Buying a house can be a lot to handle. Trust me, I know – I bought a house less than a year ago. Here’s what I learned from the process.

The Before

Don’t rush it.

• It’ll Happen When It’s Supposed To
  Here’s how my home buying story begins: I was scrolling through homes for sale like I did on occasion. I should mentioned that I wasn’t looking to buy. It was just something that I knew I wanted to do in the future and enjoyed looking at the potentials. I found a house I liked, sent it to my husband, and he (on a complete whim) reached out to the real estate agent of the house. Mind you, I’ve done this all before. I’ve scrolled on one of the many real estate sites that are available, sent a link to him, and we talked about what we liked or disliked. But this time was different. He actually reached out.
  
  Plot Twist: Turns out that the seller of the house was also a real estate agent. She already had buyers interested in her home (that linked house I sent) but wanted to work with us and help us along our home buying journey. The rest is history.

Is It Really That Hard?

• It’s Probably Easier Than You Think
  We set up a call with the real estate agent because we were completely lost on the process as a whole, had no clue where to start, and had no idea what our price range should be. She walked us through the steps and that night we reached out to a mortgage company to figure out our price point. We got the information we needed, relayed the information to the agent, and off we went in search of our forever home. Really all you need is an agent, a mortgage company, a letter of approval, and the funds for a down payment (more on that later).

The Dreaded Finances.

• You Should Care About Your Credit & Finances
  When people start looking for a house, they typically hyper focus on their credit scores and savings. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but really, you should already have an established credit score and have your finances in check to make sure you’re even ready to consider buying a home. Most mortgage companies will take a “good” score but the better it is the lower interest rate you’ll be quote which is ideal. Buying a house is one of the most expensive purchases you’ll make – make sure you’re comfortable with the idea. My score was in the excellent range, I was completely debt free, and I had been saving for quite a while so I was feeling confident about going through with this.

The During

Know What You Can Afford.

• Expenses Add Up
  So, how much money do you need? Quite a bit honestly and the more the better. First, you need a down payment. This is typically upwards of 20% but don’t let that number deter you; most companies will take less. For example, I put down 5% and felt good about that number. If I could have saved more to put down, great but I didn’t let that stop this from happening. You also need closing costs. These are typically around $9,000 in addition to your down payment as well as other miscellaneous expenses. Miscellaneous expenses can include but are not limited to an earnest money deposit (a promise of sorts that you’re serious about buying the house), inspection costs (pest and home), and insurance costs (homeowner’s insurance is needed to purchase a home). I should note that you should be prepared to pay for utilities along with your mortgage, any mortgage insurance you may need, and daily living in general.
  
  In short, make a budget so you feel comfortable. Better yet, overprepare.

Hurry! Don’t Wait.

• The Process Moves Quick!
  We reached out to our now real estate agent at the end of July 2020. By that last weekend in July we were seeing houses pretty quickly. You need to act fast if a house you’re interested in hits the market. While we were looking, the housing market was very active so it wasn’t unusual for a house to go up and be off the market by the next. Buying a house was much quicker than I had originally thought and made me pretty anxious in the beginning.
  
  We saw 7 houses in total before seeing our now forever home. By August 3, we put an offer in on our future home and that night we were up until midnight filling out paperwork to submit (along with a personalized letter to the sellers). This was the only offer we put in and luckily enough we heard back by the 5th that our offer had been accepted. Once the offer is submitted you have 24-48 hours to give in your earnest money deposit and then there’s of course more paperwork and appointments to make.

It’s Not All A Smooth Ride.

• Even The Best Circumstances Have Hold Ups
  When we sent our offer, we said that we’d be ready to move in about 30 days – Labor Day weekend I believe. That got pushed back due to the seller’s having difficult with their new home. We had heard back a bunch of times about new, even further pushed out dates but stuck with it. Honestly, I was growing impatient – all our paperwork was submitted and cleared, our mortgage company was ready to close, and I just wanted to be home. Buying a house will likely have ups and downs – be ready for them.
  
  It ended up that we closed on my birthday (early October) but didn’t start moving in until early November. We agreed to a rent back situation until the sale of the seller’s new home went through. This wasn’t ideal but it wasn’t terrible – they paid us to live there. After all that, our first night in the new house was on Thanksgiving. What a thing to be thankful for!

The After

You’ll Have To Figure This Out.

• Weird Things Come Up That You’ll Have To Figure Out
  I’ve lived in apartments since I was 17. I grew up in a house but wasn’t old enough to actually care about what it takes to own a home. When we moved into our house, we were met with things we haven’t really dealt with before. For instance, our county has a rotating garbage, recycling, yard waste schedule for collection. Keeping track of that in the beginning was a nightmare. We also had to buy a shower curtain that fits and tint some windows. Just be prepared to go with the flow when these new things come up.

The Boxes Won’t Just Disappear.

• Unpacking Is A Process
  In my ideal world, we would have had everything unpacked by the next weekend after we moved in. I like things in their own spots, put away, looking neat. That is not the real world though – at least not our world. We still have boxes waiting to be put away almost 3 months later. I’m learning to accept this but if I’m being honest, I do wish it was a quicker process. All in all it does take time to figure out where you want everything in your new living space.

Be Comfortable!

• Buying A Bigger Space Than You Need Is Ideal
  We are two people, not looking to have children, who do not have many people visiting them. Yet here we are in a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home. I don’t like clutter and he needs his space to work (a garage) so we have all of this space to spread our stuff in as well as continue to grow into. We’re making it our own and the rooms we don’t necessarily need, we’re making them fun and useful – a theater (with projector), a library, a bulk area for food, a kitchen appliance closet. Things that we enjoy, things that make us happy to see, things that make us appreciate our space and how far we’ve come.

The Conclusion

Is It Worth It?

• It’ll Be Rewarding (If Not A Bit Anticlimactic)
  Like I mentioned, we closed on my birthday. Sure, it was a great gift to myself but we weren’t moving in that day. I do think that that would have made it a bit more real – to have been given the keys after signing that last page and driving over there. It was a special time and trust me, I felt on top of the world but the aftermath just wasn’t that exciting.
  
  The day it hit me was on Thanksgiving when we stepped inside for the first time as homeowners. I cried. I couldn’t believe that this was ours and that I was able to afford and live in such a beautiful place. That’s when it became real.

Story behind The Photo:

This is what really drew me to the house – the chandelier and window combo. When I first walked up to the house I thought I was crazy for even considering that I could afford this – I didn’t think I would ever be living in a house with extra bedrooms, let alone a chandelier. This view always makes me feel thankful for how far I’ve come.

Click here for a secondary house photo from our first night & click here to see more topics that you can expect blogs on!

Stay cozy, friends.