I must say, it wasn't easy getting to this point. I've lived with my parents for four and a half years, six months of those I spent in England with TwinSis. (You can read about my travel adventures at Flew da' Coop!) Due to this extended travel, it took me a while to get back on my feet and to find a good job. Despite this, I was determined that I would own my own house by my 30th birthday in August!
After a few botched attempts at house hunting on my own, and seeing two houses that I liked, I got a tip from a pair of good friends who suggested I contact a mutual friend of ours, David Madaffari. I will admit that I procrastinated and didn't call him immediately. Fate would have it that one of my best friends was talking with him and mentioned my house hunting. Next thing next, I brought David on as my agent!
Between David's inside listings and my (and Mom's) Zillow searches, I was able to narrow down a few options to go view one weekend. We visited one of my previously visited houses, at which I'd fallen in love with the kitchen. Unfortunately, I didn't love the termites. We walked through three different houses and passed in front of another, all of which I crossed off the list for multiple reasons. Before giving up entirely from the futility of finding a house (after one day), I pulled out my last playing card. There was a house that came up on the listings very late the previous night. Could we maybe go see it? I already knew the area; I have friends that live right down the street; I'd probably passed the house hundreds of times and never noticed it.
We pulled up and I just *knew* this was the house. I said Yes to the House right then and there. Sure, it was a bit worn, missing bits and pieces, and needs lots of TLC. But it felt right; it felt like home. This house makes me feel like Granny and Papa are still around, siting and laughing in the kitchen. There's just something about it. So we walked through, me in a daze and Mom taking all the pictures. Afterward, David and I sat in his car and crunched some numbers. The asking price was a bit higher than I wanted but it was still within reason. A quick consultation with Mom yielded her blessing to make an offer.
So I did! Now this was the tricky part. The house is actually a HUD home, which means it's not a normal buying process. In fact, David wrote a three-part blog about buying a HUD home! (Parts 1, 2, 3) Basically, I had to bid on the house and hope no-one bid also to start a bidding war. Fortunately for me (whew!), that didn't happen and my offer was accepted!
Next came A LOT of paperwork and waiting. Immediately after my offer being accepted, I had 15 days to get inspections done. That cost me a bit of lost sleep and caused me to second-guess my decisions. In the end, I hired an inspector at David's recommendation. He was good at his job, thorough in his report, but left much to be desired for his people skills. In the end, he didn't find anything that was cause enough for me to back away from the house. Although it would have been enough for perhaps a more normal person to back away! Plumbing, electrical, HVAC problems. I was basically about to commit a cardinal sin for first-time home-buyers: don't buy a house with major utility issues! Did I listen? Of course not.
I decided to apply for a Rural Development loan as my area was relatively recently declared rural. This meant that I could get a loan that requires 0% down payment which is the only way I could afford to get myself into a house. However, everyone else had the same idea so the LA USDA Rural Development program was backlogged with applications. I waited three-four weeks before my application was processed and approved! Finally, closing was in sight!
Of all the parts of the process, I believe closing was the most frustrating and time consuming. After waiting weeks for the loan application to be processed, suddenly you're scrambling to set homeowner's and flood insurance, coordinate for closing times, get a certified check from the bank! All within about a week.
A few miscommunications and several email strings later, closing was scheduled! The morning dawned and I was a ball of nerves. Dad came with me to the signing. It was really important to me to have a parent there for this momentous occasion! We sat in a nice conference room with the closing attorney Tara, my agent David, and my lender John. I'm so glad I have a background in legal work because I actually understood *most* of the paperwork. Ten billion signatures later and a thwarted hand-cramp, I was done signing my *entire* name, and life, away, which gets old fast. We shook hands, hugs all around, then we all drove over to MY NEW HOME!
I owe a huge Thank You to my parents; David; my siblings; John and Katelyn; my best friends; my boss; my coworkers; and everyone who made this possible!
This is just the start of my adventures into home-ownership. I do hope you'll stick around and keep up with me. I'm not the best at updating blogs or taking pictures but I would love for y'all to be a part of this crazy adventure :)
~ M
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