House Hunters

Well, I am happy to announce that we are getting very serious about buying a house. I am going to talk to the lender today. I think it will turn out nicely. We have been looking at model homes because obviously you can only look at new builds without a realtor. And we do have a realtor in mind, but I am still wary about hiring one because of all the costs associated with one. She is a good friend's mom, so I feel she will be able to guide us well and I won't be afraid to speak up, but still. And, ya know, it still is fun to look at new builds because they are brand new and if you decided to build (instead of buying a spec) then you get to pick out most everything. The only problem with the new homes in this area that we are looking, is that they have puny back yards! Apparently people don't want to take care of a yard because there is only a patio on some! For us, having a yard is a big deal. It may be because of where we grew up and we both had ginormous yards, but also Jason loves to garden and plant stuff and take care of stuff and we would like to have a private area where the kids can play and we can relax. Other than that, we have found an abundance of homes to fit our lifestyle. Ideally we would like a four bedroom home, or three with den or loft. And we have found just that. Some have 4 bedrooms, a den, a loft and a dining room-all within our budget! And our budget isn't that high. It's pretty low, but that's because we really want a low mortgage payment and in this market, we can get what we want. At first we were going to go all the way to Queen Creek to get what we could afford, but with the market the way it is, we don't have to. We can afford the new builds in Gilbert, which is where we want to live. However, that's where the realtor comes in. Suzie, our realtor, can show us homes that have 4 bedrooms, and a huge backyard and sometimes even a pool, except they were built within the last ten years. There is definitely nothing wrong with that, but see we don't have it all. We don't have any money really to buy appliances or even furniture. Which I don't care about because we have the basics: a couch, coffee table, bookcase, entertainment center, table- they are all very small but who cares? For now anyway, I don't care. But I do care about having a fridge, an oven, a dishwasher! And with most new builds, they include all of that stuff plus they pay your closing costs plus the specs come with upgrades such as tile, hardwood floors and granite throughout. That would be nice. It seems simple from the outside, but we have so much to consider. Aside from all the options, I am just so excited to get my own place! And it's NOT because I am dying to get out of my parent's house. It's because I will finally feel settled with my family. My own family. Every year that Jason has lived in Arizona (5) he/we have moved into a different living situation and it's starting to get old. We can't paint it and we hate unpacking all of our stuff and decorating knowing that we will be moving once again. This time around, we don't want to live in an apartment because we don't want to waste our money paying rent and we want to expand our family. Do you know how elated I will be when I finally get to sleep in MY OWN HOME? I am thrilled! I am excited to start traditions! Things will be different, money might be tight, I'll probably have to go back to work part-time, but that's okay with me, just to be settled in our home of Arizona. 

P.S. Yes, we will be trying to expand our family in 2009. No I am not pregnant yet! Although I will admit that I am little scared to be pregnant again, I mean jeez it might as well be for 12 months, but Jason and I have compromised and we think that it's time for another child so our children aren't too far apart. That said, we have just decided that some month in 2009, we are going to try. We don't know which month and TMI alert- I still have my IUD, so it won't be until we are insured to get that out. So don't worry Mom! We also want to be in a house when it happens. I'm just sayin'.