I think we found our house

hoffse

It's earlier than planned, but a great-looking house came on the market yesterday.  We managed to get a showing today.  I think we're going to try to see it one more time this evening or tomorrow afternoon and then put in an offer!

Perks:

-4 bedrooms, 3 baths

-Separate den and living room

-Kitchen easily connects to both the den and living room - there's a separate eating area in the kitchen.

-Master bath is redone with separate shower/tub, dual vanities, etc.  Master closet is large.

-Finished basement with fireplace

-2 car garage

-House is on a street with sidewalks

-Good school district

and MM drumroll please..........

WE CAN AFFORD IT ON ONE INCOME!  Even with all of our loans in place!  H and I thought long and hard about all the suggestions from the moms on these boards.  I don't think I'll want to stay home after having kids, but this house would give me the option if I change my mind.  We decided that since we can't predict the future, it's best to give ourselves that kind of flexibility.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but we really love it!

brij2006

That's exciting!  Good luck on putting in an offer, and that's so great that it is affordable on one income.  You won't ever complain about making that decision. :-)

Sisugal

We bought our first house on one income -- paid it off in less than 10 years -- used that money to buy the next house with 80% down - and paid that off in 4 years. 
You will not regret keeping your housing costs less than you can afford - it makes many options possible.
Good luck on the house and hope all goes smoothly.

hoffse

Thanks!  We have another showing set up for this evening.... this house has had 9 showings in the last 48 hours.  So if we want it, I think we're going to have to move on it.  

It's certainly not the fanciest house out there - and the current owners have decorated it horribly - but I think it will give us plenty of room to grow, it will be easy to live in, and we will be able to make it ours without too much fuss.  And then we can really turn to paying down our student loan debt.

We've been looking for a really long time, and H and I agreed to do what it takes to move it along, even if the timing isn't exactly 100% what we were hoping.

The good news is since it's so much less expensive than we were originally planning, we can still do 20% down and closing costs right now.  We might not be painting/decorating right away, but there are worse things

lifeonthehill

Congratulations! I hope you are able to get it. I agree with PP that you have to AW pictures when you get the chance.

Xstatic3333

So exciting! Let's is know how it goes!

ta78

The best part of getting such an affordable home is you have more room to decorate, remodel and make the house your own.

vlagrl29

Congrats!  You will be glad you decided to do it on 1 income even if you always work.  There is nothing wrong with that:)  You know when it's the one.  We had a house in our neighborhood that sold within a week of it being on the market.  If it's truly the house you want sounds like you better move fast.  How exciting!

hoffse

We put in an offer this evening!  I can't wait to hear if we get it!  I'll AW some pics later on - I took a bunch but haven't uploaded yet.

Wulfgar

Congrats, jumping early on such a good deal is worth it.  Remember you can start painting the main living areas first then tackle the spare bedrooms and other areas as you save up for it.

hoffse

Here are some pics!

The room they are using as a nursery is actually a bonus room that connects to the back family room (through french doors).  Family room connects to kitchen.  So we are thinking of taking off those french doors and basically using that bonus as an eating area that can fit more people when we have company.  Nothing formal, but basically a dining room.  It will flow directly into the den and kitchen.

Our initial thoughts of things we could eventually do to improve it dramatically:

-Put in hardwoods.  We actually think there might be hardwoods under the carpet in the master bedroom and the turquoise bedroom.  Our realtor lifted up the edge a bit and it looked like the hardwood continued.

-Maybe build a booth where the kitchen table is.  That white door is the pantry, so we could do a booth in that corner without blocking access. My dad and H are both handy, and we could probably DIY without it being a huge deal.

-At some point upgrade the counter tops.  We aren't fussy about it, but granite counter tops are a huge thing for resale around here.  We both like the cabinets, back splash, and flooring.  So doing new counter tops down the road wouldn't be a major investment to make the kitchen look more high-end.

-Finally, if we're feeling really handy, do a built-in butler's pantry in that nook of what is currently the nursery (where the crib) is located.  Those are totally a thing around here in dining rooms - very popular.  Again, it would be a DIY project - but it would make the entire room feel more "finished"

-And obviously.... paint.  And pick different curtains.  Oi.

Xstatic3333

It looks great! They definitely let their kids pick the paint colors though :)Are they leaving the swing set? I love the hardwoods, it would be great if they extend!

HoneyBee973

Love the house!!!  Keeping everything crossed for you !

hoffse

@Xstatic, we didn't request that they leave the play set.  They have an 8 yr old and a new baby, and I imagine they will get more use out of it than we will for a long time.  If they want to leave it, they are welcome, but we didn't ask them to.

They actually also have a trampoline in the back yard....  It's fully fenced and is a good amount of space.

They do have a hot tub on the back patio that we did request they take though!  We don't want it... and we have no idea where/how to haul it away!

Xstatic3333

Oh man I would love a hot tub (in theory-I haven't looked into maintenance or insurance costs). Hopefully they'll be glad to take it! Such a nice house. The kitchen looked great too.

smbenevides1989

Wow such a great house! FX that things go in your favor!

vlagrl29

We want a hot tub and will probably finally purchase it next year.  We built our patio with the idea of there eventually being a hot tub.  Costco has some great deals on them.

We are about to build DD's enormous wooden swing set.  We actually might pay someone to do it because it's a 19 page instruction book.  DH said that whenever we do move we will leave the hot tub and swing set.

Great photos!

hoffse

Xstatic3333 said:

Oh man I would love a hot tub (in theory-I haven't looked into maintenance or insurance costs). Hopefully they'll be glad to take it! Such a nice house. The kitchen looked great too.

Ha my parents had a hot tub for years.  It's one of those things you use like 20 or 30 times and then never ever again.  This one just takes up a lot of space on the back patio, and we'd like to use that space for something else.  It takes up the entirety of the covered spaces back there - I'd rather have a porch swing or something...

hoffse

vlagrl29 said:

We want a hot tub and will probably finally purchase it next year.  We built our patio with the idea of there eventually being a hot tub.  Costco has some great deals on them.

We are about to build DD's enormous wooden swing set.  We actually might pay someone to do it because it's a 19 page instruction book.  DH said that whenever we do move we will leave the hot tub and swing set.

Great photos!

Ha!  That made me chuckle.  My dad - super handy man extraordinarie - says that the worst thing he's ever built/assembled/whatever was the Barbie Malibu dreamhouse.  Apparently it took 4 adults 6 hours to figure out how the damn thing went together.

hoffse

Alright they countered!  Time to play ball.

brij2006

hoffse said:

Alright they countered!  Time to play ball.

Good luck negotiating!

jessica490

Love the pics!! Good luck!

Smonet

Good luck!! It's been fun reading this post. We are also in a counter stage of a great house for our family today. Fingers crossed for you guys!

vlagrl29

Ah negotiating! Dh is so amazing at it. Don't give in!

Xstatic3333

Eek good luck @hoffse and @Smonet‌ !

Mom987

Omg keep us posted!!!!

Mom987

AprilH81 said:

hoffse said:

Alright they countered!  Time to play ball.

***SIB***

Try to keep the big picture in mind, the carrying costs of $1,000 is like $5 a month.    Don't give in too early, but don't "squabble" over $1-2k.

Good luck!

Agree with this - the extra few thousand isn't a big deal!!

hoffse

Smonet said:

Good luck!! It's been fun reading this post. We are also in a counter stage of a great house for our family today. Fingers crossed for you guys!

Good luck to you too!

Yeah we aren't going to lose the house over a few thousand.  They're willing to to give us basically all appliances, which will save us several thousand out of pocket on moving day, so I'm willing to give a bit on purchase price.

juliebeannn

wow! how exciting!!!! hopefully you hear back soon!!!!

CuriousKiddosMama

Awesome!!! Congrats!!!!

jessica490

Smonet said:

Good luck!! It's been fun reading this post. We are also in a counter stage of a great house for our family today. Fingers crossed for you guys!

Good luck to you too!