I might buy a house!

[iheartscience]

My fiance and I are going to see a loan officer tomorrow about getting approved for a mortgage! Eek!

Wish me luck! My credit isn''t quite as squeaky clean as it could be, but my fiance''s is pretty much perfect, so hopefully we''ll be fine and we''ll be able to buy a house in the area I want to live in!

Although there''s no guarantee I won''t freak out and decide buying a house is too grown-up for me/what if I want to move somewhere far far away?/etc.! That''s what I did the last time my lease was about to come up for renewal and I was thinking about buying a house!

Anyways, I''m super excited and have been obsessing and watching HGTV all day so I figured I''d post! Also, any helpful hints from you homeowners out there will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Haven]

Oh good luck Thing2, This is so exciting!

I''m sitting in our first house right now, and I have to tell you it feels WONDERFUL.

Lots of dust your way for tomorrow''s mortgage approval!

 

[iheartscience]

Thanks Haven! I''m pretty excited! I''m hoping everything is fine and we can get a good rate. And I''m glad my fiance was more responsible than I was in my younger days!

His Boy Scoutish ways do come in handy!

I do get a little freaked out when I think about being "tied down"...I know that''s weird! Everyone I talk to says the feeling of owning your own home is awesome, so I know I''ll be fine once I do it!

 

[Kaleigh]

Sending loads of dust to you thing2of2. That's very exciting. What a wonderful time this is in your lives. Best of luck!!!

 

[littlelysser]

Much Dust!

It is awesome and totally scary to buy a place! But it is pretty cool. After we closed on our house, my DH (then boyfriend) and I walked around just sort of amazed at the fact that it was OURS! Well, ours and the bank, but nevermind that! Plus, the whole building equity thing is just huge. So although you may feel freaked, if the time and the money is right - it is a great thing to do.

One bit of advice. When you do find your place, and you fall in LOVE - be prepared for the home inspection. It is important to do one, but basically you are paying someone to come in and tell you every single thing that is wrong with your potential HOME. I can only liken it to bringing the love of your life over to your friends house so they can point out every single bad quality he might have! And really, most of the stuff they find isn't a big deal...but to someone like me who had NO idea about home repairs...it was quite traumatic!

Good luck!

 

[iheartscience]

Thanks Kaleigh!

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 7/27/2008 11:01:51 PM
Author: littlelysser
Much Dust!


It is awesome and totally scary to buy a place! But it is pretty cool. After we closed on our house, my DH (then boyfriend) and I walked around just sort of amazed at the fact that it was OURS! Well, ours and the bank, but nevermind that! Plus, the whole building equity thing is just huge. So although you may feel freaked, if the time and the money is right - it is a great thing to do.


One bit of advice. When you do find your place, and you fall in LOVE - be prepared for the home inspection. It is important to do one, but basically you are paying someone to come in and tell you every single thing that is wrong with your potential HOME. I can only liken it to bringing the love of your life over to your friends house so they can point out every single bad quality he might have! And really, most of the stuff they find isn''t a big deal...but to someone like me who had NO idea about home repairs...it was quite traumatic!


Good luck!

Thanks for the advice, littlelysser! And that''s such a good point about the inspector pointing out allllll the flaws...poor new house! I''ve got my eye on a few houses in my area, so if all goes well I''ll be moving a few blocks away soon!

 

[Skippy123]

Sending you lots of PS dust Thing! How exciting!!! Crossing my fingers and toes for you; home ownership is quite rewarding! hehe

 

[iheartscience]

Thanks Skippy!

 

[ladypirate]

Ahh! Good luck, Thing2!!!

Fingers crossed that everything goes well tomorrow!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Good luck!

 

[snlee]

Good luck thing2of2! That''s very exciting!

 

[iheartscience]

Thanks ladypirate, SDL, Tacori and snlee! I ended up meeting with her this morning instead of yesterday and everything went well! I think I can get a mortgage with less fees if I go with a different bank, so I''m going to meet with someone at my own bank and a few others this week as well. But my fiance''s credit is an A+, and I''m actually about a B, so I''m happy!

I''m super excited! There are a few houses I want to look at so I also called my realtor and left a message today! So hopefully I''ll be in a house in no time!

 

[Haven]

YAY! That''s great, Thing2. I can''t wait to hear about your search!

I''m not sure if you''re like me in that you''ll get emotionally attached to houses, but I certainly did. EVERYONE kept saying "don''t fall in love with a house" and every time we found one I loved, I fell for it. SO, all I''m going to say is that even if you DO fall in love with a house, and it doesn''t work out, something else WILL come along. And in the end you''ll be happy that you didn''t get all those houses you "lost" because you''ll end up in something better.

Hubby and I keep saying "thank goodness that house in XYZ didn''t work out because we love our house the best." And it''s true.

Good luck!

 

[golden]

I''m a realtor, so just some advice- sometimes it makes more sense for the person with the better credit to be on the mortgage. A lower credit score (depending on what it is) can actually lead to higher rates. You could always go on the deed with your boyfriend.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 7/29/2008 10:04:37 PM
Author: Haven
YAY! That''s great, Thing2. I can''t wait to hear about your search!


I''m not sure if you''re like me in that you''ll get emotionally attached to houses, but I certainly did. EVERYONE kept saying ''don''t fall in love with a house'' and every time we found one I loved, I fell for it. SO, all I''m going to say is that even if you DO fall in love with a house, and it doesn''t work out, something else WILL come along. And in the end you''ll be happy that you didn''t get all those houses you ''lost'' because you''ll end up in something better.


Hubby and I keep saying ''thank goodness that house in XYZ didn''t work out because we love our house the best.'' And it''s true.


Good luck!

Thanks Haven! I actually haven''t officially looked at any houses yet just so that I can''t fall in love with them! I know that could definitely happen to me! But I kind of want to play hardball with this because I don''t *have* to buy a house. I have a great apartment that I love, so I''m just going to go in with that attitude and pretty much lowball people!

My mortgage lady actually said I was exactly the type of buyer sellers hate because I can just walk away at any time!

I just left a message for my realtor yesterday (I think he''s out of town) but I''m ready to go house shopping! I''ve been looking online constantly at listings and driving past houses! I''ll definitely keep you posted!

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 7/29/2008 11:44:45 PM
Author: golden
I''m a realtor, so just some advice- sometimes it makes more sense for the person with the better credit to be on the mortgage. A lower credit score (depending on what it is) can actually lead to higher rates. You could always go on the deed with your boyfriend.

Thanks golden! I definitely thought of that, but my credit is actually not bad at all so my mortgage lady said it doesn''t hurt for us to both be on the mortgage.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Congrats Thing2! I''m no help because every time we go to look at homes I freak out at the thought of being pinned down to one city and go back to the freedom of my month-to-month lease, haha, but just wanted to say that I completely understand and hope you find something you love! It''s such a great time to buy a house! How exciting for you!!!

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 7/30/2008 9:01:43 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Congrats Thing2! I'm no help because every time we go to look at homes I freak out at the thought of being pinned down to one city and go back to the freedom of my month-to-month lease, haha, but just wanted to say that I completely understand and hope you find something you love! It's such a great time to buy a house! How exciting for you!!!

Thanks NEL! I'm glad you understand! It's such a permanent feeling thing. I like where I am, but what if?!! I'm just telling myself that if I have to move, worst case scenario, I can always rent the house if I can't sell it. (I live in an area with TONS of renters.)

 

[Haven]

Thing2, you''re in the perfect situation, that''s wonderful!

We had a nice advantage as buyers, too, because we didn''t have anything to sell and we started looking very early so we weren''t in a rush. Hubby played serious hardball with "our" house (before it was ours) and we ended up walking away several times. Of course, I was a wreck each time and thought we would lose it, but in the end the sellers needed to sell so they came down a lot and we made a deal.

In retrospect, I''m really glad hubby was so willing to walk away because otherwise we probably would have spent far more on the house than we had to.

I''m so excited for you, house shopping can really be fun because you get to picture yourself living in different environments and when you find the right one, you''ll know it. I can''t wait to see what you find!

 

[UCLABelle]

I am so excited for you!!!!! I look forward to reading threads about possible homes

 

[moremoremore]

You can always move ya know! LOL! I think now is a great time to buy, so best of luck!

 

[janinegirly]

we just bought a house as well, so wishing you best of luck.

it''s not as permanent as you think--it is all up to you. You can stay 1 year or 30. Selling, renting are always options. Renting, now that is just money out the window...so good for you for taking the step with your FI. Tell us about the house once you''ve found it!

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 7/30/2008 1:28:26 PM
Author: Haven
Thing2, you''re in the perfect situation, that''s wonderful!

We had a nice advantage as buyers, too, because we didn''t have anything to sell and we started looking very early so we weren''t in a rush. Hubby played serious hardball with ''our'' house (before it was ours) and we ended up walking away several times. Of course, I was a wreck each time and thought we would lose it, but in the end the sellers needed to sell so they came down a lot and we made a deal.

In retrospect, I''m really glad hubby was so willing to walk away because otherwise we probably would have spent far more on the house than we had to.

I''m so excited for you, house shopping can really be fun because you get to picture yourself living in different environments and when you find the right one, you''ll know it. I can''t wait to see what you find!

Oooh, it sounds like we''re in the same boat you two were in! I''m hoping I''ll be strong enough to walk away even if I love a house! I think I can do it! I''m hoping to go see some houses Friday or Saturday and I''ll totally obsess about it and post here!

 

[iheartscience]

Thanks UCLA, more and janine! I know I can always sell it, but it just feels so permanent and grown up!