Homeowners in the making

I've always heard buying a house can be stressful. Especially when it's your first home and you're new to the process. But I also assumed much of that stress was self inflicted. I figured if you happened to be outbid or if something terrible came up during the inspection, the house just wasn't meant to be and more would come along.

Well, over the last week I've eaten my words so hard. And they taste like a poo sandwich. The Denver housing market hasn't taken quite the same real estate hit as everywhere else in the country. In fact, prices have increased by 20% since March. We knew when we found something we liked in our price range, we would need to move quickly, we just didn't know how quickly. Last Wednesday after seeing dozens of homes, we mustered the courage to write an offer on the only house we liked and while doing so, found out someone else offered full price 5 minutes before. It was gone before we even had a chance.

Two days later, feeling a little deflated, we saw another home that just came on the market in the same neighborhood. It fit all our criteria and was well within our budget so we jumped. We went in low, they countered and we accepted. On Saturday morning, I drove around Boulder like a crazy person trying to find a Kinkos so I could scan our signed contract back to them before any higher offers came in. It turns out almost running old men off the road in my car wasn't all in vain because the seller received another offer just minutes after I sent ours. Lawdy Lawd, was it close!

Racing thoughts and an anxious tummy have consumed me for the last five days. Keane is out of town on business so I've been stuck doing most of this on my own. The inspection date is set, our lending is locked (as of today. hooray!) and dozens of contracts have been signed. We are officially under contract on our first home and moving forward!

Oh and did I mention the house was build in 1887? Back when Cleveland was president and people drove horse and buggies? Before North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana or Wyoming were even states? Because it was. And it's awesome. I love historical houses with character but I will also be smudging the crap out of the place.

Inspection is set for one week. If you need me, I'll be mentally arranging our living room furniture, picking out paint colors and pinning storage ideas to my new homeowner's board!