I bought a house!

Today is a very happy day because…I BOUGHT A HOUSE!  After years of dreaming of owning my own home, it is finally a reality.  This has been in the works for a while now, so for those of you who care, here is my (and our) house buying story.  I’ve also included pictures of my new home that were taken from the real estate listing.  It’s a funky time warp to the 1960’s!

Let’s start from the very beginning, a very good place to start.  (Please read that in Maria’s singing voice from the “Sound of Music.”  I’m in SUCH a good mood!)  In early 2017 I was living in my bachelorette pad, loving life in Chicago, but wanting to do something new with my career.  I had begun looking through Redfin to find homes in the city that were also in my budget.  News flash, I’m not wealthy enough to buy in the city.  Especially in my preferred neighborhoods.  At that point I couldn’t imagine myself moving out of the city and buying in the suburbs, so I put the house hunt on pause and decided to focus on my career.  That was when I decided to make the move to the Philadelphia area to work in my company’s R&D center.

Philadelphia was a learning experience.  There were some not so great aspects of my time there, and some absolutely wonderful-magical-happy things (HI COLIN) (and Rigby).  Fast forward to January 2019- I really started missing home and made the choice to move back to the Chicago area following the completion of my two year contract in July.  Fortunately, Colin decided to come with me.  What a dream boat!  I’m so lucky!  Chicago is awesome though, so he made an excellent decision 🙂  In August of this year, I moved home and started looking for a job and a house.  Obviously the job had to come before the house, but I worked with a realtor to see a bunch of houses over the past few months.

By the time I was hired at my new company in mid-October, I had a house picked out.  Colin came to visit me in Chicago during that time and he was able to see this house, as well as a few other options.  We both agreed that this was meant to be our house.  He gave me the final say because I am buying this house by myself, but his opinion is very important since he will be my roommate 😉  The house has a two-car attached garage as well as a workshop in the basement, so it was an easy sell for him!

The day after receiving my job offer, I reached out to a mortgage lender and began the home buying process.  This particular lender allowed me to be approved for a mortgage without a first paycheck from my new company.  I don’t believe this is standard, but it was extremely beneficial for our timeline because Colin also got a new job which started December 2^nd. 

I’ll spare you the details, but he needed to be out of his apartment on November 30^th and all of my things were in a storage unit near him in Philadelphia.  Which means we needed to get a moving truck and move all our things to Illinois between November 30^th and December 2^nd.  That also meant that we would ideally close the week of Thanksgiving or the first week of December.  Our closing date is December 5^th. 

A quick closing date would not have been possible if the lender needed to wait until I get my first paycheck.  So I am extremely grateful that it worked out this way.  My lender and real estate agent have been so easy to work with and SO helpful.  They really sped this process along when I told them our timeline. 

This house is located in Arlington Heights.  Arlington Heights has always been a draw for me because it is where my dad grew up.  I have so many happy memories of going to over to my grandparent’s house and playing with the toys my dad and uncle had as kids.  My grandparents were very nostalgic and liked to save special mementos.  I can’t really put into words what it means to me to know that I’ll be walking the dog on the same streets that my dad biked as a kid.  Or swimming in the same pool that he lifeguarded in high school.  Or listening to his albums on my grandparent’s record player when we have parties. 

Buying this house is so much more than owning a home for me.  It is a connection to my dad.  And I am so fortunate that it is finally happening! Thanks for sticking with me on this longer than normal post. And get ready for lots of renovation blog posts in the upcoming months/years. It’s time for some “I bought a house” champagne! Cheers!