It’s been decided that this year, 2021, will be the year Markus and I finally purchase a house of our own. 🏡 That means it will also be the year we put ourselves in massive debt and increase our responsibilities by, I don’t know, a lot.
It’s scary – buying a house is a lot of money and a lot of work – but also fun.
For the past nine years, we’ve lived in a little rental house. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s a very nice place to live, and surprisingly affordable, but we want laaaaaand.
We want a yard big enough to let the dog run around and play. Space to plant stuff, like a potato patch and maybe some berry bushes. Space to get more animals (chickens!) if we want to.
And more storage space for outdoor stuff. Our current storage room and garage are tiny. Things like garden furniture, bikes, skis, the dog sled etc. have nowhere to go. Every winter we put the summer things under a tarp on the narrow little strip of grass we call our “back yard”, and every summer we do the same with the winter stuff. It would be so nice to have a proper outhouse or shed to put things in.
We also want to get out to the countryside.
Our town is pretty average-sized and, like most north-Swedish towns, enclosed by forest, so you’re never far from nature. But I don’t want to live close to nature, I want to live IN nature. Right now we’re surrounded by other houses when I’d rather be surrounded by forest and fields. While I don’t mind having neighbours, I don’t want them too close.
Markus put it very succinctly: “I want to live just secluded enough that I can walk around the yard in my underwear without scaring the neighbours.” 😂
I honestly don’t care all that much about the actual house. I’m not fussy about the size or how it looks, the yard and the surroundings are more important. A house can be remodelled and upgraded but you can’t remodel the land. What is it they say? “Location. Location. Location.”
The main demand when it comes to the house is that we’d prefer to find something that doesn’t need too much work right away. We have no experience renovating houses so it would probably be best if we didn’t start our real estate journey with a total fixer-upper.
It’s a bit frustrating that we’re only in March as the market is pretty dead here this time of year. Most people sell their houses in the summer half of the year, when everything isn’t covered in snow and temperatures are above freezing. It’s still winter here so not a lot of houses available now.
Ugh. For once in my life I actually want winter to be over! 😩
In the meantime, if anyone has any advise/wisdom to share about owning houses I’m all ears! 😅
I dont really have any advice about owning a house as we just bought ours in August. But enjoy the process! Try not to get too stressed out. And don’t settle for a house because you get worried you wont find the perfect one. Be patient with the search.
Thank you, and congrats on your new(ish) house! I do feel stressed, like we need to find one NOW, but you’re right. It’s probably a bad idea to just buy whatever comes up first.
Good luck house hunting. I’ve bought a flat and a house so far and the second time is much easier. I shared on my blog about my experience, as we got fixer-uppers both times. (if you want you can check the tab “my home” and look at the old posts).
The best advice I can give you is to think what is the most important thing for you, make a list of what you really want/need and what is not as important, because it’s unlikely you will find the perfect home. Look at the price range you can afford and don’t look past that as, obviously, more expensive houses will have something better.
Good luck.
Good luck with your house hunting Karin! My partner and I will be looking next year. I’ve always lived in the countryside and he’s a townie. We’re not sure what area to look at yet but know it will be somewhere in The Cotswolds.
House hunting can be hard from what I’ve seen my sister go through. XD It can be hard to find just what you want. Ha, Markus is hilarious.
I don’t blame you guys for wanting more nature and stuff. Our house has a huuuuge yard which is nice, but still houses nearby. We actually used to grow veggies and corn some years back.
Your area looks pretty nice by the way. I hope you find what you’re looking for!