House-Hunting

Never did I think I would get to this point: house-hunting. It just seemed a distant thought of the far future. It was something I never thought would be possible at this point of my life. As a child, I would draw house plans -- on my bedroom door, no less -- and my mother would be very disappointed. The pictures stayed on that door for years and years. I grew to appreciate Lowes for its huge house plan books and guides for my study. Now, I spend my time scoping the local area for good deals on homes and land for possible future settlement. Like I said, it's hard to believe I'm to this point!

I won't say that we're completely ready, though. It will take a lot of work.

We started out looking into a very large, quick-building company. Once we noticed how poorly-built the homes were (the more we drove by them, the more flaws we noticed), we decided to back out quickly. They were making home-buying far too easy, and I didn't trust them at all. Thank goodness we backed out; all I hear is bad things about them now.

We then took a break. Now, we begin again, but now we look at already-built homes, modular floor plans, and land.

Let me say this: it is a tough, confusing process filled with conflicting ideas, different opinions, and hard decisions.

Here are some examples:

great home, great price -- far commute for J
great home, great price -- far commute for D
old house, lots of land, good location -- lots of work
brand new house, no land, good location -- overpriced for what you get, poorly built
great neighborhood -- overpriced homes
great neighborhood, great house -- no basement

Here are some questions that spring from the above:

Do we really need a basement?
Do we want a basement if it is really, really old?
Is a house built in the 70s worth buying?
Do the costs of fixing up a house make it worth the cheap price?
Are we really ready for all this?
What if one of us loses our job?
How far is too far of a commute?
What locations suit us best as a young married couple?
Would we rather have the house or the yard?

As you can see, it's a complicated process. It's fun -- don't get me wrong -- but it's already tiring. We've taken the next step and found a real estate agent to help us on the search. We are also going to get pre-approved soon. It's still, though, the idea that we could make a bad decision, rush into something, or wish we hadn't decided to buy, that concerns me. On the other hand, it's the excitement of possibly owning our own place, our own yard, that keeps me going.

Here are a few of the items on our wish list:

master suite with big tub

at least 1 acre yard

at least 1400 + sq ft

safe community/area

30-40 minute commutes

basement

nice kitchen 

hardwood in at least some of the rooms

porch/deck

I want a neighborhood because I've always lived in one. Justin doesn't care because he grew up on a huge farm.

I want a big tub and so does Justin. We both want the master suite.

I want to feel safe wherever I live. Justin's not really afraid of anything, so he doesn't ever get "scared."

I find hardwood purposeful for the family with a pattern of allergies. Carpets have such short life spans.

The only reason for a basement is for storage and for my paranoia of tornadoes. Yup, you heard me correctly. If I could get away with it, I would skip on the basement and just have a garage or something. They are kind of fun, though, if you use them for a movie room or something.

We say 1400 sq ft because our town home is around 1100, so we figure it should be at least a room larger for it to be worth it. It would be great to get more than 1400.

The kitchen is self-explanatory.

A porch or deck is such a cheap way to enjoy time together.

Commutes shouldn't be long enough to emotionally or physically break you down.

Unfortunately, these things are difficult to find in the location we're looking. Sure, a lot of the houses have most of these things, but then they don't have a basement, which is kind of a big deal. I'm still trying to decide if I'm okay without one.

If we could have it our way, we would buy land and either get a local builder to work with or a modular house. However, land is so expensive in this area, it seems like we'll get more for our money with a house already built. We have one spot of land we're watching, but it's very expensive, and we're not sure if they have minimum square footage limits.

So, any ideas or tips on house hunting? What kind of things would you say we may not necessarily need?

Hope you had a great weekend! It's beautiful...