Home Buying Military Style

As y'all know the hubs and I recently purchased our first home. As we are a military family I've had several people inquire as to how we decided to purchase a home due to the in-stability of the military lifestyle. We have also been warned that buying a home is pointless until the hubs time in the military is done.

Here are our reason's why we decided to buy. First, we were sick of living in an apartment. Second, when we looked into renting a house we were unable to find one that allowed dogs. Especially big ones. Third- the hub's move was due to a base realignment. His whole unit within the army moved and it's a permanent move. Unless he takes a different job we will be staying here.

However again the military lifestyle is unpredictable and you never know what will happen.We decided that since we wanted to buy we were going to go about it the smart way. We sat down and discussed the price we were willing to pay a month. WE paid out of our butts for our apartment in NC, much more than most of our friend's mortgages so we knew we wanted to pay less than our current monthly rent. We also took our lifestyle into consideration. We like to be able to go out to eat when we feel like it, or take that last minute weekend get away.We didn't want to become house poor and not be able to do things we enjoyed. We also were dropping down to a one income family and adding an addition. So we settled on an amount that we were comfortable paying. Don't let realtor's try and convince you to increase your price points. Only you know your finances and what you are willing to pay

Amazingly we found a steal. Due to the previous owner's financial situation we were able to find the perfect house we wanted at a great rate. There are so many deal's out there to be had. Lot's of foreclosure's and short sale's. It's a buyer's market out there, unfortunately for many seller's but it is what it is.

So we bought our first home. It's exactly what we were looking for. It was built in 06, has three bedrooms and two full baths and is 1800 square feet. The perfect home for us. The backyard is awesome which means we have two happy dogs!

Lot's of our friends that made the move with us went all out with their houses. Building these huge houses in brand new developments in town. Since I had picked out our house when the hubs was deployed I worried that he wouldn't like the one we bought after listening to his buddie's descriptions of their 5000 sq ft home, 5 bedroom house. I know the guys made comments to him about how our house didn't have granite countertops and this and that. Luckily he loves ours! That's always a plus since I love it too.

This weekend we had everyone from his team over for a cookout. And one guy kept commenting on how he couldn't live in a house as small as ours. Ugh how rude! Don't you hate how people have to turn everything into a competition. As much as it upset me when it happened I'm over it. We are so blessed, lucky and fortunate to have found the house we did. God has provided for us in so many ways and we are so thankful. No matter what anyone else says.

So my advice to military families who are looking to buy a house, make sure you decide on a payment that fits your budget. Take into consideration that you may not be there long. Research the housing market in the area you plan to buy. Do houses sit for a long time or do they sell or rent quickly. Don't make a rash decision. And look for the short sales and foreclosures. Just because it is a foreclosed home doesn't mean it's a dump. Trust me we looked at so many houses and the dirtiest, nastiest, outdated houses that needed the most repairs were some of the higher priced ones. So don't let the terms short sale, bank owned scare you.

Good luck house hunting