Confessions of a New Homeowner Part 3: Moving Woes

I confess... I'm exhausted.  No joke-I've worked on the house a ton still and I'm not sleeping well yet in the new space.  It'll get there, but it'll take some time... Also, I'm ready for Fall now. I want pumpkins and cool air and Halloween.

I confess... I'm lucky for all the help I've had.  Moving day rolled around and I was a mess.  I'd been up and packing for 36 hours straight when my little sister called me to see how I was doing.  I started crying, and then I threw up.  I'm too old to go without sleep.  So my mom called in sick to work and beat the boys to my apartment so she could help me just throw the rest of the stuff in boxes.  Then my brothers and my grandpa showed up and helped me move.  I couldn't have done it without them. Now if only I could find the bolts and screws to put my bed back together...

I confess... Appliances have been an interesting experience.  I'd started out looking for used appliances and after a lot of hunting and looking at (gross) used appliances, I decided to just buy new and get the warranty.  I knew I needed a front-loading washer and dryer due to the fact that they're up on a platform in the bathroom (and I'm too short to reach all the way in top loaders even when they're on the regular ground!) and I wanted a fridge with ice and water-since I already have a waterline hooked up.  So I found myself at Home Depot while they were having a 10% off sale and a 6-months no interest promotion, and I bought myself this Samsung side-by-side refrigerator and also a Samsung front-loading washer and it's matching dryer.  The dryer sings to me.

I confess... I had no idea that you had to measure things like doorways.  I just thought doorways were pretty standard.  I was so wrong-and I paid dearly for it.  After waiting a week for delivery, and then all day (because they were late), the delivery men showed up and started measuring.  The fridge would go through the front door, but not the back door or the door to the kitchen.  There was no way around it and it had to go back and I had to start the process of fridge shopping all over.  I finally decided on this Whirlpool side-by-side, 

I confess... While the washer and dryer did fit (barely-it was touch and go there trying to get past the water heater) they were also unuseable at first.  Home Depot sold me a crappy dryer vent and the delivery guy said I needed to go back and get a flexible one.  Also, since my drain for the washer is up in the wall, and the washer door only opens one way, the drain hose from the washer doesn't reach at all...

I confess... Once again, my family is amazing.  My grandfather came over to help me get my washer and dryer up and running, which involved helping me hook up the dryer vent and also helping me jimmy-rig the hose for the washer by caulking it to a second hose and taping it up (ghetto, but at least it works now!).  He also helped me clean up my kitchen a bit (now I can't find anything haha!) and while doing so, realized that the waterline wasn't hooked up at all-they'd just stuck the hose in there and faked it!

I confess... We ran another water hose (I now know how to do it) but the water pressure is really bad in it, and I think I'm going to have to get a plumber to look at it.  Dang.

I confess... Now that I'm all moved in and back to the regular work schedule, I'm realizing that things are going to take much longer than I thought.  I think you have lofty pipe dreams when you think "I'm just going to move in and fix stuff every day until it's done!" but then you get home from work and you're tired and exhausted so all you do is eat whatever you don't have to cook (because you still haven't found your pans) and go to bed at 7pm.  Wait, that's just me?

In any case, I'm coming to the realization that everything I wanted done before the housewarming party wont be done.  Luckily I'm pretty sure my friends will understand that my house is a total work in progres..

I confess... The walk through with my old landlord went pretty well.  There wasn't much she found that she was unhappy about, but most of it was there when we moved in.  I doubt I'll get much of the deposit back since it's been 7 years, but she said she was sending something.

I confess... My realtor is still following up with the previous owners about the AC.  The day he said he was going to speak with their listing agent they showed up at my house and left me a bunch of paperwork on things in the house (like the furnace, jetted tub, etc.), and they left me a note saying how sorry they were for the big pile of garbage they left and that they thought the next neighborhood cleanup day (when the city comes around to collect large or weird garbage from your curb) was on August 31st and they'd come help me move stuff if I wanted... Nice, but they still did not leave the AC. WTF people.

I confess... I still have pretty roses coming up in my yard.  Guess I need to learn how to prune them before Winter.

I confess... I'm feeling very poor.  I've been charging lots of things and eating out too much (since my kitchen is not in order yet) so my budgeting has been bad.  I need to get a hang of that before I actually have to start paying my mortgage.

I confess... I want a dog.  Living alone is a little spooky and I think it's time I start thinking about getting a little companion that helps me feel safer.  My yard isn't fenced yet, and wont be for a while, which would mean I'd have to walk the dog regularly and take it to the dog park instead of just playing with it in the yard.  This could be good for me exercise wise though.

I confess... I should probably wait until I get some of my house in order before bringing another living thing into it... And I'm thinking maybe I should try fostering first before making the big commitment to keeping a pooch forever.  Good thing I volunteer with an awesome rescue!

What do you have to confess this week?

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Top Tips for a First Time Home Buyer

Save, Save, Save!
Seriously.  Start saving the minute you think you might want to start looking for a house. Better yet, even if you're not ready to start looking, start saving. Cancel unnecessary subscriptions, stop buying things you don't need, and start squirreling money away.  You'll want as much money in the bank when you go into it as soon as you can.  It took my entire savings account plus cashing out a bunch of stock just to cover my down payment and closing costs.

On top of that, there are so many more expenses you're not expecting.  For example, to paint my house I probably spent about $200 on paint and supplies, and that was with all the supplies the previous owners left me in the garage and what my mom brought down.  If I'd had to buy all of those things I'd probably have spent upwards of $350 or so.  That's not including the stuff I had to buy to fix drywall, molding, door frames, the A/C units I had to install, etc.  It adds up really fast.

Keep Your Credit in Check
This one can be difficult to get a hold on if you're not sure what affects your credit exactly, and it can vary based on the loan you want to receive.  I didn't know, but luckily I had a little help. If you're even thinking about buying a home, start with these NOW:

• Have a few open credit cards.  I know this seems counter-intuitive but having no credit cards really looks bad on your credit report.  Have at least three credit cards approved and open in your name.  If you don't have any, go out and get a couple-but make sure you get them at least a few months before you get approved for a loan so it doesn't' look like you're just shopping for loans.
• Use your credit card for all purchases.  Make sure it's stuff you actually need and planned on buying with cash/check/debit, then pay down the credit cards with that actual money every month.  Don't pay them entirely off, always leave about $30-$50 bucks on your open line of credit.  Empty cards look badly too, so it's better to have a little bit (but not much more than a minimum payment or so) than nothing at all.
• Start paying down old debts. If you have a car payment, school loans, or other old debt lying around, start putting a little extra towards it so you're not swimming in debts with the credit cards and house payments.

Get Pre-Approved For a Loan-Then Figure Out How Much You ACTUALLY Can Afford

Don't start looking at houses until you know how much you can actually get approved for-you may be bummed to find out you can't afford ones you've fallen in love with.  Then take what your lender approves you for and make sure it's actually doable.  My lender approved me for up to $200k and my realtor started sending me houses in the $180k-$190k range to look at due to this fact, turns out they'd be more than half my monthly income each month in mortgage + fees + taxes + PMI, etc.

I then called my lender back and got an actual idea of what I could spend.  He sent me an estimate of what each price range would run me, and I was able to figure out that I should stay around $140k for a house, or $110k for anything that had an additional HOA payment.

Work with a Mortgage Company that Makes You Feel Like a Priority
When I decided to apply for a home loan I decided to go with a company I'd heard ads for on my favorite radio station.  I just decided to email them one day and inquire about the possible option of buying a house-I wasn't sure I was seriously going to do it or not, but I shot them an email on a Saturday afternoon out of the blue.

I received a phone call first thing the following Monday (March 23rd) morning, by Monday afternoon I was pre-approved, by Tuesday I had a Realtor sending me houses to look at. On Wednesday my mortgage guy confirmed that I couldn't afford any of the houses the Realtor had sent me, by Thursday I had a new list of houses.  By the 25th I'd seen five houses, but hadn't loved any of them.  On April 2nd I saw two (almost three) homes and decided on one, and I was Under Contract by Friday, April 3rd.  I received my first underwriting documents on April 9th to sign.  My mortgage company was super speedy!

Find a Realtor You Trust/If You Hate Your Realtor SWITCH
I really wish I'd switched. I went with a Realtor that was suggested to me by my mortgage guy and at first I thought he was great.  But then over time I started to really dislike how I had to chase him down for answers and how he dodged my questions.  I wish I'd just switched to another realtor when my friend suggested hers part way through-because it was too stressful being angry at him all the time!

For example, the first time I tried to close on a house he went out of town and didn't even tell me he'd be gone.  I just got a "I'm in South Carolina" when I tried to get inspector information from him.

After a couple months of looking he started trying to push me into buying something I didn't want.  Like a condo that was basically an apartment-the exact thing I told him I did NOT want to live in when I first started looking at houses.  He also didn't respect my price limit on some of the homes he showed me-instead urging me to just go for things I didn't want for prices I couldn't really afford.

Then finally, I am actually closing on a house and he said he was getting the sellers to fix some things but refused to provide a list of things they were fixing.  I emailed him every day asking for it and got "I'm out of town" AGAIN!   He promised his assistant would send it-and she never did.  I don't know if he lied about asking her to do so or if she was just incompentent but it was really frustrating.  He finally said (word for word exactly as he typed it "I don't have it in front of me but there were some rain gutter issues they repaired, handrail that was loose, some electrical and GFCI fixes. They DONT need to repair anything but I convinced them to do a few items."  I felt it was pretty rude, and hey-when I moved in they did NOT fix a damned thing he said they were going to.  FAIL.

Also, they didn't leave the A/C they promised to leave, and after they moved out he said he'd follow up on it and then just started ignoring my emails.  I mean, I closed, so he must have figured he'd gotten paid and it didn't matter anymore to follow through or keep in contact.  I will never use him again, or recommend his services.

Be Your Own Advocate
No matter how much you like your mortgage guy or Realtor, you aren't going to be their only client, and that means that sometimes you're going to feel like you're not getting the attention you deserve.  This is where you really need to be your own advocate.  Email, call, text, whatever you have to do to get things done.  You're going to have to be pushy to get stuff handled.

Figure Out What You Actually Want & Expect it to Change a Little
Do you want to live in a condo/townhouse?  These have hefty HOA fees technically and you still share walls, but hey-you never have to shovel your own sidewalks in the winter or mow your own lawn.  There are benefits to both, you just have to know what is important for you. When you first start looking at houses, figure out what your deal breakers are, and then go from there.  As you look at more and more houses, what you want will change significantly-but you'll always have those deal breakers to fall back on.

Research the Areas You Want to Look In
When I started looking I knew that I wouldn't be able to live where I've been living.  My rental is super cheap for the part of the city I'm in (it's kind of a yuppie area) and houses on my street go for upwards of $500k.  I figured I'd have to go further away from the city, but I had a wide range of options for smaller towns just outside the city.  There were a few I didn't know much about, but the houses were cheap and they were so close to the city that I started looking... They were rougher neighborhoods but people had been moving into them to gentrify the area.  Two days after I put in an offer on one of these houses a drug/gang murder happened a block away from it... I'm pretty glad I didn't actually end up living there.

Make Sure Your Boss Is On Board
Chances are there are going to be a lot of times you either need to leave work early, or come in late, or even take the day off throughout the whole process, so make sure your boss is aware of what is happening and is okay with a little fluctuation while you work on it.  There were times I had to leave early to look at houses, or come in late because I was dropping off the earnest money, or signing papers, etc.  I'm really lucky I work for such a great company and my managers were so understanding.

Take an Unbiased Friend With You to Look at Houses
You will need someone who's not just going to go "Oh pretty!  Get it!" at everything you love-you need someone who can point out the flaws of a place when you're caught up on one thing you really want about it.  I was already Under Contract on the first home I planned to buy when I took Shawn out to look at the property, and since we didn't have keys we only looked at the outside and peeked in the windows.  He brought all sorts of things like windows that wont open (they had broken cranks that you could clearly see), holes in the trim of the roof, the fence falling down in one area, etc. to my attention.  This caused more stress, but I'd rather know these things than find them out when I'm living there.  Which leads me to...

Get an Inspection
Inspections are a part of the process that are highly recommended (if your real estate agent doesn't insist you get one-they might not have your back as much as you think) and in my opinion completely necessary. An inspector is a third party person who looks over the property and will find every little thing wrong with the place and provide a report to you and your Realtor.  If I hadn't pushed for an inspection on the first place I put an offer in on-I'd be in a world of hurt right now.  The inspection showed that while it looked great cosmetically, it needed a new everthing-roof, plumbing, water heater, furnace, foundation, etc.  It was so bad... And the door had been kicked in so it recommended drug testing-ouch.

I can't stress it enough-ALWAYS get an inspection done by a good inspector, it's worth the money. Pay attention to price of inspections too.  You can find someone to do an inspection for $60 but it might not be a very good one... I paid $290 for my inspection, and there were only a few tiny things that needed to be fixed-but my inspector was amazing.  He walked me through the house and showed me everything he thought I should know about, and then he offered me a bunch of ideas on how to fix things or what not to do when fixing them.  I couldn't recommend him enough and if you're in Utah and need a good realtor let me know, I'd be happy to give you his contact information!

Be Prepared for Buyer's Remorse
No matter how much you love the place you buy, the minute it sinks in that you own it and are going to have to take care of it, and that you paid that much money-you'll feel a little buyer's remorse.  It's natural. The first time I had access to my house after I signed the closing papers ended with me calling my mother in tears and telling her I'd made a huge mistake.  Luckily she was awesome and rushed down to look at it with me.  She was able to help me see what was not such a big deal and explain how easily we could fix things.

Find a Friend Who's Been Through It
I'm not going to lie-buying a house was one of the most terrifying experiences I've ever had.  It's likely the biggest purchase you'll ever make, and especially if you're buying a used/old home there are all sorts of fears about what could go wrong.  If it weren't for friends who'd been through the process already (shout out to Kristina and Callie, and also my awesome manager Michael) and who talked me down when I was freaking out, I don't know that I would have done it.

And hey, if you need to talk to someone who's just been through it, feel free to comment or email me. I'm here for you. ;)

Have you bought a house before? Are you looking for a house?  

New Homeowner Confessions & Freak Outs (aka Confessions of a New Homeowner Part 1)

I confess... Buying my first home has been a trying experience. Since I started looking for a home in March, I have put in four offers on homes.  One fell through due to a terrible inspection (we're talking EVERYTHING wrong with the place except the paint!), one fell through for not being FHA approved, one fell through because they accepted another offer instead, and finally the last one was successful.

I put in an offer on this last house about 12 hours after the listing was put up.  By the next day it had an additional 5 offers put in on it.  They called us, since we were the first offer, and told me that if I'd take it for full asking price-it was mine.  I accepted.

 I confess... My neighbors have a huge half pipe skateboard ramp in their back yard.  Also, nearly every time I've been over there they've been outside drinking beers.  At least they'll never complain about parties right? lol

I confess...  I closed on my home a week ago.  However, the owners had requested as part of the offer an extra week to move out of the home and I agreed.  I will never do that again-the waiting was terrible and I'm convinced that the previous owners were complete jerks.  They didn't leave the A/C as they promised, but instead they left a nice big mess to clean up.

I confess... I got the keys yesterday and an email saying the previous owners were entirely out of the home so I headed straight over to have a look at it.

The front door was wide open.  The house smelled like sour meat upstairs and cat pee downstairs.  There were all sorts of holes in the walls and other things I'd never seen since the previous tenants had so much junk everywhere... They had piles of crap just hiding all of the issues before.  Here are some photos from the listing:

   

I confess... It was exactly then that I lost sight of the potential I'd seen when I first put in an offer.  All I saw were the holes-were they made by water damage? Termites? I saw the crappy carpet, and the "upgrades" they'd tried to do but failed at... Seriously, they cut their own door and it's anything but straight.  They straight-up ripped holes in the closet wall so they could get to the storage behind easier.  They laid laminate flooring in the kitchen with 2 inch gaps filled with nastyness (no covers, no filler, nothing) in between the floor boards.  There was a hole in the kitchen with plastic bags stuffed in it.  Just... What?

I confess... I thought I'd made a huge mistake.  I texted Yoshi and explained how all their crap had covered up the problems.  He suggested I fill it with my own crap to hide them. lol

I called my mom and burst into tears.  I'd made a huge mistake.  I'd bought an awful house that needed more work than I thought it would, and on top of it something was probably dead in the wall because WHY THE HELL DOES MY HOUSE SMELL LIKE SOUR MEAT?

I confess... My daddy called me from Wyoming and talked me down.  He kept telling me it was all "lipstick on a pig" and that the inspector had said it had good bones, a good roof, good plumbing/wiring, etc.  He reminded me that I bought my home for 140k but it appraised for 145k so I'd already made money.  He told me his coworker lived three blocks from my new house, and when he told him how much I bought it for the guy was astounded.  He said "Nothing in Sugar House goes for under 200k!  Her lot is worth 200k!"

He reminded me that even though he's working six-twelves (six twelve hour days) for the next six weeks, when this job ended he'd have some time to come and help me fix things.  He reminded me that he can tear out carpet, break down walls, install appliances and light fixtures... He reminded me tha whatever he couldn't do, we had family members that could.  "Need tile?  We can call Uncle Dan, Cody, or Chris!" or "Need a new door?  Call your grandpa, he'll come over and help."

I confess... My sweet mother grabbed my awesome sister and hopped in the car right then to drive the hour+ during rush hour, when they both had to work super early (like be to work at 5AM) the next day, to come down and make me feel better.  

They arrived with a carpet cleaner and two bags of cleaning supplies, paint, and smell-good stuffs (Febreze, Lysol, etc.)  They picked me up at my apartment and we drove over to the house.  They walked through the house with me and told me all the things they loved, and they reminded me of the potential the place had.  They'd say "Oh that's an easy fix, we'll just pick up some putty and it'll take us 10 minutes to cover that hole." or "This carpet really isn't bad, I say worry about the carpet later and let's start on some of the other little things we can repair."

They stayed until 10PM making me feel better, bought me dinner, and then drove the hour plus home so they could get up for work early.  They are amazing-I'm so lucky to have them!

I confess... Buying a house has been the most stressful experience of my life.  I'm still afraid.  I'm afraid it wont feel like home.  I'm afraid I wont have the skills to do all that I need to do.  But, I'm a homeowner.  This place is mine and I'll make it mine.

Any tips for a first-time homeowner?

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15 DIY Kitchen Projects I'm Dying to Try In My New Home

Many of you may know by now that I'm am UNDER CONTRACT (whoa) for a house right now.  It's a cute little starter home, meaning I recognize that I'm not going to live there for the rest of my life but instead make it work right now, and it has a tiny little kitchen.  The kitchen is pretty, but very very small and there is no pantry...

UPDATE: I am not longer getting that house, but these tips are still ones I want to try when I find one!

So while I can't start on anything yet (you aren't supposed to spend money while under contract plus I don't have keys yet so I can't get measurements) I've already begun pinning projects to help with small kitchens.  For some reason all the pinning is actually easing my stress levels-probably because I'm just getting so excited!

1. I wont have a pantry in my new place, but I'm thinking I could make this cute little pull-out pantry for my kitchen!  Though the walls seem smaller so I might want to adjust the measurements, but it seems pretty doable!  I also found this version without the backing as well, though I like the first one a bit better.

2. I think these slide-out cabinet organizers for under the sink are a brilliant way to keep everything tidy and accessible under there, don't you? I'm not 100% sure I have the woodworking or carpentry skills to do this one though...

3. Another fabulous idea is to utilize the space above kitchen cabinets and I love the idea of putting wine up there, but instead of buying one, I'd totally try this DIY wine rack instead.

4. I've seen a few different versions of this, but hanging measuring spoons inside your cabinet definitely saves drawer space.  You can also add nifty vinyl conversions to your measuring cup cupboard for an easy chart to refer to when cooking or baking.

5. This is another that I'm not sure I possess the skills for, but a hidden slide-out knife drawer?  I'd love to get my knife block off the counter!

6. I have a pretty spinning spice rack I intend to keep, so while I love these fancy magnetic spice rack options, I still don't know what to do with some of my other oddly shaped bottles.  This super easy and inexpensive magnetic spice holder option looks like a great way to store them without stealing space from my cupboard.  Goodness, you can even make a magnetic spice rack inside the cupboard!

7. Adding a Lazy Susan to your fridge seems like a no-brainer.  I mean check out this Fridge Butler.

8. In case I can't pull off the knife drawer, I'm probably going to make a magnetic knife strip.  I'm not entirely sure I can pull off this lovely rainbow wood magnetic knife strip, but I'm feeling like I could do something similar... With maybe fabric that's removable for washing?

9. When in doubt, defer to Martha Stewart.  Always.  Easy-peasy add some tension rods to a cupboard to separate boards and pans.  Even more simple?  Re-purpose a desk organizer to sort those cutting boards and shallow pans.

10. Along the office-supply line, re-purpose some CD organizers to hold Tupperware lids.  I mean what else do you use them for?

11. Put your garbage bags on a roll under the sink.  Out of the way and easy to access!

12. I was already thinking I'd need to use a hanging rack to store pots and pans since I wont have space for them otherwise, why not save some money and make a pot rack out of a bicycle wheel? Brilliant!

13. The new house doesn't have a fridge, meaning I need to find one quick, and I'm not sure I can afford a really nice one off the bat.  There was some talk of my brother buying a new fridge and giving me his old one, and at first I was like "Ew, it's white and all my other appliances are black!" (I know, I know, beggars can't be choosers), but now I think I'll paint the fridge with chalkboard paint and love it!  It'll basically match, plus it'll be a lot of fun.

14. Another great use for the inside of your cupboards-use a curtain or towel rod to store pot lids! Genius!

15. Okay, this wall attached picture table is to die for-but soooo expensive.  I mean if you can afford it, go for it, but I can't.  It looks like wall art until you fold it out to use it as a table.  Seriously, why didn't I think of this?  I honestly think this could be made pretty easily with the tools and hinges... Or you could pick up one of these cute fold out desks and just put a picture on the bottom of it.

Have any tips for a future small kitchen owner?

Confessions of a Wannabe Homeowner

Some of you may know that I've decided to buy a house.  It's an idea I've toyed with for years but never felt like I was in the right place to do so.  Recently I looked around my little apartment at the cracks in the ceiling and tile and the varying levels of things that could be updated-painting, flooring, counters, etc. I listened to my neighbors-slamming their doors, rapping outside my door, and I smelled them smoking right below my window.  I decided I was ready to move.

This apartment has been great.  It had six years worth of memories of parties and heart-to-hearts.  Time I spent living here with my best friend, but he's moved on and maybe it's time I should too-especially when there are so many things I'm over about this place.  One thing about this place is that it's in a really good location, and it's extremely inexpensive for the locale-so if I was going to find another place to rent I was going to see an increase on my monthly payment by at least $100.  So if I was going to spend that much a month why not buy something and let it build equity for me instead of going to someone else's pocket?

So I emailed a mortgage company I've heard ads for over the past few years on a Saturday.  Monday morning he emailed back, and by Monday evening I'd applied and was approved for up to 200k.  By Tuesday my realtor was sending me listings for big beautiful homes-homes that I instantly fell in love with. Homes with beautifully redone interiors, amazing locations, and beautiful wrap around porches like this:

Well it didn't take long to figure out that while I was approved for up to 200k, and all of these homes being in the 170k-190k range were under that figure, that I actually couldn't afford any of them.  A home at 190k is almost exactly half of my monthly income each month, and that would be painful on top of other utilities, car payment, etc.  I confess that I was flattened at first, but moved on to looking at houses under 150k, as my ideal range was 130k-140k for a manageable payment on a semi-decent home.

With the market the way it is currently all the homes I liked in that range were often Under Contract within 48 hours after my realtor sent me the listings to look at-and that was typically before I could even go look at them, and the worst part was that there weren't any new homes hitting the market that weren't short sales. The term "short sale" is a complete misnomer-it really means that the bank owns it and wants to get rid of it, but they don't want to get rid of it bad enough so they can take six months or even more to decide to accept on a bid.

Well I should also confess that I quickly learned that I needed to completely revise my expectations.  When I was feeling the most low about house-hunting my mortgage guy said this to me, "I recommend buying something less expensive that needs some work.  Live in it for 5 or so years and fix it up slowly over that period-then sell it.  Take the money you've made on equity and from the sale and put it down on a bigger/nicer home in an area you love-and you'll have more manageable payments."

So I changed my strategy, but still there wasn't much hitting the market in any area I wanted to live in.  There were things if I went really far West out into the boonies, or things a little farther North of where I'd been hoping to buy.  While I love living where I do so close to the city-I can't afford it, so I thought I'd buy a little further south to help shorten my daily commute but that wouldn't put me too far away from civilization and the city that I love.

In the map above the pink dot represents about where I live now, the purple where I work, and the yellow square in the middle is the area I wanted to live in.  Puts me a little bit more south but still with quick access to the freeway/highways that would get me to work in a reasonable amount of time.

Here's a closer look at what was available:

Points A and B are homes I looked at.  A was 700 square feet adorable flipped house with no air conditioning, no covered parking, and absolutely no storage in it at all.  It was also in an area that was a little scary.  Point B was a house about 800 square feet with the most cramped kitchen you'd ever seen and it needed a lot of work, plus it was right next door to a gas station that just had a shooting at it.  About 95% of the other points listed on this map are Short Sales, and about 90% of them show offers pending approval already.

So I started looking in an area I hadn't considered before.  I hadn't considered it because it's always been what I considered the ghetto part of Salt Lake City.  It's the west side. Who'd want to live on the west side?  But, I'd heard that young couples and single adults had been moving there in an effort to gentrify the area, so when I saw a super cute little home listed there I decided to check it out-I emailed my realtor and then I just went and drove by it after class.  It was small-at only 830 square feet-but it had been all completely updated inside and it had a nice yard and garage.

The area was poor like I'd expected, but around the house wasn't bad.  Right at the end of it's street was the river, across the river was the International Peace Gardens, and there was a pretty Elementary School right across the street.  Yes, you had to drive through some really run down parts of the city to get there (from either side) but around it was really pretty nice.

I decided that if I was going to set a time to go look at it I had better pick a few more homes to look at in the area also, but this was the one I was excited to see.  So after work yesterday I met my realtor to look at houses.  One house I'd chosen wouldn't qualify for my loan, and this one-the one I wanted to see the most-the realtor never called my realtor back.  The first house we looked at was really cute and kind of roomy, plus it had a HUGE yard in the back with a giant plot for a garden.  I really liked it, but there were three other people there to look at it around the same time and my realtor warned me it would be gone before the weekend so I'd better put in an offer if I wanted it-it was listed that same day, and I just checked today and it's already Under Contract. That's how fast these homes are moving!

The second house we looked at was one I was kind of "meh" about online but thought I'd better throw in the mix to have a look at.  I loved it from the moment we set foot in it.  It's still small at only 980 square feet, has a tiny kitchen, only has a swamp cooler (no actual AC), and does not have a garage because they converted the garage into a bedroom-but I loved it.  It's been beautifully updated, has a lot of storage, and the yard is lovely and fully enclosed by a privacy fence in the back.  It is also on a cute little tree lined street that's really quiet and away from the main thoroughfare for the area.  Here's an old photo from the listing:

We drove to the other house and I immediately noted that it was in a not-so-great neighborhood.  There were lots of people outside smoking, lots of apartments surrounding the house, and everything looked really run down.  When we tried the lock, it was broken and we couldn't get into the house, the realtor apologized for it, but I had already decided I didn't want to live there.

We left, and I put in an offer on this house.  I PUT IN AN OFFER ON A HOUSE.

I confess that my level of anxiety about this whole experience tripled in the hour after I signed the offer document.  And I spent the rest of the evening, and all night, going back and forth in my head.

"It's so adorable-I hope I get it!"
"It's so much money... 140k... I'm going to be house poor."
"It'll be your own space you can do with it what you want!"
"It's in the ghetto... You would be a single girl living alone in the ghetto..."
"No, it's a tree-lined well-kept quiet little street-it's not the ghetto."
"Alone.  I'd live alone in a house in an unknown neighborhood."
"You are a strong independent female who is ready to take this step!"

Well, ready or not-that ball is already in motion.  I'm now waiting anxiously to hear back from the realtors about my offer.

Are you a homeowner?  How was your first time buying?

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