It’s All Over But the Shoutin’!

THE HOUSE IS OURS!!

We made the offer on 5/9, and since then it’s been a whirlwind of calls, emails and paperwork. Within added dose of frustration and a dash of nervousness.

But we did it. Our final walk through is on 6/14, and our closing is on 6/17. And when we move, my work commute is cut IN HALF. *praise dances*

Not only are we getting our earnest money back, but also our appraisal fee. Can you say, “new furniture for the baby?” 🙂

Everything – and I mean life in general – has been happening so fast in the past calendar year. I wouldn’t change any of it. Marriage, baby and house – it’s like a trifecta of WINNING, folks.

I logged in to work last night (friggin corporate America) and even the landlord got on board and emailed me with an apology for the delay, and let us know they’ll be putting a lock box on the rental house today so they can start showing the house to potential renters. Now I’m challenged with getting HH to keep the kitchen and bathroom clean. *facepalm* LOL! If all goes well, we’ll only have July rent and they’ll have a new renter by August 1st.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us, crossed fingers and toes, and sent positive vibes.

Now – who wants to help me pack boxes? 🙂

House Hunting – Update

Last time I posted about the house hunt, we were taking a break, because our realtor had kidney stones. Well, he recovered, and our hunt is on fast forward!

HH sent me a MLS and I immediately fell in love with the house based on the photos. It has everything we need, and a lot of wants. A 4 bedroom ranch is rare. And it’s a split ranch! It even has laminate floors.

After we saw the house, we moved fast to make an offer. Not wanting to play games, we offered them what they asked for. They tried to ask for more, but we stuck to our guns and by the end of that day, they accepted our offer!

Now we’re in the midst of the tedious portion of the house buying. HH has submitted all paperwork for the VA loan, which is approved. We’re in the due diligence period and we’ve sent the seller a list of repairs, based on the inspection report. The house was built 19 years ago, so I’m not too surprised at the inspection. I think the report looks scarier than it is.

We are just waiting to hear back from the seller. I hope that he’s amenable to taking care of the bigger issues, because I really love this house.

The last order of business would also be for our current landlord to get this house back on the market and rented, so that we don’t have to be responsible for the last three months of the lease.

Wish us luck!

House Hunters on Hold

So, the house hunt is on pause. Our realtor has kidney stones. Bless his heart! I hope they’re small enough to pass and not need surgery. Either way, he’s gonna be in pain. We like him so we’ll wait. We have a few months leeway, since our lease isn’t up until 9/30.

In other news, the bestest husband ever greeted me with this surprise when I got home:

A dress and some tops from NY & Co. I have really been trying to stay out of that store, because I tend to lose my mind in there. I was saying that I needed some tops for spring, and he took it and ran with it. 🙂 And he was super savvy with it – several red line and sale items! Just how I would’ve shopped. He picked everything himself.

He also got a lawn mower today. Our yard was looking a little “Jungle Book.” Per our lease, we are responsible for the maintenance. I have a feeling this will become CH’s chore until he leaves for his summer in NY. LOL

This has been a sad week for our country. Honestly, while I like to be informed, I find that the news – and social media displays of the news – tend to overwhelm me at times like this. I really haven’t been watching much news this year. Between HH and twitter I tend to stay informed. I just struggle when I let a lot of negativity in. Which conflicts with my feelings that a responsible adult would be well versed in the goings and comings of the world. I guess twitter is my way of reconciling those two things.

Now HH? When I come home (on his days off) he’s watching local news, CNN, HLN, MSNBC, and even Faux Fox News. I usually leave him in the living room with that. He tells me what I need to know.

They are about to realign some units at work. There will be casualty units and then litigation/large loss units. Given that my current unit lead is a lawyer, I know he’s going to end up with a litigation unit. Which means I won’t get to stay under him. This seriously makes me sad. Like, teary eyed sad. He has made this first year awesome. I don’t want to work under anyone else! Ugh. It’s not that I can’t, because I can pretty much work with anyone. I just plain don’t want to. Oh well. Change is a part of life. I’m continuing to roll with it.

One Step Closer

A few weeks ago, I asked for a suggestion for a real estate agent in the area. My friend Kelley, whom I love and trust, recommended the agent who helped her parents buy their house. Cool! Our schedules kept conflicting, but finally we found a day where myself, HH and said agent were able to sit down and talk.

I learned more about the home buying process in this one appointment than I ever knew before. Although it sounds intimidating, I’m confident that Bill (the agent), is the right person to help us with this undertaking.

And in the kismet/karma/six degrees of separation department, he’s from NY, and grew up with the man who is now the pastor of the church I grew up in. What are the chances? They are still very good friends. We had a good laugh about that.

The side of town we’ve chosen to live on, means that we’re going to sacrifice house size for convenience of the commute. I feel like, as long as we find the right house, I can be ok with that.

I think we’re ready to take on this process. Our next task is to review and sign the contract with the real estate agent, and let him know what neighborhoods we like. Oh, and make sure we have enough money for all these costs. This would be a good time to win the lottery.

Wish us luck!