I did it all by Myself

Ever since I was young I have always had a goal to buy a house of my own. I can still remember the moment I realized "hey I think I can actually do this now." I was talking to my Dad in his office about my future plans. I was debating between buying a condo/townhouse (since I didn't think I could ever afford a home) or renting a place somewhere...perhaps Sue's. The words out of his mouth were this "you should just buy your own house." Pretty simply huh? but a light bulb went off in my head and that was all it took. Since then my eyes were dead set on this goal of home ownership and nothing was getting in my way, nothing. 

I saved, and saved, and saved, and saved my money continuously throughout the years/months that progressed and every now and then I'd pop on Redfin or realtor.com to see what prospects were out there. This would subsequently just wet my appetite even more. So last October I finally did it, I had saved up enough money. 

Next step finding a relator. I asked around here and there and got a reference from a co-worker. Relator, check. 

Next step finding a loan broker. I took a reference from my relator and with one phone call I was per-approved. Loan, check.

 Next step home shopping. This was probably the most fun part of the process and who would have thought the girl that took 3 months to pick out a car she liked, found a house the first night she went out with her relator?! I will spare you the details on my first home offer and suffice it to say I'm glad it didn't work out. I ended up getting a better deal when a few days after I dropped contract with my first home I found a pictureless add on Redfin. It was in my price range and in the even nicer neighborhood than I was originally looking in. My relator asked if I wanted to look at it and sluggishly I agreed, but inside I was thinking "this place is going to be a dump" since there were no pictures and it was less money than the last house. Boy was I wrong when I met the relator and to my surprise I fell in love with the house. So after being on the market for less than 24 hrs I was now under contract on yet another home :) Home shopping, check. 

Next step, conquering a short sell. This was probably the most anxious part of the home buying process. You wait and wait, and wait and wait, and wait and wait with baited breath hoping you will hear something soon from the lenders. Fortunately, I got some news come around 3 months after putting in my offer, and yes I did say fortunately. The response was good and the lenders had nearly accepted my offer. We only had on hiccup which we resolved rather civilly. Short sell conquered, check.

Next step, inspection. This time around my house passed with flying colors. No polybutylene plumbing problems to worry about in this house. Inspection, check. 

Next step, closing. This was probably the unforeseen worst part of the process. Let just say we had far too many 'hiccups" that resulted in many-a stressed out/freakout moments for me as a first time home buyer. I still remember the day I closed. I didn't feel happy at all, in fact I had been crying all day long and I felt horrible after what I had just gone through. The pressure to make deadlines and meet every stinking miniscule request the lenders ask of you was all crushing down on me at once. That in combination with being told your losing the house one minute, to getting it the next, to losing it again, was quite a roller coaster ride. So the closing day for me was not the "happily skipping out of the title company's office with keys in your hand" moment for me, but even though I was grumpy, tired, sick and upset, I was a grumpy, tired, sick and upset homeowner. Yep, a homeowner and after I had a goodnights rest I woke up knowing that it was all mine and the work was finally over. I couldn't have been happier. Home, check.

What a relief and a sense of accomplishment, I had done it, I got my house and I did it all by myself!