House Hunting

Ryan’s been in this apartment since last September (I’ve been here since January) and by the end of July, we had to decide if we wanted to renew our lease for another year. Things were crazy around that time with wedding planning, so thinking about moving by the end of September was a little overwhelming.  We kind of went back and forth on what we should do. We tossed around the idea of buying a house, not even knowing if it would be an option.

We liked the idea of putting money into a house that we could get back when we sell it (as opposed to renting when you feel like you’re wasting money). Renting in this area is so expensive that we would be making lower payments on a house, which would be great!  Also, the idea of getting our own place and making it our own, with a yard, not having to pay a fee to have cats, etc – all sounded wonderful.

We found it would be possible for us to buy a house so we really started thinking seriously about that option. We weren’t sure where to start, but we ended up starting with a company that only sells new houses. Turns out, we didn’t like the idea of buying a new house in a “production neighborhood.” You know, the ones where you pick a floor plan and your house goes up so quickly that you wonder if they’re using quality materials. Plus, the lots are super small. It just didn’t end up being our thing.

Instead, we found an awesome realtor and started looking into pre-existing houses. We ended up renewing our apartment lease for 3 more months, so we have until the end of December to find our house.  Our wedding kind of put the house hunting on hold, plus we filed an extension on our taxes so we had to get those done as well to continue the process.

Things are finally moving along now! We’ve been looking at houses in “rural” areas around Indy so we can get a USDA loan. It’s perfect because 1) there’s no down payment and 2) a low fixed interest rate. Also, we aren’t stuck to one part of Indy since we both work from home so we are flexible with where we live.

I’ve been house hunting online like crazy and we’ve finally been able to get out and look at a handful of houses.

Here’s what we’re looking for in a home:

• One that is move-in ready, thus doesn’t require any major work
• 2-story would be ideal, to help separate our office from our bedroom and/or living room area
• 3 bedrooms – one for us, one for the office, and one for a guest room
• Lots of windows to let in light
• A nice sized yard and quiet neighborhood – preferably with lots of trees.
• Open floor plan
• 1 car garage
• Bonuses – fireplace, hardwood floors, patio or deck, front porch

So far, we have found one home we both really, really like. It has a big front and back yard + a covered front porch and a patio out in the back. It has nice hardwood floors, a fireplace, 1 car garage with extra room for storage. It’s split level, and has three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs, and then one extra room downstairs. The master bedroom has carpet, a large window, vaulted ceiling, and the bathroom has a separate shower plus a jacuzzi tub. The living room, dining room, and kitchen are on the main level and it feels very open. It was built in 1960.

Our realtor is going to find out more about the home and we’re going to look at a few more houses. I think it may be hard to find another house that compares to this one now. I’m really excited to see where this goes – maybe we’ve already found our house!  :)