So 2012 definitely did not start out as planned. After waiting to hear back from the underwriters about our home loan for a good 2-3 weeks they finally said it wasn't do-able through Wells Fargo. More details about that in a minute.... The loan officer said that we could still get our same deal (no closing costs or pre paids) if we went through Suntrust. At this point I had already been second guessing the house. Was it gorgeous? Yes. Was it spacious? Yes. Did it include all upgrades already? Yes. But the location was horrible. It wasn't in the best (nor the worst) neighborhood and it was a hike (to say the least) from where we both work. There is a tunnel involved with traveling to and from work/school. I would have had to leave the house an hour and a half before work started in order to get there on time. Initially I was really excited about the house and we got caught up in it all. After thinking it through I realized that these were things that we couldn't change about the home. I would rather have a house that maybe needed some work but was in a great location. Then we thought about looking at houses that were in the neighborhoods that we like that maybe needed some love. After batting that idea around for a day we came to the conclusion that this isn't the best time for us to buy. With all of our second guessing we decided to see this as our last opportunity to bow out before we got locked into a house that we weren't happy with. We have decided to rent until Vernon graduates (in about 2 years) and we know what his job is. Honestly, we're still not sure if we want to stay in Virginia or go back to Florida so at least this way we're not held down to a house here.
So the reason that we were not approved for the loan is because Vernon hasn't been making commissions for two years. They want to see that you can be successful by making commissions for that long. We were really agitated because they knew both of our jobs and how we were paid from the very beginning. Instead of making us wait and wait and wait I just wished they would have told us earlier. They made us prove that he has been in the same line of work for 4 years now. The proof included having his old supervisor write a letter stating what he did. That wasn't good enough, it had to be printed out, signed and faxed over. It was ridiculous. Why ask for all of that if you are not happy with how he is paid anyway? The whole process was nerve wracking.
All of this left us with no time to find a place to rent. I was so stressed out from finding somewhere for us to live that it got to the point where I wasn't eating (but somehow gaining weight at the same time) and my hair was literally falling out in clumps in the shower. I haven't been that stressed in a long time. We did find a new townhome that has more space and a small backyard (more than we have now). We start moving in next week. I'm so ready to just get moved in.
It is really disappointing to not be buying a home. I had so much planned out and knew what colors I wanted to paint everything and how I wanted to decorate everything. Now that we're renting I just have no motivation to do any of it. For one, we're not allowed to paint. But I know I could decorate but I just don't want to. I'll probably leave everything the way we have it now here. We're going to be married for 10 years before we buy a home. That depresses me. I want a home of our own soooo bad. I feel like we're not successful until we have a home to call our own. I know I shouldn't see it as a measurement of success but I can't help it....I do. No point in worrying about I suppose. Just gives us more time to work on our careers so that when the time comes we can get the house we LOVE in a great location. Here's hoping 2012 gets better!