I finally slept. I couldn’t believe it. I don’t feel much better, but at least I slept. I’m trying to come to terms with my husband’s decision to max out our budget for the house. I deal so well with firm, cold hard facts, and fluffy numbers and I don’t really get along. So I basically forced him to offer another amount for a smaller piece of the land. He’s mad at me. That’s fine. I was mad at him for making the offer without hard numbers, and without my consent in the first place. At first I felt really guilty, but now I realize that we’re in this together and each of us has been pushy. We both want this so much, and I’m just the more conservative one. I shouldn’t apologize for it. I am the one that does the budget, that trims back on things for ‘us’ when he wants something ‘extra’ — hopefully with the smaller offer, we will have money in the bank each month, and the chance to ‘have it all’ — even if it’s on a smaller piece of ground. If someone does snatch up the rest of the land in the next little bit, we should be hidden WAY back in the trees, just like we always wanted. In a nice big house (like he wanted) with a big kitchen and pantry (like we both wanted) and enough room for guests, while leaving Keeley her own room and a full basement for expansion and/or an in-law suite, should we need it later on.
Was everyone else as freaked out about buying a home as I am? We don’t know anything pretty much about the area. I finally looked at the grade school website. Doesn’t look bad, although the town is TINY. There’s a good chance we’ll be treated as outsiders, but whatever. I’m used to it. A bigger town (with a super store) is about 10 miles away. It also has all the feel and such of the 2 towns we lived in about the same size that we liked.
Of course all this means changing pediatricians. Again. Good lord. Well, I guess it should be for the final time (I hope). She should get her 6 month shots in and then I think we have a bit of a break before we need more? Not sure but we’ve been going every 6 weeks, so it will be nice to have a touch of a break.
What does everyone else do when they feel overwhelmed? We are so close to having our own place, away from all the noise and hecticness of the city. The good thing is? It will actually be CLOSER to get to the grocery store, pharmacy, etc, because there will be practically no traffic. Isn’t that funny? Our errands will take a lot less time. I will have a bit of independence back. And, we will be a lot closer to family. We even talked about possibly being able to stay with our church and being able to go about once a month. We could probably find another church to go do the others weeks, once we’re settled.
If you’ve ever had a new home, do you have any tips? I know we should go ahead and paint the nursery and get it done so it can air out, any other thoughts? We will probably take the ‘deal’ of the air conditioner since it will be summer by the time we get in, and buy our own appliances at Sears or something other large store, most likely shopping in the scratch and dent section. But those are my ideas at this point. Has anyone moved into a house recently and had to do this transition? Despite the somewhat negative tone, I’m really very excited. If everything goes as planned (or at least close), we’ll only be paying a couple hundred more dollars a month than we’re paying now for a bunch of land, a brand new house with a full basement, huge kitchen, basically the works. Oh and we can finally get all of our stuff out of storage at both parents’ houses so they can have their attics and garages back. I’m sure they’ll breathe a sigh of relief.
The biggest tip I can give you is to think forward; invest your money on things that will stay stable for a long term, for example – floor, pictures, quality forniture…
First, breathe. After that, I know you well enough to know that no matter what anyone tells you, you’re going to worry and analyze and turn everything on in your mind repeatedly.
It was little bit stressful to buy a house – and it really should be – but it wasn’t something that kept me from sleeping. Although the excitement kept me up a little! I’m surprised Matt made the offer without you guys firming it up together first. I hope that retracting his offer didn’t cause any problems. I’d love to hear about the house and lot and all when you have time. How much land are you getting?
A lot of places offer deals where if you get one appliance, you get x% off, 2 you get 2x%, and so on. American does that frequently, so does Sears. And some of the smaller places (we have a Sherman’s here that we like, but i don’t know if that’s a chain or not) will work with you some. We got some good financing on some stuff that didn’t qualify for the financing because we bought one item that did, and I told him we wouldn’t buy any of it if we couldn’t get the financing I wanted. A 5 year no interest loan. We can afford that! Ask if you buy multiple appliances, what can they do for you? Shop around (online or the ads will save you the trip) and see who will price match.
Mark swears by Behr paint. They only have it at Home Depot, that we know of. Says it goes on smoother and takes less to cover an area. Less coats. He isn’t the only one who feels that way, either!
Any painting you can get done ahead of time would be better. You said a brand new place, did you mean for you guys or brand new built? If so, you can deal with the paint that’s there, at least in some of the rooms. That will save money and time. And when we moved in this house, we didn’t do any painting. It was all neutral and fresh enough that we didn’t see the need. We’ve painted Jacob’s room, because I wanted a color for the nursery, and that’s it.
If you DO shop in the scratch and dent section (which we have done, and there’s nothing wrong with. I just try to not get anything too obvious), it’s marked down already, but feel free to ask for more. Say that you’ll give them x amount, and then get ready to walk away. A lot of places are more willing to deal now, and the worst thing that happens is you pay what they’re asking.
What town is it by?
When it comes to landscaping, see what both of your parents have that they can give to you to transplant. I don’t know much about such things, but I know you can do that to day lilies, lilies of the valley, some rose bushes, and peonies. You can also wait to landscape until the end of the summer, when stuff’s on clearance but has the same warranty.
It is a big deal, a big step that you should do and talk about extensively together. It doesn’t always go smoothly. I’ll say a little extra prayer for patience and understanding for each other. It can’t hurt!
love you!
Behr paint for sure. It’s the best paint we’ve ever worked with.
I say upgrade to the quality windows, cabinets, flooring, etc. Go mid-grade for carpeting and even doors. Those are things that you can upgrade down the road. As someone else said, the more appliances you buy from a store, the better deal you get.
Finally, breathe!! Tackle one thing at a time.
🙂