2022 09 20#

I went to an open house (House A) after seeing a cute townhouse on Zillow, in surprisingly good condition. I liked the place but it’s 40 miles from where I currently live, which means I would have to drive pretty far to see my family. It’s also got a few catches, like being right up against the mountains and in a fire risk zone. Also, it’s actually a condo, so I couldn’t install an EV charger. Since that’s pretty important to me, I decided to keep looking.

2026 09 26#

I saw more houses today. I saw House B in another town (it requires driving through the mountains/canyons to get to, about 30-40 mins away). It’s really new, nice, and big, but it’s too far away from stores and other amenities. It increases my commute time a lot as well. I know I work from home, but being far away from daily shopping is not ideal. I also saw some more places in the same town as the House A, and there was one good place that I’m considering (House C). However, the owners of House C are also house hunting, and they have a lot of collectibles that clutter the area. It was also pretty expensive for what it was, so I decided to keep looking while I consider my options.

2026 09 30#

I saw some more houses; House D and E are in the town where I live. They happened to be in my budget and meet my criteria of having 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Both of them were alright, not really in the condition I wanted. House D had a weird, musty odor (smoke?) while House E had a mess of amateur wiring and other DIY projects. They’re on the list for now but I definitely think I can do better. Also, they’re overpriced!

2026 10 04#

Today was a big day, I had 7 houses to see! Some were private showings with the realtor, and others were open houses. I found a townhouse (House F) I really like on Zillow (it’s in my town) but it’s just barely outside my budget. We decided to pursue an offer, hopefully we can negotiate the price down. The place is practically perfect! It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a 2 car attached garage, and a spot to charge an EV! It’s also not in a wildfire risk area, which we have to be more concerned about every year. I’m submitting my offer today.

2026 10 11#

After a lot of back and forth (the seller almost completely backed out), we finally agreed on a price and signed the paperwork! If everything goes smoothly, that place will be my house! I never thought I would ever be able to buy something here, so close to where I live. Granted, it’s not a single-family home. It’s a townhouse that’s legally a condo. But I don’t need a backyard or front-yard. I’m terrible with maintenance, so a smaller space is perfect for me. I was too nervous to even think about how I might finally be moving out, but now it’s really happening! I’ve been saving up for all these years…

I’m going to be super house poor, but now is the first time I’ve actually started to feel excited. More space for all my books, games, and figures! Though I am NOT going to start full time collecting again. I’m probably not going to have the money for that anyways.

2026 10 20#

I don’t really have any updates other than the fact that we took a family trip to Ikea in order to check out some furniture. I still couldn’t believe that this was really happening, but doing the inspection this weekend made it a little more real for me. I’ve been stressed in other ways however, like worrying about how I’ll be able to afford living costs like utilities and food. I don’t know, I’ll have to see. I know I’m not really handling this well because I haven’t been able to relax and read books or play games for a while. YouTube and anime will have to do. I keep swinging between fear and excitement.

2026 10 28#

I got the “Clear to Close” message from the lender today, so I’ll probably be signing closing paperwork this week! I’ve been an emotional wreck recently, but today was the first time I felt really good about any of it. I’ve been researching purchases for the house to take my mind of things. I can already tell that this is going to be an EXPENSIVE move! Not more expensive than buying the house itself of course, but still…

I’m having fun researching small things like wifi routers and sound systems for the living room. I’ve never really been big on decorating, so we’ll have to see how that goes. I decided to check out “Feng Shui Modern” by Cliff Tan, since I’ve been enjoying his videos on YouTube and figure it will help me with arranging and decorating.

2026 10 29#

Today was a really big day! I signed all the closing paperwork. The last thing for me to do is send the money for the down payment. It’s such a terrifyingly huge sum, the culmination of 8 years of savings…

2026 10 30#

There was some drama with my online bank. They take 3-5 business days to wire the money??! That’s ridiculous. Luckily I spoke with a representative and they were able to send an express ACH to my checking account at a different bank. I barely wired the funds before the wire transfer deadline, and it all went through today! But because it’s Friday, the rest of the process will happen next week. I’m sort of eager to get the keys, even though I’m not moving in right away.

2026 11 02#

I got the keys today! Yay, my own place! I changed the locks and then went out to dinner to celebrate.

It’s been a long to get here, and I’m glad it’s over. I feel like I aged 10 years… and I also lost 6 pounds due to the stress. Eager to get back to my normal life, and I’m not too worried about moving since I don’t have a hard deadline.

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