Monday, June 27, 2011

hello world. this is Our House.

I am buying a house.  I AM BUYING A HOUSE.  Let that sink in for a minute. 

I wasn't planning on buying a house in 2011, it just sort of happened.  Earlier in the year I took a new position within my company, one that will keep me here in Houston for at least the next 5 years or so.  In addition to the stability, my new big-girl job came with a raise large enough to make me consider home ownership. 

Three months later, here I am, 10 days from closing on my new house.  MY NEW HOUSE.  (I promise the novelty will wear off...eventually.)

Since this is such an American right-of-passage, I wanted to document it for posterity (illusions of grandeur, yes I know).  If I'd been thinking when this whole process started I'd have blogged the ups and downs of my search for a house as well, but I wasn't and I didn't and I don't care to rehash it too much at the moment, so there. Suffice it to say that I became very familiar with the HAR website and my long-suffering real estate agent (who also happens to be my current landlord and an all around wonderful guy: Charles Krenzler.  If you're looking for Heights/Montrose/Rice Military property, check him out.) 

I must have dragged him through three or four dozen houses, and after two false-starts we found Our House.  Every time I say it in my head it isn't just "our house", it's Our House.  Ok, yes, sometimes it's OUR HOUSE!!!!!! but most of the time I can contain myself, and it's Our House.

(Oh wait--the other half of "we" and "our".  Enter the Boyfriend.  Born and raised in the Houston area, the Boyfriend is a self-proclaimed Hill-Billy: he moved into my (rental) house in the city with a beat-up Ford truck, a bunch of guns, and a vocal dislike for "the City" in general (despite the fact that moving in with me cut his commute to work from 30-45 minutes to TEN.)  He's worked in the restaurant industry in Houston for the past 15 years, and currently is the Barmacist at Soma Sushi on Washington Avenue.  Mmmmmm fishes.  Yum.)

So.  Our House is just about perfect:
  • in Brooke Smith, east of Woodland Heights, between N. Main and 45 (easy access to the 10 or 45.  Eventually I'll stop calling it "the 10", but I haven't dropped all of my LAisms yet)
  • 6800SF lot with lots of trees
  • fenced and gated
  • next door to a city-owned lot that feeds one of the bayous (for the Boyfriend's required green-space, and a lot of privacy)
  • a super-funky (and very me) mix of classic Houston architecture and a modern addition
  • just a touch under 1500SF
  • 2 bedrooms and 2 baths
  • lots of great reclaimed/reused elements
I AM BUYING A HOUSE!

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