on this very topic several months ago, I thought it might help:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-many-houses-did-you-see-before-you-bought.124162/

It looks like most respondents saw 20+ homes.

We have an accepted offer on a house right now, but I'd say we walked through 60 - 75 homes with our agent before finding this one and viewed hundreds and hundreds online. We put in three offers (including this one). This is our second accepted offer, the first fell through for legal reasons.

ETA: Our preferences changed throughout the process. The first home we put an offer on was an oceanfront home. Somewhere down the line we decided we'd rather have an antique on a large plot of land with more privacy, so that is what we ended up going for. Also, I've never said "THIS IS THE ONE!" I'm driven by budget and for me, finding a home that met as many of the "needs" and "wants" on our list within that budget was the primary driver.

 

[Puppmom]

Date: 4/15/2010 12:30:52 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Hey, laughwithme. I put together a poll on this very topic several months ago, I thought it might help:

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-many-houses-did-you-see-before-you-bought.124162/

It looks like most respondents saw 20+ homes.

We have an accepted offer on a house right now, but I''d say we walked through 60 - 75 homes with our agent before finding this one and viewed hundreds and hundreds online. We put in three offers (including this one). This is our second accepted offer, the first fell through for legal reasons.

ETA: Our preferences changed throughout the process. The first home we put an offer on was an oceanfront home. Somewhere down the line we decided we''d rather have an antique on a large plot of land with more privacy, so that is what we ended up going for. Also, I''ve never said ''THIS IS THE ONE!'' I''m driven by budget and for me, finding a home that met as many of the ''needs'' and ''wants'' on our list within that budget was the primary driver.

Ditto! If the budget was higher "the one" would have been much different!

 

[janinegirly]

We saw 2. We probably should have seen more--just for comparison if nothing else.

I don''t look at houses as lifetime decisions though--sure they could become that--but if a sound decision is made, they can also be sold and profited from if things/tastes change down the line. I moved many times growing up so that might explain my outlook. And DH feels a house can always be altered to suit our tastes, so it was more about location, neighborhood, town, price and ease with which expansion, upgrade could occur. I think if you wait for the "THIS IS IT" moment, you could caught up in an eternal search for perfection. Although if you have that kind of realization, it''s great too, just don''t get attached and overbid!

 

[Haven]

Date: 4/15/2010 12:25:29 PM
Author:laughwithme
How many homes did you look at before you made an offer on one? 5? 10? 100? Do you wish that you had viewed more?

Did you know immediately when you fell in love with your home? Or did you debate between several homes before making an offer on one?

We looked at over 70 homes. Yes, that''s not a typo--SEVENTY!

"Our" house was the 69th home we viewed (I kept an Excel spreadsheet with the info), but we continued looking even though I fell in love with it the moment we walked in. DH wasn''t as enamored by it, so it took some convincing on my part.

We negotiated on three other properties before we found our home. All three fell through because the sellers weren''t willing to sell the homes at the prices that we were willing to pay for them. Two sellers contacted our realtor a couple weeks or months (can''t remember) after we walked away from the homes to try to renegotiate.

I can''t remember how long we looked, but it was close to a year.

HOWEVER, it took my husband nine months to buy a TELEVISION, so I think we did pretty well keeping the house hunt to under five years. Ha! Seriously, though, he''s extremely . . . thorough? That''s probably the best euphemism for it.

I most definitely do NOT wish we had looked at more, no.

Part of our issue was that the housing market really dropped *while* we were searching, so that opened up a new realm of possibilities for us after we had searched for a while. We also weren''t completely committed to one location until after seeing what was out there for a month or so, which definitely made it harder to narrow it down.

My parents looked at three houses when they bought their house. They had a very narrow location (they wanted to stay in the same school district) and a small amount to spend, so there were only three possibilities! Made it a lot easier, I imagine!

 

[PumpkinPie]

We looked at about 10 I think.. but it was mostly my boyfriend looking (my husband now). I do wish that we had looked at more, but a single family detached house on a single salary in Calgary was nearly out of reach so there were not that many options to look at!
now we''re both working (yay for being done school) and will likely move up to another (slightly bigger) house within the next 2 years. We''re already looking (we cruise open houses for fun on Saturdays) and have probably seen 20-30 in the past few months

 

[Pandora II]

We looked at about 40 - but then I like looking at houses as I''m nosy!

There were two we instantly liked, but I liked one more and DH liked the other more. We arranged a second viewing of both with 30 minutes between appointments.

The one DH liked wasn''t furnished and so ''looked'' very spacious, but I noticed the low-ish ceilings. The other was furnished and looked a bit smaller although it was bigger on paper. It also had high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows giving lots of light. The big terrace, which is almost impossible to get in London especially looking over the river, just sealed it for us and we put an offer in on the spot.

I still love the house and we''re in the middle of remodelling. I didn''t see another property that came close, even ones that were way more expensive.

 

[MustangGal]

1

But we had been through tons of model home with DH''s parents before that, so we knew what we liked. The realtor sent us a list of 8 homes, we drove by a few and asked to see 2 of them. One was already under contract, so we looked at our home and made an offer the next day. That was 6 years ago and we''re still living in the home. It wasn''t love at first sight or "oh my gosh it''s perfect", since we only thought we''d be here 3 eyars it was more of a "this will be fine for a while".

The market now is so different than it was when we purchased. We were considering upgrading last summer, looked at probably 20+ homes, put offers on two, and ended up staying where we are.

 

[iheartscience]

We probably looked at 30ish, and we looked for about a year. We made one offer but it was a back up offer and the original offer went through. We wanted to make offers on 2 others but when we went to make an offer both already had contracts.

There was a very small area I really wanted to live in, so our search was limited by that. For a while we also considered buying a multi-unit building, which is why the number is as high as it was.

We then decided we didn''t want to deal with the hassle of being landlords and first time homeowners, so we went back to just looking for single family homes. We looked at our house 2 or 3 times before we finally got a contract on it. The first time we looked at the house the price was way too high, and our realtor got the impression that the seller wouldn''t sell for what it was worth so we didn''t even make an offer.

A few months later the seller dropped the price so we made an offer. She wouldn''t take our best offer, so we walked away. Then she dropped the price again and we waited for another month or so before looking at it again and making another offer. We won the last time around and ended up with our house for a fair price. Our patience paid off!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Probably around 30, we are first time buyers and didn''t know what we really wanted. We fell in love with one house...but found out it had gone under contract as we were walking through it. Sniffle...I''m still a little heartbroken about that one...

But then we found another home that was a great deal, had the things we were looking for, and was just beautiful and charming! We''re currently in the process of buying it!

 

[decodelighted]

Um ... 5-7 I guess. I can''t really remember. Been eight years now. I walked into this house 2nd to last & said "its the one" & moved 90 miles away from my friends & old apartment & beloved neighborhood for something completely different. If I hadn''t, I probably wouldn''t have met DH -- so ... no regrets. Talk to me next time the roof leaks or the siding falls off or the plumbing backs up though

.

NEXT time ... NEW house ... or, better yet, CONDO.

 

[Tawonda]

We looked at less than a dozen (10 maybe?) because of a time crunch and boy did we end up regretting that one. Had we known then what we know now we would have stayed at an extended stay hotel if needbe and kept on looking. In my opinion you owe it to yourself to look at no less than 15-20 properties minimum before making such a huge decision. Happy househunting to you.

 

[vespergirl]

We looked at 12 houses. The house that we ended up buying was the second one that we looked at, and I knew right away that it was the one that I wanted. There was only one other house that we liked, my DH liked it better because it was on a larger piece of land, but it cost $100K more, and it would have needed a minimum of $50K in renovations right off the bat (kitchen & master bath) so the house would have cost $150K more.

I was 7 months pregnant when we were moving, and I knew that I was going to quit my job when I had the baby, so we decided to go for the smaller and less expensive house (that I really loved) that wouldn''t need any renovations, since I couldn''t deal with workmen tearing up my kitchen and bathroom when I was about to have a baby. Plus, I didn''t want us to have the extra financial burden of the larger home.

I am still totally in love with our house, and am so glad that we went with this one instead.

 

[April20]

My very first home, 3. The market was really tight.

My second home, about 20. I was moving to a new city and needed to figure out what neighborhood.

Our current home, 1. It was a smokin deal and right up the street from House 2 that we sold. We knew the neighborhood and loved it.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Just the one we bought. It''s a unique property and although it needed a lot of work, there wasn''t another one of any interest to us on the market in the right place.

We were living in a tiny cottage at the time, where we first moved in together, with the furniture from our two much bigger houses. We were pretty keen to move/

We took our dog for a walk along the costal path and saw this house in an area we''d never explored before but that was only about 20 minutes from where we lived. We commented at the time that it was perfect and how we''d never find another one like it. When we walked back to the car, we went past the side of the house - For Sale sign on the side gate. We viewed it the next day and made an offer there and then, subject to survey. Moved in two months later.

When I bought a modern house a couple of years earlier, I looked at dozens. They all blended into one in my memory and they were all pretty similar, so I picked one at random in the location I liked best. I can''t get excited about new buildings, but it was a nice place to live and it was all clean and fresh. Before that, I bought off-plan, so there wasn''t anything to look at.

In between, I found another old cottage I loved and I rented out my modern house to buy it. I wasn''t househunting, I just stumbled across it when I was walking with the dog.

Since we don''t plan to move again, I should probably hire someone to walk that dog...

If you find ''the one'' then I don''t see much point in keeping on looking, but if you''re unsure, no harm in looking at all there is on offer. I suppose it''s the luck of the draw - how soon you find something that you either fall for or that ticks all your boxes. Good luck with it!

Jen

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Date: 4/15/2010 6:37:24 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
Probably around 30, we are first time buyers and didn''t know what we really wanted. We fell in love with one house...but found out it had gone under contract as we were walking through it. Sniffle...I''m still a little heartbroken about that one...

But then we found another home that was a great deal, had the things we were looking for, and was just beautiful and charming! We''re currently in the process of buying it!

Sorry you lost out on that one, but I wish you every happiness in your new place and I''m pretty sure the memories of the other one will tarnish when you have time to fall in love with the one you''re buying. As much as I loved our house and the land with it when I looked from the outside, the inside was a whole other story! Took me a couple of years to really love actually living in it, even though it was the one I wanted.

 

[mayachel]

Once we settled on buying over renting, we looked at 6 or 7? Some were apartments, some were condos some were houses.

The home we bought, was the 3rd we put on offer in on. It all took about 5 Sundays of house hunting.

I think the number was so few because of the help of the internet in terms of "prescreening" places.

The only reason I wish we looked at more places, is because it was a really fun and hope-filled part of our relationship. We still look on-line now and again, and are continually happy with what we have.

 

[onedrop]

I bought the house that we currently live in before we got married so I was the only one looking at the time. I don''t remember exactly how many homes I looked at before this one came through, maybe a dozen or more. Actually very few of the homes I initially looked at were right for me, and when I did find a home that suited me and my style there were competing contract situations and I always lost out! So I decided to purchase a new condo in a brand new development. However after I made my deposit it took MONTHS for them to even lay the foundation for the building that my condo was supposed to be in and I was ready to move after living with my parents for a couple of years. So....I was able to get my deposit back and start looking again. During that search I found our current home and the buyer was ready to sell. The home had been on the market for quite some time (not sure exactly why) and I suppose I came along at the right time.

 

[Miss Sparkly]

We looked at several homes and what sold us on the house we bought turned out to be a huge PITA! We loved the yard - huge, tons of flowers trees, rock gardens etc. We also didn''t realize how much work it would take too. We are now having to short sell our house and the two biggest reasons for that are because we didn''t think that both of us would take huge hour cuts (or if we did finding another job would be no problem) and we didn''t factor in the cost to live so far away from work and the grocery store. Here''s a small list of things that I wish I would have considered:

1 - garage sq ft. 400 sq ft will not fit two cars - try to park your cars in the garage if possible to make sure they''ll fit.
2 - Don''t live too far away from civilization

Driving 10 miles to the grocery or for medicine may not seem like much now, but give it a couple years...

3 - If your budget is 1/3 your income (as many banks suggest) - cut it down! Life can soon make your 1/3 of your income turn into 1/2 or 3/4 of your income.
4 - Don''t forget to look into the cost of water, trash, etc for the area. There can be significant price differences depending on the city you live in.
5 - take some time in the home to really see it. Don''t just do a quick walk thru. Picture what you own, how it will look, will it fit where you want it, are the outlets in good locations, is there an interent hookup where you need it to be, does anything about the home make moving things difficult (sharp corners, tight staircase) and would you want this to be your forever home if need be?

 

[audball]

Date: 4/15/2010 12:30:52 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Hey, laughwithme. I put together a poll on this very topic several months ago, I thought it might help:


https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/how-many-houses-did-you-see-before-you-bought.124162/


It looks like most respondents saw 20+ homes.


We have an accepted offer on a house right now, but I''d say we walked through 60 - 75 homes with our agent before finding this one and viewed hundreds and hundreds online. We put in three offers (including this one). This is our second accepted offer, the first fell through for legal reasons.


ETA: Our preferences changed throughout the process. The first home we put an offer on was an oceanfront home. Somewhere down the line we decided we''d rather have an antique on a large plot of land with more privacy, so that is what we ended up going for. Also, I''ve never said ''THIS IS THE ONE!'' I''m driven by budget and for me, finding a home that met as many of the ''needs'' and ''wants'' on our list within that budget was the primary driver.

This is pretty similar to our story. We saw over 100 homes in the last 4 months. Viewed more than 1000 online. We weren''t really sure what we were looking for, didn''t have a specific area we really wanted to live in, etc. So that opened up a lot of possibilities. We also put in three offers (including this one). This is also our second accepted offer, our first fell through at the appraisal stage. All the better, because this home is much more *US*. One offer was flat out rejected, they were priced unreasonably high, but it all worked out for the best.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

We looked at 15, maybe.. and narrowed it down to 3. We weren''t 100% in love with any of them, but we knew we wanted to get our of our rental and into a place of our own. It came down to right price, right time, nice location, and lots of potential. I pretty much felt like vomiting throughout the whole process, until the day we moved in. It''s hard to feel SO certain and confident about a purchase that eats up years of savings.

 

[butterfly 17]

When we bought our first home, we looked at a lot of houses, maybe somewhere between 30 to 40, possibly more.
Once we found the one we bought, we still kept looking, but I knew it was the one.

When we bought the one we are living in now, we looked at seven but we were not really serious. Just looking to see if prices really went down.Then we found our home and we loved it and made an offer right away. We are still very happy with our home, but may relocate to Charlotte when my husband retires.

I think you just know when it''s the one.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Pending closing...we only looked at about 4 or 5 total before we found our house. I didn''t know immediately..but I did know by the time we got home. It just felt right.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

we''ve looked at about 20 and have an offer in on one. however, it''s a short sale and anything can happen, so no "falling in love" with it yet!

 

[HVVS]

I found house shopping to be punishment. I am so thankful that so many realtors include interior shots in their online advertisements now. It's saved me countless trips to look at something that turned out to be a hovel. I like prewar houses, as in "built before WWII." You would not believe how remuddled and hacked up some of those are after all these years. Since I am buying for the "historic" character, there has to be some of the old millwork, etc. still in there. I currently rent. I dread the next homebuying campaign.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

my first house in 2004-about 100 online and 5 in person (I was moving from Boston to Lousiana, flew down for 3 days after several months of intense online research and was in contract by the time I flew back)

I sold that in 2006 and moved to NYC. Rented for 3 years and then last year bought my coop. I was an open house junkie and obsessive online researcher for about 6 months, the market tanked during my search and I was able to expand to look at 2 brs. I literally looked at every 1 and 2 bedroom apt for sale from 125th street to 207th street in Manhattan!@# I knew Manhattan and Riverdale better than most realtors I met

I love our place, our neighborhood, and the fact that we got a great deal I think we''ll be here for quite sometime barring a huge lifechange that requires a move.

 

[HVVS]

Date: 4/18/2010 1:12:43 PM
Author: Sparkly Blonde
We looked at several homes and what sold us on the house we bought turned out to be a huge PITA! We loved the yard - huge, tons of flowers trees, rock gardens etc. We also didn't realize how much work it would take too. We are now having to short sell our house and the two biggest reasons for that are because we didn't think that both of us would take huge hour cuts (or if we did finding another job would be no problem) and we didn't factor in the cost to live so far away from work and the grocery store. Here's a small list of things that I wish I would have considered:


1 - garage sq ft. 400 sq ft will not fit two cars - try to park your cars in the garage if possible to make sure they'll fit.

2 - Don't live too far away from civilization

Driving 10 miles to the grocery or for medicine may not seem like much now, but give it a couple years...

3 - If your budget is 1/3 your income (as many banks suggest) - cut it down! Life can soon make your 1/3 of your income turn into 1/2 or 3/4 of your income.

4 - Don't forget to look into the cost of water, trash, etc for the area. There can be significant price differences depending on the city you live in.

5 - take some time in the home to really see it. Don't just do a quick walk thru. Picture what you own, how it will look, will it fit where you want it, are the outlets in good locations, is there an interent hookup where you need it to be, does anything about the home make moving things difficult (sharp corners, tight staircase) and would you want this to be your forever home if need be?

That is fantastic advice! Do not underestimate the costs of changes you see as necessary. It's not difficult to rack up $20k to $25k in a hurry. Commuting long distances is a huge waste of time, money, and vehicles. I always tried to live within 10 miles of work, and pick a place that didn't have traffic flow problems, plus has more than one route in & out.

 

[I Love My Sailor]

When my husband and I decided to buy a house, it was a bit random. We herd about the 8,000 homebuyers tax credit and thought it was worth looking into. We were renting at the time. The day we discussed the whole thing, we looked on line, and drove around looking at online listings. Everything we liked was too much for our budget. We had a 130,000 budget. (not much I know) We had not seen any houses on the inside yet via appointments (just the pictures posted online) We were driving around looking for any sale signs and came across a cute little house. We called the number and the price was right 128,000 asking. The owner explained that everything was updated in the house. Anyways a month later, for 125,100 the house was ours!!

I kept looking at houses online, even after we bought our house and found only a couple that we might have bought so this house was the first inside tour we took. It was perfect for the two of us