In retrospect: Our First Home

My husband had been following the real estate market where he was living for several months before we were engaged. He knew that he was ready to buy a new home to prepare himself someday for a wife and a family. Although there was not the housing boom of years past, the market was looking better and better for first time home buyers. He wanted to make sure he had a house that he could call his own and have ready for a wife and family.

He did not realize that the wife was sooner than later and the hopes for a family would be following not much longer after. He became more serious about finding a home when we rekindled our re-new-ed relationship in March. He started looking at homes and asking my opinions on what kind of house we wanted and what kind of neighborhoods we would like to live. It was not just looking for a home for him and someday a wife. That wife was beginning to look a lot more like me and we began to look at homes together. We started looking at homes in the same neighborhood he was already living and a few other homes in nearby neighborhoods as well. I did not know much about the area where I might be soon calling home so it was up to Kris to pick a safe neighborhood in a nice part of town that we could afford to live.

Shortly after we were engaged, he found a nice house for sale in the same area where he was already renting. It became apparent that we had to make a move fast if we even wanted a shot at buying the house. There were already several bids on the house and it only been listed for a couple days. He followed the listing very closely throughout the day and he soon realized that he had to make a move that day if he was to have a fair chance at purchasing the house. The only problem is I was nearly two hours away and had only seen the house in pictures. I was not comfortable with him making a bid on a house for both of us to live that I had only seen in pictures. It was a two hour drive and I was still at work for a few more hours. I was not sure I could make it be able to see the house. He already made an appointment to see it later in the afternoon and was ready to make a bid if necessary. I was just was not too sure. I wanted to see the house. I wanted to make sure that we both could live there and someday raise a family. I wanted to make sure that we could make the house into a home.

After a few hours of back and forth, I was finally able to make some arrangements to get off work early to meet Kris and the realtor. It was a long drive for a just a few hours to see Kris but I knew it would be worth it if this turned out to be the home of our dreams. Kris was almost certain that he wanted to bid on the house but just had to make sure I approved. I could not do so without having seen the house myself.

When we first saw the house, Kris was certain that this was the home he wanted to buy. For the price they were asking and what he had now seen in person, he knew that this was the house that he could make a home with his wife and raise a family. For me, there were so many uncertainties.This was only the second or third home that we actually had seen together. I was happy to see that the house seemed to not need much work as far as repairs and the previous owners had taken pretty good care of the home before trying to sell it. There was a nice fence in the backyard and was large enough for children to safely run around and play. The kitchen was nice and open where you could see out into the living room. It had a large pantry but the red paint made it stick out like a sore thumb between the breakfast nook and dining room. The painting in the bedrooms were a little bit less to be desired. The yellow faux brick and Egyptian pyramid feel made me think I might be lying in a sarcophagus. Kris was amazed by the detail and was hoping I would grow to like it. The house was smaller than I hoped although I knew we could make it work for a few years before needing a bigger house.

After looking at the house for the first time, we had only a few hours to decide whether we wanted to put in a bid. There were already three other offers and we had to make a pretty impressive deal in order to catch the eye of the bank. We both were still uncertain. I was not certain it was the house of my dreams and Kris was not certain he could bid on a house that I where I would not be comfortable. We decided to go out to dinner and weigh out the pros and cons.

Dinner seemed to last forever. We each laid out all our concerns. We each laid out pros and cons. We took every matter into consideration. We knew as a short sale this would be a long wait and we could wind up disappointed in the very end. We knew we could have to begin all over again with the same results if this was to not go through. In the end we decided to make a bid. We made a fair bid over the asking price with a fair amount to be put into escrow. We were not privy to know the amount of the other bids but Mike our Realtor did tell us that we put in a very good bid that stood a fighting chance even though one of the other bids was cash. All four bids were submitted to the bank the next day and we just had to sit and wait to see if our bid would win out although we came in at the very last minute.

It was a long wait for us to hear from Mike or the whether our bid was going to be accepted. We heard relatively quickly that our bid was the only bid being considered but it was long wait to hear if it would be accepted. The two banks who had liens on the house were trying to figure out how to settle both loans and it left us to just sit back and wait. Several months went by and we continued to check the market for available houses. There were not many houses that compared to both price and size of the house we were already considering. But more than once we considered walking away and starting over. We did not want to have to start the whole process over and wait again but we both were getting frustrated and wanted to be certain we would have a house to live in after we were married. Despite not wanting to start over, the frustration of waiting and not knowing had us almost walk away up until a few weeks before closing. We tried to make a few other offers to try and sweeten the deal for whichever lender was keeping our hands tied but our realtor told us to just keep hanging in there. Finally after waiting nearly four months, we were able to have the house inspected. We thought things would move a little faster but we waited another 6 weeks before we were finally able to close on the house.

On December 7, 2009 after nearly waiting 6 months to finalize the deal, we closed on our very first house. We started very quickly on changes and repairs that needed to be made on the house. The first two were to paint the master and guest bedrooms.

Our first home

Looking back on our journey through purchasing our first home together, I realize that even though this was not house of my dreams it was to become the home that I would come home to after I got married. It was the doors of the first home we would walk through together as husband and wife. It was the first house that we would make a home together. It will always be the first house we called home together. It may not have been everything I wanted but it is more than I need and less than what I want. It is our home sweet home.