House Blogging

Big plans afoot. Our mortgage was conditionally approved (pending proof of hazard insurance, and copies of some papers), so if all goes according to plan we should close before the end of June! We're so thrilled. We've both been renting now for upwards of 15 years apiece, so having a place to call our own is going to be huge. I think it will feel really, really different to be living in our own place, that we create together, and I can't wait to experience that.

Since we thought we'd be living in our current rental for the foreseeable future, we already did a lot of little DIY improvements here and there. For example, N put dimmers in most of the rooms, we painted several rooms (or painted them halfway), and added some lighting fixtures and other little details to spruce up the place. But we always did them as cheaply as possible and in a sort of comprised way, since this was a rental. So owning a place and being able to do things the right way and just the way we want to do them is going to be huge.

And in that spirit, we plan on documenting the whole process, from soup to nuts, from ripped out, pee-stained carpet to dismantled ceiling tiles. And we'll be doing it all on a new blog. Title not yet determined, nor host (I have trouble making my photos look the way I want them to on Blogger, so I'm thinking of trying out a different blogging platform--suggestions welcome!) nor launch date, although I guess we better get going ASAP. N and I will both be contributing, so stay tuned!

It's Happening

We're under contract! We walked through the house with an inspector last Friday and a contractor this morning, and the resident is already starting to move things out onto the sidewalk. Oh, which house, you ask? Oh, um, well....this one. That first one described there in that post.

Yeah, I know, I'm going to eat my words. Something compelled me to go back and look at this house, despite my initial--and, I see now in re-reading that post--overwhelming misgivings. I think part of my reluctance in thinking the single-family home could not possibly be salvageable was because I didn't think N would be on board with the renovations. But when he saw it, saw that it was in a great neighborhood (our current one), and was an actual house that we could actually afford the mortgage on, I think he got really excited. Frankly, I think he's excited to do the demolition. Ripping down the ceilings, ripping up carpet, knocking down walls. Guys love that sort of thing.

But circumstances have conspired to make this a really good time for us to buy. There is the $8,000 tax credit that Obama is giving first-time homebuyers who purchase a house before December 1, 2009. The low, low interest rate our mortgage broker locked in for us last Friday, even before we had a signed contract, because our realtor assured him we would definitely be going under contract (4.5% people!!!). And because this house does need so much work, we got it for a low, low price. We figure our sweat equity over the next 5 years will be like our second job, making the house pay off down the line if we decide to sell and move into something larger (or something with a yard). Our broker thinks that with the location we're in, we'll probably be able to sell for double the purchase price in 5-7 years. And, no matter how you slice it, the mortgage, even with property taxes and hazard insurance added in, will be less than what we're currently paying in rent. So, I think financially, we're making a wise move, despite the many, many weekends of home improvement we have coming up.

And yes, I realize I'll be trying to live down that blog post for months to come.