House Hunting

Yesterday I began in earnest the daunting task of shopping for a new house.

My very own, all mine, completely-responsible-for-all-the-bills-all-by-myself house.

Talk about a nervous wreck.

It is at this point that I realize exactly how SPOILED I am. I’ve always had somebody to do these things for me. I just had to keep it clean. But now, I find myself in unfamiliar territory. How do I know if it’s a good house? I mean, I can’t buy a house just because it has a garden tub; it has to be able to FUNCTION. Now I get to worry about things like the roof, the AC unit, and my personal favorite; mortgage insurance. WTF is mortgage insurance?

I find my brain reeling with all the new financial terms that I know I’ve heard before, but now have to comprehend. PMI. Amortization. Apprasals. Inspections. Realtor Commisions. Homeowners Associations. Every one of those terms has some masssive dollar amount attached to it, and if you’re not paying close attention, they’ll tack a few more on there just to see if you’ll catch it. It’s called the “Idiot Tax.”

Adding to the financial stress is the timeline; I have about a two week window to find the house so that I will have time to paint the house & make any decorating changes I choose before I have to move into it. Someone asked me why I won’t just rent for a couple months, to which I must answer, hell no. Not because I’m opposed to renting as much as I’m just opposed to moving TWICE. It’s bad enough I’m having to move ONCE, since it is against my will. But I can’t seem to convince my soon to be ex-husband to continue to pay for the house so that I can live in it. Can you imagine? Selfish bastard.

So, Day 1 was unsuccessful, but promising. It’s nice to know that I can afford what I want, as long as I keep my eye on the financial vultures. And by the end of this experience, I’ll have learned quite a few valuable lessons, one being the most important:

I can do it.

This entry was posted on April 4, 2007 at 9:58 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.



7 Responses to “House Hunting”

  1.   Selfish Bastard Says:
    April 4th, 2007 at 10:08 am

    You can ask for help, it won’t kill you. There are ways to tackle each one of those “terms” you talked about. I know you won’t ask me, so ask your loan officer. He is legally creative, expecially when it comes to PMI and loan fees. Also, there is not a sand clock telling you when your time is up….if you need it, just ask.

  2.   Selfish Bastard Says:
    April 4th, 2007 at 11:38 am

    ps - I now have the stupid movie quote - YOU CAAANNN DOOOOOO ITTTTTT” stuck in my head. It is almost as bad as the smurf’s theme song….la la laaaa la la laaaaaa laaaaaaa la

  3.   Kristie Says:
    April 4th, 2007 at 11:53 am

    Jackass.

  4.   Yoma Says:
    April 4th, 2007 at 3:14 pm

    ha!ha!

  5.   Edge Says:
    April 5th, 2007 at 5:21 am

    DO NOT buy a new house. Go to an established neighborhood. Location location location.

    ~Jef

  6.   salcam Says:
    April 5th, 2007 at 5:38 am

    Good luck, Kristie. Moving sucks, no two ways about it, but it’s such a RELIEF when it’s done. And think what you will have accomplished!

  7.   Jason Says:
    April 7th, 2007 at 7:33 am

    They are still building homes out in the Richmond neighborhood we’re buying in.