A Happy Update!

I am late on posting this (ok, really late, I get it!).  I wrote this the beginning of September, put it on a jump drive, and then promptly forgot about it.  In my defense, I've been really, really busy.  Better late than never, right?

September 9:

It is official, Jim and I are finally homeowners! And it took darned long enough to make the biggest purchase we’ve ever made. And we’re (of course) ecstatic about it. The story is kinda cool, too. In retrospect. Nerve wracking when it happened…

After looking at yet another couple of houses, we were trying to not let ourselves become too discouraged. We made the mental decision that getting a house in the changing market (from a buyer’s market to a seller’s) would mean that we needed to move quickly, and not think about listings more than a few seconds (that same week, we were finally going to look at a house we waited some time on since it wasn’t in totally ideal location – we found out an hour before our appointment to see it that it was then off the market).

Less than a week after really making the ‘move quick’ decision, we were looking at listings one Saturday morning - way too early (for me, that is). At 7:30 (am), we saw a listing that had been put on the market at 1 am that same morning. Jim asked my still half asleep self to ‘look at this’ while he shoved his phone to me. I looked at the listing and the accompanying pictures, and was like, what are we waiting for? We emailed our Realtor by 8, talked with her on the phone by 9:30, and toured the house at 3pm, knowing that we were going to put an offer in that afternoon. And we did. And we knew (of course!) that there would likely be multiple offers because the house was in great condition and listed at a favorable price.

Sunday wasn’t fun. The waiting. And wondering. And as we expected, first thing Monday morning we found out that there were multiple offers and we were to bring our best offer to the table. We decided to stand firm on our original offer and make no changes. There were some issues with the house – it hadn’t been updated (at all), there was a least some mold in the basement and the basement had signs of water intrusion, the house had original windows, and aluminum siding… But for all those things, it also had four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a wood burning fireplace, a sun room, AND a two-car garage. And to top it off, it was situated on almost one and a half acres – WOODED acres, and there was enough room for a nice garden. AND to make it even better, it was zoned so that I could eventually have chickens if I so choose (one of my top current day dreams). We didn’t think our offer would stand. How could it – this house was absolutely everything we had to have, wanted to have, and wished to have.

We found out either Tuesday or Wednesday (it really all is a blur after that day) that our offer was accepted. No counter-offer, either. The sellers were content and we won out over the other offer (we don’t know if there was more than one more) because we got our offer in so fast. The home inspection went well, there were some minor things that came up (the mold, small roof issue, some outlets needed replaced, a few light fixtures weren’t properly grounded, things like that). The financing went without a hitch. And then the septic inspection… A week before we were supposed to close we found out that the septic needed some relatively minor repairs. Sadly, we pushed closing from Monday to Friday. On Tuesday, we found out that the permit for the repairs hadn’t gone through and we likely wouldn’t close on that Friday.

However, we still managed to finagle our way to closing on Friday the 24th of August. We accepted that the septic wasn’t fixed – but we could still move in. And we did. The septic was scheduled to be fixed the following week.

This weekend marked the end of the first full week we’ve spent in our new house, and second week of owning. Everything’s been scrubbed (with ample help from Momma!). We started some painting. And we even have dealt with our first plumbing issue (more on that later!). Jim’s done some handyman fixes, and I have to say that the novelty of being able to do laundry whenever I want hasn’t yet worn off (we tried to keep laundry to a minimum at the apartment we shared with Jim’s roommate). That day will come soon, I’m sure.

I am overwhelmed though. So much to do! And I want it all to be done NOW. Can’t I wiggle my nose and have it the way I want without all the work?

No? Well…. Guess I need to get back to housework, then…!

:)