How did you know your house was 'the one'?

DH and I put an offer on a house the other day. The first time we did this. They counter offered and did not budge much on the price. We plan to negotiate much more.

I think it would happen with ANY house we considered, but I am starting to get nervous. My dad keeps saying, "make sure you reaalllly want this house becuase it's the most important decision, you'll be living there a long time," blah, blah, blah. I hate that he says those things because it makes me feel like we're making a mistake.

Generally speaking the house is okay. I can't say I LOVE it because it needs some updating and cosmetic work, but it does have a nice sized property, second floor & basement, all the essentials. My ONLY issue is that it's a small house. We plan to dormer in a few years and it's roomy enough for NOW. It's cute and has charm, and it's affordable for us. But- there could be something else out there for us, too. I can see us living there, or not.

I just don't know which way to go.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

It met our "must have list" (wasn't that big of a list) but it felt like home when I went through the front door. It was like magic.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

I grew up in it ! But I would think it has meet all your must haves and if there is something that is a maybe, then maybe something else over looks that...

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

My house became "the one" after I doubled the size of it, renovated the entire house, and rearranged most of the layout....

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

we bid on three houses in our home searching - here's how I felt ...

house #1 - dream home in terms of style, size and location. Unfortunately, it fell through after inspection. DH and I still talk about that house and what cpuld hav been had we not uncovered the nightmares.

house #2 - I didn't love, but loved the location. We walked away after the counter offer cam back the same as asking. in retrospect, I am so glad we walked because it wasn't the house for us. It was just an opportunity presented that we felt we needed to take. The seller actually came down and met our asking and we still walked.

house #3 -- our house now. It was the size we wanted -it met all our 'must haves' and even had extra's. I found myself walking the rooms and picturing my toddler as a teenager with friends hanging out in the den, I pictured Christmas Dinners with 25 family members surrounding the table, I pictured summer BBQ's with good friends & kids in the pool. I pictured my husband in the garage working on fixing something ... It felt right. And almost 2 years later, it still does.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

My house wasn't "the one" but it was the one we could afford in the location we wanted. We moved into it knowing we will either build onto it or move.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

we knew it was the one when we both got reallllly sad when it was possible we were going to lose out on our bid... with other houses we were like okay whatever... but this one we really wanted. we went through so much crap with the sellers just to get the house! hah.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

The house we ended up buying met most of the main criteria.

House Bid #1 - impulse bid - we were super excited about house hunting, were "eh" about the house but loved the property. But a bid in on it and there was a bidding war and we got out. It was the best thing that ever happened. Retrospectively it would have been a mess.

House Bid #2 - the one we have - we made an offer and they accepted - in our contract after the inspection we included ALOT of things that had to be changed at the owner's expense before we would close. It did need cosmetic work, but that can be done over time, the big ticket things - siding, roof, appliances, plus the things we had fixed, were all good.


If you are hesitating, take a few days and think about it. Take this weekend and look at a few other houses, maybe. Your Dad is right.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

when i pictured my ids playing there......DH and i both knew right away

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

I never really had a "dream house" so I am not sure I thought of my house as "the one" when we bought it. We did have a short list of non-negotiables that we definitely wanted. Our house met all of our criteria and although wasn't all new, it was move in ready.

After we moved in, it became "the one" for us. We live on a dead end, which I didn't realize was so great until we were there a little while and we have great neighbors, which IMO, makes a HUGE difference.

The one thing I will add is that I was not willing to buy a house I couldn't see myself staying in for a very long time, without doing an addition or additional construction. We felt that we wanted to buy it with the thought that if something happened (someone loses a job, big medical bills, whatever) that we would be happy staying in it for a very long time if necessary. I don't really believe in the idea of a "starter house" because I think often times people end up staying in their "starter house" forever.

Message edited 12/2/2010 10:05:00 AM.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

I had a list of things we were looking for but honestly, I knew the minute we walked into "our" house that it was the one. I remember I walked out and told the realtor "I need to live here." I just knew. It had everything i was looking for. We had put a bid on another one before that bc the guy selling our house wasn't budging on price but i never felt good about that other one.

You don't love it now so maybe keep looking. Even if it needs cosmetic work and additions, you should love something about it bc it's a huge purchase. Take a step back and keep looking.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

The house we bought is/was not the one. It was a sick of looking, good house for now house. The one, well that one I loved, I saw ds running around the yard and having family parties there. The seller would not budge. Not for anything. So we passed.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

I walked in and got a great feeling! I saw everything I wanted to eventually do to it as I walked through it

It was priced right also at the time.

We are in our house for almost 4 years and I do not regret one thing about my house. The more and more we do to it the more and more i love it

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

it was the one b/c:

1 - in the are/SD we wanted
2 - was split ( i love them)
3 - had a decent yard
4 - did not "need" alot of work done immediately (kitchen & bath good, altho not what i would choose)
4 - had wood floors
5 - had atleast 3 bedrooms
6 - we could afford it.
7 - potential to expand/dormer, etc.

There were definitely bigger ones, but they need more $$$ in the bank to fix them up and make them liveable. We could live here and do things as we want. There are houses near me that i would switch with in a heartbeat, but it comes down to money, not having a handy DH and what we really "needed".

eta:
the more we do to it... the more I really feel like it is "the one"!

Message edited 12/2/2010 1:12:27 PM.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

I knew our house was 'the one' when our bid was rejected (after a bidding war) and I started sobbing! Our house is a small colonial built in 1916 that needed (and still needs) a lot of work, but I just loved the feel of it and wanted it so badly. In the end, we lucked out as the other buyer fell thru after he was too demanding with the sellers, and we ended up getting our home for a fantastic price! Though it is tiny, I still love it to death. I think doing work to a home you love really helps to make it yours! Good luck to you!

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

We are buying my parent's house. I have to say the main thing is the timing. My parent's really need to sell and my father-in-law is giving us a large amount towards the down payment. My parent's did a lot of work and although it's not the ideal open layout I had hoped for, the rooms are large, when we move in we will only be using half the house.

Bottom line, potential. Since we are getting a pretty darn good deal, we have.... um I have plans to reface the kitchen and add a bathroom and walk-in for a master bedroom suite. Those are things that won't be done for a long time.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

we knew we wouldn't be here forever and it was dirt cheap on a dead end in a very good school district.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

Hmm...how long are you looking? If you had more experience looking, you would get to learn what you MUST have and what you can let go. We loved our first house, knew it was for us, overlooked one major thing that turns out drove us crazy in the end. Just finally sold and bought our new house, which took us 3 years to find. I also made exceptions but looking SO long, I knew what I could let go and what was a must have. Looking really helps narrow down what's a must and what's simply extra.

eta- my new house was the one based on style of house, location, amount of work it needed, property size, school district, etc but number one was locaton to me.

Message edited 12/2/2010 8:21:07 PM.

Re: How did you know your house was 'the one'?

it met our criteria for the most important things to us: neighborhood, school district, lot size, ease of expansion, budget, location for commute.

it also had a character that i didn't find in any other place we looked at. when i came here the first time, my heart went all fluttery just like when i put on the wedding gown i knew would turn out to be "the one."

that said, i'll tell you that we walked away from our house because the seller was not being reasonable about price. it was really hard. we didn't get into contract until over 2 months later, once she dropped her price yet again and became more willing to negotiate. walking away was really hard, but it was obviously the right move.