A couple of months ago in this thread I mentioned how my wife and I were looking for a house. Well, we did it! We bought a house! We signed the papers on Teusday!
So, who wants to help us move? 
Congrats!
Tell us about it!
Well, let’s see.
We have eight rooms, three bedrooms, two full baths, an enclosed porch.
The basement is finished, creating a second living area but cutting down on the storage space. Oh well.
About a quarter of an acre of land.
It’s a ranch and the inspection show it to be in good shape. A few minor repairs, but nothing substantial or expensive. It’s not all that pretty looking from the outside, but the inside is very nice.
The previous owners smoked and I’ll be glad when the smoke smell is gone.
We are in the house and moving our stuff on Saturday. I get tired just thinking about it.
I’d link to pictures, but I haven’t had a chance to take any yet and the camera is in the apartment.
Any other questions?? 
Sounds great. Being a homeowner (or, in most cases mortgage payer!) is one of those huge steps in life. I waited too long to do it but I am glad I did.
Only advice I can give is everytime you have some spare cash, sock it away and make some extra lump sum payments on your mortgage if it allows it. You’ll save soooo much in the long run its not even funny. And maybe, just MAYBE have your house paid off before you’re an old man!
Someone told me that you spend more money on things the first year you own a house than you will for the rest of your life.
I laughed.
I then went out and bought a garden hose, a thing to hold the hose, a lawn mower, garden tools, other tools, blinds, two ladders, storage unit, garage door opener, screws, bolts, paint, paint stuff, plants, gravel, sod, tiles, shelves, cables, lamps…and then the second week I went out and bought…well, you’ll see.
Congratulations Trion…soon you too will know every employee at Home Depot, on sight, by first name!
We have learned (the hard way) that you should make any changes you’re going to within the first six months, because anything that drives you nuts upon first acquaintance but that doesn’t get changed within those crucial first months will become part of the background noise, and you never WILL get it fixed. No, you’ll just get used to the way the bottom-most glass pane starts to slide out of the front jalousie window about once a week, or the way the light switches in the dining room were installed upside-down, or the lack of a storm door for the back door, or (especially) the paint, wallpaper, etc. If you’ve just moved into a house with stupendously ugly wallpaper, waste no time in changing it, 'cause otherwise you’ll be promising to “do the wallpaper” for the next 30 years.
And one more vote here for “get to know your True-Value Hardware Store and your friendly local DIY store”, whether Home Depot or Handy Dan’s or Menards or whoever. The DIY stores have actual human beings who are available to help you find things, while True-Value hires retirees who have been DIY-ing all their lives, and IMO it is the place to go when you need “a widget about that size, but in metal not in plastic, and a teeny bit bigger…” You stand there in Plumbing looking helpless, with the wrong widget in your hand, and 30 seconds later Grandpa will come over and take it away from you before you hurt yourself, and find you the right one, humming “Nola” under his breath…
Sure, Wal-Mart may have it cheaper, but Wal-Mart doesn’t have anywhere near the selection, and Wal-Mart sure doesn’t have people to tell you how to use that nifty tool you just bought. Wal-Mart is only for seasoned DIY homeowners who already know how to get the blade out of the jigsaw…
Congratulations. Having been a homeowner now for about five years (I too waited far too long to do it…) I can echo a lot of what others here have said so far.
Take care of the yard, the interior and any aggravating things right off the bat. I still have a room in my house that I told myself I’d get to. I’ve been telling myself that for five years:D
I also must second the necessity of finding the LOCAL hardware store with the expert grandpa. We have the best hardware store in the world just down the street (WALKING DISTANCE!!) from my house. The neat thing about this particular place is that four generations of the family work in the store. It takes a little getting used to the first few times a 12 year old greets you at the front door and asks “can I help you” - and he CAN. In a store like that, grandpa teaches grandson and great-grandson. I think it’s really cool that young Robert (the local hardware 12 year old) can actually take you straight away to the 5/8" rubber faucet washers without a moment’s hesitation.
Oh yeah, and remember to keep the basement clean - its the same issue as the wallpaper and paint and yard and stuff. You don’t EVEN want to look at the southeast corner of my basement…
Thanks for the advice guys. We know where the local Home Depot is but have yet to find the local hardware store. At this point we don’t know where a lot of things in the town are. But we’ll certainly be on the lookout.
There aren’t too many projects that need to be done. But we have our little to-do list from the home inspection. I’ll be glad to get started on it all.
Please tell me I’m not the only one who read: Holy Crap! We Bought A !HORSE :smack:
Congrats! Wish I could move out :rolleyes:
Congratulations! Hubby and I are supposed to close on our first home Aug. 29, so I can utterly sympathize with you. That feeling of “Oh no, I just bought something that’ll take THIRTY YEARS to pay for” is, er, unique. Good luck in doing all those little things that really make the house “yours”.
Another thing. Get to know your neighbors. Neighbors are great to have as freinds and terrible to have as enemies.
DDG is very correct. If there is anything you want to do to your home, do it right away. Don’t put it off. It’ll never get done otherwise. REALLY.
Oh yeah, hardware stores will become your second home
I’m delighted to hear that some people have managed to find a house to buy. My husband and I have been looking since July 1 and haven’t found one yet. We’ve been renting for 14 years and now that my husband is retired from the Navy and settled into his post-USN career we are eager to be homeowners. So, on May 26 we notified the rental agency of our intention to vacate at the end of our lease (which is up on August 31). The rental agency came back and asked if we would like to buy the house we’re renting. Sure! We like this place, we’ve lived here for 2 years and so have plenty of plans for improvements and we wouldn’t have to move. Sounded great. They sent over an appraiser and we waited to hear their asking price. And waited. And waited. On June 29, we get the word – they don’t want to sell after all! Eeek! Two months until our lease is up! Yet, we still want to buy – we’d gone so far as to talk to a bank and get pre-qualified, etc. So, I asked the rental agency to let us go month to month until we find a place – “Out of the question,” they say, “A year’s lease or out on the first of September.” Fine. We find a realtor and commence to looking. Now, our house search has been complicated by two things – first, our need for a ranch style house, or at least one with a ground floor bedroom and bath for our 15 year old daughter who has CP and walks with crutches. And second, because our kids are in high school, we really need to stay in this school district. And, after one solid month of looking, we’ve found nothing that would work. Last week, I called the rental agency to beg for a one month extension and was told that they already rented the house! Double eek! So it looks like we’ll be putting our stuff in storage and spending the month of September camping in a local RV park in a borrowed trailer. Triple eeek! And I’m not even entertaining the thought that we still won’t find a place in time to close October 1… Think good thoughts, fellow Dopers, please!
Jess (who really didn’t mean to hijack this thread, but this has been one of the most frustrating experiences of her life! Oh, and congratulations to Trion and Nightingale!!)
Dear Jess:
A couple of thoughts:
You may have a basis for a good lawsuit - if nothing else, a judge might grant an order to let you stay in the house until it the matter is settled (and you found other accommodations). This whole mess sounds like it started with the rental agency suggesting you buy the house. If you still have all the paperwork, it might be worth contacting a lawyer. Lease or no lease, eviction isn’t as easy as some landlords think it is - especially if you are still paying rent on time. But check with a lawyer first!
Depending on what year of school the kids are in, some school districts are a bit lenient if you move a little out of the district and will let your kids finish. (Some districts won’t be so nice.) You might inquire nicely.
And good luck…the right house is out there waiting for you - try not to rush into the first thing you see!