Sold!

So…we bought a house. One of my New Year’s Resolutions was for us to be able to buy a house in 2015, and we achieved that goal 9/26/2014. I guess it’s good that we accomplished our biggest resolution ahead of schedule, because my other two goals– to start wearing more lipstick and to take better care of my skin– are miserable failures.

Anyway.

We started looking in July, and quickly got discouraged at how little we thought we would be able to afford, and how few houses in our range (and DIY abilities) there were in the neighborhood we wanted to stay in. On the other hand, the process of looking and visiting lots of houses really helped us be precise what we wanted in a house: to stay in the Eckstein neighborhood, a light-filled living room, a family room, no smell of damp or mold, and a fenced in yard. Nice to haves would be hardwood floor, a kitchen that was not recently renovated, and a good sized dining room. And, after losing bids on two houses, we scored.

Our new house is right on the street we always dreamed of living on, with four bedrooms (one more than we had hoped for!), and everything else on our have-to- have and nice-to-have lists. Despite the super competitive market, for some reason it was overlooked and sat on sale for nearly two months. A combination of my promotion (and raise) and the owners dropping the price brought it into our range, and we were able to visit it and make an offer that same day. Actually….though, the we involved were myself and Caitlin, as Eddy (and the boys) were in Phoenix, while Caitlin was here for a long weekend. So technically, Eddy hadn’t even seen the house before we made the offer!

In any case, we made it, and it was accepted, and we live here now, and we’re happy. Hurrah for keeping New Year’s Resolutions!