Today is a bittersweet day for me.
Today is the day I was supposed to sit at the settlement table and close on my house. I started this process back in December 2019 with a $250 down payment. I was excited and scared all at the same time. The plan was to continue putting money towards the down payment until today when I would come with the last $2200 of it. It was a new construction in a brand new development right across the street from an apartment complex that I lived in a couple years ago. I got to choose everything I wanted inside the house as far as counter colors, flooring, etc. but I had no say in the layout of the actual house. I paid $1000 every payday to ensure that my down payment would be a sufficient amount by settlement day.
I never stopped looking at houses. Even though my house was a decent house, it didn’t have everything that I wanted in it. I wanted a house with a garage; this house had no garage. I wanted a house with a split tub and shower in the master bath; this house had only a (very large) shower. I went back and forth wondering whether I was making the right decision. This is a house. This is an investment. This is somewhere I plan to live for at least three years. Do I really want to spend three years in a place that doesn’t have what I want just because I want to say that I have it? Especially considering how much my mortgage was going to be ($2300/month – twice my rent 😵)
I made that mistake when I bought my first car. It was there, and I didn’t want to leave without a vehicle. It was a cream (yes, cream) colored 2011 Kia Sorento. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. But I didn’t wanna leave the dealership without a car, so I bought it. It was nice for a while and then it became my biggest headache. One day last year I was getting ready to pick up my mom from the dealership where they’d just purchased my sister’s car. I went to start my Sorento and it wouldn’t start. This had been an ongoing problem that I couldn’t seem to get fixed. Every time I tried to take it to a shop they would tell me they wouldn’t know how to fix it unless it happened while the truck was with them. I couldn’t afford to leave my truck in a shop and wait for it to not start, so I went on about my business. On this particular morning when my car didn’t start, I put my purse and stuff in it and I cleaned everything else out. I knew we would be at the dealership for a few hours with my mom and there were other dealerships in the area – I was going to look for a car. We spent the entire time looking for a Chevy Equinox because that’s what I thought I wanted and I knew I could get everything I wanted in that SUV for a reasonable price. I left the dealership with a Mazda that had everything I wanted except one thing, and I was okay with that because that one thing could be added to my vehicle whenever I wanted.
I say all that to say – had I been patient the first time we went car shopping and done a bit more research I probably could’ve gotten a much better car. I could’ve saved myself a lot of money in car repairs and I probably wouldn’t have needed to buy another car so soon. But I settled. Settling with a car is one thing, but settling with a house is a completely different monster. You actually have to live there. Every day. All day.
I didn’t back out of purchasing my home. Had I done that, I would have lost all the money I put into it. It was actually an issue with my credit score that caused me to no longer qualify for the house. At first I was devastated, but then I was grateful because 1.) I didn’t really want the house. Nothing about it gave me peace. 2.) I don’t think I would have been able to afford it. I make decent money, but all my money would have been going towards the house and nothing else. 3.) I got all of my money back. Everything I had paid them was refunded to my bank account. I was able to take that money and pay my parents back for helping me to break my apartment lease, pay for my last 4 classes to finish my degree, and pay off three credit cards sooner than I planned. My credit score has since recovered and now that I’m not paying rent I can put way more money into my savings.
I restarted the process of buying a home, but with a realtor this time. I will definitely keep you guys posted.
Stay safe.
Xoxo,
Ash, RN