retail therapy day

[orangerful]

So, still no house yet. We've struck out 3 times.

First one we really liked but it was built in 1985 and was on septic and had never been updated. We decided this made us too nervous, that the odds of things breaking were too high for our budget to handle.

Second one we LOVED the house, the yard was huge but it was in the most random part of Glen Burnie on a little street in a development that I think was abandoned in 2002, with just a handful of houses and the next community over was sketchy. These people had dropped it $50,000 and no one had bought it yet and we wondered why...

Third one was GORGEOUS, good location but...way out of our price range. And it was too nice to even pretend to haggle because it was probably worth more than it was listed for.

So last night we drank a bottle of wine and ate an entire thing of Hagen Das ice cream and then today Tim bought himself a new phone (his was dying) and got suckered into the "free" tablet. I went ahead an ordered myself the set of Funko Fantastic Mr Fox Legacy figures that were on sale at Entertainment Earth.

We've got a few more houses on our "look at" list but this week has been too busy.

Comments

[ofwinterspast.livejournal.com]

I see a lot of my friends having trouble finding a house or home they'd want to live in and can close on. I really hope that doesn't bode poorly for when we start looking for housing after the first of the year. :(

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Just keep saving! Our biggest shock was how much closing costs are. We keep including help with that in our offers when we can. If we had a bigger downpayment saved, things would be easier but the houses that are in good areas are just **that** much too high. It's frustrating.

[penderies.livejournal.com]

I hope you guys find something soon! Finding a place to move is so frustrating.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

It is! And double the fun, we got our notice from the apartment yesterday saying that our lease is up Sept 26 and they need to know what we are doing by the end of July.

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

I did not say it when you were in love with the house with septic because no one likes a downer, but: YOU DID THE RIGHT THING. Septic is a fucking nightmare.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

LOL yeah the more we read about it online the more we knew we were not equipped to handle it. We would be willing to try well water, but the septic had too many extra things to worry about. :)

Any other "DON'T EVEN!" things we should know about?

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

That's the big one, but I would also not get a house without a pantry, I have one, but my best friend got a house without one and says she will NEVER do it again.

Old furnaces are not as scary as one might think, I mean SURE I CRIED AND WORE OVEN MITTS THE FIRST TIME I HAD TO LIGHT IT, but it was fine, I was fine.

Other things are just preference; lots of windows is pretty and lightful but a huge bitch to keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Some old heat pumps only heat up to a certain temperature and then are useless, find out what kind of water main you have because you might need a curb key to turn the water on and off (I learned this when my toilet broke).

I have this big ass yellow book my dad gave me that is like the Hitchhiker's Guide to Having a House; it is how I found the water main and figured out I needed a curb key to turn it. DO RECOMMEND. Mine is this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Readers-Digest-Complete-Yourself-Manual/dp/0895770105/ref=pd_sim_14_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=0B878BKH1KCSZEAXYNRP

... but there is a newer one.

The only other thing I would say is make sure you know exactly how to install your air filter in your heat/cooling unit, because if you have a home warranty and your air unit breaks, they will totally use that as an excuse not to pay for it even if it has nothing to do with the actual problem.

DESPITE ALL THAT HAVING A HOUSE REALLY IS AWESOME, and also replacing faucets is way easier than you think it is, and also seriously GOOD JOB ON THE NOT SEPTIC.

That was seriously one of my non-negotiables when I was looking. Must have pantry, must be on sewer, love Ali. Although there is a mid-thing between septic and sewer that is apparently not so bad? Regardless, I want a sink disposal.

[kaaelyn.livejournal.com]

I hope y'all are able to find something soon! House hunting is so stressful and frustrating!

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

It really is. I don't think we've been this stressed out before. My friend at work told me we're not really looking until we've yelled and cried over a house LOL. So reassuring!

[ragnarok-08.livejournal.com]

I hope that you guys find a place soon!

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Thanks! We need the positive vibes :)

[jediknightmuse.livejournal.com]

House hunting can be frustrating. :| My sister and brother-in-law were looking for a house for...probably since last September until just last month when they finally found one that they were able to buy. (But now they're having issues because the people found a new house and they set a date for closing the house for my sister and now they basically want to make it span over two days by getting to rent the house for two days, which my sister and brother-in-law aren't going to say yes to...like, it's not in the paperwork, it's not what they agreed to. They need to suck it up and deal with it.)

They kept putting offers in on houses that were way over-priced (they live in MA and a lot of the houses are over-priced...like, their house was half a million dollars, and it's kind of a small house) and they wouldn't get the house. There was one house I think they put an offer on but they did the inspection and there were tons of issues.

It doesn't help that their realtor-type-person is my brother-in-law's cousin and he's made things difficult and they've gotten frustrated with him.

I hope you guys find a house soon. I haven't been involved in the house hunting for my sister (I did get to go see the house and on the outside it looks small but it does have a fair amount of space, and considering they don't have kids yet it's a good starter house) but I've seen how frustrated my sister and brother-in-law have kind of been over this whole process.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Housing prices up in MA are insane, especially near Boston. Also, anyone who bought their house 2002-2006 probably overpaid by a lot because that was the big bubble. We've seen a few houses that people have listed and our agent was like "LOL NOPE!" because they want to get their money back (can you blame them?) but the house is not worth that much.

Though the one in Severn that had SO MANY UPDATES, that was the first house I felt was actually worth the asking price.

And having a realtor that is related/family doesn't sound like a good idea. I feel like in legal matters, it's best to have outsiders. I mean, Annapolis just had the realtor who sold her daughter's house...and didn't mention to anyone that is was FULL OF SNAKES! She's probably never going to work again.

[jediknightmuse.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's ridiculous. They live in Boston right now and part of the issue was finding a place that wasn't going to be a massive commute for either of them. I think it's a little less of a commute for my brother-in-law but I'm not sure by how much. The good thing is that they'll only be an hour and a half away from us, so hopefully they'll come down more often (especially once they finally have a baby).

Yeah, I think they found it out. I mean, I don't know if it was any cheaper (and I'm not 100% sure that he's a realtor, but I THINK he is?) or anything for them to do it that way, but I think because this was the first time either of them were actually looking at houses, that was why they went with him, because he's family and he knew things. Plus who knows if he would have been insulted or something if they chose to go with someone else when they know that he's a realtor?

O.O WHAAAAT?! That's...first of all, that's just dumb to not mention it to anyone. Second of all, HOW WAS IT FULL OF SNAKES? That sounds like something out of the movie Cold Creek Manor- the original owner of the house got out of jail and he started messing with the people who bought his house and the father of the family was snooping around, so the original owner put killed the daughter's horse and then he put snakes IN THE HOUSE. DO NOT WANT!

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

here is the article (http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/ph-ac-cn-snakes-0529-20150531-story.html#page=1). You can forward it to your sister to give her one more thing to worry about LOL.

[jediknightmuse.livejournal.com]

Lol, I think she'd kill me if I did that. XD

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

Sorry you haven't found anything and it's been so stressful. Hope you find something soon.

Stacey

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Me too! We've got our eye on a few, this week has just been a nice break from the running around, which is what really wears you out. Now we're going to stalk a few listings online and maybe drive around this weekend to see what they look like without all the photoshop :)

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

Have fun! Hope they aren't too disappointing up close and personal. :)

Stacey

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

I hope you find something soon :)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I feel like it is going to be soon. I think we both have a clear vision of what we want, what compromises we will make and what we must have. I think the more you can narrow it, the less time you waste running around looking at homes that will never work.

[polkadotsshoes.livejournal.com]

As many houses that are on the market in Maryland, you would think that the process would be easy. I just feel like the good houses in Maryland, at least in Anne Arundel and Howard County, are super overpriced and I don't feel like you get your monies worth in space. Smh...best of luck to you.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Librarians don't get paid a lot so saving was a little tricky for us. There are a LOT of crazy house price around here, but we've found a few in the range. It's just finding one we can both agree on and that is in a location we're happy with.

Our agent also pointed out that a lot of people are selling who bought circa 2005, which was the big bubble, so they are listing for what they paid and there is no way they can get that now. So we have been watching for houses that will maybe drop to a price we are more comfortable with.

This is far too much like gambling and I am NOT a gambler.

[1-rhiannon-1.livejournal.com]

I hope the next houses on your "look at" list are more promising!! I've got my fingers crossed for you!

[midnightwhisper.livejournal.com]

It's too bad about the house search so far. I'm glad you have other houses to look at. Hopefully you'll find something!

[elizalavelle.livejournal.com]

Houses are so expensive in my city that I don't think I'll ever own one. From hearing the stories from people who are looking I think you just keep at it and eventually you see a place that works for you and things work out. Good call on passing on some of the potentially problematic homes you saw. Better to wait than to get stuck somewhere that turns into a really bad time.