Austin House Hunt {Part 2}

Update: We found a home!

I was really hoping the Part 2 (Austin house hunt: Part 1) of this post would be… “We’re home owners, and look how cute she is (or is going to be)!” But, no. The house hunt continues, I’m trying to be more positive and put out the happy house hunt vibe. So, no complaining allowed in this post. On the upside, clearly the ecnoomy is doing better (at least in Austin,TX) if so many people are buying houses, right? It’s insane out there. Here’s how it works:

• I go see a house within a couple of hours of it being listed on the MLS (Sometimes Andy has not even walked through it)
• We make and submit an offer within the day
• By the end of the day, the seller says something like, “We are allowing offers until x day at x time and will make a decision by x time. Please submit your highest and best offer.”
• We submit our highest and best offer, anywhere from 5-12% over the asking price.
• The super cute house we fell in love with gets 5+ offers. (One time up to 10!)
• We don’t get the house.

We’ve looked at eveything from super pretty and remodeled to “Yikes!” Here a few of the treasure we’ve found so far.

Specimen 1: Great price, decent location, screened in porch, nice backyard, corner lot, hardwood floors… by the time I looked at it (2 days after it went up on the MLS) it was already pending. Boo. Not to mention, highway 290 was in your front yard, the house had clearly been added on to multiple times, and the kitchen was super crusty. Bye bye cute little turquoise door.

Specimen 2: Super awesome location. Backs up to a creek. Large lot. Expensive. Window units. Plus the two most awful words in real estate (if you ask me):  Multiple Offers. I very much dislike the whole multiple offer situation. It’s awful. Here’s the dealio: This little treasure went on the market, I saw it (Andy did not), and we made the very first offer. By noon the next day, we were told to put in our “best and final”, it was a multiple offer situation. We wrote a letter, included a picture, made a little video with song and dance (not really, but it felt like it)! Waited on pins and needles and… major house let down number 41,047. We didn’t get it.  But, what I thought was so weird about this one is a week later as Andy and I were doing our Saturday open house drive bys, we saw the “Open House” sign go up. Since Andy had never actually stepped foot in the house, we decided to check it out… We talked to the sellers agent doing the open house fully aware that there was a contract pending. The seller was doing an open house to get back up offers! Moving on…

Specimen 3: It’s a bathroom, can’t you tell? And if you can imagine, this little gem was at the tip top of the ol’ budget. Location was pretty awesome. But we ended up walking away from this one without actually making an offer.

At this moment, we are trying to decide if buying is even the best option. We do own a condo in Austin, and although it is currently being rented, the lease ends on May 31st. Maybe we’ll just move back in! Don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated and over share all the exciting house hunting deets, ha! Follow along on instagram for up to the minute house excitement. It’s super thrilling, promise. Anyone else on the house hunt? How’s it shaking? Is it a sellers market everywhere? Or are we just extra lucky in Austin right now?  I’d love to hear…