BREAKING NEWS!! WOOHOO!!

March 21, 2011

I told myself I could have chocolate if I blog first. I’ve reached such heights (lows?) of craziness that I have to bribe myself to accomplish things that I truly like to do.

The news here is, we bought a house!

To be precise, they accepted our offer and we are under contract. There are still inspections and appraisals and explanations and signatures and checks. But, for the most part, we are moving toward owning a two level condo across town. It’s not hugely bigger than our current apartment, but we’re looking at close 200 more square feet, a 2^nd bedroom, a small yard area, an attic, and a big ol’ kitchen for yours truly to play in. And the coup de grace? The monthly mortgage payment and condo fees equal less than we were paying in rent when we first moved into the apartment. All in all? HUGO MUNGO UPGRADO!!!

That’s my new language I just made up.

What’s funny about our story is that we were pretty much ready to give up on the whole house thing. We had contacted our real estate agent after we got back from the honeymoon and gotten prequalified, but my credit score only qualified us for a Guaranteed Rural Housing loan. In laymen’s terms, they give you a 100% loan (no down payment) but you have to buy in a rural area. And in Northern Virginia, rural usually means yuppy, McMansion, rich-folk land. And expensive. If you want to live close enough to commute but far enough to be considered country, you are going to pay the price. We tried really hard to find something in our price range but it was just impossible. So we waited for our credit score to go up.

And when we were finally approved for an FHA loan (3% down), there was nothing, NOTHING in our price range that was not in a really bad neighborhood. And we started to get scared of adding more money to our budget, of having to tighten our belts when we had just gotten used to being able to buy our own groceries. Maybe we should just stay where we’re at and appreciate the cheapness.

Then we got the rent letter. Our rent was going up higher than what our stupid apartment is worth. But there was no way we were going to be able to find another apartment for any cheaper. We were so literally stuck between a rock and a hard place, we just needed a place to live! And at this point as long as I have Hubs and Bo and a working bathroom I am a happy girl. Add a roof and we’d be set. Too bad roofs and working bathrooms don’t come for free.

And then it came in my email! A house that was going for SUPER CHEAP and it wasn’t even on the market yet! We’d get first dibs! We were there the next day and it was PERFECT! So we put an offer in and, BAM, we got it the next day!

Literally, on Wednesday I was thinking about living in my car for fiscal reasons and on Friday night toasting to homeownership.

I think I’ve got whiplash from how quickly life took a turn around.

So, now onto the adventure of buying the home. And then!!!

THEN my friends, onto the adventure of seriously decorating my own home! BF is kind of along for the ride on this one… not sure if he knows what he’s gotten himself into… Don’t worry, he’s got a man cave which I am calling his office. Because it’s not an office. And I appreciate juxtaposition.

For now, living in this. And ready for bigger, better things.

 Greetings from the Great Wall of Our Crap! Weather is here, wish it was beautiful... oy.