A Millennial’s Perspective on the First Time Home Buying Process

When I graduated from college, started a new job, and moved to a new state two years ago, a house was the last thing on my mind. However, I dreamed a time or two of how nice it would be to be in a bigger space, put money towards an investment to diversify my portfolio, and to paint the walls whatever color I wanted.

On the flip side, I’m a millennial. I felt like a house would tie me down, force me to stay home and complete house projects, and I didn’t want anything to do with that. Ask any one of my friends, most of whom own homes, about my blatant hesitation and refusal to purchase a home. Why would I buy a house, give up my lifestyle, and then force myself to become a handyman?

Fast forward to January of this year and I still had no intention of buying a home. However, the urge of having a home, a yard, and the ability to own a grill was getting stronger. My husband and I are financial realists though and wanted to make sure we were at a good point in our lives to make such a large commitment. So, it was during this conversation we decided to wait until 2019 to make sure our lives were in order and re-evaluate the subject at that point in time.

Four months after this conversation…I own a home.

You’re probably thinking, “What the heck?” Well if it makes you feel any better, I am too. Let me explain how this huge life change unfolded from when I was completely against buying a home three months ago to all the packed boxes cluttering my apartment right now.

How it all started

It all started with a glance. It was my fault really. I should have remembered my husband gets overly excited about things, and I fed his hunger for a home by sending him a link from Zillow to a quaint condo—condo you might say? Yes. We originally wanted a condo, if we were going to buy, so that we could have an easier time transitioning from our apartment lifestyle.

Anyway, I sent him this link and he replied to me “Let’s look at it.” Here I am, feeling overwhelmed and surprised because we literally just discussed waiting. I jumped on the opportunity though for a couple of reasons:

1. Looking at condo’s and homes when you’re not sure is a great way to finalize your feelings about owning property; and
2. Who doesn’t love looking at homes, getting ideas, etc?

Five minutes later I’m calling realtors and before you know it, we’re headed to look at this condo. Honestly it was love at first site. The condo needed a lot of cosmetic work, mostly because it looked like my grandma’s house when I was growing up; bright oranges, the ugliest of wallpaper, and terrible blue carpeting. The space was structurally sound and well maintained, so we looked past the cosmetic issues and fell in love.

We were still really hesitant though because we weren’t sure if the condo lifestyle after all would be right for us—It didn’t quite feel “homey” enough. We explained our situation to the realtor, she knew ahead of time we might not buy this year, but she still signed us up for email notifications of new listings in our area and price range.

You know when people describe how crazy their house hunting experience is? That’s what our life became for the next three weeks.

Making an offer

We began looking at houses and condos after work two or three days a week. We’d scour Zillow and Realtor.com to determine if there were any houses or condos that had just became available.

Then it happened.

Within a week or two of looking, a small, single family home came on the market just 6 miles from our apartment complex. The price was higher than we initially wanted, but we immediately called our realtor because we knew we had to look at it immediately or it would sell before we had a chance.

The same night it became available we saw it, fell in love, and were rushed from the premises because another couple was itching to get in.

We drove to the library and started writing up an offer – this was the first offer we have ever written for such a large investment, so we were freaking out. While sitting there I became overwhelmed that the prospect of buying a house was quickly becoming a reality. I knew we might end up buying one this year, but man oh man did it arrive quickly. I sat quietly the whole time my husband was talking to the realtor. Hands under my legs, completely closed off. My realtor sensed something was up, and since we were about to make the biggest financial decision of our lives, I didn’t feel the least bit bad asking her if I could have a moment to discuss this with my husband. Perhaps looking back I should have asked for a brown paper bag to control my breathing as well.

We walked a few feet away, quickly discussed, and decided that it was going to be okay, we could afford it, and we loved the area.

When we sat back down the realtor looked at us and said, “You guys are just so cute. You really need moments like that.”

We laughed, signed the offer, drove home, and waited. We’d make comments to each other like “oh, do you think the couple behind us made an offer?” or “what color would you paint our house.” Of which the other person would respond with, “You’re getting too attached. It’s not our house yet!” It was easy to get excited and we often flipped-flopped between who the dreamer was and who stayed grounded. For the record, I was the grounded one most of the time.

Within a day of the house being on the market it received multiple offers. Our realtor called though and told us the buyers would work with us. Thus, negotiations began. It was a lot of calling her, then calling my husband, then calling her back. If you’re not a big phone talker, you better get used to it if you’re going to buy a house.

Finally we settled on a price, and agreed to close within a month—much, much sooner than either of us had initially anticipated. The location and love of the house couldn’t be passed over though.

Three months after deciding to wait three more years, we were on the path to signing our lives away to own a home.

The mortgage process

Surprisingly the mortgage process was less stressful than any other part at this point in time. Our mortgage loan originator did a fantastic job of not only walking us through the process, but making sure she gathered all of the documentation—basically everything but a blood and urine sample—the underwriters might need well in advance.

The appraisal came in around the purchase price which helped the process along. While she did her thing, my husband and I ordered a home inspection. That’s when the stress piled on again. It was like a sudden rainstorm on a sunny day. It completely stresses you out and ruins the rest of your day, even if it becomes kind of sunny again.

The home inspection found some critical issues we wanted addressed and the seller didn’t appear to want to budge on any of our demands. Within a week of the home inspection being completed, and another roofer’s quote, we thought we might lose the house because the seller didn’t want to negotiate much more. We were stressed out, and already emotionally attached—which you shouldn’t be at any point in the home buying process. Despite the high emotions, we submitted our final offer. Oddly enough, they accepted it and we were one step closer to owning a home. And I’ll tell you what, our closing date was closing in quickly.

Signing and moving in

The day of closing was…let’s just say…interesting.

First of all, there’s paperwork a mile high you have to sign, and when I say “you,” I really mean YOU, the buyer! The seller signs like twice. So basically closing is all about being bombarded with new information and having your hand cramp up while everyone—literally everyone—stares at you. They’re probably wondering why your signature fluctuates between beautiful and sloppy each time.  If you were to compare the 1^st signature to the last, it would look like 2 different people had signed.

After we signed everything, and checks were exchanged, we were able to head to the house, keys in hand, and soak in the fact we owned the ground we were standing on. Which also meant we needed a lawn mower, among other household essentials, right away.

Last words

Reading this you’re probably thinking this woman is completely crazy to decide to wait, then buy a home within 3 months. Honestly, I don’t disagree.

The whole process has been a whirlwind affair, and I can’t say that there haven’t been a few emotional meltdowns already. Most recently, the swampy-ness of our backyard threw me into a frenzy when our rotary mower kept sinking into the grass (Yes—I tried to mow the lawn when it was wet, but it rained all week and those old-fashioned mowers don’t do well on long grass. I was stuck between a rock and hard place). Sticks were in fact thrown and a few words I can’t legally say in this post (internal corporate counsel says so) may have been shouted.

Overall though I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m still in the honeymoon stage of owning my very own home, which makes me kind of biased. What I would say though, to those who are considered a millennial, like myself, is: it’s okay to own a home. You’ll get through it, even if it takes you multiple trips to Home Depot during your first weekend in the house.