backyard, second floor. The cute little catch phrase I came up with last year when we purchased our home. Becoming a homeowner was the most stressful process I’ve been through and I’ve been through some pretty crappy situations, but this was different. We found ourselves constantly wondering what we looked like on paper to these people combing over every detail of our financial history. I mean, they must dissect a bunch of lives, did ours rate? Needless to say that process not only made us wonder where we stood in comparison to others but also made us take a deeper look into whether we thought we actually fit the homeowner bill or not. To put it lightly, we don’t think we do at all… but buying a home was the smartest decision and we made it through the ringer, so it is for us, right?
Our house is not our dream home, its not in the rich neighborhood with the best school district, the neighbors aren’t like those you see in the movies. However, I am so proud we were able to actually do it. I try to remind my partner every time he talks down on our home, how lucky we are to not only have made it here but to have passed the mortgage broker fine tooth comb. Whether it is the end all, be all home or not, its definitely a step in the right direction and its a step we made on our own.
I think the hardest part in going through stressful situations like buying a home is not having people around that have been where you are that can offer advice. Neither my partner’s family nor my family have ever been in a situation to purchase a home. Is there a first generation homebuyers club? We went in headfirst, blinder than blind. We later learned that we made several mistakes, we chalked it up, but had we known people who had made mistakes we may have known to ask more or read more or hire more inspectors. It helps to have people to feed off, and this isn’t the first difficult situation we’ve been through blindly. Again, when he starts getting all pessimist on me about all the wrong decisions we made, I remind him how lucky we are to have been able to be in a position to make the wrong decisions. There are so many who never in their lifetime will be given the opportunity to make the wrong decisions about buying a home. Now we know how to help others, and we know how to not make the same mistakes if we get the chance again.
I digress…
I say all this to say Happy One Year HomeOwner Anniversary !!!