Even though we're still in the beginning stages of buying a house, it astounds me that anyone manages to get through the entire process of buying a house to begin with! Finding the right lender, picking the right mortgage, getting pre-approved, securing the necessary cashola for downpayment & closing costs - it's enough to deter anyone from buying a house at all! And that's before you've even found a house to possibly consider!

Throw in finding a potential home, and then having to figure out what's wrong with it, what work needs to be done, and other extraneous but important factors (like whether it's in a floodplain, what is the zoning is in adjacent empty lots, etc), it's another set of factors to drive you completely insane. And that's before you've even put an offer down on the table.

After making an offer, there's setting the contingencies, finding a trustworthy and thorough home inspector, following through with the loan application, and having to deal with all the various ppl involved, is it really worth all this effort?

The more I talk to people, the more I realize I don't know and wonder what else I am forgetting to do. For example, talking to co-worker buddy tonight, he urged me to look closely at the windows/insulation to determine if those possibly need replacing. With such an old house, it could need some work done to make it more energy efficient. And he also cautioned me to check out the wiring as that could need some major work as well. Sheesh. Now those things I would never have thought of to check on my own, but I suppose that's what the home inspector is for.

And just to think that at any part of this process, the deal could fall through for whatever reason and then you have to go back to square one and start all over again. *shudder*

Well, we have an interior renovator/ex-home inspector going over to do a preliminary inspection and estimate tomorrow to see how much it will cost to bring some of the rooms (the kitchen & bedrooms, specifically) more up to date. We figure that could give us some leverage in the bargaining process and perhaps give us some justification for making a lower opening bid. If all goes well, I think we're seriously going to consider putting in an offer just to get the ball rolling and being first in line in case any other offers come up.

One year ago today: A Bug's Life