I remember well the nervous first steps that my wife and I took in search of our first home. We first spoke with our family and argued with each other as to whether we were ready for such a responsibility. We began our search like most on the Internet and even turned to the State Paper hoping that the perfect property we reach out and grab us. My wife contacted a friend of her sister that was a Realtor and asked advice on what we should do.
From there we were approved for a loan and then my wife started poking around with Ruth, the Realtor, in the hopes that she would find us that perfect place that we so desired. After coming to the stern realization that we really couldn't afford a mansion on a hill, we started actually looking at what we could afford. There were some decent houses out there in our range, and by decent I mean they were standing. At the time neither of us were really setting the world on fire as far as salary was concerned.
After touring around several times, we happened upon a place that seemed to be what we were looking for in a home. Now understand that by that, I mean it was at a price we could afford and most of the problems were cosmetic. It wasn't exactly the greatest spot on the planet, but it had potential and we considered ourselves to be visionaries, so we figured what the hell. In the end, more than anything, we just wanted a place to call our own.
Then came the first big awakening moment as we had to sit down, write an earnest money check, and put an offer in writing. Then we got to go back to our current living quarters and wait for a response. Two days seemed like an eternity as we tried anything we could to keep our minds off of the ordeal. Then the call came, what the hell is a counter offer? We then had to sit down again and see where we wanted to go from there. So, we countered back. The only thing we really wanted were the shingles replaced on the roof, because there were practically none there at the time.
Then we got to send off that offer and once again wait around to see what would come from our latest efforts. Well, then we got the next phone call, and this one was the call we wanted. The offer was accepted and for a brief moment all the world was right. The we realized that we had no idea what to do next. Turns out that the rest of the transaction ran pretty smooth and we were able to roll right on into closing without much trouble in between. From there we signed our lives away at the closing table and were handed keys to our new home.
It still makes me feel good to think about it and make that statement, our new home. Of course, the only thing that was new about it was the shingles on the roof, but that mattered little to us. We spent our first few nights there sleeping on just a mattress on the floor with boxes piled all over the place. Frankly, we didn't have much more than that mattress and all the crap packed away in the boxes, but we were young, happy, and we didn't care.
Now keep in mind that I said this wasn't the most lovely home on the block to start with. But, we managed to unpack and arrange and fix it up a little at a time. We weren't able to do all we wanted right from the start, but slowly and surely we were able to turn all that rough into a diamond. And in the end it was all the better that it was our diamond. It was a huge step in what would become the rest of our lives. Though we no longer reside there, because it was a starter home and we have since upgraded to a larger place, I still ride by from time to time while showing homes for sale or passing through. And I have to admit that to this day, it still makes me smile every time I lay eyes on it.
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