Decisions, Decisions...

I have had the good fortune lately of being in the position to purchase a new home. My family has lived in the same home for about seven years, and with our son now past the childcare years, we had recently decided it was time for a change.

When we (my husband and myself) recently talked about a possible move, there was a lot to talk about. Among the many factors that were at play:

1. Can we sell our current home without losing too much money? We had that covered.
2. Can we afford anything better than what we already have? We got pre-approved for a loan amount/interest rate that was acceptable AND carried a monthly payment we felt 100% comfortable with.
3. What are our motivations for this change? Been here 7+ years. Need more space. Want a change in routine, specifically to shorten Sean's commute.
4. How LITTLE were we willing to accept for our home? We ran those numbers and found our basement.
5. How MUCH were we willing to pay for a new one? We found the top of our desired range and gave it a buffer of about 20K so we felt prepared to extend (to a point!) if need be to get something worth moving to. 

Initially, we started down the road with these criteria in mind:

• Better commute for him (he currently drives quite a bit)
• Out of a neighborhood, especially any with a HOA
• A location on the more rural outskirts of Frederick (Jefferson, South of Thurmont, Middletown, New Market, Mt. Airy, etc.)
• At least an acre of land (No less than 3/4 acre, for SURE)
• All hardwood floors (or a pricepoint where we could add them)
• A fenced yard for our dogs (or a pricepoint where we would still have plenty of cash for a fence)
• A rancher or contemporary style home with a finished/walkout basement (or a pricepoint where we could budget and finish it ourselves) and a main floor master bedroom
• A bathroom for each of us (three)
• An updated home (or newer home) with a decent kitchen 
• Large space for entertaining, connected/with open sight lines to the kitchen where people tend to gather

We found a few properties that we felt met our list of needs/wants only a few weeks into our search, and wrote up an offer or two. Problem was, our offers were contingent upon selling our current home, which we had yet to put on the market. We were preparing it for market, but did not want to pull the trigger until we had identified a home of choice. Twice we were rejected. They did not think accepting a home to sell was a good idea in this market, and we were not interested in accepting a kickout clause. Admittedly, neither of those homes really felt 100% like "the one" so to speak, so when we did not go under contract on either, it was more like a shoulder shrugger than a real disappointment.

We then decided to change our fate, and explore the rental angle for our current home. Luckily, we were approved to carry both our current home (with a renter) and a new home of choice, which certainly put us in a better bargaining position for our home search. The very next day, a listing came on the market that fit some of our needs, but not the ones I *thought* were major, and was in an area of Frederick itself that I had not even considered. I previewed it (along with about four others that same morning), then immediately called my husband to come see for himself. He was sold--He said THIS was "the one" and that he wanted to offer. I was totally in agreement. And shocked.

This home was:

• A traditional two story colonial (NOT a rancher or contemporary) with mostly carpeted rooms (not hardwood)
• In a large neighborhood with a Frederick city address, WITH a HOA
• On a postage stamp sized lot (though it IS fenced, and has a sweet new in-ground pool, something I found out both of us really always wanted, though we never discussed it until we saw it)

The moral of the story is that you might THINK you know what you want, but sometimes you really don't... until you find it. Take the time to let your Realtor stretch the bounds of your preferences a little to really get a comparison of what your money will buy. Remember that though it is an amazing resource, the database excludes many things if you are too strict about your criteria (not to mention exclusion if a lister accidentally enters the info incorrectly...). Look all of the options open to you, and be ready to act fast. This is actually a pretty active market, all things considered, and lately my clients are finding themselves in bidding situations when they hesitate.

I like writing things out to walk myself through decisions, so after this recent adventure, I developed a homebuyers worksheet for when you sit down with those involved in your decision making process and lay out all of the stuff that goes into a home buying decision. If you would like a copy, give me a call or send me an email: kristi@frederickareahomes.com - Enjoy the pre-summer heatwave!