After months of house-hunting in a cut-throat market, putting in offers on three different properties and getting outbid, we finally went under contract on a house. We got in a bidding war and ended up having to go over asking, but we were so excited to have finally found our next home.
She was a beauty and almost perfect. Unfortunately, that was the word that did us in during the weeks to come…almost. Most of the requirements we’d given our realtor were checked off in this house. It looked really good…on paper. There were some important things missing, though, like a flat backyard to play with baby as she grows and for Riley to run around in, a gas fireplace like the one we’ve so loved in our current home, and the kitchen and bathrooms weren’t my style despite being renovated. This was hard because you can always change those things but when they are brand new already and just not your taste, you are still paying for the new materials. When the inspection came back with quite the laundry list of small things and a couple very large things that needed repair coupled with already paying over the asking price, Corey and I did some soul searching and decided to walk away from this house. It was a hard decision and I think I cried for almost a full day.
We learned a lot from this. The most important thing was that you should purchase real estate with a perfect combination of thinking with your head and heart but not too much of either. I don’t think we would have jumped on this house so quickly if we hadn’t lost several houses and if the market hadn’t been so cut-throat here right now and if we didn’t feel like we had such a tight timeline with me being more pregnant with each passing day. It was too easy to get emotionally attached to the cute cul-de-sac neighborhood and the idea of our next home being there rather than realizing that this home wasn’t THE home after all.
So where that leaves us right now is in our current home and staying here for a while, at least until next summer or fall. We’ve decided to make some tweaks to give us more storage and make Corey’s at-home office, which has been relocated to my craft and Teachers pay Teachers office, more functional. I’m reminded that each month we’re here we are able to save and that every single finishing and color is exactly to my taste because I chose it and that I am fortunate to have been able to. Also, being here gives us some freedom and flexibility for after baby girl makes her debut that we wouldn’t have if we had moved forward as planned and right now I am really grateful for that. Things seem to be getting busier by the day and it really feels nice to have the option to slow down and evaluate our next steps.
I am also reminded of the sheer magnitude of homes there are just in our preferred neighborhoods of Charlotte. It’s a game of odds. The right one for the right price has to come on the market eventually…and hopefully when it does, that house will be THE house.
That house is stunning and I'm so sorry it didn't work out for you. The Lord knows the plans he has for you though and I'm sure a truly perfect house, with a flat back yard will come your way 🙂
Hang in there, but know the house will come along.
wait you said she could play in… does this mean girl?!?
So we have been in the home buying market too and I actually had this one (I'm pretty sure it's the same one) saved! We are under contract now on another house, but gosh, it is stressful and there is a possibility we may have to walk away from it too! I know everything will work out for you the way it is supposed to! But good for you for sticking to your guns and being able to walk away from something that wasn't meant to be!
I could have written this post, too!! Home buying is crazy….the good ones that are priced right FLY off the market. And in order to even put an offer in, you have to really imagine your family living in the home. I was heartbroken so many times after we lost houses – I could picture where the Christmas tree would go and what the nursery would look like and, and, and…..We looked for 1.5 years (and in the process put offers in on four homes, had two bidding wars that we subsequently lost) and you know what happened? We saw a great house in our target neighborhood the day it went on – put in a full ask offer the next day and lost. Three weeks later they called – the original offer fell through and we had first dibs. We're about to have our first trick or treaters in that house this weekend! So you never know what can happen. In the mean time, seems like you're making a good decision. You need to nest, hunker down for a little while you bring your baby home and get used to your new, wonderful life.