Deciding to Start the Process

I have been dreaming of owning a house for years. Countless hours I’ve spent on Pinterest, creating boards far too cluttered to ever be useful. I have scoured the local listings weekly, if not daily, for the past five years examining all the new houses. But, the decision to start actively searching for a home was a little impulsive.

I was browsing the listings one day, as someone with a severe home-buying obsession does, when I stumbled across a beautiful house in a nearby town. Now, this town wasn’t even on my list of possibilities, originally. It doesn’t have the best financial history, the school district isn’t as good, and it had just pretty much flown under the radar in my housing searches.

Until now.

There was a gorgeous 3,000 square foot Victorian house for sale. It had all original woodwork and floors. It had intricate carvings and embellishments on the outside. It was positively oozing character, and it was breathtaking. It was also quite under-priced.

I stared at that house for weeks. I found myself navigating to the listing and carefully combing through the pictures, mentally cataloging needed repairs. “Some water damage to the ceiling there. Peeling wallpaper over there.” I even drove by it a few times, trying not to look too creepy as I rolled by.

I hadn’t been planning to start house-hunting for about another year. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I’d had somewhat of a rigid view on the process. I had, after years of stalking the housing market, allocated myself a price point that would allow be to purchase a majority of the homes I’d seen on the market that I would be interested in. I was, until recently, saving money for a large enough downpayment to make the mortgage for such a house feasible.

Here’s the thing, though. That Victorian changed everything. The mortgage on that house was something I could afford easily. Right now. And then I realized. There was nothing stopping me from looking at houses priced at the lower end of the market now. I knew it would be a stretch to find the type of house I wanted, in a town I wanted, for a really low amount. But, there was no reason I couldn’t look. If I was unsuccessful, then I would just wait until I had saved enough money to move the price point back up.

A few more days of lusting after the Victorian and I’d made my decision.

I was going to talk to a realtor.