Home Buying

Did anyone ever tell you that buying a home is difficult and time consuming? No? Well it is! (I'm loving starting this off like I've been extremely busy with purchasing a home instead of obsessing over Netflix so much that I'm watching movies regardless of how good they are and rewatching seasons of "Monk" and "Scrubs"...that is in between deliveries of "Gilmore Girls" DVDs--that and writers block.)

1. Going through the ugly to get to "the one." About 7 emails are sent back and forth to the real estate agent to establish a meeting. You then stress over making sure you actually meet the right person. Then you are grateful that your agent offers to buy you a drink at Starbucks, but their sizes are weird and you accidentally order the largest so it looks like you're ordering the most expensive and thus a horrible first impression. Then after your horrible first impression your agent will drive you around and show you what (s)he thinks is a good fit for you. (Which is a stressful aspect for any introvert--every time the conversation lulled I panicked and couldn't think of anything to bring it to start again.) Unless your agent finds "the one" on the first go, you have to figure out nice ways to tell her that the current house you're viewing is crappy/not what you want at all/needs too much work/has a bad smell and you're not sure it will come out/disgusting/weird/in a sketchy part of town.
2. The paperwork. Now that you've found your home you have the lovely task of signing a million different documents and trying to choose everything you want to get out of buying your house--which means meeting with your agent at the office as well as the lad(y) who decides whether or not you get the bundle of money to help pay for your home. If you're like me you won't know the lay of the land where you're moving or anywhere where people are located, so you'll end up getting to the area an hour before your appointment because you drove faster than you intended and you were wanting a little extra time to prepare for traffic/mistakes. Then you realize you're grateful for the extra hour because you can't find the place at all. After looping around the area 3 times you pull into a Chick-fil-a parking lot and beg your husband to save you because you're lost. After all that, you end up being late to your meeting. Lovely. Your agent then describes all the documents you're signing and helps you figure out how to decide what you want to put in for your offer. At the very end of all this, the agent will smile sweetly and tell you that this could have all been done electronically. *facepalm* You, however, are too hungry/weak from not eating because you were to nervous that morning to even be hungry that you don't care
3. The biggest "you puddin' head" mistake of all. Don't tell everyone and their mother that you are hiring a moving company to do the move. Don't brag on and on that yeah you're tired of moving and aren't going to go through all that this time. AND FOR THE SAKE THAT ALL THAT IS HOLY Do Not Tell People that you don't need their help. Because guess what? That's going to bite you on your butt! You're going to finally get a quote from the movers and find out that to actually have what you've been boasting about you are going to have to pay more than your mortgage payment. Then you will have to turn around and beg your friends and family to help you because there is no way that you can afford that!

On the plus side the picture that I mentioned here is back up! The seller must have reposted the house. :-)

Couldn't they have done some fresh pics though?