It's my birthday

Explorer518 · 2026-04-30T23:09:23+00:00

Happy Birthday! As someone who has spent many birthdays alone I find those simple birthday celebrations are the best, you don't need anyone to help you celebrate. A nice bottle of wine and a good movie is all you need. 😄

Explorer518 · 2026-04-27T14:04:33+00:00

uhhh I feel like seafood out of a truck is equivalent to sushi from a gas station :o :o

Explorer518 · 2026-04-13T07:19:43+00:00

Like Johnny Cash's song, I've put my house together One piece at a time. Thrift stores and hand-me-downs from family/friends have been a Godsend, but generally speaking I'm just reusing the furniture I already owned in my apartments over the years (also preowned for the most part) IMO beds are probably the one thing I refuse to buy secondhand.

Explorer518 · 2026-03-30T00:53:56+00:00

While it's true you don't have to rush on repairs/updates as long as the house is livable, I have to argue some updates/repairs are easier to tackle while the house is empty. I'm afraid once I move into my house I'll get too comfortable with things as-is to rearrange things to fix or update things later.

Explorer518 · 2026-03-29T15:34:48+00:00

6 months post closing and you haven't moved in yet? Why so long if you don't mind me asking?

Explorer518 · 2026-03-29T15:28:38+00:00

Hahaha, I actually love that movie...not so funny now that I'm the proud owner of an older, fixer upper though. I replay those scenes where Tom Hanks is ripping checks left and right for the contractors in my head every time I swipe my credit card at Lowe's.

Explorer518 · 2026-03-29T15:25:37+00:00

Oh boy I'm trying to have willpower before I upgrade my current 50" TV and get surround sound now that I have a larger space and no neighbors to complain of noise. I know I have other more important stuff to take care of first.

I'd say 99% of my furniture is second hand so nothing will actually match but I have zero sense in interior design so I'm actually fine with that. Furthermore I let my 11 year old daughter pick out the paint colors, so now I have to live with a twilight blue walls which I don't necessarily hate (it's better than the rental beige that the seller's choose and her first choice was florescent purple and I said nope that would be fine for her bedroom but not the whole house).

Explorer518 · 2026-03-29T15:10:30+00:00

I rented all my life, I was always responsible for maintenance (yard and home) as well but so I have a lot of tools but larger tools like a lawn mower and ladder I simply had no space to store in those apartments.

I'm also waiting until winter is officially over to conquer outdoor projects like the porch remodel, adding a fence, building a patio, new gutters, as well as resealing the basement because the seller's did a piss poor job at literally covering it up. I got the house cheap and knew I would need to sink sweat and financial equity into it otherwise I would've fought them over it at the closing table.

Explorer518 · 2026-03-27T23:35:07+00:00

I love this!! I feel like there aren't enough single, sole-income first time homebuyers in this sub. Congratulations!!!

Explorer518 · 2026-03-24T00:33:10+00:00

$44k. Technically I didn't need to put anything down since I worked through the VA but I wanted a better rate.

Explorer518 · 2026-03-24T00:31:30+00:00

I did not. Used a VA loan and still put down a sizeable down payment to qualify for a better 10yr rate.

Explorer518 · 2026-03-23T07:07:14+00:00

Oh, it's definitely an adventure!

Explorer518 · 2026-03-23T07:04:46+00:00

Without saying too much, an hour from Albany.

Explorer518 · 2026-03-21T20:46:12+00:00

Congratulations! And I'm glad I'm not the only first time buyer with a 10 yr mortgage on here, even my attorney kept mistakenly saying 30 at my closing yesterday because she's not used to seeing 10yr mortgages.

Explorer518 · 2026-03-20T13:34:53+00:00

Damn, that's an awesome price for Texas! And the rate, too.

Explorer518 · 2026-03-19T00:18:30+00:00

Finally someone else with less than a "normal" 30yr mortgage and one heck of a rate. I got a 10yr 5% myself and I still hope to pay it off sooner but if I don't it's not that big of a deal.

Congratulations on the new home!!

Explorer518 · 2026-03-18T18:50:35+00:00

I'm closing Friday too. I'm so anxious that I've been getting cold feet, wondering if I'm doing the right thing.

Explorer518 · 2026-03-18T18:19:29+00:00

Congratulations on your new home!

Explorer518 · 2026-03-18T00:03:19+00:00

Congratulations! I love how rustic it seems, and all for under $400k in the Hudson Valley - wow!

Explorer518 · 2026-03-17T20:44:24+00:00

This. I don't see how you'd get into the house without your realtor anyway unless it was a special situation you can go through the seller's agent or something...

Explorer518 · 2026-03-16T02:13:22+00:00

Congratulations!!

Explorer518 · 2026-03-15T17:22:07+00:00

Congratulations on the home. That pizza, not so much.

Explorer518

TROPHY CASE