Our home buying adventure

Our big news for October is that we are buying a house!

Well, we restarted the process last month and have spent the last few weeks looking at houses. It was starting to get really discouraging to see the state of the houses in our price range(we are also looking in a very specific area near freeways and where we'll be at school/work for the next few years). The houses were older then we had originally been looking for but we had also been looking in the Gilbert/Queen Creek area before with newer neighborhoods so we had to change our expectations a bit. Before we started looking, we made a lists of needs and wants. I'll admit I strayed from that and had to be brought back down to earth again and again so that I could realize that a pool/french doors/chicken coop in the backyard wasn't on the need list and didn't merit overlooking being out of our price range or adding 20 miles to our commute. And yes, looking back now I'm not sure what made me think I needed a chicken coop, I can barely take care of our dog much less a bunch of chickens. To be fair, it wasn't just me. Matt fell in love with a fireplace at one house. Then again, it was pretty cool.
We put in offers on three houses and one was finally accepted! We had the inspection yesterday and thankfully everything went well. We were told it is in very good shape for when it was built. We have to wait for the appraisal which can make or break this whole thing. And I'm learning I know absolutely nothing about home buying. This is like a crash course in real estate, mortgages, home warranties, etc. I keep waiting for something to happen so we can't get it. It's a very nerve wracking process.
If everything goes smoothly from here on out we may be closing by mid November. And, in classic overachiever fashion, I have decided to try to take on hosting our first holiday. That's right, we have a trip to Palm Springs planned for the week before we would be closing, and Thanksgiving the week after. Plus about three big projects on the house to get it guest ready in a week. What have I gotten myself into.
Thank you for listening to my rambling, its a scary but exciting part of our lives and God willing we'll get through it in one piece with our sanity still intact. I am definitely up for recommendations for any books or websites that help with the home buying/remodeling craziness. And any thoughts, prayers, and finger crossings are greatly appreciated.