One and a half year ago, my husband and I went looking for our first home. We even got as far as bidding on a house that was for sale, but not getting it since the sellers thought our offering price was too low. Then, because husband didn’t have a (regular paying) job, our search was put on hold.
Since I’m enjoying a one week break from work, I decided I wanted to check out what our housing options would be at this moment. As it appeared, our city is currently running a project in which first-time buyers with a low to average income can buy a plot and design and build their own house. They’ll have to get a maximum mortgage and can finance the rest of the costs with a so-called start-up loan. The first three years the buyers don’t have to pay interest on this loan and they have to start paying it back after those three years. This would actually be a good deal for us since we expect our income to grow (double) when my husband starts a (regular paying) job. Furthermore, we’ve always had a preference for designing and making things ourselves.
So we checked out two possible plot locations and we immediately had a favorite location. Our location of preference is more spacious and is near a forested area and water. For the dog and myself it’s a must for there to be woods or a park in the vicinity; for my husband the water will be a treat because he has always wanted his own sail boat and that’ll definitely be an option there.
Today we went to the town hall to take an option on one of the plots. We also got a book with different kinds of designs for houses. Of course, we spent a lot of time looking through that thing today.
Next step will be getting an employer’s statement to get an indication of a mortgage. When we’ve received the all clear from the mortgage lender, we’ll need to read conditions of the mortgage carefully maybe even with the association for home owners just to be on the safe side. When we’ve signed the mortgage papers we’ll start meeting with construction supervisors.
As you might already suspect, this will be an ongoing topic. I’ll keep you posted!
