And So It Begins...

Buying my first home before the age of 22 and before I was able to graduate with my bachelors degree, I was completely delusional about how the entire process would go down. Not only the actual process of buying the home but also working on the things in and around the home to make it presentable. 

My first piece of advice: When loving, caring, and helpful family members and friends start to give advice, WALK AWAY, or if attempting to be polite, smile and nod. I mean the previous statement in the nicest way possible because personally I love my family very much but when it comes to home buying, as Dorothy would say, "Toto, we are not in the 1980s anymore". Just over thirty short years ago, Sally Sue and Bobby Jo could walk into a bank with money for a down payment and were pretty much approved. When my boyfriend and I began the process, in a few short minutes our eventual first born was signed over, DNA swabs were taken and every single paper in our filing cabinets was copied for further study. A few months later after every pay stub, tax return, utility bill, and living arrangement from the past ten years were checked and we overcame the bump of the twenty dollars that was won off a certain Atlanta Falcon's scratch-off that was not claimed as income; we were ready to start looking for our dream home. 

Throughout eight months of spending every waking moment in empty houses, we finally found a house in a neighborhood that we loved. Our dream house had gray Berber carpet and the overwhelming smell of curry but after another month of double checking paperwork it was all ours, plus the flooring would be "our first little project together" in our new home. 

Since we have bought the house in March, I have learned so many things that people WILL NOT tell you about buying and renovating a house. Everything from painting and flooring to even appliances and gardening, has secrets that your wonderful, helpful family members won't tell you until after the fact. I am here to help now, so there is not a hair-pulling-screaming-emotional-breakdown-fest every time a project starts. Trust me, it will make your entire world spin a little easier.