Buying a home ...

Mr. Hillocks and I have been married for 12 years come May. We are embarking upon the journey of buying our first home.

I am SO ready to own our home and not be trapped by the whimsy of landlords and longer.

We are leaning towards buying a manufactured home and putting it on a couple of acres in the country. The upside of that is the assurance that everything is brand new, so we shouldn't need to do major home repairs anytime soon. We can choose the layout and decor of the home! Of course we also have to consider the cost of land, lack of available acreage and the frustration of getting electric and sewer set up.

We are planning on signing a year's lease on this house in July. Obviously, then, our goal is home ownership by July of 2005.

We have an appointment set for May 17 with a local housing assistance organization. They help cover your downpayment and give you lots of info on the ins and outs of home buying. They don't help if you buy more than one acre, though, so we probably will only use them as an informational resource.

We also have an appointment on May 17 with the bank. Eek! I guess we will find out what condition our credit is in so we'll know what we have to do to be able and ready to buy in a year+.

So begins the chronicling of our home ownership endeavour.