Some of you have been asking how exactly this whole house things has transpired.
Looking back now, I can see sort of the gaping holes where it seems I assumed one might fill in with assumeds. But I like you all; you don't make butts out of you or me.
So, here it is:
August Teen-th (that's a new date, don't you know? it's one of those days that's probably 13th or 14th but you're not just not sure which): Cliff and I are going for a walk in a local neighborhood to get our daily exercise and be somewhere different. Here, we begin remarking on all the different types of homes in this neighborhood. What we like, what we don't like. This leads to a conversation about our house goal and bumping it up. Which then leads to increasing the length of time of saving. Which then leads to prolonging things we don't want to prolong. Which then leads to a question of whether we might consider actually buying a home sometime in the next year, seeing as we're right at 20% down for probably a decent house. But the problem is, we don't even know what decent is because we know nothing about the market or what's out there. I plainly tell Cliff "this conversation is all well and good but I've got too much on my mind right now with training and orientation around the corner, so talk to me when Welcome Week is done."
Welcome Week Ends (August 26th): Cliff has, from our last conversation to now, done his research. He has talked to all sorts of people about where to look for homes online and has proceeded to e-mail me these links. I begin looking. And am shocked. Shocked that there are affordable, nice homes we'd actually want to live in located in places we'd want to live.
Weekend After Welcome Week (August 29th & 30th): We wear Garmin and our gas envelope out driving all over tarnation looking at homes we've "collected" in the last couple of days and plugged into the GPS. We learn about areas of Franklin we never knew existed and just sort of see what's out there. We have now deemed this our drive-by stage.
Week After: We start checking off boxes: finding a real estate agent, talking to a mortgage broker, finding out we actually still have decent credit scores considering we haven't touched a credit card or a loan in over two years, get pre-approved for a loan, look at more houses online, etc. We also finally make the fateful decision to stay home for Labor Day Weekend despite having a variety of options of which to enjoy. We opt to be homebodies.
September 4th: We meet with a real estate agent who 30 minutes into the meeting becomes our real estate agent because we just love her. Can't imagine buying out first home without her. We give her a list of our interests, we give her permission to add more, and she sets us up for the Tour de Homes 2009.
Tour de Homes 2009 (September 5th - 7th): In a span of days we look at 15 homes (three of them twice) and are having quite the hayday over a particular home our agent added to the list that we see on Saturday. The last of eight on Saturday. Before six more on Sunday. And then three reviews and a new one on Monday. This is a home we wouldn't have even considered as it was out of our price range (though NOT true because we didn't know ANYTHING about negotiation) and not in an area we know much about. We can't stop talking about it, wondering about it, thinking about it, praying about it. Every meal is spent talking about that house and its potential and how our family could call it home. But we give it space, looking at more great homes and still only finding ways to compare them to this house - this house that's only been on the market twelve days and is about to be eaten up by some deserving couple.
Bid Day (September 7th): After seeing the house for the second time, we decide we want to be that couple. We've talked about finances. We've talked about what kind of mortgage payment we can afford from Cliff's monthly income (mine is still reserved for other non-budget uses). We've looked at what else is out there. Our agent sits down with us, shows us how the process works, walks us through everything, and we make an offer and then we wait for 10PM that night. We try not to talk about it incessantly with friends we're cooking out with. But then we get the call that they've countered. We talk briefly and counter back. And then they counter back and it's exactly what we agreed we wouldn't pay more than. So, we agree to do buy it.
Everything in Motion: Henceforth we've signed more papers than we can count on all of our digits (and there's more to come!), had the home inspection (which was great, with only a minor issue that's being resolved), had the home appraised (which we should hear back about tomorrow), have had our apartment lease confirmed to be taken over by a couple mid-October, went shopping for a refrigerator (because they're taking theirs), are picking out paint colors, fabrics, and molding (which is so so fun!), and are just trying to enjoy as much of this as we can before closing on - GULP - September 30th.
Looking back now, I can see sort of the gaping holes where it seems I assumed one might fill in with assumeds. But I like you all; you don't make butts out of you or me.
So, here it is:
August Teen-th (that's a new date, don't you know? it's one of those days that's probably 13th or 14th but you're not just not sure which): Cliff and I are going for a walk in a local neighborhood to get our daily exercise and be somewhere different. Here, we begin remarking on all the different types of homes in this neighborhood. What we like, what we don't like. This leads to a conversation about our house goal and bumping it up. Which then leads to increasing the length of time of saving. Which then leads to prolonging things we don't want to prolong. Which then leads to a question of whether we might consider actually buying a home sometime in the next year, seeing as we're right at 20% down for probably a decent house. But the problem is, we don't even know what decent is because we know nothing about the market or what's out there. I plainly tell Cliff "this conversation is all well and good but I've got too much on my mind right now with training and orientation around the corner, so talk to me when Welcome Week is done."
Welcome Week Ends (August 26th): Cliff has, from our last conversation to now, done his research. He has talked to all sorts of people about where to look for homes online and has proceeded to e-mail me these links. I begin looking. And am shocked. Shocked that there are affordable, nice homes we'd actually want to live in located in places we'd want to live.
Weekend After Welcome Week (August 29th & 30th): We wear Garmin and our gas envelope out driving all over tarnation looking at homes we've "collected" in the last couple of days and plugged into the GPS. We learn about areas of Franklin we never knew existed and just sort of see what's out there. We have now deemed this our drive-by stage.
Week After: We start checking off boxes: finding a real estate agent, talking to a mortgage broker, finding out we actually still have decent credit scores considering we haven't touched a credit card or a loan in over two years, get pre-approved for a loan, look at more houses online, etc. We also finally make the fateful decision to stay home for Labor Day Weekend despite having a variety of options of which to enjoy. We opt to be homebodies.
September 4th: We meet with a real estate agent who 30 minutes into the meeting becomes our real estate agent because we just love her. Can't imagine buying out first home without her. We give her a list of our interests, we give her permission to add more, and she sets us up for the Tour de Homes 2009.
Tour de Homes 2009 (September 5th - 7th): In a span of days we look at 15 homes (three of them twice) and are having quite the hayday over a particular home our agent added to the list that we see on Saturday. The last of eight on Saturday. Before six more on Sunday. And then three reviews and a new one on Monday. This is a home we wouldn't have even considered as it was out of our price range (though NOT true because we didn't know ANYTHING about negotiation) and not in an area we know much about. We can't stop talking about it, wondering about it, thinking about it, praying about it. Every meal is spent talking about that house and its potential and how our family could call it home. But we give it space, looking at more great homes and still only finding ways to compare them to this house - this house that's only been on the market twelve days and is about to be eaten up by some deserving couple.
Bid Day (September 7th): After seeing the house for the second time, we decide we want to be that couple. We've talked about finances. We've talked about what kind of mortgage payment we can afford from Cliff's monthly income (mine is still reserved for other non-budget uses). We've looked at what else is out there. Our agent sits down with us, shows us how the process works, walks us through everything, and we make an offer and then we wait for 10PM that night. We try not to talk about it incessantly with friends we're cooking out with. But then we get the call that they've countered. We talk briefly and counter back. And then they counter back and it's exactly what we agreed we wouldn't pay more than. So, we agree to do buy it.
Everything in Motion: Henceforth we've signed more papers than we can count on all of our digits (and there's more to come!), had the home inspection (which was great, with only a minor issue that's being resolved), had the home appraised (which we should hear back about tomorrow), have had our apartment lease confirmed to be taken over by a couple mid-October, went shopping for a refrigerator (because they're taking theirs), are picking out paint colors, fabrics, and molding (which is so so fun!), and are just trying to enjoy as much of this as we can before closing on - GULP - September 30th.
1 comment:
Congrats on the new home!! Isn't it so exciting to find affordable housing in Franklin?! I LOVE living here! Now comes all the fun of making it "your" home -- it's a lot of work but totally worth it. Congrats again! :)
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