Home Searching for a home for Argh and Fisher

[fisherofmengirly]

Master bedroom (not showing the double trey ceiling, though.) The bed is a Cal-King; it will hold our furniture just perfect!!

They didn''t take a picture of the master bathroom.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

This is the second biggest room (currently a little girl''s room, if you can''t tell

), with chair rail that I really like! It also has a lot of storage (small closet doors that lead to the attic and/or miniature closets that are deep).

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Current guest bedroom. The other room is the same size, opposite this room, and is being used as a fitness room. No picture posted, though.

 

[zoebartlett]

It''s so pretty Fisher! I know what you mean about subdivision houses looking the same though. It''s good that you got to see the inside of the house. I''m glad you love it. So, how many houses are still on your list of ones you may make an offer on?

 

[fisherofmengirly]

And for Paul, the woods behind the backyard. It''s still got a large deck and lots of room for the doggies to play. No fence yet, though.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

These are the area lookalikes:

 

[fisherofmengirly]

And the other lookalike:

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Oh my goodness, Zoe... I wanna say maybe 12 or 15 still on the list, more to see. Some of them really need to be eliminated. Paul says they have "potential." They do, but the potential is way beyond our ability.

 

[Linda W]

Geez, I love the property on these houses. Not all crammed together like in California.

Linda

 

[diamondseeker2006]

The house looks great, Fisher! I like all the ones you''ve posted! You have some great ones to choose from. I couldn''t live anywhere but the southeast because we are spoiled with home prices and more land.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

I can''t tell you guys how much I have thought of this house today. I''m going out with the realtor again tomorrow, to see three or four more, and I hope that we''ll be able to "swing" by this one again. I don''t know, I just really, really like it. It feels like home. It''s odd, because other people''s stuff is there, but it feels like home.

I''m really excited for Paul to see it. Part of me wishes we''d both seen it for the first time together. Oh well; what''s what I get for being impatient again, huh?

There is a virtual tour of the home online; I''ve watched it like 5 times today. I''m lovin'' it!!

***
It is nice to have some land with a home, yes. The thing we''ve run into, though, is that there''s a wide distance between the two. There are a lot of homes that are under 1/3 acre, and then they just seem to jump up to like 3/4 and 1 acre, and more. It seems like 1/3 is fairly little, and then an acre is just overwhelming. I don''t know exactly the size of the property with this house (but I can check!), but it just seems *right* to me. It says 1/3 to 1/2 acre. Haha. Maybe that''s why I like it; it''s inbetween the two!!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

The hunt starts again today, everyone.

It was a nice break during Christmas, and now back out we go to see if there is one that *speaks* to both of us!

Wish us luck (it appears that we need it!!).

 

[UCLABelle]

Good luck!!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Best of luck - looking forward to seeing what you choose!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

We made our first offer on a house!!

It's wonderful, you guys!!! Just wonderful!!!

Here it is, in all it's beauty. (The picture is from the flyer; they have changed the garage door to a Craftsman style door, and there are now shutters on the long window in the front, black. It looks nice.)

Our realtor is turning in the offer today. I'm nervous like crazy nuts. This house is one we both really like. It's so exciting, and it's also like waiting to get back a major exam, to see your score. It's nuts.

It's all so fast paced; we saw the house the first time on Saturday!! And now, just four days later, we've made an offer. How funny! Of course, Paul is excited, but he just shows glimmers of it sometimes (he's trying to be the rational one here).

I hear the counter offer game can be quite tedious. Still, our agent thinks everything will be either a *go* or a *no go* by the beginning of the weekend. This is good, because this weekend is our first anniversary and Paul's taking me away on a surprise trip!! Yay! So, we can either CELEBRATE big time, or drown our sorrows in the love and memories of our wedding day....

Either way, I'm so hyper excited. I need to pee, all the time. Don't you just LOVE that feeling?

If you're the praying type, please pray this works out just as our Father would have it to!!! We know it will, but yeah, all the prayers help calm my nerves (if only a little).

EEEK!!!!

 

[dani13]

Ohhhh, best of luck with your offer, Fisher!!!! That house is REALLY cute!!!! Do you have any pics of the inside?

 

[fisherofmengirly]

No inside pictures yet. They had their furniture in the home until yesterday, so I didn''t ask to take pictures. We like it even better now that it''s naked inside!!

 

[sk8rjen]

Hey stranger!I poppped in to see how everyone''s doing, and I''m so glad I did -- this house looks wonderful! It really does happen fast once you have that ball rolling... Matt and I bought our home at the end of September. We''d made a low-ball off on it 2 days after we saw it (and it was quite a bit higher than our price range, but it had been on the market for a couple of months, so we took the chance...) I just told myself that if it was meant to happen it would....and so when we got the first counter-offer, it was really disappointing. I told our realtor that if we couldn''t get it for our top price, then we would let it go --- there''s a lot out there right now to choose from. I was down for a couple of days because I had gone and fallen in love with the house, when out of nowhere my realtor called and said the guy bugged her all weekend, wondering if we were going to make another offer. She told him flat-out "no, not gonna happen" and he told her he''d go down to our price! We closed on it a week and a half later!

I hope your story is as happy as ours -- we must have seen a zillion homes before we found this one, and this one was the only one we made an offer on, so I''m praying it works that way for you --- keep us posted!!

PS..... I''ve really missed you all and hope everyone I''ve known from PS is doing well!!!

jen

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Sk8r!! I''ve been wondering how you''re doing! How exciting about your house. Show us pictures?? Pretty please!!!

Well, we got a counter offer today. I was so disappointed!!! They only dropped their price by a puny $2,000 and some change. That''s still FAR above our *top.* So, we will counter their counter, and see what happens.

They''ve been out of the home since September, and moved their belongings out this weekend; so, if they haven''t bought a new home, they''re at least looking at a hefty storage fee, plus a mortgage payment on a home they''re not living in. They''ve moved out of state, and have twin baby boys. They had a contract fall through in September, so I thought their knowing we are pre-approved would be a major bonus for them.

We''ll counter their counter, and with all my hope and prayers, we''ll leave it in God''s hands. We both LOVE the house, but there are other houses out there we can fall in love with (and hopefully, we''ll find one soon, if need be) and there are TONS of people willing to "wheel and deal" in the real estate market right now. Up until last weekend, we''d not found one we both just adored. Surely it will happen again, if this one doesn''t pan out.

There are major things we have to keep in mind regarding the cost of the home. We want to keep the payments low enough so that if I were to quit work when our baby is little, we can still afford the home. We want to continue to be able to put money into savings, and we want to be able to not feel completely poor, just for a place to live.

At the same time, we don''t want a home just to have a home. It has to feel like a home to us. It has to be something we both love, something we''re not grimacing over each time a payment is due. There are a few that we both like, but not quite love. The next closest in line is listed on this thread, I think. The thing is, it''s also listed in the same price range. Go figure!! It also lacks a lot of the aspects that we love.

Anyway, like I said, we''re praying and know that it will work like it''s supposed to.

Your story gives me hope, Sk8r. Our agent said if we felt like they were just not in range with our price range, she would send their realtor an email telling him it looks like their range is not the same as ours; she says sometimes that encourages the other realtor to request that we make a counter offer, which shows their interest. I really don''t care that much about the "game" of it, and we have decided to simply counter their counter and see what happens.

I''m still excited a little, and I still have hope. At the very least, we''ve gained some experience in the offer game (which I''m none too fond of, by the way!!), and the housing market here definitely has a lot to choose from.... That''s to our benefit, at least!!

Thanks for the thoughts, everyone. It''s exciting and scary, all in one!!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Our counter offer goes in today; wish us luck!

Then, tomorrow, we''re off for a long weekend in celebration of our first year of marriage.

Wow, does time fly. I mean *fly*!!!!

 

[sk8rjen]

Wow, Fisher, married a year already?? Time really does fly, doesn''t it? Stay positive about the house, it might pan out. You realize that the owners/other real-estate agent are going to counter high expecting to play this "game." Face it, they want as much as they can get. Your situation sounds similar to ours, though. Believe it or not, our real-estate agent actually said she *thought* the other guy never even told the owners our first offer! He bugged her all weekend after she came back to him with a "no" from us (on the original counter offer). He''d told her he didn''t think the owner was going to go below a certain amount (which at that point was still about $8000 higher than our top price) and so we just said no and didn''t even re-counter. Since he kept calling her, she basically said "listen, they are not willing to pay more than x$ for a house, so they''re still shopping." and next thing you know, he called her and said the owners would take that amount. It ended up being $15,000 less than their asking price. In this market, it''s all possible. Not too many people are willing to keep 2 mortgages for long, and like you guys, our home''s previous owner lived out of state and we were dealing with their agent. Fun times. Since I had just given up (and like you said, left it in God''s hands) it was a really happy surprise to get the good news! They''d also had a previous offer that didn''t pan out, and the fact that we were pre-approved had to look good...

So, it sounds like we have a lot in common! I need to find my camera and take some house pics--- I''ve been meaning to do that anyway , but my camera disappeared recently (thanks to a certain 5 year old!) When I do, I''ll post a few. I love our house and thankfully so does Matt. We both felt a "wow" factor when we first saw it, but we also were realistic in knowing it was out of our price range. I''d seen the house online first, and showed him a picture of the living room a couple months before we saw it in person...I''d said "this is my dream home!" and he laughed and responded that he''d take it too, but in a "yah, right, like that''ll ever happen" sarcastic way!!

We *liked* a lot of houses we saw, and considered making an offer on one other one, but it ended up zoned for the "wrong" school. So we dumped looking in that area as lovely as it was...the school thing was a huge issue for us! Luckily, we found this home after that one and love it even more. We''d passed on a few houses in this area, but really liked this area we''re in the best of all of them, so it really worked out for us, and I know it will for you too. If we''d have jumped on the first home we both really *liked* we never would have found our home. We feel that we can live for 30 years or more here, and that was important in our decision-making. My boys can be teenagers here and spread out a bit, whereas with our rental, we were all walking on top of each other all the time!

So, anyway, I can''t wait for this to work for you! Things happen for a reason, I truly truly believe that, and so if this one doesn''t work, just remember there''s something better waiting for you....but I''m crossing my fingers!

jen

ps off the house subject, I''m really ready to be pregnant, but matt''s not yet

My clock feels like it''s ticking so bad since my "baby" starts school next fall and my daytime will be free.... I guess this is all for another thread

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Okay, everyone, if we ever needed prayers and/or p.s. dust, now is the time, regarding the house hunt.

Today, we will receive our final response from the home owners. It was supposed to have been yesterday, but they requested an additional 24 hours, because they also received a new offer on Monday, and they wanted time to "think over" both offers, because the new offer alloted for more time to respond than ours did. Part of me wishes we would have said, "No; decide now, right now!," but we figure another 24 hours of torture can''t be *that* bad. At least we thought.

Last night we were both so tense it seemed like everything we said was snappy.

I''ve probably driven by the house like 15 times by now. I like to see it at different times of the day (and night); I guess I''m partly obsessed and partly interested in knowhing what the neighborhood is like. Mostly I just like to see the house, though.

I can''t believe it''s been a week of this stuff!! Today it will all be done, one way or the other.

Aye!!

Let''s hope we can both get something done at work today!!

I''m excited, and I''m nervous.

 

[Lorelei]

Sending truckloads of dust to you Fishie!

 

[anchor31]

Prayers outgoing! Good luck!

Hey sk8rjen!

 

[eks6426]

Hoping you got some good news today!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Aww, so far it''s a no-go!! Argh, indeed!!

What we''re hoping is that the other buyer ends up being NOT qualified for their loan. I know that sounds awful mean, and I don''t really mean it, but we really do love that house!!

On Saturday, we''ll head out on the search again with our realtor. Fun times. I really thought the search was over. ARGH!!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh, Fisher, I am just now seeing this thread! I hope you find an even better house soon! Many people with kids put houses on the market in the spring so they can move in the summer so the kids don''t have to change schools in the middle of the year. So maybe there will be more to look at in the next couple of months!

 

[firebirdgold]

Don''t worry!! If you don''t get the house it means it wasn''t the right house for you!

House hunting is hard and there are usually dissapointments like this. But I swear it''ll work out for the best in the end! It took us d@#% near 6 months to find our house with two failed escrows, but third times the charm and our home is far better suited to us than those previous houses we thought were perfect.

Besides, prices on houses will just keep going down, right?

 

[sk8rjen]

Fisher

I''m sorry that didn''t work out -- and don''t feel bad that the financing doesn''t work for the other people, b/c sometimes that happens. Either way, it''ll work out right for you. Like Indie said, you''ll end up in the right home for you two! I''m thinkin'' of ya and sending you lots of happy/patient vibes! Sorry I didn''t respond sooner, but I''ve been spending mucho time on babycenter of all places... hope to hear something happy from you soon!!
jen

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Well, this weekend we hit the home hunt again. It was a little disappointing, because we didn''t find anything that compared to *the* home we earlier made an offer on. We did see one that we''d not seen before that has some serious potential. It''ll need some updating (it has a car port and I just really think that makes the home dated, but it''s not too hard to make a car port into a garage, or another bedroom and then add a detached garage). It''s yellow; I don''t like yellow homes, in general.

Today we also saw one of the very first homes we''ve looked at, again. This makes time number three. It''s a pretty home. It''s been on the market since May, so you''d think they''d be ready to make a deal, no? We''ve talked about making an offer on it several times (when we first saw it, around Christmas, and then after losing the other home), but I''m more timid than ever before, even though I think I liked it slightly more today than I have in the past. The thing is, it''s listed in a very similar price to the one we just made an offer on, and if we didn''t get it, why should we think we''d get this one? Negative attitude, I know. But it''s also a defense mechanism. It crushed me when we didn''t get that other home.

I think we''ll take some time to think about it some more. We don''t want to just *rebound* and pick a home that''s not really *hit* us as being "the one," just because "the one" got away. Still, we''ve been to it three times now, and it''s remained on our top three list from the beginning.

It''s been listed on here before, but just for kicks, here''s another picture: