TOP TEN #9: Shop Smart

9. Shop well- have a budget, an idea of what you want, and be on the same page with your spouse!!

There are ways to be a thrifty shopper even when buying a house.  After going to the bank and getting pre-approved for a loan, we decided that it was best for us not to shop for what we were pre-approved for. NOTE: Just because you're pre-approved for a certain amount DOES NOT mean you have to spend that much on a house. All that means is you CAN get a loan worth $x amount. We knew that didn't want to be house poor (i.e. buy a house but then not have any money to buy furniture, groceries, pay the bills, etc.). So, with that, we chose to shop a little lower than our pre-approval amount. Doing this really helped us be realistic about what we could afford.
**Please note: I hate hate hate to be such a stiff neck over money, but for real, aside from Jesus, it's the MOST IMPORTANT piece to thinking about buying.**

Another key that really helped us through what was a turbulent process at times was being on the same page with each other. Zack and I made sure we talked about any unsaid or unmet expectations for our first home together. We were on the same page from day 1 of the process (back to #10 in going to the bank first)!

Despite this post being short, I think it packs a good punch of VITAL information for moving forward in purchasing a home. We did not live above our means buying our house (we had a budget that we stuck to) and we were (and still are) on the same page when making decisions about our future/home/finances.

It's really a lot of fun to dream with each other about what you'd like to have in a home. We had a good time deciding what we wanted in a house and how to proceed forward in finding the home that'd be perfect for us :)

Stay tuned for next week's post about having a MUST HAVE LIST and a CAN LIVE WITHOUT LIST!

Until then,
the cleanaholic housewife (all I want to these days is clean our house!)