Exciting news ladies' and gent's... we are in the process of buying a home. So it's not officially ours yet, but we are well on our way. This home is in a city about 20 minutes away from our current rental, and will end up being 20 minutes closer to my parents. It's an area we've been looking to move because it is a cute small town but within 30 minutes of a large city. All the perks of a small town but with optional events, shopping, & dining of a big city.
We haven't been looking too long, but the options had been really limited when we looked a a handful with our realtor. We have a limited, first-time homebuyer budget so we were anticipating a few challenges. We were hoping for a 3 bedroom with a solid foundation, updated electrical, and reasonable plumbing. Bonus points for a two car garage, fenced in yard, more than 1000 square feet, and cute, large kitchen.
Limited budget + small town with few homes for sale + adorable, popular town = WE LOOKED AT HOMES WITH DUCT TAPE HOLDING THE WALLS TOGETHER. You guys. No joke.
So when we saw "our new house" on craigslist, we thought it was worth a shot and went to see it in person. It was within our budget, 2 bedrooms, solid construction, updated plumbing and electric, 1 car garage, fenced in yard, a basement that is able to be finished, perfect for us. So we put in an offer. It sounds so easy, right? I'll break it down for you:
Since it was for sale by owner, we thought we would go without a realtor to save some $$$. We spoke with the bank where we got our preapproval. Then we called up a lawyer to help us with the paperwork. From what I've read online, a person could do this without a lawyer, but we thought we would appreciate a professional helping us out and thought it was definitely worth the expense. He is paid by the hour so we're trying to keep our interactions with him as brief as possible. P.S. our lawyer looks like he is twelve years old. He knows what he's doing, but it is a little strange hiring someone who looks like I could have babysat him. Particularly because I know how much he costs us.
The lawyer helped us figure out what we needed to put in the offer and drafted it up for us, we signed. They sent us a counteroffer that we didn't really like, and we counteroffered back. That's it. They signed it, bada bing, bada boom we have an accepted offer with a closing date at the end of August and now the race is ON!
The next step is to get the official approval for our financing from the bank, write a big fat check to the bank to get it assessed (is it really worth what we offered? If not, the bank won't finance it), pick an inspector, complete a radon test, and print/sign/fax a million pieces of paper.
And since I can't help but leave you with an enticing picture of "our new house", I'll leave you with the most exciting picture of the back of a door ever:
Do you know why it's so exciting? Because it's almost OURS. Do you know what? We could replace it. We could paint it. We could take it off and put it on upside down if we wanted because it is soon to be OURS. Hopefully.
