Bought a house today. The Biscuit and I went out on Monday and saw few places--we liked two: a $619k fixer upper with lots of square footage and tantalizing potential, and $700k place that was (as our realtor told us) "turnkey"--just a beautiful place, with all the little touches that set our hearts aquiver. The Beautiful Biscuit and I were torn--what to do? We decided to take a look at a few more of the higher cost places and get some perspective on this $700k beauty. When Friday (yesterday) came around we went out with our realtor and put the hammer down--we saw six or seven places in the space of three hours. Exhausting, but illuminating--there was heartbreak, joy, sorrow, excitement and tragedy. We saw a beautfiful place--large, on a little side street, for a very reasonable $635k. Our hearts leapt! And then we found out it was off the market. Damn! After that we saw a grotesque $680 monstrosity that was decorated in the disco fox-hunting theme. I don't know about the Biscuit, but my spirits were crushed and I needed a good meal and a cold beer to steeel myself and prepare for the next houses. And then we saw the place on Chestnut. Cute. Not large, but about 1800 square feet. Immaculate condition. And designed to melt the Biscuit's heart. Hardwood floors layed out in broad, featureless expanses, and a big open kitchen that invites casual dinner parties and friendly banter over glasses of wine. Beautiful. The backyard has some greenery, a little dog pen, and....a hot tub! Ah, paradise! 4 bedrooms. The Biscuit and I were enchanted. It has 0.3 acres, but the majority of that is unsalvageable hill--we might be able to put in some terraces or (secret desire of my heart) a vineyard and rock climbing wall. God, we loved that house! We saw a few places afterwards, one of which really appealed to me. $650k for a 1800 sgft. place in a tony neighborhood with a large backyard space begging for a little renovation. Tremendous potential and every reason to think the money we put in would be securely invested. Still--it just didn't have the magic of the Chestnut place. The Biscuit loved the Chestnut place, but she thought I loved the tonier place--she could barely control herself when I told her I was marginally more impressed by the Chestnut place. Look--the tony house on the hill has definite appeal: it will appreciate nicely and we can do a lot with the backyard. But it will require work to make it some place that we want to live and I'm not sure I want to put some stress on our young marriage. Come on--contractors and expenses and tearing up the carpet and bickering over hardwood or Pergo, etc.--I'd rather spend the extra money and avoid the potential for marital conflict. We bid on the Chestnut place--they wanted $667,500 and we offered $660,00. A pretty wimpy bargaining position, but there you go--we wanted it and were terrified that it would be snapped up by someone willing to pay a little more. For heaven's sake it was a Realtor.com featured listing! Today I got the word from our realtors that the sellers were accepting our offer. So now I own a house and a $4200 a month mortgage. Ah, misery--what a burden to carry! Still-it looks like I am now a home owner. Wow! A puppy, a home, and soon a wife--I'm leaping into the world of real adulthood. U-561