get our own home

We get the keys at 1pm this Monday! I can’t wait to have our own place. And it’s SOOOOOOOO cute. Pictures forthcoming.

we decided that we were not ready to buy. There was just too much going on with the wedding, etc. So we decided to rent, which felt like going back to square one. HOWEVER we found an absolutely ADORABLE little house that we think will be PERFECT for us for our first year (maybe more, we’ll see). We fell in love with it immediately. We just got news today that our application was accepted and we have officially been offered the house! (Of course we said “yes” and took it). The rent, while on the higher side, is still less than we were anticipating paying for a mortgage, and less than we’d pay for an very small apartment in many areas around here.

It’s a great house, full of corners and little rooms. The upstairs is all one suite (bedroom, bathroom, sitting area, and office) that opens on to a second-story deck, and then, down a winding staircase, there is a living room, kitchen, 1/2 bath, and another little room which will probably be the dining room. It has a big back yard with a 6-foot privacy fence (perfect for our doggy) and a stone fire-pit grill.

We get the keys April 14 (VERY close to the wedding, but we’ll do the best we can).

I’m so excited! And it’s a load off my mind to have our living situation settled. I can’t wait to set up house. :)

The owners are being stubborn, and don’t seem to understand the state of the market. They’re not negotiating on price AT ALL. It may all work out for the best, though. If Erik’s raise goes through (which we should know in the next two weeks), we qualify for a better interest rate, and a better loan. So in the long-term, the delay may be to our benefit. And it may give the owners time to think about the advisability of holding out…

The bid has been placed! Now we just sit on our hands and wait. SO nerve-wracking. We should hear in the next 24 hours…

It’s nicer (and larger) than the last one, and, while perfectly livable as-is (with a good cleaning and a little paint), has great potential to be an absolutely fantastic house with few updates and additions (none of which are particularly expensive or difficult). We are writing and submitting our bid tomorrow. I hope they accept it… In addition to loving the house, we are also running low on time to find a place to live. Wedding is in less than three months. Fingers crossed!

Fun but stressful. We shall see what we shall see…

As heartbreaking as it was, we decided not to take the original house we liked. There were some serious problems with the foundation, which, while they would not interfere with living in the house, would make it difficult to resell with any kind of a profit. At this point in our lives, we need to make a wise investment when it comes to buying a home. So we are still looking. We were supposed to see a couple today, but it snowed (which I don’t mind – I love the snow) about 3 inches, so we are waiting until next week. Our house is out there. We just have to find it.

We got pre-approved for our mortgage, and we are going to look at the adorable little house we found tomorrow. :) Very exciting, but kind of scary, too. We’ll see how it goes…

We’re calling a mortgage broker tomorrow. Fingers crossed that we can get approved. We found a little house we LOVE. I can’t wait. It’s perfect, and it feels so “right.”

We found a couple of houses within our budget and in the area we’d like to live. Now we just have to go take a look. I found one house up for auction that I LOVE, but we probably won’t be able to afford it. It’s an adorable, tiny stone cottage. SO CUTE. You never know, though. We might get lucky. It’s worth a shot.