The Rollercoaster Ride to Home Ownership
Last year… right around this time… my husband Chris and I got this wild idea to start looking at houses in our hometown of Sheboygan Falls. By no means did we think we were anywhere near being able to purchase our own home but it was fun to look online and see photos of homes we “might be able to afford to someday.” While I was looking for a home with an open concept, walk-in closets and a safe location close to family… Chris was looking for a home with a decent sized garage, land in the country and a bit of a fixer-upper that, in time, he could make our own.
Low and behold, we stumbled across the perfect property that met both of our needs. The two-bedroom, ranch style home was located on the edge of town on a dead-end road, just minutes from both of our families’ homes. It had everything we wanted…the open concept, walk-in closets (his and hers in the master bedroom!), and a large, detached garage that sat on just under an acre of land surrounded by trees. When we drove by to check it out, at first we weren’t sure if the house was even for sale since there wasn’t a sign in the yard. After driving by several other times, and the house appearing to be vacant, we decided to drive down the driveway to get a closer look. On the front door there was a small note that listed a phone number of the listing agent. After contacting the agent, we learned that the house was in foreclosure and would be going on the market in the next few months.
Although we were skeptical about being able to get pre-approved for a mortgage, and unsure of the process to buy a home, we spoke to a Kohler Credit Union mortgage loan originator to learn about our options. We were surprised at all the different mortgage options available…who knew! But our mortgage originator took her time to go over our needs to ensure we picked the mortgage that was best suited for us and our situation. We couldn’t believe we were on our way to living the American dream!
I would love to tell you that it was all sunshine and rainbows from there… but to be honest, it was quite the opposite. Our journey to homeownership was nothing shy of a rollercoaster ride… blindfolded… going in reverse. After we received the news that the house was going on the market, we immediately contacted our realtor to set up a showing, and fell in love even more with the house! We put an offer in the next day for the listing price, but little did we know by the end of the weekend, there would be eight more offers! Everyone had one more chance to put in their best offer. We were fortunate because we were already preapproved, so we knew how high we could go, but at the same time stay within our means. And it turned out…our best offer was THE ONE!
We were almost there…the proud owners of our first home…and I was starting to imagine how I would decorate! But we first had to get through the home inspection and ensure that the appraisal came back close to purchase price. Once those hurdles were cleared, we received the keys…one of the most exciting days of our lives (after getting married of course)!
With the endless support of our family, a Realtor who bent over backwards, and a mortgage originator who made the mortgage process seamless, we are living the American Dream and enjoying every minute!
