What House Hunters doesn't show you

Over the past month John and I have been searching for a home to buy. Let me tell you this, it's not easy. AT ALL. Almost every home we looked at or decided we wanted to put an offer on someone beat us to it. There was even one day where we saw 2 homes that came on the market and later that day our realtor told us they had offers already and we couldn't see them anymore. How crazy is that? I've been learning that house hunting isn't exactly as easy and pretty as House Hunters has lead me to believe! :) I'm literally on an emotional at roller coaster.



Here are a couple helpful tips for house hunting:

1. Constantly check online for new homes that become listed. We really loved sites like Zillow, Trulia, and Estately. They allow you to search in specific areas and you can sort by price, days the home as been on the market, sq ft, and etc.

2. If you see a home you like, see it that day and act fast. The market is viscous. Chances are if you like the home, someone else does too and they are not going to wait for you to make the first move. If you really love the house, place an offer and take your competition out of the picture.

3. Try not to get too emotionally attached. This is one of the hardest things because you do have to somewhat invision yourself in the home but if you don't get that specific home you were hoping for just remind yourself that it wasn't meant to be and know that the right home will turn up eventually and just be patient.

4. Get a realtor! Even though there are many online websites that can show you what homes are listed for sale, that doesn't mean that your realtor might not know someone that is about to list their home that might not show up online. They are there to work for you and help you find the perfect home you are looking for.

5. Be Patient! This is the hardest part. With house hunting you most likely are not going to buy the first home you see or probably even the second or third. In fact, you may be searching for months until you find the perfect one. Home buying comes with lots of paperwork, meetings with various people, negotiations, traveling to and from homes, time consumption, inspections, etc. I like to call it "hoops." Try and jump through each hoop one at a time. If you try and jump through all of them at once you are most likely going to stumble and fall and cry :) save yourself the scraped knees and tissues and breathe. You're buying a house, it's ok to be stressed and it's ok to be excited. Enjoy the ride!