House Hunting Like a Pro

by Clarissa Adkins | More from this Blogger

11 Dec 2006 08:08 PM

After more than a few house hunting trips, my husband and I have gotten to the point where we can almost tell whether or not we would ever buy a house just by looking at the outside. In fact, on our last house hunt, I'm sure that we frustrated our realtor. Almost every house we saw had been prescreened with descriptions and photos on the real estate office's web site, yet we wouldn't even give them a chance once we stood in front of it in person. But let's face it, how can an internet photo really show just how fuchsia that fuchsia cedar tile really is?

Ok, so it's not completely fair to imply by the title that I'm a pro at deciding which house will work for our family with just a glance. I was severely mocked for checking off hundreds of houses as possibilities for viewing. This translated to us seeing about eight tri-levels and one split-foyer in a day which we all knew we weren't going to buy. I told my husband and realtor that I didn't truly understand the narrowing down process. For all I knew, we were only destined to see the "definitelys". This became the butt of many jokes on our first day of hunting.

I wasn't the only one that wanted to see a few houses that we would never buy. My husband just had to see the run-down house in an older neighborhood that had a ridiculous amount of square feet. We went inside where a sea of green carpet ran throughout the first level for what seemed like an acre. All along we knew that this was not the fixer-upper for us.

By the way, I don't want to seem like I'm trying to offend anyone out there who owns a less than contemporary or transitional style home when I talk about split-foyers and tri-levels. For our family, we're always thinking about the next time we get relocated and what will resell the best. In fact, we seriously considered buying a well-maintained tri-level (a.k.a. quad-level) with smooth hardwood.

Learn more about Clarissa Adkins

Clarissa is a wife and mother, a yoga instructor and a freelance writer. She most recently has moved back to her home state of Virginia.

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