Another reason

So today we used a wonderful tool on Bank of America's website that helps you figure out if you are financially ready to go from renting to buying. According to the info we gave, not only can we afford the mortgage, insurance, and average taxes for our area, but we would also, most likely be pre-approved for more than we thought! (we're still going to stick with a lower price range though).

So I think Ryan might finally realize that we can afford a house, just like I said!

If everything goes according to plan I think we'll start looking next April, and move by the end of July. We're thinking of going to some open houses in the area before then just to see what our money can buy.

We're looking for at least 3 bedrooms, and 1 1/2 baths in West Deptford. We want an outdated, but ready to move-in place. We are really really looking forward to having a house that we can update. We want to do all of the work (or as much as we know how) on our own. And yes, we know it's a lot of work, but it is what we are passionate about. We can't wait to get our hands dirty, and covered in paint :-). Plus, we're looking at it from an investment stand point and we know if we bought an already updated house it would take more money to make improvements on it in order to increase the value of the house....

My mom says I watch way too much HGTV and that I am starting to sound like the hosts of all my favorite shows. hehe.

But back to the title of my blog. Another reason I want to buy a house is to get new furniture. Ever since leaving my RI home to head to college I have only used dorm furniture and cheapo IKEA or hand-me-down furniture. We haven't wanted to buy nice new furniture for an apartment because we know that whatever we buy may not work in our future house. So Ryan has promised that once we buy a house we can FINALLY make use of his Raymour and Flanigan employee discount! Woo hoo! I can't wait!