We recently got our preapproval letter which means we can start house shopping- for real, not just for fun and not just for our vision boards! WOOOHOO! Exciting...I think!? People keep telling me to not get too excited, so I'm a foot in and a foot out as I type this.
We've been working on our credit and our spending habits, working towards being more fiscally responsible for the past 5 years. There were ups and downs-another baby, a car repossession. We've come a long way, to say the least and are finally ready to purchase a house together.
So, as soon as we got that preapproval letter, there was immediately a house that popped up on the market that was PERFECTION! I forwarded the listing to my real estate agent (who I'm lucky to say is also my aunt), and she set up a showing for us for that weekend. We went to see the house, my husband and I both fell absolutely in love with the layout and space the house had. We were ready to put in our first offer! It was Saturday, we planned to put our offer in first thing on Monday after we signed the papers.
Guys......When we got home that same night on Saturday, the listing changed to PENDING! It had been listed for 3 days and it was already pending.
This is why they tell you not to get too excited or to put all your eggs in one basket. Especially, when it comes to buying a home.
We were waiting to purchase around this time of year, (well closer to December) because we know that based on trends, home prices go down to the lowest prices of the year in the winter. It's currently the start of November and the inventory is beginning to dwindle but the homes are priced to sell. Which is exactly what we were hoping for, but dang! We didn't think that competition would be this quick! And sellers just want to take the first offer to close ASAP. So, if we are gonna get a house, we are going to need to be speedy with our offer.
Our tactic form now on is to immediately go see the house we like when it hits the market and make an offer right away! We can't wait until the weekend to see it because there are many other people waiting to purchase a home too! That means, my husband will have to trust me to take a walk through and report back with pictures or possibly a video so he can decide from afar, since it won't be easy for him to leave work and go up to see it. (It's about an hour away).
I just hope more dream homes will list for us so we have a chance to purchase at the right price and within our time line. But, I know that everything is in God's time. For now, we will be patient and pray that we find OUR family home.
I just want to share my journey with you in case you are also going through the home buying process for the first time and need some motivation to stay optimistic. Your house is out there somewhere, it just hasn't been listed- YET!
Happy house shopping my fellow first time home buyer!
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