House Hunting

I now get to have a new obsession: house hunting. Master and I have come to the conclusion that we will be buying a house next spring/summer. Our current lease expires at the end of June and I think that the plan at that point is to go month-to-month so that when we find a place we like and that we can afford, that we can simply move out when the time is right.

Waiting nine months or so has a lot of benefits. First, we can invest some money and have it meet the regulations for first time home buyers (spending 3+ months in an RRSP, which is something that Canada is doing to make it easy to buy a house). It also lets me pay off debt and get my credit rating in a better place than it is now.

Master and I are crossing all our t's and dotting all of our i's. We're going to get preapproved BEFORE we start hunting in any kind of serious way. We are also taking time to make sure we like different areas of the city so that when we buy we are happy with where we end up. My new job will also look better on a mortgage application than working part time in retail would.

I won't lie, I love the idea of owning a house but am also scared stiff because of past ghosts. Buying a house was something my ex did because he thought it would make me happy even though he didn't want to. Master has assured me that he wants this, though, and is someone who enjoys home ownership even though there are a lot more hassles that come along with it.

Here's hoping the process goes (relatively) smoothly.