We're buying a house!

Less than two weeks ago, E and I first saw a townhouse not far from where we live now. We now have a contract on that townhouse, our very first home purchase. It has been a whirlwind!

We had only recently entered the home-buying arena; the stars called “low interest rates” and “a buyer’s market” seemed to align and suggest that we look for a house, and we had been giving house-hunting some thought since the winter. We looked at one detached house about a month ago and then realized that there was no way we could afford a detached house in the crazy-expensive city where we live. We despaired for a while, and wondered if we should just can the whole idea. We really wanted a home that was truly ours so we could make changes, and we wanted a house because we wanted a yard where we could garden and watch birds, squirrels and bunnies. And we wanted to live in town so that we could walk to do things in our community and keep E’s work commute reasonable and bikeable. The suburbs just do not appeal to us; we want to live where we work, and vice versa. I grew up in the ‘burbs, and while I certainly had a lovely childhood, I do not feel any desire to live a suburban life as an adult. Both E and I want to be part of our community, and we feel that living and working in the same place is an important part of making that happen. When you get off work, you don’t escape to somewhere else…you just go home, and home is here.

Anyway, we emerged from our despair when we saw a listing for a townhouse in our neighborhood. We like the neighborhood where we are currently renting a lot…nice folks, easy walking access to the grocery store, the bank, the neighborhood coffee shop, and the gym, great bus access so E’s commute is easy, etc. We had not really thought much about a townhouse, but we realized it would solve one of our biggest annoyances with apartment living: no one would be stomping around above our heads because the upstairs would be ours too! When we read that this place also had a deck, we realized that we could continue to garden in pots, as we do on our current balcony. So we thought what the hay…let’s go take a look.

We absolutely loved it. It just felt like us: lovely wood exterior which blended in with the surrounding trees, pretty wood windows inside, three floors, plenty of space, nice open feel. And the deck was certainly big enough for a garden in pots, plus a couple of bird feeders, and chairs for us to enjoy all of this. There was even some open land behind the home that we could probably use for additional gardening. The house was a corner townhouse, so only one wall was shared with neighbors. The home spoke to both of us strongly. It seemed to say, “you’re home now. This is what you’ve been waiting for…don’t let someone else live here in your house!”

We first saw the house on a Saturday. We looked at a couple of other townhouses on Monday, and neither of them did a thing for us. We saw the first townhouse again on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, we decided to make an offer on it. By Thursday evening, we knew it was ours, and by Friday morning, we were officially under contract. In less than a week’s time, we went from not being sure about living in a townhouse to signing a contract on one. Life is full of surprises!

I am like a yo-yo when it comes to how I feel about my impending home ownership. One moment, I’m so happy and excited. The next moment, I wonder how anyone could possibly think I’m grown up enough to give me a mortgage! I worry that everything is going to break in the house the moment we move in (not likely, I realize, and the inspector does not think it’s likely either). I wonder if we will miss the relatively carefree life of renting. And I don’t relish the thought of having to pack up and move AGAIN after just doing it last summer. But I also think joyfully about a future that WILL NOT include loud neighbors having marching drills (or so it sounds like sometimes) above our heads, drunken screaming in the parking lot at 2:00 am, and dull, always-white walls. It will be so, so nice to make our new home OURS in every way that we want to. It’s going to be wonderful…if we can just survive until closing. ;-)

Speaking of closing, it’s July 22. So please think good thoughts for us that day. July 22 is the birthday of one of my oldest and dearest friends, so I feel like that’s a very fortunate bit of good karma. I’ll be so glad when we have the keys and the house is truly ours. Give us a couple of weeks to get settled, and then let the visiting commence! We’d love to share our new home with our friends and family. We’ll see you at our house! :-)