House Hunters IRL
What buying a first home is really like.
Have you ever watched the show House Hunters?
A quick summary: the show tells the story of a couple who is looking for a new home. They both typically have fake sounding jobs that make you question their $850,000 budget, but they’re on the coast so we basically just nod and shrug our shoulders as if this detail makes the narrative more sensical. The show dilutes the “hunt” down to three options that all have obvious pros and cons, and by minute 28, you’re seeing the happy couple throw tennis balls for their dopey Basset Hound in their new backyard or local park. The End.
I used to devour House Hunters when I had cable, but haven’t watched the show in a few years. However, the premise has been top of mind recently since…drumroll please…Landon and I are house-hunting!
Do we know when we’re moving out of Virginia? NO!
Does this make house hunting more complicated? DEFINITELY.
It seems like most people dream of owning a home someday, but actually pulling the trigger is like… a whole thing lol
While we’ve only visited a handful of places in person, my stomach gets butterflies whenever I picture myself being all settled in for the holidays with a fir candle burning and a fire roaring…or lounging on a screened-in porch as a summer storm rolls through with the pattering of rain drops and rolling thunder…or maneuvering through a well-stocked kitchen, glass of red wine in one hand, sauce simmering on the stove, music crooning out of a hidden speaker.
It’s enough to make a girl want to sign on the dotted line and take on a mortgage!
While I’ve always imagined I’d purchase a home at some point, the logistics of how all of that would take place has never really been top of mind. Sure you assume you’ll be painting a few walls and picking out furniture, but accounting for structural issues? Asbestos removal? Inspection costs?
Not so much.
I have always thought of a house as a place where life unfolds, where you welcome friends and family and make memories. But the not so idealistic reality is that it’s an investment.
If there are foundational issues that go unchecked, that may not affect your day to day life now, but when a decade or two passes, and it’s time to sell, those issues may seem more pressing to potential buyers, and affect the resale value. That is not something my romanticizing brain really considered when I was drawing up my dream home in my head.
Maybe it’s because I love a good fairy-tale, but thinking about resale value when you haven’t even made an offer on something yet, just feels… annoying? Icky? Capitalistic? Take your pick.
This might sound infantile, but it bums me out that a huge part of searching for a home is as much about what potential buyers will want in a few years as it about what’s important to you now.
For example, we saw a home recently that had a large back bedroom, which would be perfect for Landon and me to use as a craft room, music room, or office. While I was picturing all the decor possibilities and imagining me poorly strumming a ukulele in corner, Landon and our agent were not as enthusiastic.
I was pondering accent wallpaper options, but they were hung up on the door leading to the backyard- a detail that seemed like a bonus in my mind.
To me, the door provided an easy escape to the patio whenever I might need a brain break from working from home, but potential buyers may be spooked and see it as a security issue. What if they wanted to use the room as a nursery? Who wants an easy entry point for prowlers and other unwanted visitors in a room with their pride and joy is supposed to be safe from harm?
It would be easy to brush off this concern with a, “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” attitude, but when one house has enough little “bridges” that need to be crossed, it can start to look like a bad investment- especially when the home is already at the top of your budget.
Or so I’m told.
I understand that as a younger homeowner, it’s essential to think through potential scenarios that may affect your ability to sell a potential home in the future. I mean, who wants to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars on what feels like a dream come true, only to realize in five years, it’s more nightmare than nirvana?
I want to lean into the excitement and joy that purchasing a new home drums up, not the pragmatic caution that such a large purchase necessitates. But I suppose that’s where the whole “adulthood” thing comes into play, understanding and accepting that the responsibility of owning a home does not come without some not so fun considerations.
As we walked through potential homes last week, I kept imagining how our episode of House Hunters would play out if we were on the show.
Which homes on our list would be included as one of the three options? What issues would be expanded on and dramatized to make our decision more fraught with uncertainty? Have we even seen the home we’ll end up in yet? Which backyard would we idyllically play fetch in with our non-existent pooch?
Only time will tell!
I’m thankful to not be going through this process by myself. Landon has been reading about the home buying process for years. He had thoughtful questions for our realtor (who is also a close friend of ours) and eagle eyes for foundation cracks that would have gone unnoticed by yours truly.
I’ve found that it would be only too easy to willingly overlook a few key things today, and have them bite me in the ass tomorrow. I don’t want that. And so, I am making an effort to have a dual view, to be a good partner and sounding board alongside Landon throughout this whole adventure.
I can enjoy my daydreams of what life might look like when we get settled, but being realistic about all the invisible work that goes into facilitating the carefree nature of those dreams is also necessary. Sad.
Here’s hoping I can find the strength to overcome my more immature instincts, and that we find a home that can be loved by not just our family, but those of the house’s next era as well.
Let the hunt begin.
xo,
Cait