I have a horrible addiction. It takes up so much of my time. Sometimes I'm so distracted with it that I don't even hear my husband ask me questions....
It's....Zillow! *chime the DUN DUN DUNNNNNN music*
The hubby and I are pretty sure that we're going to be settling here for the foreseeable future, so we feel like it is fairly safe to consider a home purchase. We've figured out our budget (determined not by a bank, but by how much we're willing to pay into a mortgage every month) and we've actually looked at two houses. My current landlord is a realtor, as is his brother. We've mostly been dealing with his brother to look at the houses.
As prepared and responsible as we are, we're still stuck here for a little while longer. We didn't have a whole lot of money saved up for a down payment--we generally have enough if it is a Fannie Mae foreclosure or if we were going to do an FHA loan--but if we want to put more down (and conventional loans require a little more down), then we've gotta save up more. It sucks because we fell in love with the second house, but it makes the best financial sense to save up for a slightly larger down payment to secure a conventional loan. We have just enough for the down payment--but we'd have absolutely no savings left once we did that and ordered an independent home inspection. With a baby and the uncertainties of life, having no savings left is just too scary to take that chance. It's also easy to get so caught up in the excitement that you forget how expensive it can be to move, even when you are only moving five or six miles away. We'd have to rent a small U-Haul, and get all of our services transferred to the new house (flipping switches or programming new addresses into the computers at these places seems to cost anywhere from $30-60 a pop).
I will gush a little about the house. It's funny because a lot of people wouldn't like it (and that's what we're counting on--we hope it doesn't sell until we are in a better position to buy it). First, the bad stuff that we're hoping will keep it on the market a while: the kitchen is outdated, with older appliances (and I'm not talking appliances that aren't stainless steel, I'm talking some pretty crazy old appliances), vinyl or linoleum flooring, and laminate countertops. There are hardwoods in the foyer and dining room, but carpet in the living room (though the carpet there is in decent shape). All rooms but the bathrooms are carpeted upstairs, and those carpets are in dire need of replacing--they're stained and in most cases, they do not match (like they replaced the hall carpet, but none of the bedrooms, etc.). The upstairs ceilings are popcorn-tastic.
So why would we want such a house? The kitchen has a lot of cabinets and a great island, plus two pantries. The cabinets are wood, and could easily be updated by changing out the hardware. The kitchen space is phenomenal, and exactly what I want.
The formal dining room has dental molding, and plenty of space, plus lots of natural light. The living room has a fireplace (though it is a wood-burning fireplace, which can be messy--but still). There is a screened porch off the back of the house, and the yard is massive, and has a storage shed. There is a two-car garage and plenty of space at the back of the garage for added storage and organization.
Upstairs, the story gets even better--the laundry is in the upstairs hall, and it has a bank of upper wall cabinets for storage. The hall also boasts a nice linen closet and a walk-in closet! The master bedroom is a great size, as is the master bath--and the walk-in closet off the master bedroom is massive and already has organizers built in. The other two bedrooms are of a good size and both have great closets. The bathroom that serves the other two bedrooms has a double vanity, and is more spacious than the one bathroom we have in our rental. There is attic storage, accessed from a pull-down ladder built into the ceiling.
Finally, there is a bonus room that is a great size--it would be perfect to serve as our TV/videogaming room, and it would still have space for our desktop computer and our exercise equipment.
Can you tell I'm in love? We don't mind the bad features, though another thing that stays our hand is that we'd want to replace the carpets upstairs and fence the backyard for the dogs--both things that take a bit of money--and if we don't wait, we won't have the money to do that. We don't mind waiting on all the other things, but those are two that we'd really prefer to be able to do right away. Odds are, this house will sell before we're ready to buy it, and I keep telling myself that another will come that might be even better. In the spring, I think a lot more houses will be put up on the market, so our selection will improve, as well.
But I still really like this house, and it will hurt when I see the "For Sale" status on Zillow change to "Pending" and then finally..."Sold".