Buying a house = Insanity

CW: You know Amber, you've been looking sad and tired the last few weeks.
Me: Yeah, we're buying a house....
CW: !! You don't need to say anything else. Totally crazy, isn't it?

For those of you who haven't bought a house yet, I'd like to post a PSA. It's waaaaay more work that you think it is. No really. From the time you sign that purchase agreement, it's nonstop activity. Inspections, appraisals, faxing and mailing paperwork back and forth, endless phone calls to a variety of people, the list goes on and on. Every day you sign a little more of your life away. It's all stressful and overwhelming, but in the end, I'm sure we'll think it's all worth it. For now, I'm just hoping for a full night's sleep sometime over the next few weeks.

Then there is the lending issue. Folks that are trying to buy a house today are paying, and paying dearly, might I add, for the mistakes of the past. That pre-approval letter with your pretty loan terms from the bank? Yeah, it's worth less than the paper it's printed on. Loan programs are changing daily with lenders, agents, and buyers often times not knowing which way is up from one day to the next. I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not. And no, we're not the only ones dealing with this. We have several friends going through the exact same thing. I'd say all of us are well qualified to receive a loan with good terms (good income, credit history and savings), but the banks are making it more and more difficult to come by.

I realize this sounds like major whining on my part, but that's really not what I'm trying to do. Yes, we're lucky that we're in a position to buy a home in this market. However, I am so frustrated and at times, down right angry that we're being put through the ringer like this. Especially when just a short time ago the ridiculous practice of loaning people money with stated income only and crazy financing terms was quite common. Of course we're putting money down and no, we don't mind proving our income and reserves, but the hoops that we're being asked to jump through (an ever increasing down payment, multiple months of bank statements, etc) and still not being guaranteed anything is INSANE.

Okay, vent over. Well, at least for now. :/

On the upside, my mom was in town this weekend. We ate some good food, did some window shopping, hung out with my brother for a bit and then she was a doll and helped me start packing up the apartment. Our place is a complete disaster area right now and my routine is all kinds of messed up, but I know in a couple months, things should be back to [a new kind of] normal.

I'd say the saving grace to all of this is 1) everytime I drive up to the new neighborhood, it just feels like home (to me, that is almost priceless) and 2) I keep envisioning myself in the new kitchen and I get all giddy, kinda like a kid in a candy store.

Alright, back to more paperwork....