First House

 Bought my first (town)home! Woohoo! 

Was supposed to close on December 15th 2020, but because Chase didn't have all the paperwork done, I officially signed and closed on December 16th 2020. I am a homeowner!

10/23/20 --- Found the house listing on John L Scott and told Joe, my realtor, that I wanted to go tour it.
10/29/20 --- Sent in an offer for the house.
10/30/20 --- The owners accepted offer. 

It's crazy, but I showed the house I was going to put in an offer for to my brother and he told me that he thinks he knows the owner. So he messaged them and it was them! He is friends with them and have been to their place a few times before. What are the chances! Such a small world. I honestly think that my brother knowing them probably contribute (even if it is just a little) to them accepting my offer instead of others and I wrote them a nice letter when I submitted my offer which might've helped as well.

I ended up applying to 8 different loan agencies. Lots of emails back and forth trying to figure out which one I wanted to go with after my offer got accepted. It was a lot to consider, but I ended up going with Chase bank for various reasons such as they gave me credit, interest rate was good, etc.

Here are the loan agencies I submitted an application for:
Ally Home Loans
Caliber Home Loans (Larry)
First Tech Credit Union
Director's mortgage
US Bank
Umpqua Bank
OnPoint

Officially closed on my home on December 16th, 2020! It was pretty stressful leading up to it because I was supposed to close on the 15th but Chase told me the day before (the 14th) that there will be a delay. Super frustrating because I provided them with everything they needed in a timely manner. At least it was only a day late, but still. 

Signing all the paperwork for closing was intense. I had to sign and initial so many papers which I tried to skim through it. My aunt and Gabe were there with me during the signing for moral support which I appreciated. Afterwards I got the keys! Went to the house with Gabe and Joe. Joe left and shortly afterwards my mom, grandma, aunts, and cousins came over. They brought over Popeyes for din din. First meal at the empty house to celebrate woo. We just stood around the kitchen island table and ate. Wahh felt so surreal!

This and my future house posts are super long overdue, but I still want to document my experience here. 

House Hunting Part 2

Wow this is a long overdue post hahaha. Let's see how much I remember.

So I officially started my house hunting process on October 3rd, 2021. Ended up touring about 23 townhouses/house with my parents and Gabe. We pretty much went every weekend. My brother, aunts, uncle, cousin and grandma joined us in a few of those tours. 

There was this one townhouse that I really liked and was seriously considering putting down an offer.  It was 1 7 4 4 0  S W  C h r i s   S t. But my family was telling me to wait and continue to look at my other options. Then the listing was sales pending wahhh. Not meant to be I guess or I hesitated too much. I really loved that house, the pictures online does not do it justice at all. It was modern and very spacious. And within my budget. Do I regret not putting down an offer for it? I will make another post about that. 

Then the search continued.

Don't remember which day, but we were touring on a weekend towards the end of October and I saw two potential townhouses that I would put in an offer for. First one was the house I am currently living in right now keke. Second one was a house that was a little past where my brother's first house is. I didn't love that one because it was not a corner unit, didn't have double car garage, space felt very narrow, location was alright, no walk in closet, parking sucked in that neighborhood, and I didn't get that homey feeling from it. But pretty much everyone in my family including Gabe was voting for that one because it was a newer build. 

In the end, I went with my heart and decided on the first one. My instinct was telling me to go with my gut and not be influenced by my family's preference. Also, to put in an offer right away so that I didn't miss out on this opportunity. I just loved the first one so much more. While touring it, it felt so homey even though it was an older build compared to the second option. Loved the amount of space/storage it had, the double master bedrooms, three walk in closets, double car garage, bonus storage room in the basement area, right behind Costco, good location, close to the freeway, corner unit, lots of windows for natural lighting, etc.

I am very happy with my decision. 

House Hunting Part 1

In the beginning of 2021 my brother brought up the idea of purchasing a duplex with me and I was open to the idea of it. But then towards end of summer (like around August), he decided he wanted to save his money and move into a single room apartment in the Pearl district instead. I decided that I still wanted to purchase my own home as an investment and since my apartment lease was ending at the end of January. Also, since interest rates were low. 

I went into the house hunting process with a budget in mind and what type of house I was looking for. My budget was based upon how much I was comfortable paying for my monthly mortgage payment if I were to pay it on my own (assuming the worse case scenario that Gabe doesn't live with me) with a 20% down payment. I wanted a townhouse because of the lower maintenance and I didn't want too large of a house for my first home (which was not going to be my forever home), but was open to a house house if it was within budget. 

I did have a rough idea of what I wanted in the house. The list is pretty short haha.

Must-have:

• At least 2 bedrooms
• 2 car garage 
• HOA no more than $250
• In Beaverton/Tigard area
  

Nice to have:

• Gas range stove
• Walk in closet for the master bedroom
• Island table for the kitchen 
• Preferably no yard (because I am too lazy to take care it haha)
• Corner townhouse so that I would only be sharing walls with one neighbor
• Near restaurants/shopping area (good location for when I want to rent it out in the future)