I’m finally at a place where I’m stable enough and have enough savings that I’m ready to buy a home for myself and move out. And WOW. It’s been wild trying to find a reliable real estate agent, a home that’s a good fit, and an easy path to buying.
The Properties
I started looking at a property in my hometown that was built in 1827, 1080 sq ft, sitting on 4.7 acres of agriculturally zoned land. It’s listed for $215,000. Dream come true right? Well, it wasn’t so perfect in the end.
I did a drive by with my parents just to take a peek at the property and it was super cute. A little two story brick house, very old cottage vibes with the vines growing up the sides of the building. I was in love. I ended up finding out that it needed a full septic replacement so I went about finding out how to do that or a means to work around it. I got pre-approved for a conventional home loan, I called the listing agent to talk about the property, I even called the Board of Health for my town to see if they would allow a composting toilet in place of current septic system. No matter who I called and how many avenues I went down to try to make it work, the seller refused to consider any option that wasn’t all cash. She told someone who called on my behalf that the property didn’t have a kitchen, didn’t have a bathroom, didn’t have electric, and was completely uninhabitable. Now, I saw the electric hookup at the street and I saw the pictures with the kitchen and the bathroom and everything else that she listed that supposedly didn’t exist. I’m not sure what the game was with that seller and the listing agent but I couldn’t do anything about it.
The second property that I found was even closer to my family’s house, only about 5-10 minutes away into the next town. Even smaller, it’s only 744 sq ft and sits on just shy of 1 acre of land which is pretty much what I was looking for. It’s a manufactured home, which is proving to be difficult to finance. The loan that I was already pre-approved for will not cover it. It is also full gravel around the house, which I found to be odd and didn’t look appealing from the street. But it’s only listed at $205,000 which seemed super affordable and there are tons of areas that I can work on with some landscaping which will give me lots of projects to keep me occupied. We’ll see if this is something that I can find financing for! If not it’s simply on to the next property.
I’m not looking for anything big, two bedroom and one bathroom is more than enough for me. The land is my biggest priority so I can build my dream garden and raise some chickens and rabbits.
The Real Estate Agents
I had some bad luck with the first two agents I was paired with.
The first woman was assigned to me through Zillow. The relationship started off great and she was super responsive and on top of things. As we got deeper and deeper into looking at the first property, she simply stopped wanting to help me. She continued to say it would never work, she wouldn’t even bother sending me resources to get pre-approved for any kind of loan (I did it all myself), she was consistently negative, and became very passive aggressive when I would ask questions to understand something better. Her last email to me said “when the financing falls through I’d love to help you out” after I told her I was already pre-approved and was going to be working with someone else since she wasn’t interested in helping me out with anything.
The second agent just…didn’t talk to me? I’m sure she was super busy with other clients and such but I called her a few times and sent emails before she finally picked up one morning and I asked to schedule a viewing for a home and she said no problem she’ll call and get it done and call me right back with the details. I didn’t hear from her again for 12 hours and it was not with viewing information. I requested to be set up with a different agent and that also just didn’t happen. So again, I found someone else myself.
I looked up local real estate agencies and found The Nathan Clark Team in Rhode Island. It had super good reviews and when I called, even though it was late in the day on a Friday they still found a way to get me in this weekend. I’m now working with Joe Barbera and from just one meeting I’m already so much more confident in this home buying process. He’s getting me pre-approved again, through a local lender this time that has a good reputation with the agents in the area and they would be more likely to work with and accept offers from. I’m already satisfied and I feel like I haven’t done anything yet! The meeting with him this morning made me feel so much more at ease with everything. I should be pre-approved again within 24 hours and ready to jump on a house that calls my name!
Luck of the Draw
I feel like I’ve been so lucky in getting to this point. It took me less than two years to turn my life around and become financially stable, and only because of a stroke of pure luck at getting my current job. I’ve talked about it before but I went from completely broke ($40 left to my name), to getting hired at a high paying job (high paying for my lack of a degree), to paying off a new car in six months, to saving up enough money for a down payment on a house in less than two years. I’ve never felt so lucky and so much gratitude for the way it all came together for me. If I was still working a minimum wage job and had a car with a failed hybrid battery needing to be charged every day and not allowing me to drive more than 30 minutes a day, I would NOT be buying a house at 24 years old. I owe everything to pure luck, and that feels so strange. I almost wish I could say it was due to hard work but at the end of the day, I really needed the break, and I got it, and I’m thankful.
