My very own House Hunters

My path to home ownership was pretty easy and not very stressful at all.  My awesome realtor is the captain of my hockey team, so I've been friends with her for three years and trust and value her opinion.  She explained the process for me, going over and over the parts I didn't understand (I work with books, not numbers, people!)  It turned into a long process.  We first started working on it in March of 2009 and it wasn't until August that I made my offer and then closed in October.  One of the parts that made this process so much longer was that my boyfriend and I first thought about buying the house together, but we eventually decided that I would go at it alone. And by eventually, I mean after about....5 or so months. Not the fastest decision maker.

Once I decided I was going to buy a house on my home, I had to figure out what I was willing to spend, NOT what the bank was willing to give me.  What I could afford alone was hugely different than what the two of us could've purchased together. The bank would've liked nothing more than me buying a house that cost $150k+. However, my salary and clothes budget preferred something in the $100k range. After some serious hunting in the month of August, I finally found the house. It was beautiful. Right off the freeway, not too far from where I currently lived, 2 bedrooms, brand new kitchen and laundry, hardwood floors, a 2 car garage and a giant deck. I visited it with my realtor and fell in love. We planned to go back 2 days later with my parents (since my dad is my handyman) and my boyfriend. The morning of, I got a distressing phone call - the house had an offer and they weren't going to wait for me to see it. Jerks!

The hunt was on again...and this time I focused over in the neighborhood where my parents live. We found 3 houses too look at - and I found my perfect starter home! The other two houses that I saw were good possibilities - I actually loved one, but there was a serious lack of closet space AND it still ran electricity on fuses. Apparently it is hard to get homeowners insurance with such an outdated electrical system, who knew!  The other house was also adorable, but very small.  I was the only person who could walk through it without ducking my head going up and down the stairs and on the 2nd floor - I called it the hobbit house.  It had an adorable white picket fence, arbor, AND a beautiful front porch. I would've bought it for the front porch alone.  But, reason won out and I figured a hobbit house would not be the right choice, even if that meant I got 2nd breakfast....

I saw THE house a second time, bringing Z (the boyfriend), my parents, and my sister, brother-in-law, and baby nephew who were visiting.  I think everyone was pretty impressed.  My sister acted as photographer extraordinairre so we'd have pics to remember it by. 

Isn't that color amazing! They must've thought so, since they managed to use this same paint on the entire 2nd floor - party!

You can't find shade like this everywhere!

The basement is where all the important stuff is for making decisions - is the foundation good? How about the plumbing, water heater, furnace and electricity? This is why my dad was invited to the party.

Yup, this is a pipe that water comes through

We'll talk about my adventures with these bad boys later

That afternoon, we wrote an offer and after a very short (but seemingly long) wait, the seller called back and my offer was accepted!  I always wonder if maybe I could've gotten it for less or made some other kinds of demands....I guess I'll never know.  Not a bad deal though - I purchased the house for $5k under the asking price, the seller paying closing costs and I have a warranty for one year.  Now, it was time to celebrate and start making plans!

Cheers!