Wednesday, July 3, 2013

House Hunting

Wow, we hardly have any pictures recently of our fun adventures, but have we got a ton of photos of houses we have been looking at.  House hunting with two kids is no joke, people. But it can be fun, when this is your partner in the search:
We decided that we would start looking for a home to buy a couple months ago.  We have made several offers on places, and on more than one occasion, someone swooped in with all cash offers, beating us out for the win.

It has been frustrating and so incredibly time consuming.  Sometimes, we were wondering if we were just wasting our time because it felt like we couldn't compete. 

Seriously, who has hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash? Not me. One house we bid on had, get ready for it, 71 offers. And a lady I know just found her house after searching for more than a year and making about 30 offers on different homes. Sometimes I wondered whether it was worthwhile to be spending my precious time scouring home listings and rushing my family around if we didn't even have a chance.  

We have made six offers on different homes.  Our most recent attempts were two offers made in two days. After the first one was one was rejected, we decided it was time to get serious and made a huge list of places we wanted to see ASAP.  

When I got a call from our realtor that evening, I was certain he was calling to discuss our upcoming home touring marathon plan. In all honesty, I didn't think we had a chance on that second offer and had completely pushed it out of my mind.  Imagine my surprise when he congratulated me because our offer was accepted!  I was actually shocked. He said the realtor (who was selling his parents home) and his sisters selected our offer because of the letter I had written to accompany our offer. It was a sweet sappy letter about our family and how right the home felt for us and all the things we pictured doing with the place. Yay!

Lane hasn't seen it yet. So yeah, we need to make that happen. But he told his mom, "happy wife, happy life!" Our inspection is scheduled for Monday and everything looks like it is going well on the loan side of things. So everyone keep your fingers crossed and think good thoughts for us. 


3 comments:

morethangray said...

Congrats!!! Where is your new place?

Meg said...

what the crazy real estate market do you live in?! 70 offers?! That's nuts!
Congrats on buying a home! So exciting!

And I feel you on house hunting with children. Virtual tours were like my best friend. But I knew "our" house was most definitely "the one" when I saw my children running around in the woods in the backyard and playing with the neighbor children in the cul de sac. It definitely wouldn't have had the same feel if I hadn't braved the appointment with the children in tow.
Congrats on a place of your own. I hope the inspection and loan/title processes go flawlessly! post pictures!!!

Malia said...

Congratulations!! Do you still have the Gilroy condo, too?