Realistic Optimistic

Art and I have been trying to get our finances in order to buy a house over the past couple years, so we were thrilled to find out in January that our credit was up to par and that with some seller contribution toward closing costs and a down payment assistance program, we could start shopping for a house now. We qualified with our lender, and coordinated with our agent, Dyan, my trusted friend and past co-worker at The Boyd Company.

It was merely days later that we found a property that caught our attention. Not too old, decent part of town, fully remodeled, huge backyard. So we made an offer on it. This is when I began to learn that the most complicated part of buying a house is the emotional aspect. It became all I could think about. I couldn't even sleep at night. I was so excited- my mind pouring over every detail of the house, imagining us occupying it. Then my logic kicked in after a few days, knowing the seller was receiving multiple offers, I knew I better not let myself get so emotionally attached. But then I felt like I was getting pessimistic- doubting our decision to put an offer on the house, thinking of more of the negative qualities of the house or neighborhood, almost like premature buyer's remorse. How do you be realistic without being pessimistic? And how to you be optimistic without getting emotionally attached? Our offer didn't end up getting accepted, and I am ok with that, but these two questions have been on my mind, knowing we would be making offers on other houses in the future.

All month, I meticulously searched the listings for any properties of interest. With Keira going to school this fall, and Art still working nights, we want to find as safe of a neighborhood as possible. Before I even consider a property, I check it against crimereports.com to see where the sex offenders live and how much crime there is in the area. None of the houses fit our price range and criteria until a new listing appeared last night in a very desirable and safe part of town. Walking distance to two parks, the church, the elementary school, middle school, and high school. We drove by it today and checked out the neighborhood, came back later to see the inside at the open house, and had our offer submitted this evening. Here we go again... excited... distracted... nervous... probably won't sleep tonight... feeling like there's no chance in the world that our offer will be accepted... yet deciding where I'm going to put my furniture all at the same time. I'm hoping someday soon I can master being realistic and optimistic at the same time.