So I took the day after Match Day off from work with one purpose in mind - find a realtor. Luckily the pediatric program had already recommended two. I went with the one that had a website I liked. And a team of realtors to find me my perfect house. Check that off the list.
And then I had to find a bank that would be willing to give us a mortgage on a house with a high load of student debt and no pay stubs for Dh until we would already be moved in. Check that one off the list too. The realtor’s had a couple suggestions. I went with the local bank with the better financials.
Next step, book plane tickets to look at houses. It just so happens that my father had some free tickets and was willing to come with me to Madison. Dh was working 6 days a week and couldn’t come with me to look at the house that we were going to buy.
So one week and one day after Match Day, my father and I headed up to Madison. We spent all that Saturday looking at houses. Houses within 2 miles of the hopsital so Dh can bike or walk to work each day. There were more duds on the list than we thought there would be. We narrowed it down to two. Then one.
We decided to look at “The One” the next day just to make sure. But when the realtor called to ask to see the house again, we learned that there was already an offer on it. But…he hadn’t accepted the offer yet. So, that next day we headed over to the house, decided we would make a strong offer and after some emailing and faxing to get the offer signed by Dh, we sat back and waited.
Then the phone call came at eight o’clock that night. We didn’t get the house. The man who was selling his house without a realtor went with the lower offer because they were putting 68% down. Who puts that much down on a house?
My father and I were left with half a day to look at houses again. This time we decided to up our price range to get into a neighborhood we loved. Five houses listed just a little above our price range…but they all had offers on them. Still, our realtors got us into one that already had two offers.
On the market for a week, no showings until that Saturday, and the house had two offers. Still we went. It was a great house. Bigger than any we had looked at. And out of our price range. So why did we put an offer on it too?
Then the wait began again. I didn’t know whether I would be excited to get the offer accepted or relieved if it wasn’t. We were way above our price range. We could still afford the house, it would just drain the savings that we had been putting away for years.
The phone call came as I was driving back home. We got the house. The house we couldn’t afford. The house that already had two offers. Did we just make the worst decision ever?
Now I need to find a job FAST. Now we need to get approved for the loan, get the inspection, get through the next three years. Dh is freaking out. This is not the house we had imagined we would be living in. It is too nice. Too expensive. We run the numbers in our budget daily. If I get a job, even just for one year, we will be okay. Our savings will be rejuvenated. We can make it work.
But it is still scary. And we are still freaking out. And I still need to find a job now.
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