The House Hunt Continues

Shopping for a home is much different than shopping for anything else. There are so many things you have to consider before you even think about putting in an offer.

Out of the 12 homes we've looked at so far, we've really only liked 2. We put an offer in on one, but as soon as I heard that there were 5 other bids I realized that the chances of us winning the bid were slim. Especially considering the like new 2 car garage on the property. It went for much higher than we would have been able to offer, so we concluded that it just wasn't the house for us. It was nice to go through the bidding process though. I did learn a few things.

So we continue our search. There are so many awful homes out there. People just don't seem to up-keep their homes the way they should. Shingles can easily be replaced by my handy husband, but when there is an issue with the foundation, I turn and run. I've learned to look at homes from the bottom, up. There's no sense in picturing how you will live in a home, if the base of the structure is compromised by shifting or bowed walls.

One house that we loved as we observed the main floor disappointed us with a part basement with many large issues. One issue was the alarming slant of the home and shifting of the main support beam. They tiled the kitchen floor beautifully with ceramic tiles, but as soon as that house shifts a little too much, all those tiles will buckle and one of the nice parts of the home will become a hassle. I'm not into that. If it has a sound structure and has been maintained, I will consider bidding.

We suspect that we will look at many more houses and bid on a few before we can call a place home. Until then, we'll have fun looking at what's out there.