Third Time’s a Charm!

I received great news today… my dream of owning a house is coming true this week. I know I posted that I was supposed to close on April 1st, well April 1st came and went… and no closing. 😦

I began to think it wasn’t going to happen, when I got a phone call today. It is official, I will be a home owner on Thursday Friday! Looks as if I have had a change in days… I should be closing on Friday now… It is that pesky little government wanting to know what the left hand is doing, or something like that. While I have a time and a date, I am still afraid that something will go wrong. However if I go with the old saying Third Time’s a Charm, everything should come together on Thursday. This is the third house I have had a contract on, however, none of the other houses did I have an actually closing date and time.

If you are looking to get a house-warming gift for me…

This cute Tiffany & Co. Key Ring would be a lovely give for my new set of house keys.

 

A bottle of Jordan Winery Cabernet Sauvignon. I want to have a nice bottle of wine to enjoy on my first evening in my house.

 

 

And if you are stuck for an idea… gift cards are always welcome 😉 Any home improvement center (Home Depot, Lowes or Menards), home decor store (Target, TJMaxx or Walmart) or grocery store (I’m going to have to stock the kitchen)

Truly, I can hardly wait, I am a little worried about buyer’s remorse, but the movie Under the Tuscan Sun taught me a little about buyer’s remorse, I would add in a movie clip, but it isn’t working. So if you have not seen the movie check it out.

Wish me luck on this great new adventure, owning a part of the “American Dream.”

My House

Just want to share, I have a contract! I found my house. I know I have said this before, however, I think this time it is the one! It is everything I am looking for:

It has a front porch, a finished basement, a nice kitchen, a fireplace, and plenty of space for an office, spare bedroom, a place to do craft stuff, and you should see the windows. The dining room has wonderful sunlight a nice south-facing windows for my plants.  

Here is my beautiful soon to be house. Closing on April 1

How to choose where to live???

So I now have a dilemma… I am trying to decide where to buy a house… Do I buy in a town by my job or do I buy in the city (by friends) where I have to commute to work. Of course I went to my trusty google and tried to find some information to make my decision easier. One thing I read was to make your decision to live some where that will improve your quality of life, understand what your core needs and interests are and will be. To understand these needs, you have to look at

1. What really matters – Place is as important as job, but neither are as important as family and friends

2. Room for Career Flexibility – living in the city would definitely leave more options for continued career growth, although I am VERY happy in my current position

3. Live where your income is at least as high as the median… I am sure there is a way to find this out… perhaps google…

4. Consider more choice is not always more desirable – look at why more might just be less.

5. Keep your commute short – how short is short? If I were to buy in the town where I have been looking, it would be between a 15 and 20 minute commute; if I were to buy in the city… 45 – 50 minutes, but it would be a reverse commute. Hmmm…

6. Don’t relocate away from a spouse or significant other (SO NOT AN ISSUE! 🙂 )

7. Seek diverse populations for a richer life – One thing I do want is a diverse but safe neighborhood…

8. Make a decision to improve the world – Live life in sync with values and intention to make a difference.

So even through all this… I still don’t know how to decide… town or city… near friends or nearer to family…  Any thoughts???

Counter Offer…

While I have placed the bid… and I felt good about my FIRST bid… I wasn’t as happy with their counter offer. Now I have to decide where to go from here I have to come up but how much do I come up… how many times can we counter bid. While I did my research on similar houses in the neighborhood and how much they are worth or at least listed for… this house was listed VERY high. So while I talked to my parents first… of course I needed to turn to my ever faithful Google, I found an article about negotiation home prices… I had to laugh at the first tip… offer less than the listing price… isn’t that a given? Second tip was to look at many houses look at the prices on the other houses in the area so you are better equipped to figure out the asking price, check. This same article goes on to say that it should be a win/win situation… not sure how I feel on that, LOL. I want to be the winner here! Right? Also, ask for what you want… if the roof needs to be replaced ask as part of your negotiating. Last look at how much you want the house and what it is worth. Look at how long the house has been on the market decide are you willing to walk away from the house if the home owner does not come down to your price?

Buyer’s Remorse???

While I have placed a bid on a house, I still continue to look at other houses on the market. My biggest fear… buyer’s remorse, how do I know I have picked the right house? There was a house I hoped to bid on and waited too long… so this one I didn’t want to make the same mistake. While I have looked at it three or four times before I placed the bid. I hope I have picked the right house. But the buyer’s remorse is in the back of my head. I wondered how to make it go away… thanks to my ever faithful Google, I found out… First, I need to stop looking at other houses. Then I need to look at my wants and needs list and determine the following, does the house I am bidding on include the most important things on my list (check), what qualities made this house stand out from ALL the others I have looked at, did I find many houses that met my needs or is this “the one,” if I back out of the bidding/contract is it realistic to think I will find a better house, and has the house changed from when I placed the bid. Looking at these questions, helps put my buyer’s remorse fears at ease.