I've been doing lots of research, online, through other people and through library books on buying a house. I've made the decision to go ahead with the homebuying process.
Today I met with a real estate agent, who went through all the local first time home buyer programs with me, helped me pick one. The house prices and mortgage payment he came up with based off my income and debt (which only consists of my student loan) is almost exactly what I had come up with through my own research. But the program has a better rate than I expected! It is based off credit, but according to the program prerequisites, as long as my FICO is more than 680, I qualify for that rate. (My FICO is over 700).
So Monday I will be calling that program to get a preapproval started. Next Saturday the agent & I are going to tour some houses.
I was very nervous about going to meet with him! I had several referrals for him and his company, so I was comfortable with my choice. But, I think I was afraid he'd tell me that I couldn't do it...unfounded fear, but mainly due to doing this by myself. We talked about some of my concerns and he was very patient with my questions. He also gave me some very good information--some I had alredy found out in my research, but its very reassuring that he is saying things I knew to be right for me.
So I am in super frugal mode. I don't want to spend any uneccessary money. I'm making lists of things I have for the house, things I'll need and things I want.
Tonight my nephew is sleeping over. My roommates are out of town, so he's enjoying running around without bothering anyone. We watched XMen (a movie I already own). I made spaghetti (his favorite meal other than McDonalds). Now he's sleeping and I finally am sharing my good news!
Tomorrow I'll clean the house (make it nice for the roommates to come home to). I have laundry and schoolwork. I'm going to make some of my premade meals. I have to skip the sloppy joe & spaghetti sauce that I was going to make and freeze. THe advertisement for the cheap ground beef was misleading. I'll wait til there's a better deal. After all that, then I plan to watch a few library movies & relax.
I'll keep you updated on my progress. I'm happy & nervous about my decision. I did talk to my parents about this and they've been very supportive. It means a great deal to me. Plus, its nice to know that they think I'm making the right decisions.
starting the home buying process
August 13th, 2006 at 02:16 am
August 13th, 2006 at 02:46 am 1155437167
August 13th, 2006 at 02:48 am 1155437326
August 13th, 2006 at 04:24 pm 1155486253
August 15th, 2006 at 09:35 pm 1155677733
I also want to thank you for the library advice on how you dealt with their lousy system (re: missing books). I'll remember that if it ever happens to me again.