On becoming a homeowner

Let's be honest.

The idea of "settling down" and "growing up" is actually quite terrifying to me.  After college, I spent quite a while trying to grow up before I finally gave up.  Now that I've given up, adulthood has kind of fallen into place.  Don't get me wrong...I still consider myself an adult by age qualifications only (as I hope it always will be), but I have matured quite a bit since I shook hands with the chancellor and received my fake diploma in front of a filled convocation center.

Now, we're on to the next big adventure. Moving out of the rent zone and into the mortgage one. This is really enough to make any "adult" scared when hearing all these heavy financial terms thrown around that, let's be honest here, make no sense at all.  We just smile and nod and say we understand; then we stare at the papers later, trying to interpret the foreign terms written there.

Okay, so it's not that bad, really. We really did understand what was going on and hopefully we will understand everything in this process. 

One of the hardest things so far has been deciding who would be the lucky one to have everything put in their name.  I won that bet.  Not because I am just a better person than my husband (although, I might try to convince you of this) or that I am always religious about my debts, in fact, unlike me, my husband came into the marriage completely and totally debt free.  Therein lies the problem.  Thanks to Fannie and Freddie and our wonderful government (cue sarcasm) having BAD credit is apparently better than having NO credit.  So, theoretically, a person who has defaulted on EVERY credit line they've ever had could get a loan quicker than my husband who has NO debt to his name.  Illogical, really.  Luckily, owning a home will remedy this situation, but you should take note. The following things (although good) will not get you any credit:

having a savings account

having a checking account

paying bills on time

having deeds in your name (unless there are payments being made to a mortgage, I think).

These things completely go against the notion that it is GOOD to be debt-free and learn how to manage your money.  The lesson here is that you should spend, spend, spend what you DON'T have. (Cue more sarcasm).  Honestly, this explains why our country is in as much debt as we are in.  

Luckily for me, my mom "spoiled" me by making me apply for a credit card as soon as I turned 18.  My friends scoffed at me and rolled their eyes when I would pull it out (for emergencies ONLY), but it has saved my butt.  It is much harder to establish credit today than it was when I was 18, but it is definitely worth it to make sure that the things you are doing are establishing credit and that they are HELPING, not hurting your credit score.  If there's anything I've learned so far, its that having a line of credit is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your current or future family.

Now, we are moving into the next steps of owning our home: contracts. We are working with my parents and the other investor to decide everything that will be included in the contract. This process is not a short, easy one if you were under that impression.  No one really buys a house in a one-hour TV show time slot. It just doesn't work that way. I will keep things updated as we get closer to owning our home!