So, Ken and I have started to toy with the idea of buying a house again. There are some really awesome houses in our town going for $300K and even less. Most are 3-bedroom, around 1,100 sq. feet, but sit on large lots of 8,000 sq. feet, giving us a lot of add-on options later down the road.
So, we've put through some inquiries with a few lenders to see if we can pre-qualify. And, with our criteria, we've already been told we qualify for a 30-year fixed FHA program, with our total monthly payments being close to what we already pay in rent.
The catch is coming up with the required 3.5% down payment (which is even allowed to be a gift), so we're exploring some options on that now, which might actually let this come to fruition in the coming months.
If there's one good thing about this recession, it's the availability of cheap/affordable housing.
In the meantime, our landlords have given us permission to paint, so I'm going to add some color to our home over the next few weeks. I've been needing a change of scenery (mostly from over-working), and a bit of color will really help with that. I'm thinking of going deep burgundy or grayish-blue for the office. Some folks argue that it's a waste to put money into a rental, but for me, it's a $30 bucket of colorful happiness.
