We've been talking to a realtor and lender and are taking the necessary steps to buy a home. We are sooo excited! With the market bottoming out right now, we know it's only a matter of time before it takes a turn and is on the up and up. Not only that, but interest rates were really low and have begun to rise again. We decided we want to take advantage of the current market and get locked in at a good rate before it starts to rise at a rate we are not comfortable with. Even though I'm married, a mommy of two, and we own two cars, I feel like buying a home is the first step to true adulthood. Wish us luck on finding something we love and fits our needs and our budget.
Any advice you home-buying veterans want to throw my way, feel free to. :)
My priorities for my house AFTER I moved it (you live a learn right?):
ReplyDelete-Storage storage storage. My house does have quite a bit - our shed our back and now our garage have been HUGE space savers.
-Inspection! Be there when they walk through and make sure they are thorough with plumbing, A/C, lights/fans, roof, windows and doors. All very expensive to fix/replace.
-On that note: when walking through the house, spend some time eyeing base boards, crown molding and door frames all the little things you don't notice until you move in. Open every cabinet/drawer in the kitchen and bathrooms.
-Consider the direction the house is sitting. Where does the sun rise and set, will the great big windows that let in wonderful natural light cook your living room as the sun sets? will it wake up you/girls at dawn? Black out curtains help but can be a pain to have a dark living room in the evening, ect.
-yard/pool maintenance: It is ALWAYS way more than you think. Especially the pool! We dump 100s of dollars in our pool with all the chemicals it takes to keep it clean.
-Triple the to do list you see. If you think all you need to do is flooring and cabinet resurfacing - the list will multiply when you move in and realize everything else you need/want to fix. Things like, your sweet little girls clogging the toliet and backing up your whole house's plumbing, will keep you very busy. No more landlord to call and have fix - its all on you now.
HAVE FUN!!! Trust your instincts and enjoy the crazy process! Don't be scared - having a house is one of the best things in my life - even with all the growing pains its given me!
Thanks for this Holly! I like what you said about being there when the home is inspected. I'm going to be that obnoxious person that asks a ton of questions. And I think the key is to trust our instincts. We've been contemplating this for almost a year so that we don't rush into something and regret it later. I appreciate all your advice and I know it will come in handy.
DeleteWe've been house hunting too! So fun! And stressful. I lie in bed at night and worry about choosing the right ward/area/school etc. We're looking for a house we can grow into (4 bedrooms etc) so we want to make sure we'll be happy there for awhile. Can't wait to see what you find!
ReplyDeletefun and stressful is right! We know where we ideally want to live but it's more expensive and you get less home if we want to stay in a certain range. So we're trying to decide right now if we want to up the high end of the range or live in a smaller home (between 1500-1800 sqft. I'm fine with upping the range because I want a bigger house we can grow into too like you said. Good luck to you guys! Keep me updated on your search!
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