My First House

Yesterday I told you about how I left my first apartment and moved back in with my parents to save money for a house downpayment. Here’s how I went from there to where I am today:

I was going to write a nice long post about what happened between moving home for the second time and me buying a house. But I decided it’s too long of a story and too much story to cover in one post. I’ll give you the Cliffs Notes version, sorry, but here we go:

• 1/07 – I moved home with my parents to save money.
• 3/07 – I met with a mortgage guy and he told me I could barely afford a really crappy house.
• 5/07 – Knowing that I had to save for longer than I thought, I decided to move out on my own again.
• 5/07 – My old roommate had moved in with someone else, so I began to look for rental houses with a different group of guys. During the search we talked about buying a house together. I didn’t think it was a great idea but it was the only way any of us could afford a house. Eventually, we ruled this option out and found a rental house.
• 6/07 – We were close to signing a lease when a few things happened: One guy got a new job and another one decided to get married. The third guy (C) found an incredible deal on a house for sale, but couldn’t afford it on his own, either.
• 7/07 – Knowing I was taking a risk, we bought the house together*
• 9/07 – We didn’t do roommates as well as we did friends.
• 10/07 – I convince my old roommate to move in and balance out the situation.
• 3/08 – C and I both got new jobs farther away from the house. Not far enough that we are forced to move, but far enough that I think about moving every single day during my commute.
• 5/08 – We decide to try to sell the house.

There, now I feel a lot better that you are all caught up on my housing situation and you will have a better understanding as I move forward. The house should be listed at the end of next week.

*Look for a future post on buying a house with a friend. This seems to be a topic that people have strong feelings about. During the process, I heard from a lot of people on both sides, some saying it was fine and others saying it was a terrible idea. I’ve since established my own opinion and will share it with you in the near future.