I’ve gotten extremely tired of my apartment. It’s a one bedroom with a living room that doesn’t allow me to rearrange my furniture (I’ve tried a couple time … just not possible with how it is laid out). Plus my rent went up in August. This apartment isn’t worth what they’re charging me for it. As of the end of this month, I’ll have been living in this apartment for 6 years. It’s time to move on.

I’ve been putting money into 2 savings accounts for quite a while now. I actually started this process back in 2008, but I got laid off in October of that year, so the dream got put on indefinite hold.

I think that I’m at the right point in my life right now to own my own home. I’m 36 years old … I’m not getting any younger. Sure … I’m not making as much money as I was back in 2008 before I got laid off (by quite a bit actually … even after almost 2 years), but I have gotten raises every time I’ve had a review at work. And I have my annual review coming up soon. I’ll have been at my current job for 2 years once November hits. I’m hoping I’ll get another raise … I mean, I did build a custom CMS (both standalone and network) … that’s got to count for something, right?

I’ve looked at 7 houses (before today). I really liked one of them, but it was in extreme NW West Fargo. It was priced right and was the right size, but the location just didn’t work for me. 5 of the houses were in the same neighborhood, but they just didn’t work. One came close, but the seller wasn’t including the washer, dryer, fridge, OR stove … and no dishwasher. I could live without a dishwasher, but having to buy the other 4 appliances over the top of the price of the house … not possible.

Last Friday I found this house. It’s a little outside my price range, but not by much. And it’s in the same neighborhood that 5 of the first 7 houses were (which just so happens to be a street over from a friend of mine).

I met my realtor at the house this morning to take a peek at it. I really liked it. I’m not sure what I’d do with the basement, but I’m sure I could grow into it. I honestly couldn’t find anything wrong with it. It was in good condition, and the layout was pretty similar to Robin’s (which I like). In fact, the upstairs layout is identical to Robin’s house. It’s got a nice little yard too … even areas where I could plant some veggies in the spring (I’d have to dig out the plants that are in there now tho).

I need to do some number crunching this weekend (I was gonna do it tonite, but I’ve gotten distracted). My realtor asked my banker to send me some estimates on a loan for the house. At full asking price, and with the sellers paying closing costs, the monthly payments would be right around my sweet spot … a little higher than I’d hoped, but still manageable.

If the numbers come out in my favor … and if the bank agrees to lend me up to the full purchase price … I’ll probably make an offer on it (yeah … I liked it that much). Obviously there’s no guarantee that the sellers will like my offer or any subsequent offer, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna try.

So … keep your fingers crossed. I’d like to move in before the snow flies (or at least before the holidays).

My original plan was to start looking for a house around the end of next summer. If I followed my savings plan (which I was doing), I’d have enough for a down payment by then. And since I’d be a first time home buyer, I could get by without a down payment. That might not be the case is some parts of the country, but the housing market hasn’t fallen as much around here as other parts of the country. So I think that would still have been the case for me.

Now, my plan is just pushed back some. I have 2 interviews this week (one Monday and one Tuesday). Maybe one of them will be the right one for me, and I’ll be offered the position. I’m also waiting to hear back on a couple other positions that I submitted my resume to.

My best case scenario would be that my plans are only pushed back one month. That is, assuming I would be paid fairly close to what I had been getting. I haven’t put any money into savings since I lost my job because I wanted to keep that money available for when I needed it. But I haven’t taken anything out of savings either.

So … I’m not going to let myself get down. My dream of being a home owner is not dead. I can still get a house. My time line is just shifted a little. I need to look to the positive. I just have more time to plan now. I need to keep telling myself that so I don’t fall down that pit of despair.

Even though I didn’t think it would be possible for quite some time, I opened a money market savings account on July 1st. My plan for this account is to earmark it specifically as a housing fund … to have enough in it to cover closing costs (for sure), down payment (if needed), and have money left over for any maintenance needed. As of today, I have $650.53 sitting in that account. I plan to put in another $100 out of my latest paycheck (before the end of this month). My goal is to have about $5000 in there when I start house hunting. Why that amount? Well, that’s what Robin told me she needed for closing costs. That’s all I really have to go off of at this point.

My credit card will be paid off in October. When that is done, my plan is to take the amount I’ve been sending to get it paid off and put that in the money market account. That’s another $350/month, at least. Since I’ve already been sending that amount to the credit card company and been adding at least $100 a month to the account (if not $100 out of each paycheck), I could probably be able to put more than $350/month in there, but that’s the lowest amount. So that’s what I’m basing my figures off of.

I decided to work up a spreadsheet this afternoon to help me figure out when I *might* be able to start house hunting. That’s what I was talking about at the beginning of this post that I shouldn’t have done. LOL If I follow my plan, then I’d hit my $5000 goal in October 2009. That’s only 14 months from now. Is it really possible that I could start house hunting that soon? I really thought it would take me 2 to 3 years before I’d be able to. After looking at the numbers, it really looks like it would be possible to start before that. That would be so awesome. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I think it’s already too late. LOL

I know that the housing market isn’t in all that great of shape lately. But I think my credit score is something that will help me out. When I got my free credit report (from AnnualCreditrReport.com) at the beginning of the month, I also got my FICO credit score (it was only $7.95). I was surprised to see the number. I guess it really does pay to pay your bills on time. So I think I would definitely be able to get a loan/mortgage. Just how much I’d be eligible for, I don’t know.

I think I’m going to start researching things now so I know how to plan. I’m sure I can find a ton of info online. And Robin mentioned that it would be a good idea if I took some first time home owners classes (I think that’s what it was). But I’m also wondering if anyone reading this has bought a home in the last year or so or is currently house hunting. Do you have any tips? Is there anything that I should do and anything I shouldn’t do?

I have over a year to plan and save. That seems like a long time away, but I have a feeling (or at least I hope) it’ll go by fast. I just want to have all my “ducks in a row” when the times does come. So any insight I get get would be appreciated.