Half-way There

Last night we made an offer on a house and it was accepted so we are half-way done with our new foray into the realm of home ownership. At this point we have our financing approved it is just a matter of getting the interest rate locked in, getting a VA assessor out there to get and appraisal and we should be close to done, and home-owners insurance. I will arrange to have the septic system inspected and a home inspection this week or early next week, hopefully.

Description of the Hizzouse

It is 700 square-feet which is about 300 less than I want. In truth, if they would have put the square-footage in the advertisement I would not have wanted to even looked at it. I am happy that they didn't do this. The redeeming factor for the lack of space is that the basement is very usable and could be used for a bedroom/office and such - not quite making up for the missing 300 square-feet, but it works. All in all it is smaller than the apartment, but yet better. Currently the house is being rented and the current occupants have put a Bar and entertainment room in the basement which we will have as well. The tenants have until June 1 to move out so we have plenty of time to pack and save money for new things for the house such as: dishes, silverware, washer and dryer, lawn mower and such.

It is a 2 bedroom, 12 year old house with an attached garage. It has a about 3/4 an acre of land. We will have plenty of land to build if we want to, and plenty of a yard to have barbeques and parties as well. The downside with so much land is that..... I will have to mow a very large lawn. That will be fun - not. I will have to purchase a riding lawn mower so that it will be easy and quick to mow. The cabinets are all Oak and there is one moveable Island (a moveable counter/cabinet) for our convenience. I really like that idea. I have thought that this is something that I would want if I were to build a house.

In Closing

We have looked a wide variety homes in various conditions. From "Holey Crap! shouldn't this be condemned" to "I need another job so we can do this!". We have looked at duplexes and 2 bedroom houses. We have looked a a commercial property, the old Baraboo News Republic building, which is a gold mine waiting to be bought up. I just wish I had the money available to snatch it up. They are asking about $99,000, but it needs about $60,000 in work to make it rentable. If you could get it for about $60 or 70k it would be a great deal. Unfortunately, my VA loan does not cover commercial properties. If it did we might still be considering it. The potential that this building has made my heart race. This house was priced to sell and I am glad that we got to it before someone else did.

Other Notes

I am still trying to find time to work on a post detailing our trip to Belarus. A good portion of the post is done, but their is still a lot to go. After the house buying is done I will have more time for posting and other things that I have been putting off until we get settled in..