we bought a condo!
The ABC's of homeownership from an ABsolutely Clueless couple
As hinted at ever so subtly (read: not subtle at all) in the last two newsletters, Mike and I are buying a condo!!
We feel so incredibly lucky to able to say that, especially given how absurd and pretty gross the Boston real estate climate currently is.
When I say we knew absolutely nothing about this process before going into it, I mean exactly that. Like pathetically little to nothing.
I’ve heard from friends, family, and coworkers that it can be stressful, though it was much different than I anticipated. Spending time on real estate websites, going to open houses, and even putting in offers was all a breeze. I genuinely enjoyed this process.
Like walking around gorgeous properties and picturing myself living there??? And seeing how other owners decorated? I could do that for the rest of my life just for fun??? (hobbies include: creeping around and being nosy).
And the next part: putting in an offer and anxiously awaiting if we were chosen?! Also kind of thrilling.
But the after part.
The finding a mortgage lender and knowing what questions to ask, and what to expect for the mortgage process? NOT FUN. Less than ideal in our case.
Stress isn’t really the right word. Frustrating and time consuming are the more predominant emotions, especially when both parties work full time. And trying to communicate and decipher what everything means in regards to the property itself, the close, escrow (??), the laws of the purchasing process, and the mortgage lender. This was all so very new.
I think at this point we may be blacklisted from every mortgage lender in the tristate area (kind of kidding but also kind of not), but I will say we learned A LOT!
What to expect in this post: a recap of the home buying process from someone who doesn’t have a knowledge in this arena (I’m literally just a girl!!!!). And 10 takeaways / recommendations at the end.
It’s things I wish I knew prior to going into this process / how I would do things differently.
So let’s start from the beginning.
If you recall, Mike and I moved into this apartment back in December. When looking for rental properties, we started perusing properties for purchase, given we were both in a place financially where we felt we may be ready to buy.
We ultimately thought it better to ensure we were compatible roommates before entering into a lawful contract together, so that is just what we did.
We started softly looking in late March/April, and ended up putting offers into three different properties. Two of them went between 100-250K over asking…
Yup.
Gonna pause here to digest that as I bring it back from deep within my repressed subconscious.