Our House Gained Twenty Pounds since the Listing Picture was taken.
I realized that house hunting through listings is probably what it’s like to use an online dating service. Yeah, you look incredible in your profile picture- but that was taken when you’re 18 and now you’re 40. Or, it says here that you like long walks on the beach… but, you look like you haven’t gone on a walk in a decade.
And so it goes with house hunting.
The first house we looked at was… discouraging. This sort of shabby house is the sunny, beautiful, glowing house from the picture? Do we have champagne taste on a beer budget? (Something I laughed about during our meeting, oh HA HA, of course we are being completely realistic about what we can afford. Isn’t it silly when people don’t understand that better things cost more?) Is the house we want way outside our budget? Are we destined to be renters forever….Noooooooo.
Some things that you just can’t tell by looking at the picture: what is the neighborhood like? Can I imagine raising my little one here? What was the home owner like? Did they trash the house or did they carefully maintain the house?
Our exclusive buyer’s agent did something very surprising.
While viewing our potential houses, he pointed out both the good and the bad. He has experience in construction too, which is proving to be incredibly valuable. As we’d walk through the house he’d say: “This roof needs to be replaced in 3-5 years, the windows have water damage and the floors need to be refinished. The bathroom is newly remodeled, and they did a great job with it because the refurbished tub reaches all the way to the ceiling, protecting the wall from water damage.”
Because our buyer’s agent was so straight with us about the down sides, I completely trust him about the up sides. There was a downside and an upside to every house we looked at- that’s how life is I guess. In fact, now that I am a seasoned house hunter (wink), I would say that if there is no down side, the agent is not telling the whole story.
The next two houses changed the tone of the evening.
What great finds! Who knew we could afford to live somewhere that had granite countertops?! Yes, ups and downs with each, but this time the ups far outweighed the downs, and I think we could probably be happy with either one. I loved the neighborhoods, I loved the floor plan, and I loved the idea that we might be a home owner in Colorado. We drove home imagining ourselves living in each one, and you know what, it felt great.
While I don’t think we found The One yet, I really feel like we will!
Want to look at homes with an expert that is protecting your interests? Click here to talk to one of Colorado’s exclusive buyer’s agents.
