The road to homeownership

So.  

Where to start.

We have lived in this duplex for nearly 3 years.  It's not perfect, it's not super chic and updated, it's only got one bathroom... but it is smack dab in the midst of the best neighbors on the planet.  It's in one of the very best- if not The Best- school districts in Portland.  Our neighborhood is quiet, safe, and has nearly everything we need.  It's also evolving very rapidly so new things are coming in all the time that make it an even better place to live.  It is one of the most desirable neighborhoods in all of Portland.  Which, to be honest, makes house and rental prices ri-dic-u-lous.

However.  When we moved here in 2010 we got a screaming deal.  Our then-landlords charged at least $200-300 below market value for this sweet little place.  It's clean, it's charming, and like I said, it has the best neighbors EVER.

So you can imagine our heartbreak when our landlords told us they were selling.  I panicked, to be very frank.  I cried and sobbed and called a few people, who also cried.  It was devastating.  We had no idea what to do.  Stay and see what the rent would be raised to?  Leave and try to find a nice property to rent that would be affordable but also spacious enough for our two kids + dog?

Everyone told us to just stay calm and see how things worked out. 

Then we thought- hey? What if we bought a house?  What if we bought THIS house?

Hmmm.

I mulled over lots of information on the interwebs, I crunched numbers for HOURS every single day.  I looked at listings and rentals and crunched more numbers.  I looked over and over and over our budget.   We found out what the listing price on this house would be. I panicked.  I crunched more numbers.  I became hopeful.  We met with a realtor who crushed my spirit.  I met with a loan officer who gave me more hope.  I immediately called our realtor (great guy, by the way) and said, "hey, let's do this crazy thing" and he came over the next day (on a weekend, mind you) and helped us write up an offer.  We waited, waited, waited.  We were disappointed...  BUT THEN.  They accepted our offer!

Relief.

So we were under contract and began the crazy, strange, busy, stressful, expensive process of buying our first home.  Kraig works a lot, so truth be told I handled all the phone calls, all the paperwork, all the scanning and signing and sending and negotiations and more phone calls and more paperwork. 

Contracts were extended.  Money was a stressor.  Lots of things didn't make any sense.  Overall it was a very stressful and long and arduous process.  

But finally, two months after we originally put in our offer, we were homeowners/landlords.

So we celebrated as we usually do; with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot. 

Cheers.