It's Settled, then...

We did it!!  Tonight, McStudly and I signed aaalllllllll (I'd keep going, cause there was SO dang much, but I think you get the idea) of the paperwork, and are officially home owners!!

As of tomorrow evening, I'll get to go see it whenever I want, and starting Sunday - we're moving in!!!  It all worked out fantastically, BLESS GOD!!  And we get to move into our new home!

We're so stinking excited and can't wait to make it our own.  SO... anyone available Sunday afternoon?  I need movers AND shakers... well... more like movers and cleaners.  

AND of course, with me being the geek that I am, there are pictures.

On my way to settlement (at a light, of course):

Getting real excited!!

McStudly - following in the car behind me (he had to go straight to work right after):

It's official!  We just finished signing the papers, and Sheena took a pic for us:

And tomorrow - pics of me with our wonderful Realtor, in our new home -

Stay tuned!  ;-)

The Unsettling Settlement

Oh the drama of Real Estate... we may not be able to move into our new home until on or around September 12th, as opposed to our original plan of moving in this weekend.


And no - it's not our fault, or even involving our settlement. It's because of the seller's settlement with her new place, and the fact that her new home's listing agent is going on vacation after Friday. So if things don't go through with her settlement Friday morning (a very big possibility) then... the Realtor will be out of town until the 12th, and that means I won't get to move in until after she settles around that date.


Stupid stupid stupid...





The whole thing is stupid!!





Can I cry now?

We Got the...

How stinking AWESOME is that?!?!


We have the home inspection today, so say a prayer for us that all goes smoothly. As of now, settlement is set for 28 August. :-D




I can't wait!!

*Fingers Crossed

So McStudly and I put an offer on another house, last night (after a very long, high stress week, that is), and we're currently waiting on pins and needles for the reply.

I just got a call from Sheena (our Realtor) and she let me know that she sent over all of the paperwork last night, and confirmed receipt with the Seller's Agent. So... here we go again.


We're super excited about this place (both of us are!). It will need a little TLC to make it our own, but it's such a great starter place. We love it! And the only real TLC it will need outside of updating the kitchen counters and appliances is to remove the wallpaper in the bathroom upstairs (and it even has a matching shower curtain! nice...) and paint there, the the master bedroom, and... that's probably it.


I'm so anxious to find out. Here's to hopin'!






(... and you wouldn't mind sayin' a little prayer for us, would ya? Yeah... I didn't think so. Thanks, guys. You're the best!)

No Go

Just to keep you all updated...


We didn't get the house. They accepted someone else's offer. So.. back to the drawing board!

Just a lil' Update

Okay - jsut to keep you all informed -


Kyle and I put an offer on a house yesterday... just a little townhome that we think wil lbe perfect for us, after a little paint and "sweat equity".


So we're on edge, waiting on pins and needles... just waiting for the word. If these people jsut accept it, it'd be the best deal ever!! But if not, I'm sure hoping they at least counter-offer with a deal that's still really good.





Here's to hoping, right?!

;-)

Wishin'... and Hopin'... and Thinkin'...

Jeez - again with those random songs, eh?


MY B!



Tonight, McStudly and I are going house-shopping again. Sometimes I think it would just be easier if you could walk through a store with little mini-models of all of the houses sitting on the shelves like dollhouses - built to scale and made to look exactly like the real thing.

But since it's not, our gas tank is suffering, and we are growing weary.



We had finally found two places that we love love love!!! But since we couldn't decide on one of them, between the two of us, we agreed to keep looking, convinced that we'd find a place we would both be happy with and able to call home.


So here we go again - wish us luck, and pray for patience for our tour guide/Realtor, Sheena.



PS. I'm convinced that Realtors are much more then house-salesmen. They are also tour guides (hence the above statement), marriage counselors, optimists, and very good at pointing out the potential in a home to first-time home buyers (AND we're lucky because our realtor has a built in smell-o-meter that's able to detect the slightest hint of anything, not matter how many glade plug-ins they put in a house). No wonder not just anyone can do it! When McStudly and I start back and forth about a place, she just starts laughing... and it totally takes the tension out of the mix - and I can see why she laughs... we sound ridiculous!



Asta Pasta!

;-)

On the prowl

So we're going to look at some houses tomorrow night. I'm super excited!

Our realtor sent us lots of listings today,and Kyle and I went through them being SUPER picky, AND open-minded at the same time.


We know what we want, but we also know that it will take a bit of elbow grease to get any house looking like "us".



So - here we go. Off into the land of house-shopping, and hopefully we'll come back with some great stuff!!




Wish us luck, and MUCH sanity as we learn to navigate through the tunnelling maze of real estate (thank GOODNESS for Sheena - our "tour guide", if you will!!).




~Love y'all!

Oh give me a home...

But let's leave the Buffalo in New York, shall we?


McStudly and I are going to buy a house (we're probably at 85% sure, right now - is that normal?). So...



HELP!!!


Whew... we have NO clue what we're doing. I mean - where do you start? What do you do first, and what do you have to know? How much money do you need IN pocket? What about VA Loans - how do they work, and how do you get them? How do you know what types of places to look at? What's important to make note of in the houses when you see them? What should I avoid? Who's the best mortgage company? What if something goes wrong right after we buy it? What if the housing market gets even worse, and we're stuck? What if we get hit by a horrible storm and the house is levelled? How much does home owners' insurance typically cost each month? What about taxes - how does that work? How do you do the whole escrow thing, adn how much do you have to put away each month? Does it work liek a bill - where they send you something every month and you send it back with a check? After buying the house - how do you afford to FURNISH the house? What about painting... should you do it before you move in? Are we too young to buy right now? What if someone loses a job - how do you keep paying for it? What if the oven, fridge, and dryer break the week after you move in - do you have to pay to fix it? How do you convince sellers to pay closing costs? How much money is typical for a good EMD? What is acceptable and unacceptable to ask for form the sellers when making an offer - I mean... can I ask them to leave their bedroom set, or is that tacky - but it's really nice!!


SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!



Okay - so I'm NOT really freaking out nearly as much as it seems, but I am a woman, and every possibility and every question IS running through my mind right now. PLUS - you've got Hotpants McStudly, over here, who's worse than I am, and want's to weigh the pros and cons, all the while really focussing more on the cons. ha ha... boy are we funny!!



So - I've said all of that really just to say this: Got any advice?






PS - the agent we're going to use is awesome, so I'm sure she'll answer questions when we finally get to sit down with her, but I'm inpatient, and this girl needs answers, people!! I want to feel liek a real estate genius, and I don't want ANY surprises when stuff starts rolling. Help a sister/first-time-home-buyer out!