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.