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I was looking at my recent pins the other day and realized that a solid half of them were cute white farmhouses. Clearly, I have houses on the brain! Our lease is up in June and we've saved enough for a decent down payment, so part of me (a big part) is itching to buy a house. But there are several other factors in play that might make it wiser for us to wait, especially since our rent is relatively cheap right now.
One of the factors that's holding us back is that we're still not sure where we want to "settle." We've talked about moving a lot, but I don't know if we could really do it--pack up and leave Washington. If we stay in Seattle, we definitely cannot afford a house like these...but we have family and friends here and it is a really beautiful area to live in.
Another factor is the housing market. Houses (at least in the Seattle area) have shot up in value crazy fast over the last couple years. I'm hearing different things about that--some people say it's a bubble; others say that prices will just keep going up. I'm not sure which side to believe, but either way, I'm scared to get it wrong. I don't want to get caught up in a panic and rush into something major like buying a house, but I also don't want to be too hesitant and miss out.
The other major factor that's holding us back is our jobs. I would like for us to feel secure and settled in our job situation before we buy, but we don't feel that way yet. Plus, our dream is to have a little bit of property, but both of our current jobs are in downtown Seattle and if we moved further away from the city, our commute would be horrible.
I know it's a personal decision that we'll ultimately have to make ourselves--but if you have thoughts on the topic of buying houses, moving, etc. I'd love to hear them!
As for now, we're not exactly looking for a house to buy yet...but I'm definitely dreaming about it (and checking Zillow on the reg).
All images from my Exteriors Pinterest board: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8
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Hi! Love your blog, i read it everyday but havent ever commented. its a really tough question about buying a home. My husband and i are 30 and got married 5.5 years ago. we bought a foreclosure in NY about 25 miles from our parents and 50 miles outside of NYC. we now have 2 kids and would love to have 1 or 2 more. id say one of the hardest things about owning a home is all the upkeep, now im a stay at home mom, but i clean and tidy constantly. theres yardwork on the weekends and its my husbands least favorite thing. that being said i LOVE to decorate and really love our home. i think the most important thing is location, im not sure we are happy where we are and would rather be closer to where we grew up but its very expensive. so i always find myself dreaming of a little white farmhouse too. also with a growing family we will eventually need more space. but i think its normal to not buy your "forever" home on the first home. and i think its hard to ever feel settled in a job truly. my husband lost his job when my daughter was almost 4 and my son was only 2.5 months old. but...we quickly adapt, do what we need to do and now he has an even better job. id say pick your location first, fall in love with it, maybe even rent there for a year to see how you really like it. save all your money, maybe for your downpayment or maybe for upgrades and repairs when you buy a house. good luck!!
Hi Jen! Thanks so much for the comment and advice! That all makes a lot of sense. I really like what you said about how the first home you buy probably isn't going to be your "forever" home. It's definitely helpful to think of it that way (and takes some of the pressure off). I also totally agree with you that location is so important. That's smart advice to rent for a year to make sure you really like the area you're thinking of moving to. You should comment more!!! Haha :)
Hey Friend!
Been loving your posts lately!
I just actually moved to a little hobby farm in west michigan (white with a red roof). Let me tell you, it's a ton of work but totally worth it!
If you are ever in michigan stop on by!
Thank you so much! I'm so glad to hear that. And YAY, congratulations!!!! That sounds amazing.
These are so you! And so gorgeous! 1, 2, and 6 are amazing. Best of luck and I hope you find a great one!
Thanks, Courtney!!
Lovely inspiring farm houses :) Xx
http://icepandora.blogspot.com
We would need to sit down and talk :). I think when you are really ready, you will know. These are beautiful places! What you have done to your home, is also beautiful. We've owned 4 homes in 31 years. Loved each one. Now we love the easy life of a condo.
Aww, thank you! I think we are close to be really ready...hopefully everything will fall into place and be clear soon :)
i am dreaming the same dream as you!
ladies in navy
We're totally on Zillow non-stop too, except we're not making any decisions soon. Same issues to consider as well, especially with keeping commute in mind because any house within a decent commute time for us is looking like at least a million D: and that's with zero lawn space. Goodbye dream house! Moving out further seems inevitable which sucks when you love where you live. It's hard!!! No real advice from me here haha, just really relate to all the factors that need to be pondered.
Totally...Seattle is the same (although maybe not quite as bad as LA). Even tiny houses with no yard are going for a million if they're within a decent commute time. :( I actually kind of like the idea of living further out, having some land, and hopefully a slower pace of life, so I don't mind moving further from the city...but the kicker is always jobs...
I can't offer any advice... But definitely tough to know how the market will change! This house inspiration is beautiful.
I've only just recently stumbled onto your blog, I love checking it out every day. So thanks for the daily inspiro!
My man and I recently bought our 1st apartment together; we weighed in on all the factors you've mentioned. But this is some advice we were given:
Work out what kind of commute you're willing to have, jump on the train closest to your work and go that far out, you may be surprised how far you go, if you drive, drive it. We couldn’t believe how far we got out of the city.
As someone else mentioned, your 1st house may not be your ‘forever’ home. Think about how long you might want to live there, and work out what in your life might change in that time, will it work? For us, we knew we want to grow our family and we know that our apartment is for 5 years max, we bought in a better area so we won’t lose money on it when we sell later, but compromised for now on a garden (which our next home will definitely have).
You can never predict what may happen with work and so many other factors in your life, have a plan A, B, C and D. And be willing to throw them all out the door if need be.
Good luck, it’s a gruelling and exciting process.
its September and I just found you thru Pintrest so you may have already made a decision, but here's my 2 cents worth. I've been married 34 years. My husband and I didn't make good financial decisions early in our marriage and we wasted a lot of money. Looking back now I wished I hadn't gotten caught up in "decorating" my home and concentrated more on saving for a good home. And maintenance on a home you own is VERY costly. The amount of money you "gain" by the "tax break" of owning your home versus renting the home is usually offset by the cost of maintaining it. So if I had it to do all over again I would live close to where I do most of my living ie-jobs schools etc, I'd make saving a priority because if you can't save it now, you won't have it to spend when you need it. Concentrate on living, loving your family. When you buy a home you will need to protect your investment by keeping it up so let someone else do that for now. Long commutes cut into living time and add stress. A lot of home maintenance cuts into budget. A lot to weigh in your decision. Best wishes. Remember home is the people that you live with not the building you live in.
Hi Marie! Thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. We are still renting for now, so no big decisions have been made yet! I really appreciate you sharing your experience and advice. It makes a lot of sense! Love what you said about home being about the people (not the building), too--that is so true :) xo
Adorables!!!!
http://bujaren.com
I love the 2nd to the last house shown. Could you tell me where it is located? Plus, is it for sale? Thank you for your help
The house with the long drive way and a young lady coming from the door looks like our home we sold in 1985. We loved the home. It was on Poincianns St. Huntsville, Al.
Awww how beautiful. Sounds like it was a lovely place to live!
1) dream until you can’t take it anymore or until the most perfect place comes across your path. Dreaming is the fun part, everything else comes with payments!
2) never be in a hurry unless you have to be, continue your lease in your low rent place while looking. Make a list of what you want and just keep looking. Decide what you are willing to settle for and what you won’t settle for.
We looked casually for 12 years for the perfect property. We have been looking more earnestly the past three. My in-laws kept pressuring us to settle and just buy something that was “close enough”. We refused because we didn’t have to move. We waited and looked and we finally found the near perfect property- the only drawback was that it was slightly farther away from civilization than we had hoped, everything else was perfect, so we purchased. It was difficult to hand over our hard earned/saved money for the down payment, but walking the trails of our own wooded acres is a feeling that can not be explained. Like walking through a dream. Only, now we have payments on our dream!
Good luck!
Either of the two little homes would
please me just fine.
Thanks for the photos which are inspiring.
I love how all of the photo’s in your post are reminders of how important a calming peaceful home is to your overall health and wellbeing.
A home that makes you feel good, inside and out, is like taking your daily vitamins and acts as a natural stress buster and buffer to the chaos of the larger world.
This post kept popping up, so today I took the time to read everyone’s comments from what feels like a different era with Covid-19 wreaking favor in all our lives.
Keep dreaming.
oh, that should read havoc....not favor.
Never purchase a two story house, especially if you plan to live in it for many years. You will find that age creeps up on you and you will not be able to go up and down those stairs, plus any unforseen accident would mean that you would have to have sleeping arrangements downstairs. Purchase a house that is open and not closed off with tiny rooms. This in case you become disabled and need space for using a cane or walker. We had to sell our two story because of what I mentioned and built a much smaller home on one level with open spaces. Good Luck.
Gerry, I'd never leave my 2-story home due to age (I'm there...we've been here 35 years). So much cheaper to put in a stair-lift than to sell/move. My aunts & mother all loved/lived in 2-story homes their entire lives , as did my grandparents and great-grandparents. I admit, when I look for a "retirement home, " I tend to look for one level, but then pinch myself & remind myself to not discount possibly enjoying what I see in a 2-story b/c there are "solutions" for that ! :)