So... we bought a house

Funny story, actually.  Remember how a couple months ago I mentioned Matt and I were warming up to the idea of home ownership?  Turns out, it is pretty easy to just take the plunge.  Some friends here had been talking about it, so we had been comparing notes as we were both shopping for mortgages.  That really got the momentum started.  Then we thought, well, the easiest way to learn about the next step is to talk to an agent.  You know, learn a little more about the community, get a feel for what our price range would get us.  We just wanted to more the conversation forward. We ended up working with Mom and Dad's agent, because she was great with them and really knows the area well.  And we've known her since college.

This was the end of October.  The summer peak was well past, and there is certainly some evidence that the Seattle housing market is regaining strength.  There weren't many homes in the locations and price range we were looking at, and those that were there tended to move quickly.  We warmed up pretty quickly to the idea that we weren't going to have a lot of time to think about the choice to make an offer.  "Sleeping on it" was just not in the cards.  That's fine.  We weren't in a rush to buy a place, so if we missed a few good ideas, that's ok.  It might even give us a chance to learn about the next steps in the whole process before we really get beholden to a home.

On maybe our second weekend looking at homes, we saw a place that seemed like it could work.  I mean, we have no idea what we are doing, but this place seemed like the right size and it's near our current place, so the location didn't feel like a gamble.  Why not roll the dice and put in an offer?  It'll give us a chance to learn what that is like, right?  That would be good, right, since we are going to have to do this a whole bunch of time. There were three offers on this house, so we pretty much wouldn't have to go through with this. WRONG.  Offer accepted.  Oh.  Now we get to learn about all the other stuff you do when you are buying a house.  Like call your mortgage guy in a panic to explain you'd like to close in 6 weeks that have 12 holidays in between. And second guess why you've been living in this neighborhood in the first place. Or suddenly learn everything about home interiors when you go for an inspection.

And this is when it started getting messy (as if blithely putting an offer in on a house your first week at a new job doesn't seem dicey enough).  The inspection... wasn't that good.  It wasn't terrible mind, but the home wasn't worth what we had offered to pay for it.  And the seller didn't feel that this was something they needed to help us with- they did have other offers.  While I was battling with this uncomfortable decision (Keep the house and be up to our eyebrows in debt and home repairs?  Will we ever find anything better? Maybe this is just what buying a home is like), Matt was being strategic.  He identified a nearby home that seemed similar, but less likely to have the issues of the first home (which needs new roof, water heater and furnace).  He and the agent went to look at it, and, even though it cost more, they both felt like the price was justified because it was in better condition.  By this time, Matt knew how to look for the service record on a water heater, right?

So, with a week to make up our mind on the first home, I was convinced to go look at the new place.  It is... in the same cul-de-sac as the first one.  That felt a little weird.  And it is really huge- and I wanted a tiny house (low foot-print, utilities, maintenance etc).  But... it was really nice.  And affordable.  And had the location benefits of the first place.  (We can walk to Trader Joe's!) Sure, that seems good and all, but the first house looked nice too, when we went there.  An inspection will probably reveal $20,000 of imminant repairs.  Our agent- who I must trust implicitly- said there is only one was to know for sure.

We took a deep breath and put an offer in on the second house.

My heart aches when I think there were a couple days when we were talking out of both sides of our mouths about owing some three quarters of a MILLION DOLLARS in Totem Lake real estate.  I trusted out agent to find a way where we wouldn't end up paying anyone all that money.  The second offer was accepted. We had an inspection performed immediately.  And the results were... fine.  Really.  The house needs CO monitors.  And the fan in the bathroom is janky.  We had been told about the age of the water heater, and that was negotiated in.  There was nothing in this house was could even come close to $20,000 in repairs.  Matt rejected the negotiations on the first house at the inspection- even if we opted not to take the second house, it confirmed the hypothesis that not all houses are expensive disasters in progress.

We decided to move ahead. We are buying house #2- the bigger house, the nicer house, the house with the good roof.  Yeah, that's gonna be our house. Our closing date is currently January 24.  This is a much longer time frame, as well, which is giving us time to think about being home owners.  What are we gonna do with all those rooms?  And space?  And the hot tub.  Will we ever do anything but sit in the hot tub?