The hunt for a house
Finding a house is hard work. We've looked at a lot. Of the houses we've looked at, we've found a couple we like. Of those, we've bid on two. What we didn't know when we bid on both of the houses was that the seller's agent never intended to negotiate with us. With each of those two, the owners had decided to sell to someone else before we put in our bid. In both of those cases, we were used only to get the buyer's bid higher - even though we later discovered that in each of those instances the seller would have taken the bid the buyers originally put forth. We're left feeling a little used.
Standard business practices anywhere, I suppose, but it leaves Ian and me feeling as though we need to take a shower.
What bothers us the most, though, are the realtors who will say anything to get a sale. We're both busy. It's irritating to ride a bike for 30 minutes to go look at a house, then find out once we get there that a house we'd come to look at or put a bid in on is not available. This has also happened to us twice. All told, we've probably spent in excess of 40 hours apiece looking for a house.
The other day we looked at a house we liked. We were told by the realtor that a couple who had just seen it was very, very interested in it. Because of our previous experiences, we decided not to see it. We didn't want to be used as a tool to drive up the bid for the other family. When we said this, the realtor said the other family told him that if we wanted the house, they wouldn't bid against us. A month or two ago, I may have believed him, but it was hard to listen to him with a straight face.
Luckily, it's not like there is a shortage of housing here. We'll find a house. And once we move, we expect to live there awhile.
One of my mom's mantras is "It's the journey, not the destination." It's slowly becoming apparent to both of us that how we go about finding that house to live in is as important as which house it is that we'll eventually turn into a home. Neither of us will feel good about paying a commission to a sleazebag simply because it will further our short term interests. I wonder if we'll be strong enough to be led by the mantra during the journey?
Standard business practices anywhere, I suppose, but it leaves Ian and me feeling as though we need to take a shower.
What bothers us the most, though, are the realtors who will say anything to get a sale. We're both busy. It's irritating to ride a bike for 30 minutes to go look at a house, then find out once we get there that a house we'd come to look at or put a bid in on is not available. This has also happened to us twice. All told, we've probably spent in excess of 40 hours apiece looking for a house.
The other day we looked at a house we liked. We were told by the realtor that a couple who had just seen it was very, very interested in it. Because of our previous experiences, we decided not to see it. We didn't want to be used as a tool to drive up the bid for the other family. When we said this, the realtor said the other family told him that if we wanted the house, they wouldn't bid against us. A month or two ago, I may have believed him, but it was hard to listen to him with a straight face.
Luckily, it's not like there is a shortage of housing here. We'll find a house. And once we move, we expect to live there awhile.
One of my mom's mantras is "It's the journey, not the destination." It's slowly becoming apparent to both of us that how we go about finding that house to live in is as important as which house it is that we'll eventually turn into a home. Neither of us will feel good about paying a commission to a sleazebag simply because it will further our short term interests. I wonder if we'll be strong enough to be led by the mantra during the journey?
posted by Scott at 9:39 a.m.
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2 Comments:
Our real estate market here in New York, the US, is a little bit better - at least where we live. The bidding wars have stopped now that the interest rates are climbing and buyers are starting to get more and more leary.
Cheers and good luck house hunting!
It sounds like you might be getting a run around for reasons no-one wants to state. As it is, those reasons sound very shady. But keep a positive outlook on it, cuz something is bound to click for you guys. If someone is not accepting the best offer for their home, it's THEIR loss moreso than it is yours. Bonne chance!
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