Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Prelude
Where do I start? I had the idea to start a blog about my new home renovation process two weeks before I signed the papers. Now that I'm officially five days into owning my home, well, you can see I have some catching up to do. I'll do my best to organize my thoughts on how I got to this point....
About a year ago, I realized I wanted to buy a house. Signing my rent check every month felt like I was using my own blood to write the amount, and my landlords actually encouraged me to buy a home. Despite their heavy conservative background, they're actuallly pretty cool people. The husband is who I have learned everything from. I've helped him renovate three properties, and using the skills I picked up from him, it didn't seem out of the question to take on a project of my own.
After doing considerable research, I found out that the US Federal Housing and Urban Development maintains ownership of all sorts of foreclosed properties... from huge abandoned housing projects down to tiny townhouses. I found a realtor who specializes in HUD properties. He helped me locate one that I liked and helped me through the process, securing a good bid on a property that needed just the type of work that I know how to do.
Last Thursday, I signed the papers and got the key to the place.
About a year ago, I realized I wanted to buy a house. Signing my rent check every month felt like I was using my own blood to write the amount, and my landlords actually encouraged me to buy a home. Despite their heavy conservative background, they're actuallly pretty cool people. The husband is who I have learned everything from. I've helped him renovate three properties, and using the skills I picked up from him, it didn't seem out of the question to take on a project of my own.
After doing considerable research, I found out that the US Federal Housing and Urban Development maintains ownership of all sorts of foreclosed properties... from huge abandoned housing projects down to tiny townhouses. I found a realtor who specializes in HUD properties. He helped me locate one that I liked and helped me through the process, securing a good bid on a property that needed just the type of work that I know how to do.
Last Thursday, I signed the papers and got the key to the place.
