House Hunting!

For the past few months, Jason and I have casually discussed buying a house together. Obviously, this is the best time to buy a house right now with interest rates and overall prices at an all-time low. This past week, we've discussed it in a lot more detail and yesterday we really began the initial stages of house hunting.

Right now we rent, basically throwing away $650 each month, money which we could be using to pay a mortgage on a house we own instead of just borrow. Last night we calculated different loan/interest rates/down-payment options online and found that for homes in our price range, our monthly payments would be anywhere from $400 - $600/month! We found a list of foreclosed homes in our area as well as other houses we were interested in from different realtor's websites and went out driving around. We found two we absolutely loved and a few more that we want to tour.

As I know next to nothing about owning my own house and how to go about the process, i've been reading different articles and researching online most of the day, trying to inform myself. There is so much information out there and so many different options to pursue. Fortunately, my sister's fiance's step-mom is a realtor, so we have someone close to answer our questions.

Like I said, we are just in the initial stages right now, but we are both committed to the idea and if a good opportunity comes along, we will definitely jump on it! The next steps are to keep looking to get a feel for what is out there on the market and to meet with my bank to discuss loan options. Since Jason and I arn't married (yet!) the house will most likely be in my name as I have the better credit score. We definitely want something not too old with at least 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a decent sized yard. Also, we'd prefer a basement, but that's not a necessity, Jason just wants somewhere to party. LOL. For all those friends in the Richmond area, keep your eyes peeled for us!