Otis and I have officially taken our first steps towards purchasing a home. We have a realtor and a mortgage broker that we like, and are working towards getting pre-approved. It's scary and exciting all at once to think that this could really happen this year. I've been pretty apprehensive about the idea of purchasing a home, as it has felt more settled than I thought I was ready to be. Oh, and there's also that scary little thing called a mortgage payment. Gulp. Anyhow, the more we look the more I like the idea of having a place that's ours, a yard for Abi, and room to grow as a family (NOT anytime soon).

Yesterday we looked at homes on the east side, near downtown. There are some good investment opportunities to be had over there, and we really like the vibe of being close to downtown, Zilker, etc. However, after making the drive down there from work at 4:30pm, we realized that it's just too far from our jobs and we don't want to deal with the traffic. It would also change our lives significantly, separating us from our church, friends, and other things important to us. So, it looks like we'll be staying farther north, probably around the Anderson/Burnet/Lamar area. Which is great because it keeps us close to the things we care about and also still offers the 'vibe' we're looking for.

I'll post updates here as things move forward. We have no idea how quickly or slowly this will happen. If we find a great deal, we'll probably snag it. And if things just aren't looking right, then we'll probably be patient and wait until something good comes along. The best part is we're under no pressure to buy right now, so if we do buy it will be because we want to and not because we have to.

Looks like we're putting an offer in on a house. Oh wait...THAT'S how much it's going to cost us to close? Maybe not. But then again, if we can do this with the down payment and that with the closing costs and can get a home renovation loan wrapped in, then yes. Check with mortgage broker. Oh, we can't do this but we can do that with a possibility on the other loan. Then m-a-a-y-b-e...

Head explodes from overload of information/variables.

Check with mortgage broker on this other detail over here that could possibly make that detail over there work. Oh, he's not there. Wait for call/e-mail. Wait. Wait.

Grrrr.

We put in an offer on a house today. It's significantly lower than what the seller is asking, but that's mostly because they are smoking crack if they think they're going to get close to asking price for it. They're asking about $20-$40 sq/ft over what other houses in the area have gone for...other houses that have air (of any sort), appliances, and at least some work done to them on some level. This house...well, let's just say the owner hasn't touched it in at least 10 years AND decided to remove all window units and appliances when the last tenants moved out. So now we just wait and see how the seller reacts to our offer. It's hard not to be too hopeful and not dream about future plans for the house. I think, though, we are both being fairly realistic and realize it may not work out with this house. And if it falls through, that's OK. There are other houses out there, and one of them may be even better for us.

Well, it looks like we're back to square one on the house thing. The seller countered our offer of $25k below list price and she pays closing costs with $1500 off list price and we pay the closing costs; an offer which, now that I think about it, was kind of insulting. Of course, I'm sure she thought our offer was equally insulting, but for someone who hasn't stepped foot on her property long enough in 10 years to even complete the seller's disclosure, she sure is confident she'll get the ridiculous price she's asking. We'll see how that works out for her.

Thus commences the steep downgrade portion of this roller coaster ride. We will continue looking at houses and see if there's anything we feel at least as excited about. However, I think it's going to take us some time to recover from the emotional toll this has taken on us before we get back out there. While we could find a house we sort of like in our price range and sort of in an area we want to live, we both know that at this point it would just be a rebound house. And everyone knows you don't marry buy the rebound. Matt is out of town the rest of this week, so that will make it easier for us to put this on the back burner for a while and regroup. *sigh*

I'm going to just come out and say it. I feel very discouraged. Life lately has been a series of dashed hopes with an extra helping of crappiness. Here's how it's played out:

1. Get excited about house offer.
2. Get excited about ______ possibility.
3. In same day find out house offer and other possibility have fallen through.
4. Next morning Otis leaves for work trip in which he works his tail off. Poor guy.
5. Otis comes home Saturday night. Yay!
6. I get a speeding ticket on my way home to see him. $#%&
7. Yesterday, go see most adorable house ever at the most unbelievable price. Get super excited in spite of best efforts not to do so and decide to put in offer.
8. Find out we were beat to the punch on said offer by 1 hour.

This house thing is so much more challenging than either of us expected, and it's getting harder and harder to recover from the disappointments. Yesterday totally sucked the wind from our sails. Neither of us slept well, and we've been walking around like a pair of deflated balloons all morning. I'm feeling very lost in all of this, with no idea what direction to head next. I think we've decided to not think about house stuff this week and just live our lives. Hopefully that will feel more encouraging as the week goes on.