First Time Homeowners

My fiance and I today found out that we are soon to be first-time homebuyers. Our offer on a nice home in Wilmington, DE was accepted, and now comes the fun: the time and expense between acceptance of the offer and the settlement date. Long ago I worked at a real estate law firm, basically as the copy boy. You know, "Mike. Mikey. Mike-a-roni. Mikestar. The Mike-a-nator. Making copieeees!" Through that job I learned a little something about what goes into closing on a home, and how stressful it can be for the people signing their lives away. As one page after another fed through the copy machine, I used to wonder whether more trees died in the construction of the house, or in the making of all the documents to be signed at settlement.

Today is day number one. We made an offer and it was accepted immediately. Makes you wonder whether we just got taken to the bank. But the process really starts heating up this week as we start ordering all the inspections and paperwork. I guess as a service to anyone else out there engaging in their first home purchase, I will post regularly on how we go about doing what we do to try to hit settlement day, pens in hand, and ready to sign hopefully without regrets and with as little hassle as possible. So stay tuned!