Home Sweet Home!

I finally finished the house search!  On December 28^th, I closed on my very first house, and I moved in on January 6^th!  After seven long months of looking (I started the house hunt way back in March 2010: see this post), I found a place in Raleigh in October and put in an offer.  After a long weekend of going back and forth with the sellers (who didn’t speak much English, and had already moved to California at the time they put the house on the market), the house was mine!  I love it.  I hated house hunting, but the search was so worth it.

The house was in the same neighborhood as another house that I had looked at earlier in my search.  I  really liked the neighborhood when I first saw it, but for various reasons didn't love the other house.  So, I was keeping my eyes open for other listings in the neighborhood.  I initially overlooked this house because it was listed as a 4BR.  Um, hello...it's just me.  I don't need four bedrooms (do I even need three?)!  One day, I was talking to a co-worker about it and he said, "So...you're telling me there's a house you like, in a neighborhood you like, that is within your price range, and you're not going to consider it because it has TOO MANY BEDROOMS????"  With my tail between my legs, I made an appointment with my (very patient) realtor to take a look, and ended up deciding that it was the one.  At this point in the search, I honestly was so over the house hunt that it was almost a "yeah...whatever, sure, this one will do".  Not to say that I didn't love it, but I got my heart crushed over another house that I let myself fall in love with, only to have it snatched out from under me by a sneaky buyer during the negotiation process.  Ever since that incident, I told myself that I absolutely would not let myself get emotionally attached to another house until AFTER I was under contract.  So, I didn't!  (But now, I'm attached!)

For the record - when we went and looked at the house (well, really when I just took a closer look at the listing), I realized that it wasn't really a four bedroom house...it was three bedrooms plus a bonus room, which they could technically count as a bedroom since it has a closet.  For most buyers, a fourth bedroom is a positive, but for me, it was a negative since four bedrooms is WAY more than I need.  Even though it has three bedrooms and a bonus room, it's not huge - right around 1700 sq ft., which is perfect for me.

I'll do another post this week with a pictures of the inside.  Lots of changes have already happened, so I’m excited to share those DIY projects!  Let me just say…I have been a painting FOOL.  I’ve painted the living room, dining room, kitchen, guest room and office already – all. by. myself.  And before you go thinking I have no friends or family who will help me, know that’s not the case!  I am just SUPER anal about painting and would prefer to do it myself, so any imperfections are my fault.  How snotty, I know.  But if I mess up (which…I’ve definitely had some oopsies), I know it’s all me and I can’t blame anyone but myself.  And, I actually enjoy painting.  I tell people this and they can’t believe how anyone could actually enjoy painting.  Call it an illness, I don't know.  But I love to paint!

To the very few kind souls out there who follow my blog, even though I consistently let updating it fall off my radar...thanks for hanging on.  I say it every time I come back after a reeeeeally long break, but I really do hope to keep up with posting, especially now that I have a lot of new blog topics, what with the million house projects on my to-do list!

Stay tuned for a tour of the inside!