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| Sadly, I didn't buy this view |
I had to kiss a lot of frogs before I found my prince...or castle? (Not sure which is most appropriate here???) Either way, it was a huge learning process. (Above is a house I didn't buy. I fell in love with the view but I had to walk away from the wreck of a house)
I learned that buying a house is a massive undertaking from a financial and legal aspect. I saved for a long time to reach this milestone and it still felt like I was reaching financially and personally. Buying an old house on top of that adds even more complicated legwork to the process- then buying one on waterfront adds an even deeper layer of complexity (not to mention, expense!) to the process. The house hunting process turned into a maze of looking up septic permits, HOA fees, deed restrictions, and tours of places that probably should have been condemned long ago.
It's easy to miss the forest for the trees when you are spending a lot of money, but after while, I realized I needed to start focusing more on potential, and not the houses (and the current state of them).
Initially I didn't know what I wanted in a house. I made a list of must haves, and nice- to-haves (but not necessary). Living in the area, making friends and spending the summer on the lakes in the area made me start to explore the idea of buying a house on the water. Lots of internet searches, and general driving around made me realize that houses on the water in that area were incredibly expensive....but maybe I could find something in my budget if I was willing to be patient and do a little remodeling. (Or in my case now...a lot of remodeling.)
When I went from just looking on Zillow to looking in person, I made an appointment and looked at a house I liked. The house ended up not really being for me, but I really liked the listing agent, so I had her sign me up for MLS alerts under her name. From then on, I would get emails whenever a house was listed that fit my criteria. It was really helpful! However, a lot of the homes that she sent me were actually out of my budget and I still had to do a lot of research and narrowing down myself.
Then I started talking to my family, friends and coworkers about my house hunt. Pretty much everybody knows a realtor or somebody in the industry. A coworker referred me to a realtor friend that specialized in lakefront property so I met up with her. She and I clicked right away! I decided to work with her instead because she seemed to have a better idea of what I was looking for (i.e. she sent me realistic homes that weren't six figures over my budget).
I immediately started looking at houses in January 2020 with the new realtor. I looked at some absolute tear downs! I had to have an imagination and quickly google things like septic permits, lakefront building codes, and really assess my needs and how I'm going to be using my house in the future.
A house I didn't buy- it had no heat, no working bathroom, and I'm pretty sure a failed septic system. But a lot of cool old cabin features and an incredible view. The wood framed windows, wood siding and 2x4 rafters in good condition would have made this an interesting project. But zoning and financing issues made this project too much to take on. (Cannot finance anything without heat so I would've had to pay cash- renovations would've taken a long time.)
Above, are 2x4 rafters (which are not building code anymore for various structural and heating reasons). When looking at old houses, keep your eye out for opportunities to raise ceilings and take out walls- this would've been an easy (and cool) place to raise the ceiling to see the rafters.
This was a house I had to pass on for a lot of reasons after a lot of research! (Another reason why you need a good realtor, a smart contractor friend, and to become aware of you local township's building code website- so you can be aware of what you can and can't do on a building site.) Because of grandfathered in building codes, sometimes houses and building sites become unbuildable with time, which was the case with this place.
I started looking at houses pre-pandemic and now the housing market is even more on fire! At the time, the market was also very competitive in my area (Metro Detroit), especially for lakefront houses, so I kind of had to take what I could get in my price range. I really focused on potential, the house lot (in case I might need to put on an addition or tear part of the house down), the view, and the lake. In the end, I got my foot in the door by having a great realtor, being prepared, knowing what I wanted...and being first to look!
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