Buying a house!

Some of you may heard rumors that we have been trying to buy a house. And yes, those rumors are true. A few months ago Scott saw a house online that was for sale in our neighborhood that he liked. I looked at the pictures and took Abby for a walk to go see what the outside and yard looked like. I fell in love immediately. We walked through the house and the love only deepened. Not only did the love deepen but the realtor told us that the house qualified for a down payment grant for certain neighborhoods that are considered somewhat historic that the city wants to upgrade and have families live in instead of renters. That only sweetened the deal for us. We had to attend 6 hours of classes with the city where you learn all about mortgages and lending, buying a house and the paperwork involved and what to look for, etc... It was a lot of information and it felt like information overload at the end of each 3 hour session but it was invaluable information. You also attend a one on one budget counseling session with a counselor before you get a certificate saying you graduated from the class and can apply for the grant. I would recommend this class to anyone who wants to ever own their own home, no matter how far in the future it may seem.
We looked at house again with Scott's parents who liked it. Eventually we decided to put in an offer and discovered that they had dropped the price of the house the day before we met with our realtor and wrote an offer. The process has been very drawn out and frustrating over the last two and a half weeks(it's an estate sale)but we finally were able to get the seller to sign an offer yesterday! So, we are under contract and now have to get an inspection, etc... to find out what condition the house is really in. After a trip to the county offices and some time spend looking through the big books of old records written by hand in spidery cursive we discovered the previous owners had lived there since 1965. So, the house definitely needs some updating. We are pretty excited about the idea of owning our own house.  So, we hope to be moved in by the new year if everything works out with the inspection, grant, etc..!

The nice backyard was another draw for us.

The house has a lot of character! I don't know if you can tell from the pictures but it has a round door and cove ceilings. It is on a little over an eighth of an acre and 2,000 square feet. There is a bedroom and a den upstairs (it's really a bedroom but the closet is outside the bedroom door) and two bedrooms in the basement. The basement is half finished and that was done at least 50 years ago so it needs a major update! It will be nice to eventually get a washer and dryer in the basement so I won't have to lug our laundry and Abby to the laundromat and try to corral her while doing laundry. There is a detached garage which will nice for all of our outdoor equipment.