Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Our house is a very very very fine house

1. We got the house! We closed on May 4th, got the keys May 5th, and we officially (depending on how you define it) own our house! We're been spending our Saturdays cleaning up stuff and tearing stuff out. Amazingly fun!

I filed for the $8000 tax credit yesterday and that should be here shortly. Unfortunately, we weren't able to put down 20% when we purchased (only 10%). In order to avoid paying PMI, we have a piggyback 10% loan... which should be paid off shortly before our first official mortgage payment in July.

Natalie and I worked really hard to get our student loans paid off last year and I'm just as excited to get our full mortgage paid off as well. Natalie really wants to work on the house and make it real nice, so our interests are slightly divided since there's only so much to go around... which brings me to my second point!

2. 15 minutes after we closed on the house I got a call from my boss and he told me he was resigning effective immediately. What a gut-wrenching call to get after making such a huge financial commitment. Anyway, two weeks later things are going fine without him-- I got a 30% raise and his old position. Turns out I knew more about my job than I thought.

With this new raise, and some kind circumstances in our favor, I think we could get the house paid off in under 3 years.

3. We are also considering renting out a room. Because a) It would be fun to have a friend around, b) we have TONS of extra space and c) it's a good financial decision for both sides (cheap rent and a little extra to throw at the mortgage).

So... who wants to live at 3307 Chadwell? :)