I'm buying a house.

[ohiopiper]

This is moving pretty fast. My wife and I looked at several houses this past Saturday. One of them really appealed to us. We talked it over Saturday afternoon and evening and some more after church on Sunday. We called the realtor Sunday afternoon and arranged to meet him Monday morning to place a bid. The seller is what they call "motivated" and has respended to our bids in less than 24 hours each time. We have agreed now on $105,000 and I have an inspector coming in Monday afternoon (exactly one week anfter the first bid) for the home inspection. After that, we renegotioate if needed and sign a purchase agreement and call the good folks at the V.A. (veterans Administration) so they can send out their appraisal dude. Once that happens, the deal is pretty much done. We expect to close May 27.

House is a newly renovated century home, built in 1849. The current owner has before and after pictures up, but I'm not sure if it would be appropriate to link to someone else's content on a FaceBook page, so I won't until I get approval.

[cessna152towser]

Best of luck with your move.

[Lyle1]

Good luck. I hope the inspection and the closing process goes well!

[RockyR]

Congrats!

Is it your first home or are you selling your current home as well? Home ownership is scary, but very rewarding. Best of luck!

[Cynthia]

Good luck and best wishes -- how exciting for you!

[Father Bill]

Well done! May every day in your new home be a happy one! Blessings!

[ohiopiper]

Thanks for the warm wishes.

This is our first house to own, we've rented before. Due to some career choices, I moved around a lot in my 20's and even after I got married we didn't have kids for a few years. When we did finally "settle down", we've been renting the same place here for eight years.

The house is in a small town called Garrettsville, Ohio. It is on the same street and less than a mile away from the first apartment Kim and I had when we got married.

It was built in 1846, has a barn and one car garage behind the house. The current owner bought it in 2002 as a fixer-upper and has done a TON of work. New roof, new plumbing, new wiring, re-plaster and paint all the walls, took up the carpet and re-finished the hardwood floors, re-tiled the kitchen and laundry room, put in a 90% efficiency boiler for the hot water heat, and put in a new water heater. Probably more I can't remember right now.

Anyway, we're pretty stoked to be moving into a place of our own. Like I said, we've been renting the current house for eight years and the day we move out there will be nothing to show for all those rent checks written.

[Duke of Delrio]

Congratulations and best wishes for your new home and first house. Before you ask, let me inform you that the IRS will not allow you to claim the County Assessor as a dependent or as an expense of home ownership. I hate to be the one to tell you, but there it is. The rest, though, is all good.

[Whidbey78]

Congrats. Owning beats the tar out of renting any day. Of course, if something goes haywire--and something will at some point--you have to pony up the dough. The real upside is that you can do what you want to do with it, the check you write every month isn't lining someone else's pocket or paying their mortgage, and the feeling you get in having a little chunk of land and a house to call your own is rewarding in a way that's hard to explain.

My wife and I may be moving this summer and renting out our house and possibly buying another. It's kinda hard to think about someone else living here, especially since they will have no idea how much work we put into this place. It's funny how a house can become almost alive and how attached you can get to it!

[Danwell]

I'd love to see photos......I don't think there is anywhere in Australia you can buy a house for $100,000. Obviously the housing market is vastly different in the US to Australia, but I can't imagine being able to buy a livable house so cheap! Ours was nearly four times that!