Why House Hunting Will Be the Death of Me

Steve and I are starting to look for a new home. Since moving to New Jersey six years ago, we rented an apartment as newlyweds for three years (it was small and super cute and I loved it) and then moved into our current rental -- an end unit townhome with great light but only 2 bedrooms -- when we got pregnant with C. We started our little family in this house, and although I love it and believe it was absolutely perfect for us for over three years, now that we have another princess on the way we need more bedrooms. We also have decided that this is where we'd like to settle for a while, so instead of renting, we plan to buy.

We extended our lease at our current place for six months (until the end of this September) to ensure that we'd have a place to live in the months before, during, and after having a newborn - kind of important, right? ;) However, this means that we need to wait at least another month or two before making an offer somewhere else. The problem is, once I have my mind set to something, I'm kind of obsessive. I found the perfect house for us, guys... the perfect one. Our realtor took me to see it and I loved it even more, then we went back with Steve and he loved it too. I was hoping it would last until we could make an offer considering it's been on the market for a few months and is priced a little on the high side, but we just found out that they accepted another offer yesterday.

So, here is why house hunting will be the death of me (please let me know if you can relate!):

1. I am obsessive. I check house apps and websites multiple times a day and know everything there is on the market. While it's fun, it's also a time suck and gets kind of disappointing when nothing new and viable makes an appearance.

2. I am a perfectionist. Not necessarily in the way that I need a perfect house, but I know exactly what I want and the fact that a house that felt right to me slipped through our fingers will haunt me. Sigh.

3. It takes time. Like I said, once I have my mind set to something I work really hard at making it happen. I do tons of research, enlist professionals, etc. But the truth about house hunting is that it's a process -- one that includes so many parties, including mortgage lenders, real estate agents (ours is great, thankfully!), sellers, sellers' agents, other buyers, and more. Long processes were not made for impatient people. Or maybe it's the other way around. ;)

4. It takes money. Lots of money. Which is just stressful. Making an investment that involves a significant portion of your savings and hundreds of thousands of dollars is scary!

5. It's competitive. I can't figure out if I'm competitive by nature. Part of me thinks yes (the whole going after what I want thing), but part of me also thinks no (haggling and going up against 5 other buyers sounds exhausting).

6. Finally, disappointment is a tough emotion. And along with house hunting usually comes quite a bit of disappointment -- that's just the reality. My 2 year old has a tough time dealing with this emotion ("I don't get 5 desserts after dinner?! WHAT?!"), but so do I. 

So, there you have it. Not the most cheery post, but today I'm feeling disappointed so I'm just keeping it real in case anybody out there can relate. Can you?