Wanted: A New Home

Sometime back in the middle of September T-man and I decided that we weren't busy enough with school and work, so we decided to break the bonds of indentured renting and look for a place to call our own. Since the values of homes in our area have taken a steep dive, we figured now would be a great time to make the move, no pun intended.

We thought this would be really easy, like shopping for a car, only bigger. Seems the same, right? You find what you want, you haggle for the price, deal with the financing, purchase an insurance policy, grab the keys and you're off! Well, our experience with this process thus far has blown that perception to bloody smithereens. It now takes up every moment of free time and gives me something about which I can obsess (which I do...a lot). Good thing I dropped organic chemistry, but that's another post for another time.

I should preface the following by saying that our experience is probably no more terrible than what the average first-time home buyer faces, but since it’s our drama (and oh my God do I hate drama!!), I can go ahead and compare this to the proverbial pain of a root canal (which, knock on wood, I have also yet to experience). I daresay this is one of the worst processes in the whole world!! [Hey, it’s my drama.]

What we have found so far is the bulk of the homes on the market right now are foreclosures and the people upon which the bank foreclosed were NOT in good moods when they vacated their respective premises. In short, most of them are trashed so badly that it's hard to imagine them as vessels one would call "home." We’ve seen properties that smell like human waste throughout, have completely water logged basements, have been stripped of anything and everything of any value (a la “Fun with Dick and Jane”), and have been basically used and abused, nay, tortured by their previous owners. It has been quite a challenge to find a property we like that has the right location, sufficient space, and the added value of not making me toss cookies when I step through the door.

But lo and behold! We found the property of our dreams a couple of weeks ago and put down an offer on it. As is always the case with my luck (I'd have no luck were it not for bad luck), we didn't get the house. Someone snuck in 10 minutes behind us and outbid us. *Cue in Debbie Downer music.

What surprised me the most about losing the house was my reaction to actually losing the house. I’m not much of a crier, but I cried. I took it very personally for some reason. I started assessing my self-worth and felt like a big loser. Hell, I even started counting Karma points wondering if we would have gotten the property if only I’d let “that guy” merge in front of me on the road. For some reason, my psyche decided to deal with this situation cosmically and emotionally rather than logically, basically letting the “chick” side of me take over which, of course, made me even more upset when I realized that. I was a wreck. T-man dealt with the whole thing quite well, unsurprisingly. Like water off a duck’s back he just became more determined to find something else.

However, that was a huge problem. We found nothing that we liked as much as the first property. Not even close, at least not in the areas we were looking to buy. That's when T-man started digging up listings from Stafford County. Uh-oh, he’s desperate, I thought, time for an intervention.

Stafford County is located just south of Marine Corps Base Quantico or approx. 40 miles south of DC. Since we both could spit loogies into DC from our respective work places, we needed to have a little chat about the commute and the general quality of life that goes along with living in Stafford County. Not to get into too much detail, but the traffic really sucks in the DC metro area. All major arteries into/out of the District become parking lots (and potentially the birth place of many premeditated crimes borne from the DC commuter’s frustration with trying to get to work every day). The very first day of my current job I made the very same commute (I used to live in that area before I met T-man). It took me three hours - in one direction. I said, "what did I get myself into?" There are some really great commuting options, though, so it's not all bad. Upon hearing my full disclosure, T-man was still on board with Stafford, lured in by the "more bang for your buck" factor. Can't say I blame him - it really is a difference what 20 miles makes.

After looking at listings in different areas of Stafford County, we stumbled upon one that was absolutely awesome. I don't want to say too much about it right now, lest I jinx our chances (I'm still not ruling out the Karma factor!), but suffice it to say the deck on the house affords this view:



I'll share more when I have more to share. Stay tuned.