Buy my own home

The right time and place is exactly what I am looking for. I can’t wait to have my own home and I am looking for deals :) I would love a place that I will enjoy as a fixer uper project-not a dump. A place for entertaining, a place of peace, a place of safety.

On Saturday I went to see two properties in an area that I like. The one was depressing small and dark (it didn’t have a clear view out of the windows! One view was a wall, the other was a roof and the front view was onto the street). The second I went to see was great, it had plenty of storage space, but of course by then I had found out that I could not get as big a mortgage as I thought I could, so it would be way beyond my grasp. Besides, the seller already had an offer on it and had agreed to let me view it because the whole process was taking too long. Anyways after hearing that I could get only half of what I was expecting, I felt really down. but I have decided that I am going to shop around and see what options I have, I am disciplined when it comes to money and have a healthy deposit, so I don’t see why I should have to live in a manky matchbox in a manky area!! Fingers crossed!

Now that I have been taken on permanently I am on more solid ground to apply for a mortgage. I love the fact that the organisation that I work for has benefits for it’s staff who are looking for a mortgage as well as the fact that I am a first time buyer. Things are looking even more in my favour with the situation of the ‘credit crunch’ which has luckily not affected me. Property prices have dropped so buying in or around London is more of a possibility for me.
I have booked a telephone appointment with my organisation’s mortgage advisory service for this Saturday, hopefully they will be able to give me an idea on how much I can buy for. Fingers crossed it’s enough to get me something lovely! Ideally a place that has character (old buildings, no new builds!!)

Getting very excited and spending lots of time looking at places on the internet! : D

but I think it is. Our settlement day is 27 March 2009. I still can’t believe that I might achieve this goal. I think when I get the keys to the place, then it will become very real.

Have made an offer which has been accepted, and subject to a couple of checks on it, should go through in a week. Wow, this ones a biggie.

Right now I’m working lots of hours at my new job and saving just as much as I can. It’s pretty hard for me to spend money, but it will still take a while to get the down payment. Making solid progress though!

If you own a place everything that goes wrong with it is up to you to fix. You have to maintain every aspect of it on your own.
But renting gets you nothing. Sure, the owners are responsible for the upkeep. But you pay and you pay and you pay…and you are left with nothing. You can’t make improvements, (You can but why bother? It’s not yours.) you don’t have any type of security that the owners won’t decide to sell when your lease is up, you spend your time in your own home under somebody else’s thumb.
This is supposed to be a “buyers market” right now. But have you tried to get a home loan? I don’t have the worst credit ever but they have ridiculous expectations to qualify! Plus they want thousands and thousands of dollars down. And the type of home I’d get for a mortgage payment vs. the type of home I’d rent for the same amount are light years apart.
Let’s go back to setting up our Xboxes in caves!

2020? 2025? 2030?.... Ah, who knows. But it is an eventual goal for me. A nice place to keep all my books – with a garden for my dog and a conservatory for warm afternoon naps. Ah, bliss.

own a home

Bought my first home, a condo in a great neighborhood close to my parents & my best friends