House Hunting....

January was a stressful month for us. We decided to put our house on the market to see if it would sell. Our thought was that the house would sell if it was meant to be. Heavenly Father knew that we needed to be out of that house.

I learned lots of lessons from my previous house buying experiences. My husband and I were both home owners before buying our house together.

We lucked out on our house. We bought our home on a short sale. It was a long process but well worth it in the long run. Kind of.

Here's the PROs and CONs of our house

PROs
Cul-de-sac
1,600 square feet
2 car garage
Beautiful view of the mountains
Separate family and living rooms
Newer construction
Close to work and my family
Great equity from the short sale purchase

CONs
2 blocks from a major street
Mailbox not at house but around the corner and near said busy street
Tons of dogs in the neighborhood
Tri-level with 3 sets of stairs and the laundry was in the basement
Only 1 bathroom
Poorly built, lots of cracks and pops
West facing back of the house was super hot
No trees in the back yard
Neighbors that don't care about their yards
No secondary water

Now for the fun part. There was an offer on our house within a week of putting it on the market. The not so fun part? We're living in my parents basement that we share with my bachelor brother. :(

We have been looking at houses to find areas and house layouts that will work best for our situation. We saw a house a few weeks ago that seemed to be in the perfect location. My cousin, Dominic, is our realtor and is very keen. (If you call him, tell him I sent you) We walked the house and commented on the small rooms and the need to build an addition in the future. We were told that the house was priced too high. The other point was that we shouldn't be walking through the house discussing all of the changes that need to be made, especially since it's not a fixer upper.

My realtor said we should consider buying an older home may be the best option. He said that homes constructed in the 60s and 70s were built with more purpose and better materials. I was kind of resistant to this idea until I saw some homes that were renovated.

My husband is not sold on the idea. I understand it from his perspective. He suffers from a variety of medical issues and is not able to complete much work around the home and yard. If we buy an older home, there are several risks involved. My husband won't be able to fix problems. This is the reason that newer construction would be a better idea.

There are way more things to consider when finding our new home. This is the home we plan to live in for at least the next 20 years. I don't plan on settling to buy a house that doesn't meet our needs.
1. The twins are getting older and will need separate rooms
2. The master bedroom must have a bathroom which will need a big tub
3. A basement family room
4. An office space for me (I'm hoping and praying to work from home one day)
5. A big kitchen with an island
6. At least 2 bathrooms
7. Laundry needs to be on the main living level

So now, the search is on for this perfect house. I've found a few houses that I like. The problem? I don't qualify for the price range of the house we want. Well not yet... The good thing? I have an awesome mortgage broker to help us through the process.

And now for a bit of my tips
1. Get prequalified before you start the house hunt. You need to be prepared to submit an offer if you find the right house.
2. Review your finances. Don't forget to consider the mortgage insurance, homeowners insurance, and property taxes that will be added to your monthly payment amount. Ask about the monthly utility amount. Keep in mind that utilities vary by area. I was surprised to find out that one of the areas we were looking at had the utilities through the city.
3. Listen to your realtor. They are smart people. You hired them for a reason. They see hundreds of houses and can provide some great advice.
4. Study the neighborhood. How is the traffic? Do you hear dogs barking? Are there lots of kids? Where is your mailbox? Drive around the area different times of day and of the week. For us, I plan to visit the local LDS ward to see how that is as well. You can ask questions about the schools, neighborhood, local activities, etc.
5. Drive the route from the house to your work or family members homes. This is a drive you'll be doing often. See if the drive is manageable. Time it. Is the drive something that you can handle in the snow? For me, snow is a huge consideration since I work early in the morning and roads are not normally plowed.

I'm no expert on this. I've only bought two homes in my lifetime. I just thought I'd pass along my experiences and hope that someone can benefit from my mistakes.

Finances and Faith

Things have been very different at our house over the past nine months. My husband, Rich, was laid off his job in August. His brother was his boss. He had worked there for five years. We were devastated. We had only been in our home for five months. I had been at my job for almost a year. I had never been the primary breadwinner before. Rich applied for unemployment and began spending several hours per day searching for new employment. He sent out hundreds of resumes but only had a few interviews. We turned to Vocational Rehabilitation for assistance due to Rich's extensive medical history. He was accepted. They were not much help. Just three months ago, Rich found employment. He applied for a driver position and was turned down. He was offered a job in housekeeping as a consolation. Unemployment was running out and there were no other options. Rich accepted the position and started working two days later. Now for the present, the long 12 hour shifts are taking a toll on Rich's already worn out body. He works three days per week and spends the remaining four days in bed recovering. This is no life for him. It is with a heavy heart that we have chosen to file for disability. Rich has come to the realization that things will not get better for him. He struggles with every day tasks such as getting dressed or doing laundry. His application was submitted four months ago. He recently had 2 appointments to review his eligibility. We do know that he is making too much money to meet the Social Security requirements. Rich already knew that he needed to cut back his hours due to his physical pain. We are now facing the decision to cut his hours from 34 to 20.

Rich and I are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I attend church each Sunday for guidance and strength. Rich is unable to go with me since he works all day on Sunday. We turn to our Bishop (the leader of our local congregation) for assistance. I have spent many visits in tears wondering what our path is and when these financial and health struggles will end. This kind man is such a wonderful listener. He hears and understands us. He helps me know that I am not alone. I truly don't know what the end result will be. I do know that I need to have faith in my Heavenly Father. I know that He is mindful of Rich and I both. I know that He is watching over us and has a plan in place. I continue to press forward with the knowledge that He has prepared a way for us. My favorite scripture is Isaiah 41:10 and it reads "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." The Lord will guide and protect us as we walk in faith and righteousness. The path will not be easy for narrow is the path of His presence. If we follow by his guidance and counsel. We will be blessed.

So here we go.

Getting Organized - Family Binder

As hard as I try, there are some things that I can just never keep my hands on. When tax time rolls around, we are always scrambling to find the user id and password. I am normally good at remembering birthdays but sometimes, they slip past me. I decided to compile a binder to contain all of this necessary information in one place.

The first section is finances. I created a budget sheet that I printed out for this binder. My husband often says that he has no idea what's going on with our bills and bank account. This way, he'll be able to see at a glance where we're at for the pay period.

Here's the sheet I created:

My husband and I get paid on the same day. I chose to split the sheet by pay periods to make things easier. The misc income is for the cakes or crafts that I do. You'll notice that I added date night as part of this sheet. I find myself compromising our dates due to finances. Spending time with your spouse is so important! Just because you're married doesn't mean that you should stop dating.

Now for the other part of this financial sheet: DUE DATES! We get paid every other Friday. These dates change every month. The bills don't have changing dates. They are set. I try to plan according to when we are paid and when the bills are due.