This post is WAY overdue! In an effort to get back on track with my list, here is my story about buying my house.
Over a year ago, I closed on my very first house and it is still difficult to believe I did it! It is really hard to put in words how much this means to me since I honestly thought I would never be capable of buying a house on my own. I'll start this long crazy tale at the beginning.
When I was married, my credit score took a massive dive due to...well...moving on. I was well aware that my credit score was poor when I divorced in 2010 and I slowly worked on bringing it up. Sloooooooowly. Worrrrkkkkeedddd. I did tons of research, wrote letters, and paid my bills on time. And still I looked at my credit (daily) and felt extremely discouraged.
In February of 2013 I started back at college to finish my degree and the student loans caused my credit score to drop 13 points.
I cried.
This was it, I told myself. I'm doomed to never own my own house. Or maybe, if I could get married to someone who didn't mind being burdened with my bad credit, I could buy a house WITH someone. Or, mayyybe move into someone's house. You know, a house they owned, but at least I would live in it with them.
And then, not so slowly, my credit score started to improve. Quickly. It was still low, but it was no longer horribly, terribly embarrassing.
That was when the mortgage agent called. And I told him that he was wasting his time with me. I told him there was no way I would be qualified for a mortgage and besides, I didn't have any money to put down. He asked if he could call back the next day and process and application anyway.
I was conflicted.
First of all, my ex-boyfriend gave the agent the number. The ex-boyfriend, whom I specifically told NOT to interfere, gave him my number since he knew I really wanted to buy a house. But on the other hand, I told myself, it doesn't seem right to pass up the possibility to buy a house just for this reason. What if it was really possible? WHAT IF?
And so I agreed to let him process my application. When I didn't hear back at the specified time, I prepared myself for the bad news. I'm used to bad news when it comes to money issues, so my pessimistic side kicked in quickly. Well, I thought, that's that. I tried.
Except he called and told me that I qualified for up to $110,000.
It felt like a joke. Or a scam.
But just in case it wasn't, I contacted my friend who is a real estate agent and asked if she would help me shop for a house. You know. Juuuuust in case this was real.
I was qualified for a USDA loan, which means I had to look in a rural area. Initially I wanted to look south of my job, which would be near my real estate agent, but then I realized this would cause some difficulties with childcare and my education. I needed someone to watch my kids every Wednesday night, and I also need before and after school care. Although there are obviously child care options available, my commute would be more unpredictable and I was concerned that I would not be able to get there on time some days. So I thought, HEY, why don't I move near my ex-husband and give him the opportunity to see the kids more and help me out!
(I realize I've mentioned an ex-boyfriend and an ex-husband thus far in my story. Luckily this is not a first date because I clearly would have been red flagged by now.)
He was on board with this plan, so I switched gears and told my real estate agent that I was interested in looking in a different area...two hours from her house, in a different county, in a different area code, and in the middle of nowhere. I should pause here to mention that she's obviously a saint because she took this all in stride. We now had 2 potential houses to see.
Because I value your attention span, I'll spare you the details about house shopping and cut to the chase...I fell in love with my house and put an offer on it. And then the fun began.
In no particular order, but in a furry of events, all of this happened:
1. The house does not have a public sewer system because the town doesn't have a public sewer system. I paid $70 for the township guy to stand here while I paid $75 for a guy to inspect my cesspool. As a result, I got a letter saying that my cesspool was good.
2. I paid $475 for a woman to come appraise the house and decide that everything was okay except for the paint on the garage. I paid something like $125 for her to come back out and say that it was properly repainted.
3. I paid $325 to have my house inspected and have it checked for wood boring insects. I found out that there were carpenter ants, and the owners had it sprayed.
AND
4. I paid $500 as a deposit on my bid, which was refunded at closing.
Now here's where it got really fun.
Because I'm reasonably intelligent and also poor, I did all my divorce paperwork myself, including my name change. I've been divorced since June 29, 2011, but the mortgage company was not a fan of my one page divorce decree. They also were skeptical about my lack of child support. Initially, I typed up a statement (and the request of my mortgage agent) and had it notarized by my ex-husband and myself to say that we are legally divorced, had no property or assets to divide, and have no child support or official custody agreement. The mortgage company was not a fan of this document, so my mortgage agent contacted me and told me (on a Friday afternoon) that by Monday I needed to have an attorney write a letter saying that I was divorced.
No.
Absolutely not.
Here's the thing. I read and interpret laws for a living, and I absolutely refuse to pay someone to do something I can do. Besides that, it is EXTREMELY bizarre to pay someone who knows absolutely NOTHING about my divorce to tell someone else that I am divorced. I also had the distinct impression that my (recently divorced) agent was jealous that I had handled this paperwork myself, without paying unnecessarily for an attorney
I had a few people express concern about my attitude, because, you know, they pretty much control whether or not I get a mortgage. In retrospect, I am a little surprised at how bold I was, given that I still was prepared at any moment to hear that this was all an elaborate ruse.
I consulted with an attorney through a classmate of mine, and she recommended sending them all of the paperwork that I submitted, along with the instructions that I followed. I scanned in all of the documentation and emailed my mortgage agent saying (basically), "You told me to have paperwork notarized and I did and they didn't like it. So either tell me exactly what it is that you want from me, or read this paperwork and see the law for yourself." Their response was positive! No more proof!!
The rest of the story is very straight forward! Bought my house, moved in (which was a crazy adventure!) and now I've been living here since August 2013.
Crossing this item off my list has remained extremely meaningful to me. I truly feel a greater sense of self worth...not simply because I'm a home owner, but because I overcame obstacles to get to this place. I honestly felt I didn't DESERVE to own a home, and now I do. It isn't perfect, but it's mine...actually, OURS! :D
