I think I want to buy a home*. I don’t know if I can buy a home, so I’m finding out everything I can about it. I will be post my progress here from time to time. Part one is here. 

Elderly Relative has moved to a lovely new home (more on that later), and here stand I, among the ruined carpeting and cabinetfuls of crap, wondering how it’s all gonna get done. But you knew that, didn’t you?

Recently I met with a financial guy, recommended to me by my realtor friend (who is now my realtor as well as still being my friend). I loved this financial guy, who loves his job. Numbers, math, calculations, rates, all of it is under his mighty control.

I felt fearful as I approached his office clutching my check stubs and tax records; feeling emotional reverberations of my years as a fiscally irresponsible anarchy junkie. But my hard work and good intentions of recent years have paid off — my credit score is good and my bad debt is pretty low. One incredibly lucky bit of luck is that I have very recently transitioned from being a contract worker to a W2-style employee, which made my borrowing power about twice what it would’ve been. Wow. The cards are sure stacked against freelancers and non-permanent employees. Just another outrage in a system of outrages.

So I walked away with pre-approval for loan that’s, well, doable. Even in this hot housing market and rising interest rates. My realtor has to spend a lot of her time quelling my periodic panic as I feel like I’m missing the affordable housing bus. I’m not! But no dilly-dallying nonetheless!

Now my realtor had the info she needed and could start pulling listings for homes in my price range. At this point, we’re just looky-looing. There’s no way I can bid on a house now on contingency (my down payment is coming from the sale of this family home), there are just too many ready-with-the-money buyers right now.

We’ve done a bit of house snooping and I love every minute of it. Yesterday I saw two on opposite ends of the spectrum. One was a foreclosure that was delightfully horrifying, from the piles of dog excrement ground into the carpeting to the moldy bathrooms! I could see past the yuck factor through to the potential of the place  (and the price was great), but wow, it was way too fixer-upper-y that I could ever handle. We also saw the model home for some new developments going in in the general area I want to live. Funnily enough, I was horrified, but for much different reasons. It just was so pre-planned looking, bland and corporate and … ugh. The staging was so oppressive. Realtor was very amused by my reactions — that I’d gag less at a trashed foreclosure that I did at a squeaky clean master-plan development nightmare (which was out of my price range anyway).

We also stalked the four condominium developments that I like, right near the ocean, right near the weird beach park I am most fond of. Realtor pulled the recent listing/selling activity of the units, and cheerfully declared that she feels confident that she’ll find me one, the perfect one, right there on the water.

Here’s one that recently closed. In an unheard-of angle, all the furniture is included. It was a weekender pad, original owners. built in the mid-70s.

And, just as I was warned it would happen, my hopes got UP. Still, I am darkly, boringly realistic about this whole process, but there’s a tiny flame of hope and desire way down deep in there somewhere.

*I originally stated “I think I want to buy a house.” I realize that people around here assume “single family home, non-condo” when I say “house”, but that’s not what I meant. Not that I’d pooh-pooh buying a “house”, but I’m also amenable to a condo. I seem to be confusing everyone when I use “home” and “house” interchangeably, so I’ll stop. Such a learning experience, this experience.

On the house-selling side…

Realtor and I have also been looking at the houses for sale in this area that are similar to the house I’m selling. I love this, too. There is some vintage weirdness around here! Also I find I’m feeling weirdly competitive about this house. I’m gonna make her sparkle, I’m gonna make her shine, I want retirees to fall to their knees** when they they come look at this house!

** Please, please not literally. Please.