One year and counting

Today would be exactly a year since we moved into our new home. Just thinking of the past year a lot of memories come flooding. It is like a trip down memory lane, when thinking of what started as a casual 'open-house' with no intention to buy, to getting to know a whole bunch of new terms, to going through bidding process, to being proud and responsible home-owners(with a huge dent in our Bank balance).

It all started when the rents in our apartment was on the rise. We were on the lookout for a better apt for the same increased rent.

This is when a colleague of mine litrally sat me down and convinced me abt home buying. Same discussion that I have had with V often, except, maybe it sounded more convincing coming from a third person. V was also bought into the idea and after a few calculations we
were on the home buying expedition. For the next few weeks/months our days were filled with going for open houses, researching on the net and reading up stuff. We also banked on the knowledge base of our close friends who were buying around the same time. Thanks to them we were spared of re-inventing the wheel.

After going through a whole bunch of houses(some shown by our agent and some on our own) --> we found houses that were - over the budget/too old/not a good school district
/high maintenence....in short nothing to our liking.
Just when we were about to put a break on our search, our Agent sent us the link to our
current home. We were not too keen on it, due to the extra commute involved. But everything else fitted the bill so it was not easy to pass.

The first time I set sight on it....It wasn't exactly the dream home I had imagined or read about. But came very close to it. The selling point for me was the open and beautiful re-modelled kitchen and the backyard.

Its been a year since then and the house has undergone a lot of transformation - got a dash of color/remodelled floor/fireplace etc and every now and then something breaks down/needs fixing. It gets quite stressful at times with having to fix one thing or another. Nevertheless the immense satisfaction from knowing your efforts are invested in something you can call your own is
extremely gratifying and makes me completely forget the sub-prime issues or any minor irrants associated with the house. Its simply a great feeling when I don't have to walk a block to get my clothes laundered/when I watch the kids frolic in the backyard/just enjoying the space....I think it more than makes up for the hefty mortgage. V, would agree to disagree on the last part ;-)

Here's to more memories and fun-times.