The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of events that finally led me to close on a house that we liked.

Some statistics on the buying process:

  1. We started looking for a new house last August, so it took us six months to locate and buy an available house.
  2. We toured an average of 1-2 open houses every week
  3. We switched our search area 3 times
    1. Not liking the neighborhood
    2. Not liking the houses in our budget in a desirable neighborhood
    3. Optimizing for being near existing friends
  4. We made 3 offers, and the last one got accepted
  5. We increased the budget twice
  6. We got the house at asking price

What next?

Buying a preowned house is like buying a project. We already have made plans to redo the flooring, redo lights, buy new furniture, and upgrade the pool. Finally, think about investing in solar.

How will our life change?

The new neighborhood is much more laid back. However, it is further away from the main bay area commute through fare. It is nearer and more convenient to our friends. Our expenses will go up as it is a bigger house.

I expect to hopefully make new friends, and deepen friendship with existing friends. ❤️