keshwyn and I started our house-hunt in a winter market, and after a month or so had, yes, looked at everything on the market in our [area + price-range + at least 7 rooms] that wasn't an "as-is" gut-and-rebuild. (Of course, it was a huge seller's market those days, so this likely wasn't quite so many houses as you've been looking at. The two weeks in February when only one new listing came on the market were certainly much less work, although nervewracking in a different sort of way.)
But once we'd looked at enough places (which in our case took until the spring rush, due to the aforementioned relative dearth of houses coming onto the market) we found that the lots-of-looking-at-stuff had prepared us well - we had a much better sense of what we liked, what we were willing to compromise on, how rare certain features were, and in general how what we were seeing compared to other houses. It took us less and less time to figure out, "nope, not going to put an offer on this house"; and when we found places we liked, we realized it quickly.
It sounds like you've gotten to that point, too - so when a house you'll really like does come along you can jump on it.
The worst part of this is actually finding bits and pieces that we love, in packages that we just can't accept in their entirety. If we could put House One on Lot Two, and move the whole thing to Street Three, we'd be fine. This, of course, settles me firmly in a quagmire of misery as I convince myself that I'm being too picky and that I need to find a way to be happy with a queasy cube of blue stucco with six-foot ceilings and an electric stove, in a neighborhood with no on-street parking.
Yeah, I hear you.
Don't let that quagmire drag you down, though. While compromise may be a part of house-buying, in my experience at least, for those occasional worthwhile houses it was more of a "Hey, yeah, *this* house would be worth [compromises X and Y]!" feeling - not a "choose your misery" thing.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-12-13 05:20 am (UTC)But once we'd looked at enough places (which in our case took until the spring rush, due to the aforementioned relative dearth of houses coming onto the market) we found that the lots-of-looking-at-stuff had prepared us well - we had a much better sense of what we liked, what we were willing to compromise on, how rare certain features were, and in general how what we were seeing compared to other houses. It took us less and less time to figure out, "nope, not going to put an offer on this house"; and when we found places we liked, we realized it quickly.
It sounds like you've gotten to that point, too - so when a house you'll really like does come along you can jump on it.
The worst part of this is actually finding bits and pieces that we love, in packages that we just can't accept in their entirety. If we could put House One on Lot Two, and move the whole thing to Street Three, we'd be fine. This, of course, settles me firmly in a quagmire of misery as I convince myself that I'm being too picky and that I need to find a way to be happy with a queasy cube of blue stucco with six-foot ceilings and an electric stove, in a neighborhood with no on-street parking.
Yeah, I hear you.
Don't let that quagmire drag you down, though. While compromise may be a part of house-buying, in my experience at least, for those occasional worthwhile houses it was more of a "Hey, yeah, *this* house would be worth [compromises X and Y]!" feeling - not a "choose your misery" thing.
Good hunting!