It's a great day to achieve the American Dream!!
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Anna 9 months ago.
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I don’t think you’re an asshole but I’m also not going to purposely delay my dreams another year. A year is a long time to be unhappy and longing for life upgrades that are absolutely doable. I’m not rushing to buy just any house but I’m going to keep visiting them until I find the perfect one that really speaks to me and then proceed with the buying process. I’m doing well financially and I’m confident that I can do it. If I second-guessed and delayed every life goal, I would have never gone to college, moved out of my parents’ house, bought a car, or been in a relationship in the first place. I don’t regret any of those moves, even though they cost money and life hasn’t been perfect 100% of the time. So there’s nothing anyone can say to make me change my mind. If I have to stop updating here about the home search, that’s fine. I’ll stop talking about it.
Update: I put an offer on a condo this afternoon!! I’m not sure if I’ll get it because I kind of low-balled them *and* they received an offer right before mine. … So we’ll see. But oh my god it has a private rooftop deck to die for. And get this: it’s right by the Cubs’ stadium. … Fucking baseball.
But, having said that, I really like the unit and the area…. So, DW friends, keep your fingers crossed!!!
Good luck Addie and Anna! I hope you find what you are looking for.
Good luck Addie!! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you! I’m far far away from making offers. I’m still waiting for my realtor to send me more listings. I think I’ll give her a call Monday just to check in and see if anything new has come on the market. I think this is going to be a slowgoing process because I won’t put any offers in until I find the perfect house for me at the perfect price.
Sigh. I’m in the middle of a bidding war. Leave it to me to find the one unit in a buyer’s market that may get purchased for OVER listing price! … Not fun.
Update: I got the party pad! I’m so excited! But now I have to marry rich or stay an attorney for.ev.er. I’m ok with either of those things happening, I guess. 
I’d like to thank my mother for letting me drag her to condo after condo and letting me make her climb all those stairs. I’d like to thank my apartment’s parking garage people for being dicks and making me want to move out so I can park my (totally useless and unnecessary now that I’m working downtown again) car. I’d like to thank…. who the hell do I thank for low interest rates? … Next Chicago DW Meet up at Casa de Addie Pray!
Yay! I was waiting for the update! I might have to fly out for this party!!
Congratulations Addie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So are we going to see a new Home Tour soon? I’m definitely going to submit one when I find a house.
I’ve been through buying a house twice and can tell you it eats up cash fast. Even without a down payment you’ll need money for inspections, especially a home inspection and a septic inspection. You may also need a well inspection and a radon inspection would be good. Lots of homes in Northeast Ohio test positive for radon and if you don’t test now, when you go to sell your buyer may test and if it is discovered at that point you are required to disclose your test to all potential buyers and then it is hard to sell the house. I know someone in NE Ohio that had this happen to them. You will need moving expenses which may not be great for you if you have friends with trucks but even then you would probably pay for the gas and feed everyone. Then you need money for appliances. Different people leave different appliances in the home but you will probably need to buy some. For our first house we had to buy a washer, dryer and range. The sellers left a refrigerator and dishwasher. For our second home we needed to buy a range and a dryer because those appliances from our first home ran on natural gas and our new home didn’t have natural gas. Both homes had very old dishwashers that needed replacing but we got by for a while. When fall/winter arrives, if you have a home that heats with oil you will need a furnace inspection. There is a buildup inside an oil furnace and it isn’t safe to keep running it without a cleaning and inspection. Also if you heat with oil expect huge bills. Our current home was costing about $600/month to heat with oil so we installed geothermal because natural gas wasn’t an option. You are also required to pay for a title search in Ohio before the house can transfer to you. There can also be connection fees to turn on things like gas but I don’t remember what those ran because it’s been a long time since we moved.
Your actual monthly mortgage payment will be more than the cost of the house so it will be a bigger payment than you may expect. It will include your insurance premium and all the property taxes (fire, school, road, etc.) 1/3 of our mortgage payment was for the insurance and taxes so to estimate that cost take half of the mortgage payment and add it on again so that the extra is now 1/3 of the payment. This surprised me when we first got a house because the realtor and bank will be telling you what your house payment is without the taxes and insurance. Make sure you ask if the quoted payment includes the taxes. The insurance will depend on the policy you choose but it will be included in your mortgage payment. The bank requires this to protect their loan.
Congrats AP, that’s awesome!
@Skyblossom, way to be a Debbie Downer… Kidding! Yes, I am fully aware of all the cash that is about to get ripped from my savings. It’s already starting… Woe is me. But so far, so good. My mother and a friend went out to celebrate. After dinner, my mother missed a step… and we landed in the ER for the last 6+ hours. She broke her wrist. My poor mum. (Ode to JK.) At one point in the ER she was in so much pain that she (sorry, TMI) puked, which caused me to gag and run out of the room. See? Useless. Do you know what kind of barbaric thins ortho surgeons do when you break your wrist? They had my mom’s hand dangling by ropes at one point. At another point he had her wrist draped over his knee while he yanked and pulled and molded it back into “regular” shape. … Yup, I had to leave the room for all of that. Confirmation I chose wisely when I did not go into the health care field. The only thing useful I could do for my mom – besides of course fetch her water and help her with her gown and rub her feet and whatnot – was tell her to walk away from the light as she would start to lose conscious. You’re welcome, mom. 
Yay, condos. It’s already a pain. Ha.
I’m soooo tired. I just went to the CVS down the street to pick up my mom’s meds and there were all these rowdy youngins’ who had been out to the bars. … How do you kids stay up this late (or even past 10 pm)? I can’t do it. I’m so tired.
Sorry about your mom AP. But congrats on your new home!
Sorry to hear about your mum (my MIL is a mum) AP. What an awful, horrible ending to a fantastic day. Congrats on your impending party pad home ownership. When you do it you do it right!
Since you said you’ve been saving for this for five years I assumed you’re ready to go on this and have researched it and know all the associated costs. I wanted to let Anna know what types of costs are involved so that she can look into them and budget accordingly. Nothing compares to buying a house when it comes to eating through savings rapidly except maybe a medical emergency, even with health insurance people can end up in massive debt.
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