Hi all,
FI and I saw a house on Wednesday that was probably one of the best we've seen (they had new windows! Which was one of our requirements. Most people only update the asthetic things, like the kitchen). However, there was already an offer on the house and the realtor needed to know by 7:30 that night (we saw it at 5:30). We're very meticulous, so we didn't feel comfortable putting an offer in right there. On the way home we talked about it and we both agreed that it just didn't feel like home. You walk in the front door to a wall that is the staircase. It's a split level, which we're not too fond of because we love open floor plans.
Tomorrow we're going to meet with a builder. He can build us a house in our price range, but we're going to see how nice of a house we'd get.
Last night FI did some calculations (he has an accounting degree), and he figured that, if we stay in our apartment for another two years, we can pay off 75% of my student loan debt, which will increase my credit score and allow us to save up money for a down payment. Then, in two years, I'd need to be on the mortgage so we'd be able to be pre-approved for much more and we could build an even nicer house.
We're leaning towards staying where we are and moving some stuff around to make more space and buying a table (we currently eat at the kitchen counter) so that it's not as cramped as it is now, but we do feel bad because our real estate agent really is working hard. But, when we do build we plan to use her again so she'd get even more money.
I'll update again once we make a final decision! We have until next Friday to tell the leasing office what we're going to do.