🔑 It’s OFFICIAL! We are HOMEOWNERS 🔑
I may have been a little MIA the last couple of months but I promise I have a good reason…we bought our very first house! My fiance and I were supposed to be getting married this month but COVID had other plans so we pivoted our plans and took this as the chance to find our dream home! Some may think it’s crazy to go house hunting in a pandemic with an uncertain economy and an unemployment rate that was increasing by the day (much better now that the vaccine is out) but something the pandemic brought was super low mortgage rates, something unseen in a very long time!
With this influx of super low interest rates combined with limited inventory on the market, home buying became one intense process. You would see a house one day and need to make an offer within 24 hours competing with multiple offers well over ask to get the house you want. We began house hunting and it instantly became a stressful process but we knew now was the time to buy, at least for us as our current place was up for another year renewal and we no longer wanted to loose money renting vs investing in the equity of a home.
After weeks of searching we found our dream home and when I say I knew it was the one I mean it. We walked in and I loved the wide, open, light and airy feel…I loved the neighborhood (walking distance from an award winning elementary school for when we start a family) and it had my dream white kitchen. It was love at first sight for me and after seeing the lovely neighborhood and hearing even from the neighbors who have lived here for 20+ years what a great community it is, my fiance was convinced as well.
The bidding war began, we came in with a firm offer well over ask and mint credit and were selected! We moved in last month and the renovations and decorating began.
That brings us to where I’m at now…well I’m typing this blog post from my gorgeous new office…designed exactly how I envisioned and I couldn’t be more thrilled. From my shoe and bag display to having areas to display my favorite Disney merch, to enough space to create content and run my marketing agency, this office is truly what I’ve dreamed of! 
Now the fun stuff begins…from redesigning our landscaping to buying furniture to setting up the guest rooms + more, everyday is a new journey and we are constantly learning new things when it comes to being homeowners. Month one we thought our water heater was broken (spoiler it wasn’t), we tried discovering why our tub plumbing wasn’t working (after multiple plumbers we realized it was a minor fix) and we are still getting to know our neighbors, HOA and so much more.
My tips for first time home buyers in the current climate –
*Be Pre-Approved so when you find a house you want you can go for it ASAP (with low interest rates, the real estate market is on fire)
*Have your budget in mind + don’t feel pressured to go over. My fiance and I had a budget in mind and even though coming in over ask and making a high offer may be necessary to seal the deal on the house you want, really evaluate if the house is worth what’s being asked, it’s important to not over extend yourself – that’s what leads to housing crashes like the early 2000s.
*Understand you may not check every box on your list. For example, I wanted a pool but the perfect house didn’t have one so we decided in a few years we will put one in ourselves because everything else checked the boxes on our list when it came to school district, location, house layout + more.
*When you find the right house you will know. It can feel like a ton of pressure to commit to a house, especially if you are on the fence + tons of people are making offers, but don’t let that convince you to get a place you aren’t truly in love with…otherwise you will regret it.
*Take things slow once you move in, I definitely didn’t follow this advice – the moment we moved in I was go, go, go wanting everything to be perfect which led to fights and anxiety so don’t pull a Missy + instead take things slow 🙂
If you have questions about our home buying experience leave a comment + I’ll share more in the next post ♥
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