Changing things up...

I really wanted to keep this a professional blog, but as you can see, 4 months later, its not working for me. It's not that I don't have great insights to share, I just don't seem to have the discipline to keep up a professional blog. So I think I'll talk about other things like...

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!

It's been kind of a long process. We were pre-qualified back in January, and started the home search right away. The first house we looked at, we really liked. However, it was in the city and would require me to drive on the 380 death trap everyday. The upper level of the house was the master bedroom, and we weren't sure if that was really conducive for raising babies someday. Otherwise, the house was great and had everything we wanted in a first home. I just had this gut feeling that it wasn't the right house. It's the same feeling I had when I was offered a great full time job that paid well but I turned it down. The next day, I was hired at Kirkwood. So, I had a feeling there was something better for us. Plus, who really buys the first house they look at?

So we went house-shopping two more times, looking around Marion. We really didn't find anything that wouldn't require thousands of dollars of work. The last night, we went out to Springville, a small town outside of Marion with a pop. of 1000. There, we found a house we LOVED. It was totally redone on the inside, had 3 bedrooms on the same level, a finished basement with a sports bar, all appliances included, a fenced in backyard, and an oversized garage with a workstation. Its certainly no mansion, and its an older home, but its the perfect size for us, AND its in a small town. I'll be much more comfortable outside of CR.

We discussed our options, and after a roller coaster ride of "to buy or not to buy," we finally decided to put in an offer. Unfortunately, so did someone else. We had to put in a near full price offer, and after some negotiations about possession and concessions, we FINALLY signed a purchase contract.

The next step was inspections. Overall, the inspections showed the house was in great condition. There are a few electrical issues, which are being fixed by the seller. There was also elevated levels of Radon in the basement, but a mitigation system has been put in.

Now we are waiting on appraisal. Because our offer was high, the house could easily not appraise...then its back to start. We should find out by Friday.

I know I've made it sound like this was a painless process so far, but that wasn't really the case. The seller's realtor hasn't been the easiest to work with, and there was some issues with the seller at first. I guess they are selling the house to avoid foreclosure, so they don't have much money right now. They are taking out loans just to sell the home. That's why we're a bit nervous that if the house doesn't appraise, they won't be willing to renegotiate, especially after the work they've just put in with the electrical.

Close date is April 6th. We haven't started packing or given our notice yet just in case. I'll post pics as soon as I can!