is that included?

Our realtor sends us automated email searches of any houses that meet the criteria that we outlined for him. The emails serve as a first look to current listings and help us to focus in on the properties we a truly interested in seeing. You have to question what some of these people (and their realtors)  are thinking when they included pictures like these in their listings....

hey, can you throw me a roll?

 if you have any metal on you'll certainly feel pulled to stay in this house

no age lines here...complementary botox with purchase

maybe they won't notice the bare light bulb if we place the chair here...

honey, what do you think we should decorate the shelf in the living room with? i don't know, how about a dining chair?

 hurry take the picture...my good looks will draw their eye away from the oddly placed window.

 princess potty seat included free of charge

some people hang curtains but we think baskets are a much better finish to the room

PS. We know you have to look past the decoration and finishes when looking for a house. We actually toured some of these homes but unfortunately still haven't found the right one for us.

pursuit of happiness

Surprise, we are still looking. Went and looked at a few properties this week but everything either needed extensive updates (carpet, bathrooms, paint, kitchen, etc) or had structural damage that we are just not prepared to deal with as first time buyers. But we've decided to change our perspective. We are switching up the game plan and have a few things on the back burner that we are hoping might pan out into something great, like a home. Until then we are continually on the pursuit of happiness.

home is wherever i'm with you

Although we are deep in trenches of looking for a house to call our home we know that home is where the heart is and that is with one another.

home is whereever i'm with you print : tuesday mourning

Well that and with our pups.

home is where your dog is : JessicaBishopPaperie

Hope you have a great Valentine's day!

then we ate ice cream...

...and drank wine in the dark while listening to Taylor Swift and crying into our pillows. I was talking to a friend I hadn't seen in a few months yesterday and mentioned how we were looking at houses. She said her friends just got done with the same process. I asked where in NOVA they ended up moving, to which she replied, "Oh nowhere. They gave up and our just renting for a while". Whomp whomp.

We lost a third house on Monday. A THIRD house. I know, I know I'm moving too fast... let me catch you up. The first house we found was spectacular and we knew it. We made an offer within twenty four hours of it being on the market hoping if we moved fast we might be able to snatch it up. SEVEN OTHER OFFERS.

As perfect as house one was house two was even more so. It was in the IDEAL location (for what we can afford), completely renovated, and even had Ryan squealing like a little school girl. We toured the house the first day on the market, well us and six other couples, all AT THE SAME TIME! We took second in that race.... to a cash offer with no appraisal contingencies.

This third house had the most amazing backyard and was in a neighborhood we liked. We really thought we were going to get this one seeing as we offered  WELL over the asking price. Other people had the same idea only they offered cash and again no appraisal contingencies.

Although we're not ready to throw the towel in yet we are drowning our sorrows in steins of craft beer, eating pad Thai take out, and watching Homeland on demand.

What is your go to sad food/booze? I feel like we're going to have to expand our horizons in order to make it out of this process.





PS. I promise to start being a better blogger and take pictures of these places we see. 

not your parent's house hunt

According to our real estate agent's website in 2011 the average Northern Virginia home was listed for 60 days. All of the houses that we have been interested in have had multiple offers in less than 24 hours. I think its fair to say, at least in this region, it is impossible to wait for the Sunday paper to view new listings. You have to constantly keep your eyes on the market and be prepared to move fast on properties that you're interested in. So here's a few of our "peeping tom" ways to help you stay on top of your game.

Searching for Properties

-Many realty websites have similar functions such as the ability to apply filters to help narrow down your search, map views so you can see where properties are in relation to major roads, your job, or some of your favorite hang outs. Specific filters we like to use besides the standard 3 bed/2 bath are just listed/new properties, active listings (as opposed to sold, contingent/no kickout, etc.), and open houses. Just try searching realty websites until you find one you like. Some of our favorites are Weichert, Long & Foster, and Realtor.com.
-Realtor.com also has a free app I like to use when we're driving around or when I don't have easy access to my computer and feel like browsing.
-Get a Realtor. They are experts at this and many will send you updated MLS listings daily based upon the criteria you've discussed.

I don't recommend other websites like Zillow for your initial house search (we like them for other stuff) because we found its often out of date. Its the worst to get excited about a property only to find out it sold last week.

Researching Properties

So you found a property you think you might like... now its time to break out the private investigator tools to really learn what you're getting into. Some of our favorite tools are:

-Google Maps street view is a great way to get an idea about what the neighborhood looks like but again is not a live feed so you should always go see a property with your own eyes.

-We liked websites like Zillow when looking for comparable pricing (comps) as well as pricing in the neighborhood. BUT you have to take it with a grain of salt. Zillow uses "Zestimates" which are just that, estimates. It allowed us to get a big picture idea of what homes in the neighborhood were generally worth/selling for and helped us find other recently sold comps.

-Your county's property tax website. By looking at the property tax history you can learn a lot about when the house was built, how many times its been sold, who has owned the property, and the type of sale that occurred (foreclosure, standard, relative to relative). Although this information isn't critical if you can see that a home was just bought two months ago for half the price you can infer that this is probably a flipped property and therefore you may have a little more wiggle room for price if the seller is trying to move it fast.

-We also use our county's website to find valuable information about crime in the area. We are able to get a general idea about the prevalence and types of crimes in the areas we were looking.

-Virginia's sex offender registry is a good way to find out who is living near you and always something we look at.
-Although we don't have children, schools play a big role in resale value, and therefore something we feel we should look into before purchasing a home. We found Great Schools to be a good resource for learning more about the area schools from pre-K through high school.

*Disclaimer: It should be noted that all information included above is just our opinions and we were not paid to endorse any of the above mentioned websites.

won't you be my neighbor?

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,

A beautiful day for a neighbor, 

Would you be mine? 

Could you be mine?

It's a neighborly day in this beautywood, 

A neighborly day for a beauty, 

Would you be mine? 

Could you be mine?

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you, 

I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

So let's make the most of this beautiful day, 

Since we're together, we might as well say, 

Would you be mine? 

Could you be mine? 

Won't you be my neighbor?

Won't you please, 

Won't you please, 

Please won't you be my neighbor?


The search is on! Well technically its been on. Ryan and I have been keeping our eye on the market since late November but when we discovered the VA home loan terms we decided it was time don a red cardigan and some chucks and become official homeowners. BAHAHAHA! HGTV is lies. All lies. There is none of this look at three houses, make an offer, and get it for $20K less than asking price.

Do you own or rent? If you've already bought, how was your home search?