People say that buying a house is one of the most stressful things you will go through in your life. I heard this a million times before, during and after we went through the home buying process, and I am here (still standing and only a little bruised) to offer my two sense on the matter.
Disclaimer… While I believe that my experience was fairly “typical”, buying a house is an extremely personal experience, with so many variables tied to your own unique situation that come into play. I hope to offer some advice on how to stay sane, how to research, and how to make this as fun as possible, but please understand that I can only speak from my own experience.
So with that… Let’s begin!
Part 1: Timing is everything!
Big shocker here… This is probably the biggest purchase you have made so far in your life…times about 700%…so before you even begin “just looking” make sure you’re ready! Tony and I had talked about buying a house for a while, but between finishing grad school and planning a wedding, the timing hadn’t been quite right. However once we were ready, we jumped in with full force, and in a matter of just a few months we were home owners! So if you’re anything like me, once you start getting into something, it’s really hard to just back off. Even after your first open house, no matter how small and run down the place is, you start thinking about how your furniture might fit, where you’ll host Thanksgiving dinner, and how your non-existent kids will walk to school. That’s normal, right? Right??? 
So in order to determine if this is the right time for you, here are some things to consider:
1. Do you and/or a partner have a stable job with a steady income?
2. Are you ready and willing to stay put for an extended period of time?
3. Have you been able to build up a savings account?
4. How’s that credit card debt from your shopping habit treatin’ ya?
5. A pipe is leaking… Are you freaking out???
So after you’ve sold your Uggs and coach purses to build up your savings, feel confident that you have enough “padding” to cover a mortgage for 3 months should your company go bankrupt, watched 100 YouTube videos on Home Repair for Dummies, and decided that living in Anytown USA for the next 5-10 years is ok because there are 2 Starbucks within walking distance… Maybe it’s time to jump on the home buying bandwagon!
Coming up next…
Part 2: The Search in ON!
Nice! Parts were stressful for us but overall I thought the experience was rewarding and interesting.
So good to hear, Kim!! Any words of wisdom???
I wrote a blog about it when we bough tour house actually!
http://domestocrat.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/first-time-home-buying-why-buy/
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