Is it possible?

I started something today that I really shouldn’t have. You see, I’m so sick of apartment living. I’ve been wanting to get into a house for quite some time now. Especially after my friend Robin bought a house a couple years ago (I think it’s been that long now). I thought it would take me forever to be able to get a house.

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.