The House

We had some relatives visit a while ago and the only thing they wanted to know was when we were buying a house.  I spoke with a friend today and she only wanted to know the same thing.  When are we going to buy a house? When are you going to put down some roots? So, you buying a house soon?  YES!YES!YES! or maybe no, or maybe later or maybe I don't know yet! The question itself is pretty harmless and frankly, an obvious question to ask.  It's just the sheer amount of times we are being asked this question.  I want to shout, "We'll get there when we get there!"  So here's the deal:

1. Dustin and I are in a really awesome place where we don't have to buy a house fast.  We don't need to reinvest money into a house, we don't need to buy something in the perfect school district and we don't need to buy a house because we are only going to be here over the weekend and I promised my kids a back-yard so we better find something fast.  I know that a lot of people just buy something and then spend the next ten years dreaming of when they can sell the house and get what they actually want.  Well, Dustin and I can do that now, with no threat of eviction. So we are taking our time.  We want this home to be "the" home.  The longer it takes, the bigger our down payment.

2.  Dustin and I can tell crap when we see it.  This isn't no first time homebuyer walking through your house.  We know if you fixed your home up the wal-mart way and no, replacing your water heater doesn't mean you can charge me five thousand dollars more for your house.  The most discouraging thing about looking at all these houses is how little the homeowners clean before we come.  Sometimes the homes are down-right gross.

3. Dustin and I have some slightly specific needs.  We have no desire to be house poor.  We want a house that fits the needs of our family but has a little growth to it, just in case. And apparently, getting a home with a wood stove and hard wood floors is near impossible here in Northern Indiana.  Unless we purchase a home that is 9000 sq ft.  Say what?  9000 sq ft, does it come with a maid? Also, there are a lot of railroad tracks out here...

4. I'll admit it, I am a little commitment shy right now.  We purchased our last house during the housing bubble and then sold it during the recession.  While I am really grateful for that house and the experiences we had with it, I am not motivated to do that again.  I have a tendency to walk into every house and see everything that the homeowner has not been doing.  Like dusting the light fixtures.  Because if they haven't been dusting the light fixtures, they clearly haven't been keeping the gutters clean which means that they probably haven't had the water drains cleaned and maintained which means that the furnace hasn't been serviced and so on and so on.  

So here is the bottom line, when we buy a house, we will tell you.  Until then, relax.  What will be, will be.  Okay then, time to go check out realtor.com some more.