Well over the past 2 days I have been going to the Century 21's website for the Arlington Texas area and looking at houses and their price ranges. They really aren't priced so bad. :) And like Rebecca told me a few days ago, it's cheaper to just buy a house than rent an apartment. Now I see why. She stands correct. An apartment goes from about $1,000 a month! For a 2 bedroom. I didn't see any one bedroom's available, but they would probably start at $700 or something, know what I mean? That's insane! But then again it is a major city in Texas.
Robert and I have our eye on a few houses already and will be checking in every so often to see if the price has been reduced or if it's been sold. I mean, nice, ready to be moved into 3 bedroom, 2 bath houses for under $60,000! Many with fireplaces! The 2 bedrooms were about the same price and so we figured 'why get a 2 bedroom when you can get a 3 bedroom for the same price'? Century 21 was good at listing any problems with the houses which was a blessing and they provided many pictures. It's very exciting that's for sure! I wish we could go purchase our home now, but alas, that's impossible being in Europe for another 7-8 months.
Actually today as I was looking at houses just outside of Arlington, I found an awesome 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with fireplace and everything was new inside for $25,000!!! That's it! There was nothing wrong with the home. It just kept getting reduced because nobody seemed interested in it. I mean, I am almost tempted to mail Century 21 a cashier's check for this place...LOL. It's a great deal and we had already planned on putting $25,000 cash down on the house of our choosing. I will be praying the house remains on the market...pray with me too! If we can get this house we won't have a mortgage to pay! Wooohooooo!
I know many homes don't come with a stove or a refrigerator or a washer or oven, or they may come with them all or only one or two items. I have already taken into account that we may have to buy some appliances and we have the money for them so that's not a worry. $1,000 is already set aside for appliances if needed. :)
We will be leaving Germany debt free so starting our new life over in Texas that way will be a real blessing. That's why it would be awesome if we could get that house because then we wouldn't have any debt in the form of a mortgage payment :)
I have already got my mind gears going on how to save the most money on water, electric, etc. I have plenty of frugal living books that really hook me up in that department and I look forward to putting them to use in Texas.
So tell me blogger friends of mine, when you bought your home, how did you keep the costs down? What did you look for in the home before purchasing it?
Share with me your home stories!
God Bless You.
Dawn
**** UPDATE****
That $25,000 house is actually a trailer. :) After showing it to DH and getting a better look at it, we realized it was a trailer.
I knew it was too good to be true! Oh well. That was a really nice trailer though, but we aren't looking for one of those.
Blessings!
8 comments:
Have you ever thought about going ahead and purchasing and then doing a short term rental on the house until you move back? You could do a 6 month lease for someone and still have it ready for you to move into. It would give you some extra money each month which could go towards moving costs or whatever else you might want or need (furniture, etc). Most realtors have property management departments, and they can take care of finding the right tenants and collecting rent, for a small monthly fee. Just something to think about.
That is an option. But it doesn't sit well with us. This is going to be our 1st house together and we want it to be special and kind of not 'lived in' already when we get there. Does that make sense? :)
Besides, we can't really trust people these days unless they are relatives or close family to take care of things like that.
All I have heard from people who rent houses out to people is the messes they leave behind from it.
So, I think with this bing our 1st house purchase, I think I would rather take the risk and see if anyone buys it or not first.
It's too complicated to take care of business matters like that when we are not there.
Thank you for your input! :)
The thing about these "trailers" (because I live in a double-wide) is that the newest ones are VERY energy efficient. We bought ours at the beginning of 2000. We live in a little town in the central part of Alaska where winter temps dip down to -60 deg. F. almost every winter, for a couple of days at least. We've gotten through EVERY YEAR without having to fill our 500 gal. fuel tank more than once. So, DO keep that in mind. It may be a "trailer" but these same trailers are built a good bit better than they used to be.
Awnings on the outside of the windows, in texas, should lower your heating bills, as will surrounding your home by tall, shade-throwing trees. Plan on at least TRYING to do any minor maintenance & "polishing" yourself. A deck to build??? Get out the tools & start to work. A wall you want painted (be forwarned that trailers tend to have wall-paper applied right on top of the sheet-rock, makes it very hard to properly paint them), roll up your sleeves & get down to it. Obviously a clothes-line for drying clothes, instead of a dryer. But these are all things I'm sure you've read, if you've got all the typical frugality books.
Best of luck with the house-hunt. If you've got the money set aside & don't have to worry about taking out a huge loan, this is a great time for buying.
I have nothing against trailers. Heck, I lived in 2 for several years myself. We just aren't looking for one. :)
Your trailer sounds nice! The trailers I lived in with my mom were old and with no insulation, and were just...old...LOL. But they kept a roof over our head. :) That's all that matters.
I do not plan on getting a dryer. Like you said, a clothes line is good, plus I have drying racks.
But I noticed some homes do not come with a fridge, but come with a stove, or comes with a stove and not a fridge, so I have been pricing new one online (which are not cheap) and I know I can always look for a used one when I get there.
I do plan on getting a washer but not using it except maybe for bedding (twice a month). I plan on getting a non electric hand cranked washer from www.lehmans.com . It's just me and DH so that will suit us just fine.
I don't need a dishwasher..never liked those to begin with. And we don't use microwaves. So...
Once we get settled down we would love to put solar panels on the roof (yes I know how much they cost).
Yes we do have a nice chunk of money set aside so far, but I am going to do all I can within the 7-8 months left here to stash as much cash as I can. :)
I am not worried about money, God will provide. :)
Bless you!
I found your blog through Domestic Felicity's blog. First of all I am happy that you will be moving to Texas! In fact if you are looking at Arlington area, you will be about 15-20 mins from where I am so I say welcome to the area! Second my hubby and I are currently living in an apt...ugh! I wish we had got a house when we moved back to the area for we are paying $1126.00 a month for rent. We are trying to save for a house so we don't have to live in the apt for more than one year. I wish you all the best on your house hunting - do you know when you will be leaving Germany?
Good. So long as you're not writing off Trailers based on older trailers. Certainly, a sturdy brick or timber-frame house is a much better (and longer lasting) option, if one has the money to spend & can hold out for what one wants. Best wishes with your house hunting!
I am envious that you can househunt! Prices here are impossible for a 2 bed room flat it is about 250000AD so I guess that is around 200000US!! Pretty unreachable on one income but God provides! I am sure He has it all in hand.
Good luck with the househunt you must be excited to get there and make it your home :D
Blessings
Amy
hello~
From someone who lives in Texas - I would not want to live in a trailer due to the chance of a tornado. Plus if they catch on fire - they tend to burn very quickly.
I also wanted to tell you about a website that is very helpful when looking for a house in the internet. www.realtor.com. This is a fantastic site. Good luck!!
Lisa in Texas = )
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