After years of paying off old debt and cleaning up my crummy credit report, my wife and I started the process of buying a house. To make a long and very boring story short, we researched homes online, found a local realtor, and started looking at homes in person.
Several weeks, and MANY homes later, we finally found one we both liked and made an offer on it. I can honestly say that I have never been as stressed as I was waiting for the counter offer to come back from the seller. Eventually, after another couple rounds of offers and counter offers, we came to terms that were agreeable.
15 minutes ago I faxed the signed contract, addendums, and various other disclosures back to my realtor. All that is left now is the home inspection. If the inspection goes well, my wife and I will be moving into our first house on July 11th.
The inspection is scheduled for Friday afternoon. As stressed as I was after making an offer, I am even more stressed about this inspection. I hope that our dream home doesn’t turn out to be hiding some fatal flaws. I know that we still have the opportunity to back out of the sale after the inspection, but that would just be so deflating that I don’t even want to consider it an option right now.
If you had asked me two years ago if I thought I would ever own a home I would have answered with a resounding no simply because of my horrible credit report. However, with some determination and some very detailed budgeting, every bad debt on my report has been payed off, and my score has gone up 180 points! And now, it seems like all of that scrimping and saving is about to pay off in the form of our own home!
Holy cow, I still can’t believe that we just bought a house!
Hooray! Hooray for climbing up out of debt hell and hooray for buying yourself a house!
Way to be!
Hope the inspection goes thru with flying colors. Congrats The Unkept One, homeowner!
Heartfelt congrats. 
Owning a home beats renting hands-down, no question. However, the downside is that suddenly you discover that when the toilet won’t flush right, it’s your problem. Kind of disconcerting, the first time it happens.
When and if you do end up as a homeowner, one useful tip we’ve found over the years is: you know all those little piddly things that drive you crazy about a new abode, like the way the light switch in the dining room was installed upside-down, or the way the closet door doesn’t quite close all the way? We’ve found that you gotta fix those within the first six months of moving in, or else they become part of the scenery and you never do get around to it.
Congratulations! I bought a year and a half ago and I love owning.
However, I haven’t had hot water since Thursday night and the contractors I have through my home warranty have until noon today to call me. The home warranty, however, is usually worth it, FYI. It will definately be worth it if I need a new water heater. In just the first year it paid for two new thermostats and extensive HVAC repairs as well as a new thermostat for the freezer. If you’re considering a home warranty, IMHO you should go for it.
However, I could have called my regular plumber and had my water heater fixed Friday morning if I didn’t care about the money. Sigh.
Congratulations. Wishing you luck and joy in your new home!
Congratulations!
Being a home-owner is a milestone. I had a mortgage I was happily paying once and hopefully I will have another in the not-too-distant future, less than 10 years. I dream of owning a home again.