For me, the best part of a PCS move -- I know I am crazy for actually enjoying part of this thing -- is looking up houses in our new area and looking up things to do, places to see and of course things to eat.
When we found out we were going to Fort Hood, Texas that was the first thing I did. I looked up houses to rent. It was during this initial search that we found out we couldn't really "afford," and by that I mean we would be at our BAH limit and would pay out of pocket for utilities, to rent in the area we wanted to live in BUT we could afford to BUY!?
Kina crazy right?
So we switched gears and started making a list of what we needed in a home and what we wanted in a home and that fueled our search and gave us a price point.
Originally we decided to get preapproved for $200,000 and in the area we wanted to live in, that could get you a pretty decent, pretty good sized home. By pretty decent and pretty good size I am talking 4 bed rooms, 2 full baths, two car garage, fenced in yard and 2,000 square feet.
Even though we could afford the mortage on a house at the price point, once we started utilizing USAA's mortgage calculator, which adds in property taxes (yeah we forgot about those) and home owners insurance (didn't phase us since we already have renters insurance) we realized we would be house poor and needed a more "responsible" ceiling.
With that being said, we marked our favorites on a website, which we had to sign up for (free) because it would only allow you to browse so many houses without doing so.
We started hearing the same Realty group over and over again from friends in the course and its funny because the day we registered for this website someone from that brokerage called me. Instead of being obnoxious and car salesmen like the woman on the other end of the phone made me not want to hang up on her. Even funnier is she worked for the firm that many people in the ECCC recommended. To put the cherry and whip cream on top they were a firm that USAA endorsed and if we used this preferred Realtor we would get a check, in the tune of $950, back at the end.
Double, triple ice cream sundae with all the toppings score!
I told her what we were looking for, where we were looking, a pricepoint we were comfortable and gave her an approximate timeline and set up a time when I could come down to Texas to house hunt with her.
I can't believe we could be buying our first home at the ripe 'ole ages of 27.
I made the 11 hour trip down to Texas with a friend here at the ECCC and lucky for me she grew up in Waco, Texas and just spent the last few years stationed at Fort Hood. The trip down flew by and I was anxious to meet our Realtor. I was kind of bummed I had to do this trip Chris-less but we both agreed that if I didn't find anything I LOVED that we weren't desperate to buy and atleast we tested the waters and learned something if I left without putting an offer in.
When I turned the corner to enter the door of the realty company I noticed a sign on the door that said "The Shine Team Welcomes Vanessa Lynch." I swear its the little things that matter.
Then I met my Realtor, Amy, and instantly liked her and knew she was the perfect match for us.
We were able to knock a lot of houses off my 22 house list for various reasons: price point, already under contract, not move in ready until Feb. or March and we need something by the first week of January or just bad design/location.
People always say don't buy the first thing you see, but the first house she showed me was the one. I just had that feeling when I walked inside. But, for good measure, we looked at lots more but nothing compared both asthetically and for the price. We saw some pre-owned homes that were $20,000 more than this brand new, never lived in number.
I wanted it!
However, once my agent told me that we would never share a fence line on one side of our house because of a runoff drain I had to investigate the backside of the property. Enter Army officer's wife's limited construction knowledge: I noticed the boards along the retaining wall were warped and I knew that was no bueno.
I showed the realtor and she agreed that this needs to be fixed so we headed back to her office, it was around 6 pm, to write an offer (umm is this real life?!) and she wrote in a prelimiary contigency stating I wouldn't write a full offer until he addressed to fix this.
This was a very productive and informative first day of house hunting. I have only been in Texas for two days (the first day doesn't really count since we got in at 7:30, checked into our hotel, ate dinner and hit the sack), and I have already found a house I loved and put an offer in!
Again, is this real life?
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