I made a big mistake.
Huge.
Or, as the kids today like to say – Ginormous.
Something came over me on Friday night and I decided to look for available houses for my family. I punched the criteria in and was pleased to see about six possibilities returned. I showed the pictures of the one I liked best to my husband who nodded and said, “Looks really nice.”
Then we went to the Home and Garden Show at the TRAC yesterday and weighed remodeling vs. buying new as we browsed the booths (and bought a Topsy-Turvy Tomato Planter!).
On the way back to the house I suggested we go walk through the houses I liked, just for fun.
Well, that did it. We walked into my favorite and my favorite it stayed. And became the favorite for my husband and children, too.
Now, here’s a problem – our existing home is nowhere near ready to put on the market. If we do this, a flurry of preparation activity will take place, and the dust will barely settle when I put the sign in the front yard.
And the BIGGEST problem is that we went looking without securing financing first. Stupid, stupid, stupid! It’s like walking on the the Mercedes lot when all you can afford is a Hyundai. Or picking up on a guy when you’re already married. Or shopping at Nordstrom (NOT during the Anniversary or Half-Yearly Sales) when you really need to be shopping at Target.
My husband is self-employed, and has been self-employed for less than two years. Loans are nearly impossible to come by for the self-employed unless you’ve got two years of tax returns to show. So, we’re pretty much looking at an empty dream at this point.
And that’s what hurts. I’ll say it until my dying day; buying and selling is an emotional business. My husband and I are already emotionally tied to the new house.
I show houses all day, everyday. That’s my job. People ask me sometimes if I ever see a house I want and get disappointed when I come home. The answer has always been no. I’ll see something lovely or full of every feature imaginable or a great floor plan, and think about it wistfully. But when I drive into my driveway, I feel at home. I feel happy and content because my family is inside and our home is ours, and I love it.
But yesterday, as we approached our existing house, after viewing the dream house, I felt let down. THIS is where we live? THIS is home?
And it’s because I’ve mentally moved out. It happens to my clients all the time, and now I understand. I totally get it!
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