My Home Buying Experience

One of my dreams as a single mother was to one day own a home.  When my son was born, I was just nineteen years old and in college.  I knew finishing school was an important step in me achieving any and all of my dreams so for years (and I do mean years), a higher education was my general focus.  The years went by, my son grew and then helping him to achieve his dreams became my focus.  However, I was still working toward many of my own dreams.  I finished school, started my career as an educator and went on to finish graduate school.  More years went by.  I have accomplished A LOT! I’ve had some great friends, fun times and lots of personal growth but still owning a home was one thing I wanted to tackle before I got too old to enjoy it.

My actual home buying journey started about three years ago.  I’d finally made up in my mind that I needed to get serious about purchasing.  After taking a good, close look at my finances, I knew that a part time job would be in my near future if I wanted to get the ball rolling on paying down my debt and then saving for a down payment.  Fast forward three and a half years, my credit score has gone up, my debt has gone down and my savings was looking pretty good.  I was blessed to find a really great realtor who worked with me for over a year to find the perfect house for my family.

In April 2017, we found THE house.  I fell in love with it the moment I walked in.  From the moment I said, “Yes, to the House”, I had no earthly idea how crazy my life was about to get.  I’ve heard stories from friends and co-workers about how stressful home buying could be.  I HAD NO IDEA what I was in for.  I have never had to dig for so much paperwork in all my days and I teach for a living!  I don’t think there was a day in the sixty days I spent in the purchasing process that I was not asked for one document or another.  What was most frustrating is that I seemed to be sending the same documents over and over again.  Honestly, I thought I was being audited for fraud by the IRS.  There were tears of joys, tears of frustration, bouts of anger and moments where I truly wanted to tell both my realtor and my mortgage broker to go jump in a lake.  On the day of my closing, I literally cried as I was signing documents.  Not because I was shell shocked about attaching my name to a mortgage for the next thirty years but because I was so relieved to finally be off that crazy, emotional roller coaster.  We are all moved in and getting settled.  I am happy but most of all grateful that God saw fit to bless this young, single mom from San Francisco with a home of her own.

My son is grown now with a place and family of his own.  I wasn’t able to accomplish this goal while he was growing up but I am gratefully to be able to leave the legacy behind for him to enjoy.  I remember how much my parents’ house meant to me and I can only hope that this home will be with my family for years to come.

Living the Dream 🙂

#Family #Finances #HomeBuying #Legacy