So I have mentioned in passing that Ryan and I are finally getting serious about looking for our first home. We started the process by getting pre-approved which was no problem. We are incredibly ideal candidates in that our credit scores are very, very high and even at the high-end of our first-home budget we'll still be in a very low debt-to-income ratio. We found our realtor and actually our pre-approval guy through a friend of Ryan's from college that is a realtor down in Richmond, VA.

We've been out two or three times with her. We know what general area that we want to live in. We pretty much want to stay in the area we currently live in now because of it's fairly central location. We live between two major highways which gives us easy access to the whole area and we're very close to downtown DC. We are also a highway away from our work place. We have a reverse commute since we live closer to the city and our workplace is further out. All that being said, we are going to be sacrificing space and price for location.

We have figured out 2 neighborhoods that we really like. One is the one across the street. The other is a bit further South from here but in a great area. When I ride my bike on the W&OD trail I pass through this area and neighborhood all the time on the way to work. The houses in both areas are essentially the same. None of them are new but many of them are re-done. Some of them are foreclosures. The biggest difference between the areas are the neighborhoods themselves. The further one is in a bike and walk-friendly area close to a main street and businesses. The people there can afford to maintain their properties better than the people in the other neighborhood. That neighborhood, however, has a prime location.

We are essentially looking for a detached, single-family home with at least 3 bedrooms and at least 2 bedrooms. It would be nice to have a basement or work area for me really. We want at least 1100 square feet since that's what we live in now and Ryan wants lots of storage since he seems to think I have too much "stuff." We've seen a lot of great houses and some potentials but nothing yet we're ready to make an offer on. I can't wait till we find our house and we make it our home.

6 comments:

Yay! Have fun house hunting. We've been in our house 2 years now and I can still remember the shopping process like it was yesterday. Some houses were so ugly I couldn't wait to run out of them. Then there was the house we loved, giggled as we walked out thinking "this could be the one!". Now here we are, living in it and making it our own. You'll have so much fun. Make sure to keep us updated!

8:09 AM  

OMG YAY!!! Sooo happy for you!!!

Keep us updated

2:32 PM  

Can't wait for the housewarming!!!

(Oh what, did you think I wouldn't fly back for that?!?!?!)

5:13 PM  

Can't wait for the housewarming!!!

(Oh what, did you think I wouldn't fly back for that?!?!?!)

5:18 PM  

YAY Congrats!! Have fun looking... it's so cool so see how people decorate their houses.... glad you narrowed it down to 2 neiborhoods. That makes things easier.

6:49 PM  

hehe, I laughed out loud when I loaded your page!

Hooray for you!! Isn't it great fun, shopping around, looking at this and that and the other thing? I must be a little bit of a voyeur for how much I like looking at other people's houses - LOL! Both neighborhoods sound great and yep, when you see it, you'll know it.

11:10 PM  

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