so yesterday i saw this article online, something along the lines of '15 reasons the housing market hasn't hit rock bottom yet' or something. i read it with a churning stomach. the forecast is pretty grim. and it certainly doesn't seem like the market will be changing anytime soon. part of the reason we were so gung-ho on house-shopping was this feeling that it was the right time to buy, rates were historically low, who knows how long it will last, etc etc.
but after reading that article—and considering all the angst i was already feeling—buying a house was the last thing i wanted to do. renting for another year seemed downright sensible. (except: not our current place. we now have a furry little mouse lurking around, along with the waterbugs. shudder.) Michael and i talked about it last night, came up with a loose game plan and—whaddaya know? after a stressful week during which i was a lot more wound up than i cared to admit, i felt like a million bucks today. like a weight was lifted from my shoulders.
don't get me wrong... i still long for a beautiful, spacious kitchen. a backyard with a deck on which to sip cocktails when the weather is nice. my very own washer and dryer. and dishwasher! but things are just too volatile right now. home prices are still bloated in this neck of the woods, and if nothing is going to seriously change for another year, it definitely feels smarter to wait, really do our research and find the perfect place to live.
on top of this, i called my Gram today. one of her first questions was, "how's the house hunting going?" i told her, "it's the worst," and she said, "isn't it?" when i told her we were quitting for now she was hilariously relieved. she's always been a believer in us staying put, not relocating to the 'burbs just because we think we should. "you need to be around other young people!" she said today. "you're living life right now!"
lesson learned: we should have skipped the Remax office weeks ago and just gone straight to the real source—Grams.
mbm
Posts
