The New Husband and I had plans to see his mother for brunch. We had received the books we'd made and printed with the wedding photos and we wanted to personally deliver it to his mom. She'd suggested we go to lunch and one of our favorite places - Tavern on the Square - is near where she lives, so we headed there.
After gorging ourselves on a most excellent brunch, I asked if I could stop into Rouge - another of my favorite stores - to pick up a new eye pencil. The woman who did my makeup for my wedding was there and insisted I send her photos. I promised I would. Then I pulled out my debit card and paid more for an eyeliner than I think I ever have in all my life. However, it's Paula Dorf and totally worth it, but I digress. This is not the point of this post.
"What's wrong, sweetie," The New Husband asked later that evening.
"I'm bored. I've read all of the books and there's nothing else on TV I'm interested in." I don't know how that progressed into looking online for houses, but the next thing I know, I'm logged into MLS listings in our area and he's pulled up a chair next to me to provide his usual brand of color commentary.
We narrowed down our search to the towns that we're interested in and that are both affordable and commutable. We've set our preferences - at least two bedroms and preferably a bath and a half. Most importantly, we didn't bother drooling over houses we either can't afford or would require the kind of mortage payment we don't want to struggle to pay each month (even though the bank says we're qualified for a mortgage that high).
I ran the numbers through Bank of America's Home Loan website and we decided that we'd like to stick with a mortgage payment that is around what we pay in rent now, maybe slightly higher if the house was really great and didn't need a lot of work. We're willing to put in some elbow grease, but we don't want to have to reno an entire home. Pulling up some carpets, adding some paint and possibly refinishing cabinets and/or hardwood floors are all acceptable. Having to completely redo wiring, drywall, roofs and windows - totally not going to work.
We found quite a few homes that were real gems, including this amazing single family in Stoneham (a town I totally adore). I finally agreed that as much as I love those triple decker Victorian and Colonial homes, the only way we could afford one is in Lynn - which is a hit or miss area and which won't retain property values or, more importantly, gain them. It was a great exercise to see what things we agree on (stylistically as well as what we'd change in a home) as well as the things that are non-negotiable (a decent size yard is a must).
Of course all of this could change if by some strange reason the economy were to totally turn around. I don't see any signs of that happening in the next year. I believe the recovery is going to take longer than that. While I'm bummed we couldn't do this when the $8,000 Home Buyers Credit was in place, I'm excited that we're putting our noses to the grindstone to simultaneously pad our savings and work diligently to pay off what we owe on revolving creidt so we'll be in the best possible place when we go to pre-qualify for a loan.
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