I bought my first home

Well, it is official. I have bought my first home and have paid my first mortgage. I now feel like an adult! It is amazing to me that I was able to qualify for a home loan all by myself on my small teacher's salary, but I did it. I was able to qualify through the teachers retirement system, STRS. I have two loans, my first is an 80% loan and my second is a 17% loan, that I do not have to pay on for the first five years.

The whole process of looking for the right house took me FOREVER! My dad and I started back in 2006, my second year of teaching. We knew that it was a buyers market, but were not able to find much. As the years went by, my dad and I continued to look for houses because we knew that it would be really smart to get into real estate and get into it as soon as possible because the rates were so low and the house prices were getting lower. So, finally I found one that I really liked and my dad helped my configure a good offer, and the seller agreed:)

My escrow was very short and I received my keys for the house on December 31st, Happy New Year to me! I was on Christmas vacation, so it worked out perfectly and I was able to move everything in to the new house as soon as I could. My mom, dad, and sister (Ashli) came to help me move everything in and arrange everything. It was fun having my family here to help me with everything.

Future plans for the house: I would like to add a little bit of curb appeal, by adding shutters and a flower box to the front windows. I want to add a kitchen island with storage in my huge kitchen. I also want to expand the backyard and add some better landscaping (luckily my house came fully landscaped, unfortunately it was kind of ugly landscaping).