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So this past weekend, we did some more house hunting and came to a startling revelation. Well not really, but more of a staunch observation. It’s just too damn expensive. Here is what happened.

We drove up to the first place in Fells Point and found a nice quiet street. The house was nice on the outside, with a nice brick facade and a water view from the two bedrooms. Along with a nice view of a chain link fence and a nasty parking lot across the street. The house was in good shape but the bathroom on the main floor looked like my bathroom from freshman year in college. The sellers were asking for 289K for about 1400 square feet. Come on people, if you want to sell your house, at least make it look like it was taken care of.

The rest of the day I was kind of disenchanted with shopping around and looking in houses that weren’t ready to move straight in. Most of them needed work done. There was one house that was in brand new shape but it was the size of a Barbie playhouse and they wanted 300K. That’s beside the point.

When you look at all the numbers when buying house, you aren’t just negotiating a buying price, but a certain lifestyle that you may have to adopt. The house may be listed at 290K, but don’t forget the 10-12K of closing costs, and the ground rent (if you live in the city). You must also decide how you want to mortgage your house. Whether it be an ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage), Interest-Only (where you pay nothing but interest at the beginning of the mortgage), and the traditional 15-year and 30-year fixed mortgages.

After contemplating and experiencing some lifestyle changes in the past weeks, I found I was not ready. There is just too much involved. One day i suppose, but it won’t be anytime soon.