Something I Wrote...

...about the whole house-buying experience. Enjoy.

I Bought a House, and So Can You

A couple of months ago I casually mentioned to my parents that I thought it might be cool if I bought a house. I thought that I should “strike while the iron is not-so-hot,” meaning the housing market as a whole is down, so that I might be able to snag a deal. To my surprise, Mom and Dad agreed.

So the Monday after my casual conversation with the parentals, I went on over to the bank to try to see what I could qualify for, or if I even qualified for a home loan at all. Lo and behold, I qualified for a home loan at an amount that I knew would allow me to get a decent starter home. And thus the search began.

Being a newbie to the whole house buying situation, I thought that I would have to pay a real estate agent to help me find my dream home, so in an effort to simulate frugality, I opted to go it alone. Big mistake.

I ended up driving all over God’s green earth, including several locations that made me call my parents and cry because I was so scared, and other locations that were so deep into the country I swore I heard the “Deliverance” theme song. So I inquired, and found that the seller of the house pays the real estate agent, not the buyer, so I got a recommendation from a family member and began working with a wonderful agent.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all daisies and rainbows from there. It seemed that every time I would schedule to see a house, it would either be taken off the market that same day, or an offer had already been accepted on the house. (Sidebar: Why do they keep the sign up in the yard and the listing up online if an offer has already been accepted? I think the sole purpose is just to annoy me.) I became so frustrated with the whole process that I wanted to throw in the towel and keep throwing my money away on rent just to avoid the inevitable letdown.

Until I found it, “The One.” I had seen this particular house online for quite a while, but never got around to stopping by. I finally scheduled a viewing with my agent, and as soon as I pulled up, I knew I’d found my new home. The house was built in 1948 (I love old homes), had a picket fence around the entire property, and had an awesome backyard perfect for barbecues. That night I made an offer on the house.

The next day, while I was visiting my parents in Conway, I got the call. My offer had been accepted! I didn’t really know how to feel…excited, scared, nervous, etc. Little did I know the confusion had only just begun.

From the point that my offer was accepted until the point that the keys to the house were in my hand, I experienced a complete roller coaster of emotions and experiences. It seemed as if something new came up everyday, something that could affect my purchase of the house. But all of the blood, sweat, and tears (many, many tears) were well worth it when I signed off on the final document and the keys were in my hand.

So, the moral of the story? If you want to buy a house, you can. You might have to make sacrifices in other areas of your life (I’m definitely going to have to cut down on my Starbucks runs and my trips to Barnes and Noble), but if owning a home is something that you value, it is well within your reach. If I (a single young female professional with a decent income) can do it, so can you.