Is it good to be a picky buyer?

[Anonymous]

Maybe I’m built differently, but when it comes to a home, I want to make sure that things are correct. Such as foundation, walls, plumbing, electrical, drywall, flooring. I want everything to be as right as can be or I don’t want the house.

I’m about a year in with the home building process. Looking in either Montgomery County or in NOVA (Fairfax/McLean)Recently we really liked a house that met all the checkboxes, but there was an issue with drainage and flooding that the seller didn’t care to disclose…they always tried to avoid the subject. So I walked. My realtor got upset with us to the point where she isn’t speaking to us and said we should’ve taken it anyway. But if I find one red flag, I’m out. The way I see it, this is my biggest purchase of 1.5 million+ dollars, I want it to be right and not run into a trap that’ll costs time and money down the road. Now I know I’ll never find the PERFECT house without doing a custom build, but I just expect the quality to be on par with the price.

But is my realtor right? Am I too picky? I’m just patient in making sure we find the right place for the right fit. Am I asking too much to want a quality home?

[Anonymous]

You sound insufferable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You sound insufferable.

+1

[Anonymous]

You need to lower your budget so you can have money to fix whatever you find. You will not find a perfect house. Houses here are from 1970s and have issues. You can fix the majority of issues! If you have been seriously looking for a year and walked from multiple properties then yes, it seems you are too picky and I don’t blame your realtor for moving on.

Is this your first property?

[Anonymous]

There’s picky, and there’s impossible. The line is blurry sometimes!

We upset our realtor too, because we took a year and a half to find a house we liked. It was a gut reno sort of house with good bones, and we happily renovated to our taste. We were looking for small house in a very specific area, and I needed it to be cute and filled with light. I saw the potential with this house and persuaded DH we could handle the work (which we did, but it was quite challenging).

The perfect house does not exist, OP. You can ignore your realtor. They just want a quick commission. The issue is: are you ever going to find a house you like enough to buy, and if you don’t, are you OK with that? Also, are you OK with being outbid once you finally find your dream house?

We picky people would do better with buying a lot and paying for a custom home! But nice lots are also hard to find, and a custom build is expensive!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I’m built differently, but when it comes to a home, I want to make sure that things are correct. Such as foundation, walls, plumbing, electrical, drywall, flooring. I want everything to be as right as can be or I don’t want the house.

I’m about a year in with the home building process. Looking in either Montgomery County or in NOVA (Fairfax/McLean)Recently we really liked a house that met all the checkboxes, but there was an issue with drainage and flooding that the seller didn’t care to disclose…they always tried to avoid the subject. So I walked. My realtor got upset with us to the point where she isn’t speaking to us and said we should’ve taken it anyway. But if I find one red flag, I’m out. The way I see it, this is my biggest purchase of 1.5 million+ dollars, I want it to be right and not run into a trap that’ll costs time and money down the road. Now I know I’ll never find the PERFECT house without doing a custom build, but I just expect the quality to be on par with the price.

But is my realtor right? Am I too picky? I’m just patient in making sure we find the right place for the right fit. Am I asking too much to want a quality home?

You are smart - we’re in Fairfax/McLean and were not picky about drainage and flooding and the seller didn’t disclose. Let me tell you, mopping up the basement and bailing out the window wells during downpours over the past decade or so has been no fun. Not to mention the fear every time it rains. We’ve made improvements so it isn’t so bad but when it comes time to sell, we are definitely disclosing and going as is. We figure the buyer will tear it down anyway, because that happens to about 50% of home sales in my neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

As long as you're smart about being picky then it's fine. What you're describing is very expensive to fix, so it makes sense that you're picky. If you pass on a home because you don't like the cabinet handles, then that's not smart.

Ignore your former realtor. They just want to close the deal and get their money. They couldn't care less if you overpay or get stuck with a costly repair.

[Anonymous]

Do you actually need to move?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I’m built differently, but when it comes to a home, I want to make sure that things are correct. Such as foundation, walls, plumbing, electrical, drywall, flooring. I want everything to be as right as can be or I don’t want the house.

I’m about a year in with the home building process. Looking in either Montgomery County or in NOVA (Fairfax/McLean)Recently we really liked a house that met all the checkboxes, but there was an issue with drainage and flooding that the seller didn’t care to disclose…they always tried to avoid the subject. So I walked. My realtor got upset with us to the point where she isn’t speaking to us and said we should’ve taken it anyway. But if I find one red flag, I’m out. The way I see it, this is my biggest purchase of 1.5 million+ dollars, I want it to be right and not run into a trap that’ll costs time and money down the road. Now I know I’ll never find the PERFECT house without doing a custom build, but I just expect the quality to be on par with the price.

But is my realtor right? Am I too picky? I’m just patient in making sure we find the right place for the right fit. Am I asking too much to want a quality home?

You are smart - we’re in Fairfax/McLean and were not picky about drainage and flooding and the seller didn’t disclose. Let me tell you, mopping up the basement and bailing out the window wells during downpours over the past decade or so has been no fun. Not to mention the fear every time it rains. We’ve made improvements so it isn’t so bad but when it comes time to sell, we are definitely disclosing and going as is. We figure the buyer will tear it down anyway, because that happens to about 50% of home sales in my neighborhood.

And when we move we are looking to buy a house WITHOUT a basement. I’m so over basement issues and it just gets crammed up with stuff we didn’t bother to get rid of because there was room for it in the basement.

Kills me when I see renovated properties where the sellers actually dug out the basement - OMG, NO…… if you visit on a rainy day, you can smell the potential issues…..

[Anonymous]

OP you can do whatever you want but you’ll never find a perfect house. So maybe tell the realtors about this requirement up front so they can cut you loose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You sound insufferable.

Says the realtor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you can do whatever you want but you’ll never find a perfect house. So maybe tell the realtors about this requirement up front so they can cut you loose.

I’m op. I know I’ll never find the perfect house. But if certain major items are not disclosed up front like flooding issues or foundational issues, is it so wrong to raise a red flag? Are people just supposed to take anything?

[Anonymous]

Yes you are too picky. Not wrong and I’d do the same thing but we always buy without a realtor. No one would put up with by us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As long as you're smart about being picky then it's fine. What you're describing is very expensive to fix, so it makes sense that you're picky. If you pass on a home because you don't like the cabinet handles, then that's not smart.

Ignore your former realtor. They just want to close the deal and get their money. They couldn't care less if you overpay or get stuck with a costly repair.

+1

The realtor doesn’t care. They want to make their sale and move on. They don’t give a shit about your bottom line at all. You’re spending a million on a house. I’d want it to be right. Not half-assed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You sound insufferable.

+1

+2