House-hunting

I have been thinking about buying a “forever house” for several months. It’s been an interesting situation because the economy has shifted which has made me think of this investment differently.

When I started looking, money was cheap, and the prices of houses was high. I knew the market would shift, but I had no idea that the Fed would change rates so quickly.

Several months ago, every house I looked at felt over-priced. I grew up in this area, and I could not imagine that the prices could be so high. I wasn’t ready to make a purchase so I just kept watching. I began to see prices level out, and I kept seeing the interest rates go up. I began to get nervous. I saw more new-builds make the MLS, and that felt strange. A few months ago, new-builds never needed to be online. They’d sell well before they were completed.

I just kept looking. I had time on my side.

My guy kept reminding me that we could live in one of our rentals or investment properties. That never felt right. Keeping our personal property separate from our investment property felt like a line we needed to keep, but I kept looking at houses as property that would appreciate, and I kept thinking that we could sell our house and make money…like an “investment property”. My brother reminded me that our “house” and our “investments” were different things. I needed to stick to my original way of thinking, and I needed to keep them separate. That still feels so hard.

I kept looking.

I said that we would go to Texas for the holidays, and that I would find us a house by Christmas. I have looked online every day for 6 months. I just knew I could make this happen. Over the past few weeks, it had not been looking good. God, the Universe, Something is looking over me.

Today we put an offer on a house. We may or may not end up with it, but when I saw it, I knew it wouldn’t be an “investment property”. It would be our home. I also knew it wouldn’t depreciate in value. I found a house in an area of town that I wanted. I needed a house in an established neighborhood. I did not want a new-build. I needed a house that was in a good area to run and walk my dog. I knew I needed someplace near all of my people, and I needed a place big enough to host parties for all of my people.

Now we wait. In the meantime, I keep working. I meet with a money-lender tomorrow. We shopped around for a good VA lender, and we shopped for the best rate we could find. I would encourage people to look around for lenders. We are no longer getting free money. Those days are gone. I’m ok with paying some interest because I also believe that inflation isn’t good. I’ll give up one to get the other.

As excited as I am for a potential new home, I recognize that it comes with over two decades of living below our means. It comes with a tremendous amount of time and research. It comes with knowing that we don’t HAVE to own that house, but I’d sure love knowing that we have a place to live. I hope it works out.

With transition comes uncertainty, and transition also brings some semblance of excitement. I’m excited to see how this all plays out. If we end up with a house, maybe I’ll share a picture.