Home Buyers Diaries #1: Grown Up Decisions

 

How can I be a grown up when I'm sitting at my kitchen table at 9.49am wearing a giant, fluffy teddy bear onesie? Knowing that I will probably spend a large proportion of the day watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix eating badly cut bagels?

Why am I making such grown up decisions? Why is no one helping me? (I'm looking at you Martin).

I had a 10 year plan when I was a teenager, and even as late as during uni. There's nothing wrong with plans, in fact I actively encourage 10 year plans!! However saying you want your dream job at 21, to be living in your own beautiful home around the same time, be married at 22/23 and have your first baby BY 25... When you're 15 is possibly the most hilarious thing I've ever heard. WHERE AM I GETTING ALL THIS DAMN MONEY??


I didn't even finish my bloody degree 'til I was 22... Luckily, I have a slight advantage as I do feel that I'm with the person that all that good, grown up stuff is going to happen with. He may be petrified of babies and marriage at the moment (he thinks he's still a young, crazy student - he's a 25 year old that likes to be asleep by 11 and wears a tie to work....), but it will happen at some point. Hopefully,

But we are actually on track to be able to purchase a home. Like, now. I worked hard to save during uni (Remember that big hullabaloo on twitter the other day? Well I actually managed to do that). We have enough for a deposit and a stable enough income between us for a mortgage that will cost LESS than our monthly rent.

I fucking hate renting. I hate it so so so much. I want a dog. I want to drill holes in the wall. I don't want to sleep in a bed chosen by some anonymous landlord. I want to know every month when I cough up a wad of money for them I own a little bit more of this flat. So I want to buy a house.

But then comes the decisions. Stupidly massive decisions that impact my whole life. Cool no biggy.

Our tenancy is up in June and we'll have to decide whether to renew or not in the next few months. Do we commit to that? What if we're not actually able to buy and then our lovely Cardiff flat is gone too?

Are we even ready to leave Cardiff and city life? Where my gym is a five minute walk from the house, our favourite burrito and noodle shop is a stones throw away, we live right on the edge of an amazing city, near our friends, lots of other young and ambitious people, and where Martin works.

Do we buy in the valleys where it is BEAUTIFUL and rural and you can get a 3 bed semi with a garden and parking for £90,000 but where there is very little to do? Or do we buy a bit closer to town where it's not as pretty, parking is a bummer and you get less for your money (but still amazing value, relatively).

If we DO decide to purchase closer to town I doubt we could afford it now anyway so we'd probably need to wait a few more months but we're tied down to another year in this flat and OBVIOUSLY that lovely house would be gone and it would be so much harder to save... I have a headache.

The garden in the lovely valley house is elevated, up some stone steps. (Sounds weird but is very normal, I promise). Do we think about safety for kids? We don't have kids... But we might? But that's a long way off, but do we want a house that may not be safe for the kids-we-don't-have-and-don't-want-yet-but-might-happen-in-the-future?

Speaking of kids, should we even look at schools near the house? Is that stupid? What if we have kids and realise the only school is a little shed with Donald Trump teaching the kids ethics and morals? Is that sensible? Do I care? I DON'T EVEN HAVE KIDS YET. But I might one day whilst living in that house.

Wtf is stamp duty?

If we spend all our money on the deposit for the house can we afford to furnish it? How does that work? What will we do? I think we would be able to do it fairly cheaply with what we've got and what we could get but what if I'm wrong and we cant afford furniture?

This job I'm currently doing is stable which is great. But it really isn't where I see myself working for longer than 6 months so I have no idea what I'll be doing or where I'll be working when we live there. If we both work in Cardiff is it just madness to up and move into the valleys?

And the biggest worry... Does Martin even want to move yet? Have I just thrown him into my excitement and he's going along with it because he's SO fucking nice? He's a city boy. Born and raised in Edinburgh, will he like living in the valleys?

Help me.

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