Buying a house - can I talk this out?

[traveltheworld]

We moved to a new city in April and have been looking at houses for the past 3 months.  We haven't been able to find anything we love.  There is one house on the market that we are seriously considering.  The price is fine, the interior is fine, and the only major problems are that: (a) it's beside a bus stop (but a community bus, so probably once every 30 minutes); and (b) it's at the bottom of a hill, so when we step out onto the deck and whenever we are in the yard, I can see all their decks being higher, so it gives the feeling of our neighbours looking down on us.  We could plant trees to try to block out the views, but I don't think it'd block it out completely. 

I had my real estate agent pull up all the houses that have been sold in the past 9 months in this neighbourhood.  There were 26 in total.  After adjusting for all the things we deem unacceptable, there were 7 that I believe we may have liked more than the current one.  

We are currently living in a rental and all of our stuff is in storage.  If we don't get a house by fall/winter, we'd have to go through stuff from storage and dig for all of our winter clothes.  Which I guess is fine, just a hassle.  If it were you, would you continue to hold out for a better house?

[2chatter]

7 out of 26 you liked better - did you think the others were worse?

If so, I'd seriously consider buying as statistically, it's less likely what you like will come onto the market.

I personally would wait. I am pretty particular about homes. I need lots of green space and privacy and really prefer custom homes. If this house doesn't check your biggest boxes - those are mine - wait. If it gets all the big ones, consider it.

[k3am]

I would wait.

Those are things that would bother me daily, and I'm not buying another house where things out of my control bother me daily. I can deal with an outdated interior because I know that not only can I change it, I can customize it to be exactly what I want. I can not move a house away from a busy street, a bus stop, the flight path (that's us!), or my position on a hill. School district, busy street, and flight path are deal breakers for me. I don't care if a house meets 99/100 conditions on my list, if it lands in one of those categories, I'm not buying it.

If these are things you think you'll be okay with every time you see the bus or use your yard, it may be worth considering. But if they're not, it's not worth it.

[xctsclrx]

I would wait. I would not want a community bus top right next to my house. That would have been a deal breaker for me. I don't think you should settle on a house though. Good Luck. Sorry this process has been so rough.

[twinmomma]

Don't settle. We almost settled twice on houses when we were hunting, and thankfully the home inspections killed both those sales. The house we ended up in was so much better than the ones we thought were ok. I know it's hard to keep hunting, but it'll be worth it to be totally happy and not have that nagging feeling that you settled.

[covergirl82]

I agree with not settling. One of the features I liked best about my current house is that I could look out the windows and, for the most part, not see any of my neighbors (although visibility of my neighbors is somewhat increased when there are no leaves on the trees, but the placement of our house in relation to other houses on the street, as well as where our windows are, still makes it a rare occurrence for me to be able to see one of our neighbor's houses. I dislike the feeling that people are able to see inside my house, so I can understand your dislike the feeling that neighbors would be looking down on you, traveltheworld.

[erinshelley21]

Coming from someone in a slow market that has settled, keep waiting. It sucks and its annoying, but we are feeling like we settled but we also had to because we needed to move out of the house we were in with my brother and we had to stay within certain boundaries. We live on a "no outlet" and while that sounds nice and peaceful like a cul de sac, it is not. Our driveway is the turn around spot for people. Even the paper lady and we don't even subscribe to said paper! With that being said, a community bus stop doesn't sound annoying, but it would probably end up being annoying.

[traveltheworld]

Ok, thanks everyone! I guess I just needed to hear the "no settling" comment from people. It's so hard. But I also hate moving, so I'd like to buy a house and stay there forever.

Of the ones that sold in the last 9 months, there was 1 house that would have been absolutely perfect in every aspect. DH and I keep joking that we should go offer the current owners $50K for them to sell that house to us. I actually think DH may do it

[waverly]

Yeah I wouldn't settle. Hold out for one you like better.

[2chatter]

traveltheworld - it can happen! Two people have offered similar to us - one themselves, the other through their realtor.

A friend bought their ideal home - their realtor brought it to market literally for them. They picked a few streets and the realtor contacted the owners. The owners of their home had been thinking about it but hadn't decided. A good buyers agent can totally work on things like that for you.

[hocus2]

We looked for almost 3 years. DH was irritated with me for being picky but we ended up with a great nice place in the end.

[k3am]

traveltheworld, I know someone who sold their home that way. A realtor knocked on the door, asked if they'd be willing to sell. They said the house isn't for sale, the realtor gave them a number, and they were in escrow within a month.

[traveltheworld]

Jul 12, 2017 15:46:41 GMT -5 k3am said:

traveltheworld , I know someone who sold their home that way. A realtor knocked on the door, asked if they'd be willing to sell. They said the house isn't for sale, the realtor gave them a number, and they were in escrow within a month.

Thanks!  That gives me hope.  I'm definitely going to get DH to knock on their door (or write a note - less creepy). The owners of that house would have only had it for 4 months.  Maybe they wouldn't mind turning a quick profit.

[covergirl82]

Jul 12, 2017 16:15:55 GMT -5 traveltheworld said:

Jul 12, 2017 15:46:41 GMT -5 k3am said:

traveltheworld , I know someone who sold their home that way. A realtor knocked on the door, asked if they'd be willing to sell. They said the house isn't for sale, the realtor gave them a number, and they were in escrow within a month.

Thanks!  That gives me hope.  I'm definitely going to get DH to knock on their door (or write a note - less creepy). The owners of that house would have only had it for 4 months.  Maybe they wouldn't mind turning a quick profit.

It can't hurt to try!

[sweetptater]

Definitely don't settle. It's annoying, but it's less work to wait rather than be completely miserable and potentially lose money reselling quickly if something "perfect" comes along.