Wow, I must be growing up!

I have some incredibly exciting news! Now, before you all get carried away, it has nothing to do with a new man in my life (I am still single)...it is way better than a new man! I am going to buy my first house!! So, for those of you who are not interested in reading all about my house, you might as well stop reading now because that's all this post is going to be about.

I have been thinking about getting my own place for a few months now. I went into the bank to meet with a mortgage specialist just to get a ballpark idea of how much I could afford to spend on a house. I was a little disappointed with the amount, but I guess I have to realize that I only have one income, so I can't expect to get a killer house. So, over the last few months, every saturday when the paper comes, I would take out the real estate section and read it. And I was getting a little more discouraged because it seemed like all the houses that were within my price range were either tiny little bungalos or townhomes. I really wanted something a little bigger so that I could build an apartment in a portion of it so I could rent out the apartment to make money to help pay the mortgage. And I really wasn't finding that anywhere.

Then, on Sunday, my mom said "Why don't you buy our rental property?". What an amazing idea! I would love to live there, I just never thought my parents would want to sell it!

My parents own a house just around the corner from where we are now and have rented it out for about 14 years now. My family lived in the rental house from about 1982 until 1991, so I spent a lot of my childhood there. The truth is that my parents could really use the chunk of change from the sale of the house to get out of debt. Selling the house and getting out of debt would be a real answer to prayer for them. Owning my own house is a dream come true for me. I will get to buy this gorgeous house with 4 bedrooms, it's two floors (plus basement and attic), has a huge backyard, detached garage, and it backs right onto the Rotary-Greenway trail, which is where I do a lot of running and walking Koby. And, the house has a walk-out basement, so the plan is to convert the basement into an apartment to rent out! My dad is a master carpenter, so he's going to do all the renovations for me! Yay! The house is getting a little run-down since it has been a student rental for so long, but I know how nice it can get, because it was beautiful when I lived there, it just needs a little work here and there.

Oh wait, it gets better, my parents have offered to let my buy it for $25,000 less than the appraised price!!!! Otherwise, I would never be able to afford such a large house, but they offered it to me for a good deal! My Oma gave my mom a lot of money towards her first home, so I guess my parents want to do the same with me! I'm so excited I can barely sleep at night! My mind is running wild with all the possibilities!

Okay, there is one down side. There are new tenants moving in as of May 1st (they just signed the lease a couple weeks ago). So, I can't move into the house until May 1, 2006 even though the closing date of the sale will be August 1, 2005. So, I will own the house for 9 months before I can move in. Bummer, eh? But, that just means I will get the $1200 a month from the rental income to pay the mortgage and I can save the rest for the renovations and furniture and such. Legally, I can kick the tenants out since the house will be mine and I will need it for personal use, but they are friends of my brother's and I don't want to leave them without a place to live. And an extra $1200 a month will go a long way. That should cover the mortgage payments, property taxes, home insurance, other house expenses, etc. with a few hundred left to save. I think having some time before I move in may be a good thing because then I can really plan what I want to do in terms of painting, decorating, furniture, fixing things up, etc. It will just be soooo hard to wait! I've drove by the place tonight to look at it (even though of course I know that house inside and out because I lived there for 9 years). And something inside me said "that's gonna be your new home".

Another plus side is, if (or shall I way WHEN) I get married and have a family, this house has plenty of room. 4 bedrooms on the upper floor and 1 in the basement (but that will be part of the apartment). One of the bedrooms upstairs is quite small, but the other three are a good size. I will be going down there sometime in the next few weeks (once the current tenants move out and before the new ones move in) to take some measurements, notes, and pictures.

So, in the next few weeks my job is to do some shopping around for mortgages. I want to get the best rate possible because even a percent difference in the interest rate will save you thousands. It's all about negotiations!

I really hope I will be approved for the mortgage. The only problem I see is coming up with a down payment since all my money in the last year has gone to student loans (all paid off as of yesterday - yay!) and my car (I am buying out the lease May 1st). I may have to ask Oma if she can loan me a few grand for now. Mortgages really are a lot easier now than they used to be. You used to need to have 25% down, but now you can get a mortgage for as little as 5% down.

Anyways, that's my exciting news, be prepared that a large portion of my blogs for the next little while will be about the house and keeping people updated on the status. And if we get together, be prepared for house talk. But, I will try to keep it at a minimum. That will be hard because I am so excited I'm almost bursting at the seams! I will try not to bore you though. I will feel much better when August 1st rolls around, because then at least it will be mine! (even if I have to wait 9 months to move in). I will be a homeowner before the age of 25, which was a goal of mine. All I can say is....thank you Jesus!