One of the reasons for my extended absence was the process of buying a house. I live in the Tampa Area of Florida and rent here has been going up at a ridiculous rate for almost two years, now. I flirted with the idea of moving or maybe even buying a house, but it wasn't something that was really on my "List of Things to Do in the Near Future". By the beginning of the year, however, I realized that I truly did like the area, and maybe the best thing to do was simply start looking to buy. I had fair credit and being a Veteran, it was all I really needed.
I set about doing the little things to help build my credit like make sure all of the credit cards had early payments, I tried to get the percentages of the balance down and made sure all of my utilities, etc. were paid on time. I knew my utilities didn't reflect on my credit report, but had a sneaky feeling they would be a factor in getting approved by showing I could make on time payments. I was able to get some of the sketchier stuff off of my reports and by April, I had a bit of a plan and started looking.
As expected, the apartment complex sent my a nice letter asking me to renew my lease with only a 19.5% increase in rent. This was on top of the 15+% from the previous year. I sent them a very polite letter letting them know I thought I could buy cheaper than they were offering and got a not so nice reply saying they were not negotiating. I immediately put an offer in on a house.
Now, this by no means was a slam dunk. I had gotten pre-approval a month earlier, and found that my credit rating actually went up, I continued to work on the finer things of that and saw the FED raise interest rates which almost made me second guess my decision. I realized, though, that I would rather get the advantage of the tax write off for the interest the next couple of years and refinance when interest rates go back down, which inevitably they will. Two rejected offers later, I found the perfect house for me and thankfully the seller agreed that I was the person he wanted to sell to.
I closed in twenty eight days and by the day after I had the keys, I was sleeping in my new home, with three plus weeks to be able to move out of the apartment. I did still get communication from the apartment complex, wanting me to give them feedback on my stay and give them a favorable rating. Um, no. No Feedback. You should have realized what my feedback was by buying a house like I said in my email.
Long story short. My credit has continued to improve, I am completely moved into my new home and I am grateful to Tyler Carpenter, who helped me find the perfect house for me, Mr. Stecker, who sold me his home, that had most definitely been cared for, and the folks at Veteran's United, Suzie, Susan, and Bart, who helped me secure the loan to buy my new home. There were a few times when a few things got a little stressful, but in the grand scheme of things, it went very smoothly and I am grateful to all of you.
I Love My New Home.
Now, on to the next chapter.