Adventures in Househunting – Home Shopping Part 2

The Worst House of the Day

I have always loved to shop. And I’ve been involved in real estate for 10 years, which I have also loved. But, I must admit, shopping in 100 degree weather for a home on Saturday was not the most fun.

I don’t know why I thought the shopping part would be easy. It takes me a while to find the perfect shoes, and sometimes I only wear those once. This is going to be the home we will live in for at least the next 5 years. I want it to be the perfect house, and I still haven’t found it.

This time Kevin, my husband, was able to go looking with Bruce and me. We started in Smyrna, and although I liked 2 of the 3 homes we looked at, there were a little more than I wanted to spend, and one didn’t have the best yard, and the other had the laundry in the basement.  Can you imagine hauling laundry up and down 2 flights of stairs?

After Smyrna, we headed into East Cobb. Over here we went in 5 other homes. The first was a great price in a swim/tennis community, in the Lassiter school district. It was  brick traditional, but would need a lot of work for me to be happy with it. Since it was on the upper end of my price range, I had to say no. There was wood paneling all in the family room, terrible wallpaper, fixtures, and carpet. I understand that I can change all those things, but buying at the high end of my price range would not leave me room to do that anytime soon.

Next, we went to a house in the Sprayberry school district. Kevin loves this one, and it had pretty much everything we are looking for. Of course it needs a bit of updating, but nothing extreme. My main reservation is the kitchen. I cook most nights and we entertain a lot. The kitchen was a bit small, and since it is the room in the house I use most, I want to be happy with it. But, at least we have a “maybe” home now.

After these homes, we headed into Indian Hills in East Cobb. It is a huge neighborhood located on a golf course.

The Toilet Paper Rose

School districts include Wheeler & Walton, depending on where you buy. Here, we saw the best house of the day, but also the worst. The worst was so bad…it smelled and appeared to have had no updates since before I was born. We couldn’t stop laughing as we walked through it. I actually believe that I attended a few parties at this house in high school, which made it even more hilarious. There was nothing done to stage the home or even really clean it, but there was a rose made out of the toilet paper roll in the basement bathroom.

Beautiful Built-In Cabinets

The final stop of the day was the best. I love this house. It has a huge kitchen with 2 ovens, finished basement with wet bar, beautiful built ins in the family room, updated bathrooms, amazing flat backyard, screened in porch…I could go on and on about what I loved. There’s just one BIG problem–it is out of our price range. I have a new rule as of today: We will not go into any home that we cannot afford. I did ask Bruce to contact the listing agent and see how firm the price was. I think this would be a great place for us to buy, but not sure it will work out.

So, it’s a new week, and we are continuing to look online and drive around in search of our perfect home.

If you have a question or a topic you would like me to discuss, please email me at adventuresinhomebuying@mriwebsites.com. Or, if you have any advice for this first time buyer, please leave it in the comments section.