So the new home bug is still after me!

I know… this isn’t the best time to buy a new home if you also have a house that you need to sell in order to get buy that new home (hmmmm… that was a winded sentence Altho one needs to be pratical and just try to make the current house as beautiful as one can, one can still dream of owning a new home, one thinks (this one sounds so Bridget Jones, ha ha ha!)

But anyways, for those of you who don’t have to worry of having to sell an existing abode, this is definitely one of the better times to look for that dream castle. The real estate market is on the downscale (and may continue to be so for the next 2 more years, I’ve heard), and as long as you’ve got the credentials to show that you can afford to pay, then go ahead and pursue your dreams! In fact, the shopping part is one of the enjoyable parts of the house-buying routine - it is for me, at least. You get to see model homes, you drive around the neighborhoods of houses for sale, you get to go inside and look around some of them. And if you don’t want to go out, there’s always the real estate websites that will give you a tour of the houses with pictures and even vidoes of the inside and out. Why is this exciting for me? I’m a shop-a-holic and even window shopping excites me!

Some of you might want to do the house-shopping yourself, which is actually ok. Some of you might want to eliminate the hassle of going thru houses that you weren’t really interested in seeing had you known some other facts, and so would want to hire a relocation realtor, which is fine also. Either way, it’s really up to you.

But once you’ve found THE ONE, and the mortgage home loan has been finalized, all the papers have been signed, the hand-shaking ritual between you and the realtor (or former owner) has been done, it’s time to gear up and get ready to move to a new house. Now, this part, I’m not that excited about anymore. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who isn’t very enthusiastic about this.

It’s not only that you have to pack your stuff and put them in boxes and all that (think about all those plates, pots, pans, and pantry stock… NOW you know what I mean). You also have to get rid of things you don’t use anymore, go thru every nook and cranny of your house to make sure that you’ve got them all cleaned. Plus you have to clean up your current digs because if you don’t you either will a) have to give up a portion or all of your downpayment (if you currently rent a house or apartment) as payment to the landlord for cleaning up your unit(it’s in your contract) or b) the buyers of your house would have to discount that cleanup bill from the money they still owe you. And besides, you don’t want anyone to know really how much garbage (not to mention, what kind) you’ve accumulated all these years.

Another thing you have to be careful about picking are the movers. You can actually do the moving yourself - rent a moving van and ask friends and family to help you move. But if you don’t want to or you’ve got really huge stuff you need to move, then it’s time to go on the internet to look for movers and ask for mover quotes.

So once you’ve gotten your new house ready and you’ve finally settled in - the plates, pots and pans all neatly stacked up in the cupboards and cabinets, the bathroom thingies have all been kept away, the clothes have all been stored (hopefully in your new walk-in closet), then it’s time to relax and savor the aroma of a new chapter in your life

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 at 12:49 pm and is filed under 5. Our Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.