New House!

Where did the past year go? I realized haven't written much since August (other than my Peru trip), because I had a lot going on and unfortunately no time to write about it. I do have some exciting news on what has been going on though......

I bought a house! 

I guess that officially makes me an adult! It's in Manassas, VA and is just gorgeous if I do say so myself!

Why a house:

It all started knowing that my lease at my apartment would be up in February. I needed to decide if I was going to continue to lease there, or elsewhere, or if I'm going to be in the area longer.  Unfortunately in this area, the rent is outrageous and townhouses cost just about as much as a house, but are less maintenance and less space. So my thought was if I'm going to spend the same amount, if not less, then I might as well get the best value for my money, so a house it is! I think I ended up looking at about 30 houses in person, and several hundred online. The house search apps such as Zillow and Redfin were helpful in filtering out what I was looking for in my price range. I was told that I would pretty much know right away when I found the right house, and crazy enough I did. When I walked into the house, it was everything I was looking for with minimal work that needed to be done to it! So begin the insane process of buying a house! 

The Process:

Now I am by no means an expert, or even intermediate in knowing everything that goes into buying a house. I was basically learning as I went. You probably should do some research beforehand to better understand what exactly you will be getting yourself into along the way. However, here is a real quick guide to what I went through.

Determine how much house you can afford 

  -The typical recommendation is to look for a house that costs no more than 25 to 30% of your annual take home income, especially if you plan to make a 20% down payment. There are calculators on the internet that you can use, or of course, ask your bank. If you're like me, you want to pay the least amount as possible for the most house without having to live paycheck to paycheck. I made sure that I wasn't going to pay for a house that was at the top of the range of what I could afford, I opted to use the low end of the range, and got lucky enough to find a house in that price range. Just because you CAN afford it, doesn't be you should. 

Get Pre-qualified

  -I was confused about the differences in prequalified and preapproved. Prequalified is when you provide basic financial information to your bank and they give you a statement saying how much house you can afford. This is similar to the above statement, but it puts the amount you can afford in writing so that you can give it to the seller when you put an offer on the house you want. Preapproved is when you provide other financial documents, such as W-2 forms, paycheck stubs, and bank statements, so your lender can verify your credit and financial status. 

Real Estate Agent

  -Real estate agents are incredibly helpful in the house buying process. They are able to negotiate with the seller's agent and fully understand the house buying process in order to help walk you through it. What's nice is that, it doesn't cost you anything to get a real estate agent, they are typically paid from the commission paid by the seller of the house. I worked with Nadia Dellawar from Samson Properties who was recommended to me by my bank. She was very patient and explained all the details I knew nothing about. 

Shop for your home 

  -I mostly used the Redfin app to help with my house search. I was able to apply filters such as price range, how many bedrooms and bathrooms, minimum and maximum square footage, parking options, distance to work, and any other "must-haves". Deciding what your "deal-breakers" vs "wants" are in a home, will help narrow down your search.  Be sure to look at the neighborhoods as well as just the house, and take your time! Time of the year is important as well. Winter months don't tend to have as many buyers since no one wants to move when there is snow on the ground, or in the middle of a school year. Because my apartment lease was up in February, this was the best/only time to search. There tended to be lower priced homes especially if the seller's were desperate. 

Make an offer

  -When I found the house I liked, I put an offer in right away. It had only been on the market for a few days, but I knew because of the amazing condition it was in, it was going to go fast, so I didn't want to wait. The seller tried to negotiate price with me, but that's where my real estate agent was helpful, she insisted that the seller wouldn't go wrong if they accepted my offer. That night my agent worked up a contract to negotiate closing date and costs. A day or two later, they accepted! I was thrilled but also nervous because this process was about to go very fast.

Home inspection

  -One of the first steps after accepting an offer, is ordering a home inspection because the sale of the house is contingent on the condition of the house. The inspector checks structural damage as well as anything that may need fixing. This gives you the chance to renegotiate your offer or withdraw it without penalty if there is significant damage. I got extremely lucky, that the sellers of my house kept the house in such great shape, that my inspector barely found anything wrong with it.  

Get a loan

  -There is a wide variety of lenders out there and every home buyer has their own priorities when choosing a mortgage. My priority was getting the cheapest interest rate. You can search different lenders and their rates on the internet. So choose a company that works best with what you are looking for. 

Home Appraisal 

  -Lenders will arrange for an appraiser to give you an estimate of the house you are purchasing in order to determine the value of the home. Basically, it's letting you and your lender know if you are paying a fair price for your home. Here is another chance to renegotiate your offer if the value is much less than what the seller is selling the house for. My lender opted not to do the appraisal because they trusted the value was fair. 

Home Insurance
  -Your lender is going to want you to purchase home insurance in case something happens to the house, you and your lender are covered. This is also something you will need to shop around for as there are many companies out there. Also look if the insurance company will bundle your home and auto in order to save some money.

Closing

  -A few weeks later, the closing meeting was set up in order to go through all the home owner paperwork. I couldn't even tell you how many pages I signed, but I felt like I was signing my life away. I actually ended up crying at my closing when my real estate agent handed me the keys.....I think I was just relived the process was finally done!

Work in Progress:

I wanted to paint and deep clean the carpets before officially moving in, so recently I finished doing those. I’m also slowly moving more boxes over there whenever I get a chance and the fur tire will be moved in this week. So next year will start off in a new house!