The Path To Home Ownership

So Rob and I have taken the plunge and decided to be part of the statistic on home sales for the month of April.  We are, as most first time home buyers are, extremely excited.  I have put off mentioning a lot of the guts of the operation, but am happy to discuss them with anyone who is considering buying a house.  We are having a great time and are enjoying the process even if it's a little nerve racking at times. 

First thing is first.  Our realtor Stan is amazing.  He is easy to get along with, VERY good at his job, and explains everything very well.  I have never once felt like he was pushing homes on us and have felt that he has always looked out for our best interest.  If you can, get a recommendation for a realtor and don't just pick one out of the book.

Our process of viewing homes was short, but it really didn't need to be very long.  It still took us over a month to put an offer in on a house and what's come on the market since then hasn't been much to look at.  So, why bother waiting if we found what we loved?  It was a bit scary to think we had found something so quickly, but it did feel right and continues to feel right.  I have had that "did we make the right choice?" question float around in the back of my head at times.  Then I go look at what has come on the market since we put our offer in (plenty has) and nothing beats it.  Sure there might be "nicer" homes, but they also cost more too.  So, the long and short of it is, no buyer remorse going on here.

The paperwork and transactions have been tiring.  We are buying from an elderly couple in Florida who have been hot and cold on responses.  They took a long time with our offer (which was very fair), but hopped on the water issues in the basement with no hesitation.  Overall it's not been too bad.  Of course it was hairy there a few times, but it seems to have worked itself out.

Our home inspection didn't reveal anything too spooky.  A few issues, but at the age of our place (37 years) how could there not be?  They are all manageable as far as we are concerned.  There are a few HOA violations, but nothing awful and the homeowners agreed to fix them.  We also got appraised for the purchase price of the home.  This is good news as it means we can get financed!  Yipee!!  The interesting thing we saw in the report is that the twin of this house (same exact floor plan) one neighborhood over was asking $35K more than this place and it was shown in the report as a comparable.  However it was an extreme outlier for (much higher) than what we and other people were paying for their houses in the area.  I have noticed it's now listed $10K less, but I have a feeling they are upside down on their loan and trying to get some money back which has long since gone.  I am not sure how they would react knowing we saw their house and this empty one and ended up buying this one over theirs.  Not that I plan to tell them, but it's like an episode of "Get it Sold" and "House Hunters". 

Now we are waiting on the bank to prove we are are who we said we are and that we really made as much as we told them we did and that we are not going to commit loan fraud.  I don't even know where one would begin for that mess.  There's too much triple checking these days.  As the saying goes, "The stupid few ruin it for the good many."  Not that I had grand plans on becoming a crook, but I just had to sign about 30 extra sheets of paper to make sure I really meant it.

Now we a closing date set and the end of apartment living in sight, dreams are starting to become reality.  We have created a spreadsheet full of home projects that we would like to tackle.  Everything from replacing wooden toilet seats to painting to changing out metal closet doors.  Some of it's a pipe dream, but most is in reality easy DIY projects.  I can't wait to get my hands dirty.  :)