Offer Day!

In February, just a few weeks after we found out we were having a baby, we got an email from our landlord.  Rather than giving us another year (per our verbal agreement) their financial situation made it imperative that they sell the house sooner rather than later.  They gave us a six-month lease, allowing us time to either buy a house or find another place to rent.  Rather than having to move twice, we decided to go ahead and try to buy. This started a crazy journey into the world of home ownership.  We immediately started looking online at houses in our price range, and after finding a few we liked, contacted a mortgage company.  We were pre-approved for a loan and started looking at houses.  Our agent is fantastic - a referral from the mortgage broker - and a perfect fit for us.  After looking at something like 80 homes online and about 20 in person, we finally decided on one this past weekend.  And today, we are making an offer.  This is the house...

It's such a great place.  Hardwood floors in all the living areas, carpet in the bedrooms.  There's a two-car carport in the back and the yard is fully fenced.  It needs a new gate, but that's really all the work it needs!  Everything has been updated and repainted.  The back yard is the largest we saw in our preferred neighborhood and already has a storage building and a patio with a built-in fire pit, as well as a really sturdy swing set!  There's a nice formal dining room and the great room is massive!  We can do so much with that space!  The house also passes the "Christmas tree test," which is something I was pretty focused on - can you put a Christmas tree in a window so it can be seen from the outside?  You would be surprised to know how many houses do not have a front window in the living/great room.  

So this is the house.  We're making an offer at 6:30 tonight.  Here's hoping they accept the offer or counter with something acceptable.  It's been on the market for 6 months now, and they are paying two mortgages, so hopefully that will help them make a good decision!  I'm already placing our furniture and hanging our pictures in my head.  I know you are not supposed to do that, but I can't help it!  I want to nest, and I can't in our current house, so I'm doing it in this house in my head until we get the keys!

The good news is, there are two other strong contenders if this one doesn't pan out.  Both will require some work and one is more expensive, but they are both good choices if this one, for some reason, doesn't happen.  I really hope it does, though.  It's just what we were both looking for in our first home!