Playing House

Selling stock for the first time was one of those moments that made me feel like a legitimate adult. Then it was getting married. But even still, most days I feel like a 15 year-old trapped in a 28 year-old’s body. Recently, I’ve encountered an even bigger milestone that confirms, “Yes, you are indeed an adult and not a hormonal teen.” (Well...hormonal may still be accurate, but that’s besides the point.)

Husband and I are starting the house buying process. What? Yup. No (wo)man-child here. Just a bona fide adult.

First of all, learning terms like Escrow, PMI, HOA, FHA and all that jazz has been fun. Not.

Second of all, trying to figure out where we’re going to live has been fun. Not.

Third of all, buying and renovating a house looks like tons of fun on HGTV. Not.

But regardless of all of the negatives you could get stuck on, I’m super stoked.

With current market conditions, we’re looking at something we can stay in for awhile, as the term “starter home” may soon be extinct the way things are going. So we're finding places with a lot more space than the two of us truly need, with the idea that we'll grow into it eventually. For now, Bowser and Chika each get their own room ;)

But sadly, our hopeful notions of staying in our current city are diminishing as the housing market becomes increasingly competitive. Nearby homes have quietly slipped out of our price range, when just a few months ago they may have well been within our grasp. Unless we settle for four walls and mold problem, I’m just not willing to throw in my retirement savings and first-born kid just to beat out another offer. We’re going to be looking at options that involve a commute of sorts, just hopefully not a very long one.

All of the simple living books I’ve been reading are really jumping around in my mind as we go through this process. While many wives on HGTV are stereotyped as going for the most expensive place their husband’s salaries can afford, I’m the one breaking a sweat trying to make sure we're staying within our budget. I'm not trying to jump off some financial cliff from which we can’t recover - ain't nobody got time for that! We’d like to retire someday, and we have grand travel plans that we're not willing to compromise.

Which leads me to rethinking our needs in terms of space. How big of a home do we really need? While at times, it feels like we’re outgrowing our current 1200 sq. ft. townhome, I know we could make less work if we just got rid of some stuff. Ideally, we’d like more garage space, and third bedroom for guests, or if a baby decides to enter our lives (at some point in the way distant, beyond-the-horizon-line future - don’t get excited, parents). 

But it’s easy to get carried away out there. My anti-simple living side is demanding that granite counter tops, a five-piece bath and a gas range are must-haves. We walked through a house on Saturday that had a butler's kitchen and I almost asked to sign right then and there. 

The biggest thing I’m trying to keep in mind is that we’re not in a rush. If we don’t find what we want, we can always renew our lease, and I hope that we are able to keep that in focus as we start getting emotionally involved in the homes we view. Because it's easy to do!

I’ll keep you all posted on this new adult adventure. This probably means I have to start looking for a new yoga studio (*tear*).

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but when did they start letting kids buy houses?