Buying My First House

I am currently living in my first house, which I closed on in April 2011 as a single lady.  I honestly always thought that I would have to be married to own a home, but I saved up my pennies (and nickles and dimes) and was able to make a house my home...sans husband.  I bought it as a short-sale, and was therefore able to get the house under market value.  Not only was this house way under my budget (almost half of the budget I had set) - it was move in ready (more on this later)!  Here was my list of what I decided I wanted:

- Central location and in a safe neighborhood
- Bungalow, 2 story
- 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath
- Privacy Fence
- Garage
- Kitchen with potential
- Away from the train tracks
- Older house with character
- Not too big (<1400 sq ft)
- Newer windows, electrical, plumbing, HWH, furnace
- Central air

I walked through 20 houses and started to get very discouraged.  The houses were always missing something or were at the top of the budget and needed even more work.  It wasn't until I saw this little gem that I finally felt like I found my home.  I walked in the door and knew it belonged to me.  Here is what it had:

- Central location and in a safe neighborhood
- Bungalow, 2 story  1 story
- 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath  2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath
- Privacy Fence
- Garage - 2 1/2 car garage with workbench and storage in the rafters
- Kitchen with potential - 210 sq ft in the kitchen
- Away from the train tracks - I am several miles away
- Older house with character - however, some character had been removed at one point
- Not too big (<1400 sq ft) 987 sq ft (and an additional 786 sq feet in the basement)
- Newer windows, electrical, plumbing, HWH, furnace - also has a newer roof
- Central air

In addition to getting (mostly) what I wanted in a house, there are several bonus finds:
- A ton of storage - storage in the basement, attic, rafters in the garage, large closets and several built-ins.
- Stamped Concrete patio (I put the offer in on the house during a snowy year and didn't realize it had this until I did the final walk thru - woohoo!!)
- "Finished" basement
- Original hardwood floors
- Built in speaker system in the living room

My offer was accepted by the seller on the same day I submitted it (January 24, 2011).  However, as a short sale, that really doesn't mean much.  I had to wait for the bank to approve the offer and then negotiate with them.  We came to an agreement and closed April 4, 2011.  I would have closed one week earlier but ended up switching lenders at the last minute (do your homework and shop lenders - I did not, but got lucky in the end).  April 4th began a new adventure in my life - something that I never knew I could take on.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Mary