Home Buying Roadmap
I think I mentioned this in an earlier post, but this home-buying adventure is all-new for Beth and myself. In that light, I've developed a roadmap of the process, based on my limited understanding so far. There are a few grey areas which I've left out, namely lucky step #13.
1. Decide to buy home
2. Get finances in order
3. Hire a realtor
4. Start looking
5. Recover from sticker shock. (This usually involves alcohol.)
6. Find home
7. Place bid in form of signed contract to seller
8. Wait anxiously. (Alcohol comes in handy here too.)
9. Upon acceptance, fork over an escrow check for a few thousand.
10. Start paying for a battery of inspections, as well as a house appraisal.
11. If house is pre-owned, develop an unhealthy obsession with home improvement. (We are here.)
12. Pray for relatively good news on the inspections, and also hope the appraisal doesn't come in below the sale price.
13. ???
14. If everything goes well, sign a ton of papers on the closing date in the contract and wait for the sale to be recorded by the county.
15. Take possession of the new home.
Comments
We just bid on a 2 and a half bedroom, 4th floor walkup (the stairway needs to be replaced), in Hoboken, NJ. Unusually enough, the apartment has windows on all four sides, the neighboring buildings are only 3 stories high. It feels a bit like a tree-house. I guess that means it's a 100 year old penthouse. Asking price: $509,000. Bid: fougetaboutit.
Posted by: Enrique De La Huelga | February 7, 2005 06:25 AM
That's great news! Hopefully the inspections won't turn up anything ugly, and you guys'll be happy homeowners in no time.
The adventure doesn't end at step 15, however. Here's a taste of what might be in your future:
• Packing & moving day "hell"
• The surprise at discovering, when first walking into the empty house, that the property is smaller/smellier/needs more work than you remembered it from the last visit.
• The exhausted, yet exciting first night's sleep in the new house, when every sound, every creak, wakes you from your light slumber.
• Home Depot becomes your second home. It's scary when the cashiers get to know you by name.
It's all par for the course, but, in the end, being homeowners is worth it!
Posted by: Jean-Luc Dinsdale | February 10, 2005 02:06 AM
Congrats!
Let me add my own list from a recent new house buying experience... (similarities abound)
0. Get engaged and argue with wife to be about whose house to live in
1. Decide to buy new house together ;-)
2. Sticker shock and disbelief over "waiting lists" for new homes
3. Weekend trips to every housing development within 50 miles
4. Pairing down to a list of "our" favorites
5. Getting pre-approved for a mind-blowing amount of money that makes you giggle and cry at the same time
6. Add your name to the waiting lists of all the houses that you and the wife to be can actually agree upon
7. Wait
8. Return to favorite housing development showcase homes and dream about how you would arrange your furniture. Kiss office ladies asses, ie. "My you look beautiful today, did you lose some weight? BTW, did our name move up the list at all?"
9. - 20. Repeat steps 7 - 8
21. After annoying office ladies enough, they offer you a house someone else backed out of, that is exactly what you wanted and you avoid list of over 500 people... suckers! ;-)
22. Put money down and prepare to sell current house
23. Drive by dirt lot every other day to see if any progress has been made
24. Plan wedding, get married, sell current house, pay more money on new house upgrades then you ever thought possible
25. Drive by new home as it is being built and sneak in to make sure the builders are doing it right... lazy bastards! ;-)
26. Smile when you find out you've made $25k on unfinished home
27. Move out of current house and into 26" U-Haul
28. Moving day. No more needs to be said...
29. Fill another 26" U-Haul with new wife's stuff
30. Mix and unpack all of your and new wife's life's belongings
31. Argue over every single bit of furniture in ever single position, until you and new wife agree to disagree
32. Witness the dog enjoying the back yard of dirt
33. Officially file paperwork making Home Depot your second residence
34. 2 month long "backyard adventure" of dirt, watering systems, pavers, stones, rocks, bushes, trees, plants, sod, exterior lighting, waterfall...
35. Enjoy watching the dog digging up new dirt and sod and eating new bushes and trees
36. Enjoy buying new furniture with new wife
37. (Bonus fun!) Decide to have big family Christmas in new home
38. Paint, paint, paint
39. Remodel perfectly good bathrooms in new house
40. Take small solace in house going up $100k in 5 months
41. Enjoy bitching and moaning to anyone that will listen about your recent new wife/new house related experiences. ;-)
BTW, I advise drinking as a good quality coping mechanism for above experience.
Thanks for letting me vent, and congrats on the new home!
Posted by: Patrick | February 10, 2005 12:14 PM