Needles & Grooves

No, you move or lose in this market.

Funny, I was the same way as you… Worried that she wanted the first one she saw. Except we ended up with our dream house. Glad I trusted my wife (as is with most things)

The property she likes is pretty good. Only 2 bed/1 bath though, and we wanted something bigger than that. No dishwasher either but I think that can be added. My main concern (that doesn't bother her at all) is it's directly across the street from 1) the freeway, 2) a homeless camp.

I’ll offer an honest opinion based on my experience. My wife and I have owned our home for almost 11 years. I hated it before we bought it, but she loved it. I convinced myself that I could do some work to make it better. We added square footage, did a whole kitchen and bathrooms remodel, added new floors throughout. I still hate it….

…most of the reasons I hated it before we bought it are the same reasons now, and yes one of those reasons is that it backs up to a busy road. I never got used to the noise, it’s still maddening. Financially it’s been kind, and we could sell and buy another but I can’t convince myself to pay some hack over $30k to “sell my home” for me. Trust your gut, ya both gotta love it.

Not if you like the house.

Adding a +1 and reiterating to trust your gut.

Ideally, you want to aim in the direction of buying the worst house on the best street, rather than the best house on the worst street.

Not at all. Look a bit, but why skip a good enough house when markets are so crazy? Don't make the process harder than it already is. (We bought the second or third house we saw. I love it so much)

Don't be overly hesitant, one, just like records, you snooze you lose, two, houses are interesting, the minute you walk in, it either hits you or it doesn't..............if it hits you and your wife the right way, and all the conditions are right, go into it with all the excitement it brings

Side note: Compromise is also part of the process, you'll never find something that's 100% what you both want, as much as you may share a lot of the same thoughts, you tend to look at homes a little differently..........and there's nothing wrong with that.

I ignored a couple of red flags when I bought my house and 3 years later really do not like living here for the most part (it does have some redeemable qualities). Things like noisy roads you can't do anything about. It's a great achievement being able to get on to the property ladder but what no one tells you is that if you buy a house you can't settle in to then you're kinda fucked for a while.

Location is one thing you cannot change when buying a house. Noise from a highway isn’t suddenly going to go away one day. I have a few friends who bought houses in the past two years and two of them are already desperate to sell because they don’t like the location or towns they moved to.