House Hunting Update

Posted on July 18, 2012 by vanessawyler

I feel like so much has happened since we last shared about our home search! Soo let me catch you all up.

First Time Home Buying Seminar – July 11

We had been talking for awhile that we signed up for this short seminar through Landmark Credit Union. It proved to be very helpful, as they had a realtor, home inspector, home insurance rep, and a loan officer all at the meeting to share the important home buying stuff. We particularly liked the financing part to get a better understand of that. We’d recommend it to anyone who wants to learn a little more about the process!

Pre-Approval Meeting #1 – July 13

We met with a super nice loan officer named Gustavo at Landmark Credit Union to being the process of getting pre-approved. Everything checked out real nicely besides one thing we had to get removed from his credit report that was majorly bringing down his scores. So before we could get the pre-approval letter, we had to fix that issue and come back another time.

Open House #4 – July 15

I’m not even going to bother posting photos, because we liked it 0%. It was just way too small and way outdated – like it had brand new carpeting, but it was a horrible blue. Sooo we just looked around, smiled and then left asap. No thanks little house with blue carpeting. You are not for us.

Meeting with Realtor – July 17

We met with a realtor, Sam, we had previously met at two open houses that we wanted to work with. There she explained the whole buyer agency contract and how she’ll help us find our perfect home. She then asked about what we were looking for and we showed her our favorite Cherry Hill house (just love that one!). She was then going to get us hooked up with the MLS database so we could do some more house hunting online. We also emailed her that night a list of homes we’d like to see asap. We’re hoping to be able to go out to look on Saturday or Sunday!

Credit Report Cleared – July 18

WOOT! I just checked Drew’s credit reports at lunch and was thrilled to see that the account we needed removed was gone and we were set to set up a time to meet with Gustavo, our loan officer. I just emailed him during my lunch and now waiting to hear back when we can meet!

It’s all going to sooo fast – but it’s so exciting at the same time. We’ll keep you updated on our house hunt goes! Stay tuned friends 🙂

Dreaming of a Kitchen

Posted on July 11, 2012 by vanessawyler

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t crushing on the Cape Cod house on Cherry Hill still – and the good news is, no one has bought it yet (keep your fingers crossed). So if we were to get that house I’ve been developing some ideas for the kitchen. It has great space, however so much of it is not utilized to it’s fullest potential.

My first step to transform it would be to paint the cupboards white. There is just something about a white kitchen I love. Then once we’ve saved enough bank, we’d do a larger renovation. In the meantime, I’ve been dreaming of the possibilties, and I’ve discovered the site Houzz, which has TONS of photos and great ideas if you are looking for house decorating ideas.

Here is an “ideabook” as Houzz calls it that, I’ve been saving some kitchens that I love to: (use the arrows at the bottom to navigate)

Open House #4

Posted on July 2, 2012 by vanessawyler

Drew and I got a chance to visit another house in Pewaukee this weekend. This one is located in the subdivision called “Lake Park” which features close-together houses and small backyards. That basically turned us off right away. The house was very nice inside, but could use some small updating. What was nice is that we are looking for two separate living spaces – that way I am not shunned to the bedroom every time Drew has friends over and they are playing video games. The extra living space was downstairs, however I’m so cautious when it comes to finished basements after I’ve watched too many scary Holmes on Homes shows. And I saw sloppy mistakes – thanks to my dad who trained me well by always pointing those out. If there are noticeable sloppy mistakes – I only wonder what sloppier mistakes are hidden 🙁

This open house was eye opening in that we really do like the one house we saw last week in Lisbon with the wooded lot. Drew just can’t get enough trees!

However, we specifically went to this open house because the listing realtor was one we previously met at another open house and wanted to reconnect with her. I’m pretty sure when we are officially ready to house hunt, we’ll use her.

Concrete Ideas

Posted on June 29, 2012 by vanessawyler

So, a long time ago – say 10+ years I remember one of the neighbors in our subdivision was putting in concrete counter tops. At the time, I thought that sounded like a real dumb idea. I couldn’t see how it would look good – my 13 year old self knew so much about kitchen design, ha ha.

Fast forward 10 years and lately I’ve been looking for ideas to implement throughout our future home. I’ve come across the idea of concrete countertops numerous time and I am in love. I even texted my mom right away asking if my dad could do that, since he was a mason awhile back. Here are some ideas that I saw of concrete counter tops that I love.

(Source: Pinterest)

(Source: Apartment Therapy)

This one is stained to look like wood (Source: Houzz)

And maybe if I can’t convince my dad or husband that concrete counter tops would be a good idea, I could go the concrete table route. It would be awesome if I could find a table at goodwill or on craiglist and add the concrete table top (that would also help our budget as we will have to buy lots of new furniture when we purchase a home). Also, the concrete table idea would be less permanent when we look to resell. Here are some concrete tables I found that I’d use for my inspiration.

(Source: kara paslay designs)

(Source: House Beautiful)

Open Housing Again

Posted on June 25, 2012 by vanessawyler

Yesterday was another dreaming day. While Drew and my dad were golfing for a missions charity event for LifeChurch, my mom and I went to two open houses – as well as explored some neighborhoods. This might be dangerous, but I can easily picture Drew and I in almost any house I see – not sure if that’s good or bad. And then I get attached to homes and then I have to “break up” with a house when someone buys it 🙁

Here is the first house we visited, which is in Clover Ridge in Sussex. We like this location because it’s right off of 164, so it’s quick to get to all the shopping in Pewaukee. This home was a bit out of our budget, but we figured we’d still check it out. While it’s an amazing home – this one isn’t for us. Mainly because it doesn’t have those two separate living spaces. Also, because it was priced above our budget – and it was priced to sell with a lot of showings, meaning it’s going to get scooped up asap.

The second home we toured had to be fast, as we got to the showing late – but the showing agent was kind enough to let us take a quick peek. It’s located out in Lisbon – on the border of Menomonee Falls and Sussex. It isn’t in our preferred neighborhood, but the lot with tons of trees and the larger rooms make up for it. The main thing on Drew’s wish list is trees – he doesn’t like the look of a house that is brand new and has no landscaping. It’s a cape cod, but has two stories and has a great layout, wood floors, white trim, and a bonus sun room.

We’d love to buy it (after looking at it again), but we’ve got to get some other stuff handled first such as our first time home buying seminar, finishing up our downpayment and getting pre-approved. Fingers crossed some great homes stay on the market or they keep popping up for us.

Credit Checking

Posted on June 20, 2012 by vanessawyler

One major key to getting a mortgage is having good credit. While I remember Dave Ramsey saying in Financial Peace that it was not important to have a good credit score, it is however for buying a house – as it is a factor with your interest rate and how much moolah they’ll loan you. So since we’d like to buy in the next few months – I read that you should check your credit about 60 days before just incase there is something on there mistakenly, as it can take 60 days to fix it.

Well, last night I checked both of our credit reports – and we are good to go!

Opening House-ing

Posted on June 13, 2012 by vanessawyler

This past weekend, we went to our first open house ever! We aren’t to the point yet where we are pre-approved for a loan, so we didn’t want to get involved with a Realtor quite yet. We still want to explore some houses to get a feel for exactly what we want. We are leaning towards a split-level where it has two large living spaces. That way when Drew has his buddies over – they can go to one and I’m not trapped to the kitchen or bedroom. We also like the idea of when my large family comes over – we can send the kids to one space, and the adults can hang out in another.

I found a house I liked, and saw it had an open house on Sunday, so I convinced Drew to go. We pulled up and I being nervous, but excited, to start this process tried to get him to leave. But I’m glad we went in and got to see it. It’s a VERY nice house and I think it would work for us perfectly! The few things we would have to consider first are: other houses to explore, the location (it’s a bit further into Pewaukee), and Drew had an issue with the fridge opening up into the island. Here are a few photos from the listing:

Obviously we have other things to do before we can begin the real home buying process. First, we are attending a First Time Homebuyers Seminar in July. Then we’ll save up a little more for a downpayment. Then we’ll get pre-approved, and then we’ll find a realtor and get cracking. Besides this one, we have a few other houses “favorited” on the Shorewest App – that I watch like a hawk, hoping they continue to stay Active, and no ActiveWO or Pending! Fingers crossed!

In Love with a Sofa

Posted on May 17, 2012 by vanessawyler

Just had to make a special post to dedicate my love to this sectional sofa. I soo soo want this for when we purchase a house – it might become part of the “needs checklist: large enough family room to fit this couch”. I love the color, style, price and the fact that I could fit my whole extended family on it! Thank you Young House Love for the obsession – ps LOVE the color scheme of this room too.

(photo source: Young House Love)

Decorating with Bookshelves

Posted on May 8, 2012 by vanessawyler

Growing up with the home styles of the 1990s and 2000s, there was always that extra room on the main level called “the living room,” but oddly enough, based on my experiences, no one did any living in those rooms. My parent’s living room had white carpeting, uncomfortable floral couches, antique accessories and french doors. You might as well put up caution – keep out tape, because that room was off limits to us.

As we are looking to buy a house, I still see houses with those same living rooms and I’ve been thinking about how unnecessary those are unless we use it for something more practical. As I glanced around our apartment, I was reminded how many books Drew has and how it might be cool to turn the living room into a reading/study room. I picture floor to ceiling bookshelves, books coordinated by color (that’s the graphic designer in me), big comfy furniture that you can sit drift away in a good book, and a desk to do some studying at.

With that idea in mind, I browsed pinterest for some inspiration and here is what I found…

(House & Home)

(Better Homes & Gardens)

(Oh Happy Day / Brabourne Farm)

(Design Sponge / Martha Stewart)

Learning Patience – Home Buying

Posted on May 6, 2012 by vanessawyler

I’m learning patience when it comes to buying a house, here is why…

Once we decided we were going to go ahead to start saving for a down payment for our first house, I began researching like crazy just to keep my excited. However I may have gotten a little too excited because I began downloading all those real estate apps and began searching away. And then I saw a house that I absolutely love, it had the perfect location, perfect layout, awesome touches, and more. Here are the photos…

Problem is, we are in no way ready to buy yet. Number 1: We have no downpayment. Number 2: We just signed a year lease on our current apartment in March for June 2012 – June 2013. As much as I love this house, we know it’s just not the right time for us to buy a house, and it’s pretty much impossible.

So, we began thinking more and looking at our budgets, and we could potentially have enough saved up by spring 2013 to start looking for our first house, so that solves problem number one. But problem number two we are kicking ourselves now, wishing we’d had gone month-t0-month instead of the whole year lease, so we could get out early in case we find that perfect house right way. So to hopefully solve that problem, this weekend I actually contacted our apartment manager hoping we could switch our lease to go month-to-month, it since it hasn’t officially started, because I researched breaking your lease, and that seems like a worse idea. Fingers crossed they go for it!

So here’s the plan: Get our lease changed, in June meet with a lender to see what we all need to do to get to that point to purchase a home in Spring 2013, and make a home-needs checklist. And for myself, instead of researching actual homes to buy, to begin researching ways to improve our future home and other decorating ideas!

So coming up, I’ll be blogging all about our home buying progress along with ideas for transforming a house into our home – along with the usual blog stuff of our daily lives 🙂

Drew & Vanessa

Life's Adventures – Together

Category Archives: Our 1st Home