The Realities of House Hunting

My client/friend Amy and I have been house shopping for her for the past couple weeks and have seen quite a few houses in various neighborhoods around town.  We have not made an offer on anything yet, but we have found a pretty good contender!  It's an older home in a great location, has a fabulous yard and lots of potential to be a little dollhouse!  I personally think it's a really cute property, but my opinion doesn't matter at the end of the day -- what my buyer wants and likes does!! :)


Today Amy posted about our recent house hunting adventures on her blog Southern-ish. Not only am I very flattered to even be mentioned (she even gave Home & Nom! a shoutout too... thanks!!), but I wanted to share her blog post with you, because she makes some interesting comments about the realities of house hunting.  If you've never bought or sold a house before... let me tell you--it normally isn't like the shows you see on HGTV!!!!


As a Realtor, I coach my clients through the home buying and selling process.  Your ultimate goal when house hunting is to find the right home that will suit your needs. Everyone has their own list of ideal "must-haves"... but unless you have an unlimited budget (because, haha... who doesn't, right?), sometimes you have to be willing to compromise on something when it comes to finding the right property.  However, try to keep your trade-offs to a minimum and stick as close as possible to your "wish list"... with a little flexibility in the mix. 

Okay, that's my Realtor advice for the day!  I'm here if you ever have any questions about buying/selling a home.  So now.... here's Amy's blog post:

This Ain't No HGTV!

Does anyone remember the really, REALLY old House Hunters shows where they actually told you how many houses the people had looked at along the way?  When they pulled up into the driveway and the CG at the bottom of the screen would say "House 2" or "House 8" or "House 5,421"? 

Yeah, those need to come back.  Because the three houses and oh one is perfect! crap that is on today is misleading.

I have been casually house hunting for much of the year, but the pressure of a lease ending a need to put in my notice to vacate has made things official.  So, with the guidance of my fabulous realtor Meredith Lane (check out her blog Home and Nom!), we set off through the streets of Lexington to find my perfect house.

Now, I will admit, I'm not an easy customer.  I gave her many specifics, including a fireplace, fenced backyard, and an extra "den" space or basement. 

Little did I know how hard it was going to be!  We have seen: great houses in crappy neighborhoods, crappy houses in great neighborhoods, crappy houses in crappy neighborhoods, and so so houses in ok neighborhoods.  We have seen beautiful fireplaces, great backyards, nasty tubs, cheap laminate.  And there have been some funny moments too! 

I have quickly learned that the old adage of location location location really is true.  Lexington real estate is hard to target, especially in newer areas of town.  It is scary to buy in a new area because you have no idea if that subdivision is going to be run down in a few years.  I look at so many communities that were "new" when I was in college... and now they look gross!  I can't get stuck in one of those places!

So, we have struck on a house in an older, established neighborhood.  And it's an older house.  It will need some updates in a few years, but for now a little paint and fixtures will go a long way.  Most of the major things have been updated.  I went through it again today with Sean and it passed his inspection...

So... I might make an offer! Stay tuned!