South Carolina House Hunting & Tips & Tricks!

Hi! :)

I wanted to start off today with this super cute picture of Miss Lily! We went to the dog park for two hours yesterday; I think it’s safe to say she had an awesome time!

I completely forgot to show off my manicure that I got on Saturday, I did it myself for Mr Tan Lines’ birthday celebrations! I actually took this picture today so the polish is still going strong!

In honor of #tbt I wanted to share some pictures of just what we were doing this time last year; really because it was exciting! We were actually visiting South Carolina and house hunting! We decided it was a nice way to celebrate Mr Tan Lines’ birthday and of course we were anxious to start looking!

On our way down I had to snap this picture because Mr Tan Lines was so excited that we stopped at Zaxby’s to eat lunch.  There weren’t any of these in northern Virginia so it was my first time eating at one! It’s a fast food place with tons of chicken options. Chicken salads, sandwiches, tenders and wings.

We even made our very first trip to Lake Murray, just seeing the beautiful, blue water got us so excited for boat season! It was around 40 degrees the entire weekend but sunny and beautiful :)

We ended the day by going to dinner at what is now one of our favorite haunts, Buffalo Wild Wings. You see, there also aren’t any BWW in northern Virginia, at least close to where we used to live, so we were thrilled to be able to eat there!

As you know our Saturday spent house hunting ended successfully as we found our dream home! It only took visiting 6 others to realize that the first home we saw was it; I guess it was love at first sight!

We also spent Championship Sunday at an outdoor bar called Pawley’s that is animal friendly, here is one of the dogs watching the games with his humans :)

Being a first time home buyer can be intimidating and I don’t think there is a list of rules to follow that are set in stone. Everyone is different and in different places financially; everyone wants different things and in the end YOU are who needs to be happy. It was especially intimidating for us moving to a new state where we knew no one. We had never visited the particular city either; I guess we really wanted a challenge huh?!

Here are a few things I would pass on as tips & tricks:

Make a list of what you want. Mr Tan Lines and I had a list of deal breakers and must-haves, for example, our must-haves included: a large backyard, kitchen with an island, stainless steel appliances, master bedroom located on the second floor, hardwood floors, his and hers walk-in closets and 3+ bedrooms. This list will make it easy to say no, trust me there are a tons of houses out there, it’s much easier to say no when you’re set on what you want.

It’s all about your realtor. Find a realtor that is right for you. We lucked into ours and he was fantastic. He was our eyes and ears down here and he couldn’t have done a better job. He wasn’t pushy, or in a rush to make a sale. We found ours through Zillow.

Do your own research. We spent countless hours online looking at houses and pricing. Before our visit we sent our realtor a list of the 10 houses we wanted to see, then let him add any he thought might be of interest to us. This allowed him to efficiently plan our day of house viewing as well.  We also brought print outs of our list to help keep us organized. Think of your realtor as the cruise ship director; there to make sure things run on time and everyone has fun. It's your job to get the majority of the facts before you hop on that ship.

Bring a camera. Take pictures of things you like, don’t like. After house #4 you’ll start confusing one house with the other.  This way you’ll know which living room you liked best or which layout looked the most appealing.

Bring pen and paper to take notes. These notes will go along with your pictures. Note things you like, might need upgrading, small yard but love the kitchen etc.

Take time to think it through. After looking at the houses we were pretty set on which one we wanted, however we took two weeks to mull it over and make sure we were certain.

Go back to the house at night. Sure, it’s all gorgeous when the sun is shining brightly down, but go back and inspect the neighborhood. Does it seem safe? Is it packed with cars on the street?

Join local forums online. We joined a few different forums and asked about the nightlife, area, things to do etc. It gave us an idea on what to expect our quality of life to be like here. 

Have a hefty down payment. Because it’s smart and gives you leverage to negotiate.

Negotiate.  Never, ever pay the asking price. Also ask them to throw in some freebies, things like blinds, refrigerator, ceiling fans etc. (Our house was new, so these things might not apply to everyone). The worst they can do is say no.

Take your time. Open all of the doors, picture your things set up in rooms, picture yourself cooking dinner etc. If you can see yourself feeling at home there, that’s a good start.

Trust your gut. If you find yourself saying "I guess I could live with that," RUN! You are buying a house, not a t-shirt. 

I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, however I think it’s a great general list to start with. I truly think when we bought our house it was pretty painless, it wasn’t stressful or difficult. Pretty sure we just got really lucky though, I’ve heard some pretty bad horror stories! I hope this was helpful :) until next time!