House hunting is definitely an emotional roller coaster! You fall in love with a house but its not a guarantee you will get it. It's a long waiting game - well torture game. You would think a bank would want to make the money and get rid of the house but instead it seems to be on the backburner. AND then you have those realtors who make it a game, dangling an awesome home over several potential homeowners and investors. I know its a game of free market but how can I even compete when I cannot pay as much as others. Are you going to deny me a good house in a good neighborhood because I don't have the income? And by good I don't mean a pool, huge yard, and fancy cars... I am talking about safe, no shootings, no flood plain, etc. This first time home buyer is getting discouraged being outbid by investors and having houses taken from under my feet.
We put an offer on a house.. cute little place with a small but private back yard. I know we had to be one of the first to put an offer but you know how it goes.. The Realtor is waiting to receive offers to essentially choose the best. Should you not at least consider the offers that came in first?
It's a double edged sword. Scott and I are frustrated enough but it is a lesson in trust as well. God will provide. He has the right house for us and we have to have patience and trust in Him.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Support One Another
One thing couples struggle with is the concept of I instead of Team. It is not all about you or me it's about WE! Well part of being a team is being supportive of each other. I took a bold step in applying for Teach for America. If you know anything about the program, it has A LOT of uncertainty. I submitted my resignation letter in February to leave in May. And I applied for a job for fall in March, though I may not hear if I even have a job until Fall semester starts. I essentially will be teaching for free over the summer and paying for family housing with no income guaranteed. It is really nerve wracking and on top of that few people, especially parents, are not exactly the most supportive of the uncertainty. It takes a lot of trust in God on my part that I am doing the right thing and a lot of trust in me from Scott. This trust alone can only be shown in a marriage, in love. I will never truly be able to understand his devotion but I will always try to do the same for him. I know I don't give myself enough credit for what I do, but it scares me to think about teaching in front students. To think their futures are in my hands, that anything and everything I do will sway them for good or worse. I hope for the first however only time will tell. It scares me but it motivates me to do even more, to be better. To do more for them and to be the best. I think his support goes deep enough to trust in God that everything will work out but to also know that I will be a great teacher.. I think he thinks its what I am meant to be and it is humbling.
House Hunting Begins
House Hunting is definitely stressful - no matter what anyone tells you! I'll try and walk you through the process and we go through a series of mistakes and successes. Fortunately my uncle is a realtor, so he has been able to coach me from another state on the general process. The first thing you need to do when going to look for a house is to get pre qualified for a home loan. Essentially you should get 3 (THREE) pre qualifications to see which company gives you the best deal. It is suggested to do a commercial bank, one of the large banks (Wells Fargo/Bank of America/Etc), and one of your choice. The one we decided on of the three was Fidelity. The lady we are working with just turned out to be the most responsive and educational with us. For the pre qual you will need your W2's, a pay statement, your bills, and bank account statements (a few other documents will be needed based on the company). After they have made their calculations, you will receive a letter stating how much you qualify for and this amount should be what you base your home search on!
Ok, now that the pre qual has been taken care of you can find yourself a realtor. Now, I cannot explain perfectly the difference but I will try to explain my understanding... there is a difference between real estate agent and realtor. A real estate agent is working trying to sell as many houses as possible. A realtor has gone through extra training and has signed a national pledge to be customer focused. So yes, a realtor is also trying to sell houses but they are doing it on the interest of the customer. A realtor is also typically paid by the seller not by the buyer.
We found a local realtor who has so far been phenomenal. She definitely has my interest in sight and does what she can to put me first. The realtor will send us links to houses and we converse about homes until we schedule a date to go out to see them.
After we find a home she will take care of all the paperwork and we just sign the documents. Stephanie is also very good at explaining what things are. Especially with my uncle being so far she is easy to get in touch with and explains what different loans are, what escrow is, what we need to be looking for, and explaining the rest of the process.
We had our first outing with her last week. The houses progressed from worst to best. The worst - well one room had a dog locked in it, and I am pretty sure the dog was never EVER taken out... The second was a nice layout but the kitchen was outdated and the carpet/tile... well it was in the wrong decade for sure! The final house was perfect by far, especially for our price range. We put an offer but as everything, it was too good to be true. Someone had put an offer before us and we lost the house.
Scott has drill for the Army this weekend and won't be in town. My parents and I are going to do a preliminary drive around to see what other houses are available and taking lots of pictures. We will see what we can find before going out with Stephanie again next Wednesday! Maybe we'll be able to put in another offer!
Ok, now that the pre qual has been taken care of you can find yourself a realtor. Now, I cannot explain perfectly the difference but I will try to explain my understanding... there is a difference between real estate agent and realtor. A real estate agent is working trying to sell as many houses as possible. A realtor has gone through extra training and has signed a national pledge to be customer focused. So yes, a realtor is also trying to sell houses but they are doing it on the interest of the customer. A realtor is also typically paid by the seller not by the buyer.
We found a local realtor who has so far been phenomenal. She definitely has my interest in sight and does what she can to put me first. The realtor will send us links to houses and we converse about homes until we schedule a date to go out to see them.
After we find a home she will take care of all the paperwork and we just sign the documents. Stephanie is also very good at explaining what things are. Especially with my uncle being so far she is easy to get in touch with and explains what different loans are, what escrow is, what we need to be looking for, and explaining the rest of the process.
We had our first outing with her last week. The houses progressed from worst to best. The worst - well one room had a dog locked in it, and I am pretty sure the dog was never EVER taken out... The second was a nice layout but the kitchen was outdated and the carpet/tile... well it was in the wrong decade for sure! The final house was perfect by far, especially for our price range. We put an offer but as everything, it was too good to be true. Someone had put an offer before us and we lost the house.
Scott has drill for the Army this weekend and won't be in town. My parents and I are going to do a preliminary drive around to see what other houses are available and taking lots of pictures. We will see what we can find before going out with Stephanie again next Wednesday! Maybe we'll be able to put in another offer!
Date Night
One piece of advice I have for any newly wed couple is actually something we picked up at
premarital class, and something we've noticed most healthy married couples do. Funny thing but Scott and I have made it a priority to have a date night once a week. Yes - you can date your spouse! We do a bit of everything from every price range. We've gone to that expensive restaurant and we've also done the redbox movie night. Make it what you want but make it something that you both enjoy. Take that extra time to talk about life, about how you're doing, and things that have happened since the last time you were able to slow down time together. Funny to say but we don't see each other as much as before the wedding. Life seemed to take off and between work and school we see each other every night but it may be for a shooter amount of time, and it is really tough. That makes the date nights more important and more of a priority for both of us.
premarital class, and something we've noticed most healthy married couples do. Funny thing but Scott and I have made it a priority to have a date night once a week. Yes - you can date your spouse! We do a bit of everything from every price range. We've gone to that expensive restaurant and we've also done the redbox movie night. Make it what you want but make it something that you both enjoy. Take that extra time to talk about life, about how you're doing, and things that have happened since the last time you were able to slow down time together. Funny to say but we don't see each other as much as before the wedding. Life seemed to take off and between work and school we see each other every night but it may be for a shooter amount of time, and it is really tough. That makes the date nights more important and more of a priority for both of us.
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