We have officially been homeowners for a year and almost three months.  In just 45 days we started the house hunt, put an offer in on two houses, got our offer accepted on one, got the house inspected, agreed on repairs, waited, waited, waited and finally closed on our dream home.

But it felt like so much longer.

Here's my five tips for buying your dream home.

1. Patience.  I have friends that closed faster than us and friends that endured a painful 90 day closing.  House buying is a lot of back and forth and waiting around.  It really isn't much fun for those who don't have patience (my husband..).

Can we just pause for a moment and reflect on the fact that all things "adulting" require WAYYYY too much patience?!

2. Know what you want.  That market in our town is INSANE.  Unless your house has some really extreme negatives or you've priced it for more than it is worth and aren't willing to budge (the first house we offered on)... houses don't stay on the market much longer than a month in this town.  Our house was on the market not even 48 hours before it had 3 offers in on it.  There is absolutely no time to think on it, so you have to know what you want and be willing to make a quick decision.

3. Figure out your giving points.  Originally Rob wanted a 3 car garage, a basement and a second living area.  In this town... our options were EXTREMELY limited.  Our first day out looking we saw 4 houses.  Only one had all 3.  We knew if we wanted to quickly get into a house we needed to figure out what could go as a priority.  For us it was the 3 car garage, as long as the garage was not a standard 2 car garage.  Our home has a 2 car oversized garage, a basement and a second living area.  And I'm happy to report we are all content.

4.  Find a good realtor.  We went with someone I had already met through a playdate I hosted at my house.  Tori was quick and dealt with everything we threw at her.  We are the people that know what we want and aren't afraid to be a little bit aggressive.  Tori kept us in check and got everything done and submitted quickly.  Luckily we didn't have any real negotiations (since there were 3 offers, they asked for best offer from the get go and then picked the best one for them... we won!) but I'm confident no matter what Tori would have been able to get us what we wanted.  A good realtor is key in this very stressful time. You want knowledge and confidence.  Both of which we got.  Plus we came out of the deal with not only a house, but new friends as well! I will never stop thanking you Tori!

5. Don't invest all of your time and energy into making something work that isn't going to happen.  From the very beginning Rob told me to keep an open mind.  He knows that I get attached easily to the idea of things.  We put an offer in on one house.  It was the layout we wanted, but needed some major updating.  They had it priced well above what we wanted to pay for it, so we shot them an offer and they came back to us with a very weak counter.  It was clear they were not going to be negotiating off of their price.  So we walked away.  (They sold it almost 6 months later for what we originally offered them...) Being able to do that is a HUGE deal when it comes to buying a house.  Because we weren't overly invested it wasn't a major loss for us.  Nothing is ever a given until you sign on the dotted lines at closing.

House buying is stressful.  In the year since buying our house we have had small projects and large projects.. there is always something to do.  But having our own space at this time in our life after years of renting is worth it in so many ways.

Do you have any home buying advice?



always,
amanda

We have officially been homeowners for a year and almost three months.  In just 45 days we started the house hunt, put an offer in on two...

Rob and I have been married for 7 years and I never thought that at 27 we would own our own home and be settling in Kansas, for good.  In the Army you never know what the next year may bring you.  The end of last year we didn't know what this next journey was going to be like.  We were cautiously optimistic to say the least.


Y'all, life after the military has been really good to us.

My husband landed a really good job with a really great company that treats their employees really well.  We were able to pay off some debt.  Move back to Kansas.  And now we have finally closed on our dream home.


We are making this little college town in this great state our forever home, and we could not be more excited.

So that's where I've been and why it has been so quiet around these parts.  Please forgive me.  Now that we are finally in the last stretch of unpacking, I am hoping to find a new normal and get settled back into all things blogging.  Which will HOPEFULLY include getting back to reading my favorite blogs.

Any advice for homeownership?  I'm open to ALL your suggestions..


always,
amanda

Rob and I have been married for 7 years and I never thought that at 27 we would own our own home and be settling in Kansas, for good.  In th...

Well it is September.  And this month we are signing a rental lease for another year in our house.  Which means we have officially been stationed at Fort Campbell for a year.

I can't say this is my favorite duty station.  Actually from the three places we have been stationed this one falls dead last (Fort Gordon and Fort Meade in the one and two spots respectively).  But I always try and make the best out of it even if we don't have many friends.

We definitely like that we are closer to family and friends.  6 hour to Rob's family and 8 to mine (not factoring in nursing/bathroom/fuel/get-me-out-of-this-truck stops).  Which makes 4 day weekends and holidays possible.

I like the house we rented.  It is not the newest or the fanciest.  It has its flaws.  But it was exactly what we needed coming from the house we had in Georgia.  It had another bedroom and another living area.  We are right in the middle of everything.  Making base close.  Downtown close.  The mall and Target close.  You know, the necessities.  And we like all of our neighbors, even if we don't have many interactions with them (however I am looking at you new neighbors with the yappy dogs... are the 10 pm bark sessions necessary?!).

I like that there is always something to do if you want to.  Granted, if it is free... you probably want to avoid it at all costs because everyone and their mom will be there.  BUT - Nashville is 45 minutes to an hour away.  So if you can't find something you like in Clarksville, you can drive just a bit and the opportunities are endless.

I mean I wish our Target was bigger and had a Starbucks. I wish that the weather wasn't so freaking humid.  And I wish this last year would have yielded more friends.  But for every negative, something positive has happened in our life here.

This is Rob's first duty station as a Warrant Officer, not in school.  This is the base I gave birth to our second sweet girl at.  This is the house we brought her home too.  This is the city we lived in when we added Diesel to our gang.

So cheers to the first year here.  Let's see what the future holds.


always,
amanda

Definitely not my picture... someone local here in Clarksville took this and I stole it. Well it is September.  And this month we are s...

So basically the entire upstairs area is our old house size wise... we added the downstairs area with this house.  Rob got his man cave and we added another bedroom... plus a third bathroom (who needs more than two?! Cleaning three SUCKS.)


Another gallery wall - our office area - Rob's man cave.  No decorations down here really because my husband wants sole decorating rights... which means the wall will remain blank because hello, it's not a priority.


The guest bedroom.  Basic.  Looks just like it did in Georgia.

No pictures of the bathroom... because nobody cares about that.

To see the main living area, click here.
Up next and last? Upstairs bedrooms.


always,
amanda

So basically the entire upstairs area is our old house size wise... we added the downstairs area with this house.  Rob got his man cave ...

FINALLY after living here for basically forever (if you count since September as "forever")... our home is "done".  Of course, there are curtains to be hung and frames to be filled, but you are asking an awful lot if you want those done these days.

Our new home is a split level - so you go in the door and are greeted with stairs.  We went from a one story home to a two... and ugh.  It is a pain.

Anyway - our main living area is upstairs...


Our stairwell gallery is hands down my favorite in the entire house.

***I used wall mount squares for the letters, numbers and canvas.  SUPER easy and convenient.  Not sure what the wall will look like when taken down, but we will cross that road later.

Grace's play room - aka the breakfast nook.  Didn't originally intend for this to be a toy room... but it works, really well.  Minus the dog having easy access to EVERYTHING he is not supposed to have.


The kitchen.  Thankfully just a bit bigger than the one we had in our last house.  I mean you can't go wrong with more counter space.  Like seriously.


And last but not least - our dining room.  A room we don't use nearly enough.  This room houses my favorite piece of furniture we own, the buffet from my mom's side of the family.

(That window did not have a shade when we moved in, it's on my list of things to replace... there is zero privacy right now...).

So that's the main part of the house...

always,
amanda

FINALLY after living here for basically forever (if you count since September as "forever")... our home is "done".  O...

Our family has lived here in Georgia for just over two years now.

But it took Rob going TDY for a week for me to feel like Georgia is home.

Don't get me wrong, Kansas will forever be my home.  But here, in the dirty dirty south, in this hot, humid, bug infested stated.. I have found a new sort of home.

This new sort of home has friends.  True, real life friends.  Friends that will come help when the car is dead in the garage.  They will load their three children up, including their newborn and come help out.  They will poke fun at you for the dead battery that you can't deal with.  Ultimately they will help get your car running again, and even though the battery eventually had to be replaced.. they were there when I needed them.

This new sort of home has familiar faces all over.  Those two mamas eating lunch a couple of tables away?  You may know them.  That truck that crossed the railroad tracks at the same time as you going the opposite way?  It may be your husbands best friend.  (And you may not realize it is him because his windows are tinted and his truck isn't exactly a stand out (sorry Nick!).. but he honks his horn at you as a hello.)

This new sort of home has people willing to help out when called upon.  Lucky for me, Rob has a buddy that owns a lawn care company and was willing to come tackle the jungle that was our yard.  Lucky for Rob, he was able to come out a couple of days after being asked.. so he didn't hear it from me for conveniently running out of time before leaving.

This new sort of home has groups and activities I am proud to be apart of.  If you have been here for awhile.. you know I am active in the Fort Gordon Spouses' and Civilian's Club as both the membership chair and the webmaster.  I also created a special Facebook page with my cousin (Gordon Gals) where we organize outings for spouses to get out and meet each other.  I just recently signed Grace up for playgroups on post.  I'm busy in my stay at home mom life.  And busy, is good.

This new sort of home has friends willing and wanting to help with the baby.  Grace has been here 7 months and we have only used a babysitter twice.  Both times though that babysitter was someone I trusted wholeheartedly.  These ladies love my baby... and if you can't have family, it is amazing when you can find someone you trust just the same.

This new sort of home is turning into a good home away from home.  We have friends, even best friends, here.  We have a nice little house we are comfortable in.  We had our first child here.  We have a church we enjoy attending.  And you know what, I am not eager to leave.  Not one little bit.

Our family has lived here in Georgia for just over two years now. But it took Rob going TDY for a week for me to feel like Georgia is h...