Buying Our First Home
February 21, 2018 Buying Real Estate,Real Estate
My husband and I just bought our first home this past month. It seemed like quite a process but we’re happy with our home and what we ended up with. We also think we got a great deal in this market and that our interest rate on our mortgage is excellent. Let me tell you how the process went for us!
We first started looking at homes about 2 years ago very casually just going to open houses on Sundays. It was a way to fill time, check out the neighborhood, gauge what we might get for our money, and know that we would jump on something if it was perfect. We learned quickly that we needed to save more than we thought and that our ideal home was between about $250,000-350,000.
We didn’t get an agent because we weren’t too serious and my job as a teacher has changed between half and full time every year. We primarily used Redfin to search for properties. We also took advantage of taking their home buying classes to learn about the real estate world. They also gave us free dinner and drinks which was a good bonus.
Come March of this year I noticed that a lot of places that had been sitting on the market were begining to sell. Also places that were being put up on the market were selling within days! Also the mortgage rates were almost at an all time low around 3.5% We decided to start looking online more seriously. I scheduled a showing with an agent to see three places on a Thursday. One of which I was most interested in because it was the right size and they just dropped the price $20,000!
Well that price drop house was the one. I walked in and get wondering what was wrong with it. Unfortunatly I did these showings by myself so as soon as we left the house I hopped on the phone and told my husband I thought I found our future home. Later that night I showed him photos and he seemed like he didn’t like it. I was crushed but we scheduled to see it again the next day anyways. When we arrived two others were leaving the home and we were going in. When my husband went in he loved it! We decided to put in an offer that very night.
Long story short it became a multiple offer situation because their $20,000 price drop started a little bidding war between several parties. We still got the house for below appraised value and were happy with the outcome.
Another part of the home buying process that was new to us was all of the waiting and the stress. We were worried with renegotiation for some of our inspection items and that the buyers could pull out if they wanted. We were emotionally invested in this property already. After living in the house for a month I still keep an eye on the housing market and what’s coming on and selling. I still think we got the perfect home for us!