Buy a house

“The search was infuriating; most of the houses I liked would go under contract before I had a chance to go see them, and there were a couple of cases where the seller agent ghosted my realtor after she submitted my offer. Also, I had to buy 45 minutes from my job in order to find any affordable listings. I got ridiculously lucky on a stupid offer, where I offered most of the downpayment as the due diligence fee sight unseen. My realtor was anxious about that offer, and I don't blame her, but I was desperate and impatient. Luckily the house was good, and the appraisal came in right where I needed it, so I closed without issue.”

“A lot of what turned me off from buying in Charlotte was the assumption that we’d never get what we wanted at a price we could afford. I felt like we could either have the urban-centric lifestyle we enjoy or a house we own — but not both. [...] In the end, we managed to double our square footage, add a big backyard, stay a bike-able distance from both of our offices and keep it on budget — for the exact same price we pay for rent now. I had no idea any of that was possible until about two months ago. It was one hell of a trip to get there, but it wasn’t nearly as unbearable as I thought it would be.”

“We’re first time home owners and the entire process has been tedious and exhausting. It’s finally over, so I’d thought I’d do a blog post to talk about the journey [...] We ended up seeing over 50 homes and putting offers on three, so it’s been a whirlwind.”