Wednesday, July 4, 2012

...and the HOUSE HUNT begins, for the THIRD time.

Maybe it's my freakish draw to House Hunters marathons.  Maybe it's the 1 year (anniversary) itch.  Maybe it's my life long obsession with lakes.

Or, maybe it's just time.

We have embarked on our 3rd house hunt journey my friends.  Third, you ask?

Yes, third.

My husband and I have never been "lucky" when it comes to house hunting.  This journey started way back before we got engaged, around the time that the first time homebuyers tax credit was in play.  I was really, really wanting to buy to get the tax credit and pay off some student loan debt.  But the universe had other plans.  The evening we were going to put an offer in, everything fell apart.  We look back on that night and are so thankful we did not buy that house.  It was so wrong in so many ways, but we were blinded by the emotions of finally owning a home. 

Fast forward to 6 months ago.  Last fall we moved to a little town outside of Kansas City.  I'm a city girl.  Jon is a down home country boy so Gardner was the perfect compromise.  I love the small town feel and also love that I'm 20 minutes from where my heart resides, downtown Kansas City.

So we decided to embark on house hunt journey #2.  We decided to hit up a local open house in a lake community here in Gardner.  We chose this particular house becuase it was obviously in the lake community where we were interested, but we knew it was WAY out of budget.  So we drank all the free wine.  Ate a hell of alot of little chocolate candies and putted around to see what that kind of money would buy us.

We met our realtor that evening and it was love at first sight conversation.

Within the next week, we got pre approved (for a much bigger number than anticipated) and started looking at things WAY out of budget.  Typical first time buyer misshap.  When we realized these homes were WAY outta budget, we halted house hunt #2 and drank alot of whiskey to drown our woes.

Fast forward to this past week.  We finally got up the courage to start house hunt #3 with a MUCH MORE realistic frame of mind.  It was hard to realize we needed to spend ALOT less money, but after alot of wine we agreed to start looking again.

We ended up taking another look at the very first house we checked out on that open house evening months ago.  What, I thought that one was out of budget!?  Nope, it's dropped $40,000 over the past 3 months so fits perfectly right into the very tip top of our adjusted price range.

So......here's the cliffhanger.  We're thinking house hunt journey #3 may be the charmer, ya 'all.


Happy 4th!

6 comments :

Alyssa said...

Oh that would be awesome! I'm so happy for you both!

kjpugs said...

3rd time's the charm! Hope it goes as well as you've hoped, my fingers are crossed for ya!

Kallie Brelsford said...

I lived in Gardner for 2 years and worked in Olathe, it's a great town!

Avril Copperfield said...

Hi, Anne! I’m a little curious on what happened to your third house hunt. You see, house hunting is different for everybody. And though you had quite a few tries, I believe you will be able to find the perfect home. ;] And if not, the universe might have something better for you! All the best! :) -->Avril

Lakisha Zimmerer said...

Patience is a virtue! With a few more tries, I’m sure you’ll find the house that you’re looking for. Why don’t you just enjoy the house hunting experience? Always look at the brighter side of things. I’m sure that in time, you’ll soon find the house that’s meant for you.

Nannie Toller said...

To find what we are looking for, we have to exert a little effort and be patient. There is a house that’s really meant for you, so don’t be upset. Good luck on your house hunting!