All growed up
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Ever since I started working about eleven years ago, I've been saving up to buy a house. I didn't save a lot at first. I didn't earn enough for it to be a lot. But it was something. And over the years, as the amount I earned increased, that something got bigger. I was good at saving. I'd monitor interest rates. I'd scour best buy tables. My savings would move from one place to the next in order to maximise their benefit. And then, in a heartbeat, they were gone.
In February, my partner and I began looking at houses. Initially it was just to get an idea of the sort of thing we'd like. We looked around the local area to see what was available and what we could afford. Originally we'd planned to wait another year before we did anything about it, but it wasn't long before we'd found one that we really liked. Several conversations later, we decided to buy it. It was then that things started getting expensive.
Houses aren't cheap. Up until that point, my guitars were the most expensive thing I owned. I dread to think how many of those I could buy for the value of a house. It's not just the house itself. Once you have one, you need to furnish it. And even the process of buying the house costs a lot. It needs solicitors and advisers and so many other things I began to lose track. You could save for decades but when it comes to buying a house, there is no shortage of companies that will help you spend it all.
The house itself is a new build. When we bought it, it was so new that it wasn't even there. We were shown the soil on which it would stand, but from there it was an expensive leap of faith. A few months later, however, we had a roof with walls under it and, after a brief tour yesterday, I can attest that it has rooms with carpets and curtains too.
Because we bought so early, we got to have some input into to build. They weren't big things. The walls stayed where they were on the plan and the roof still keeps the rain off. But the sockets are in places we'd find them most useful and we've had the key rooms decorated to our tastes. We'll have a little painting to do when we move in, but the essentials are in and the house is habitable from the moment we get the keys.
Tomorrow the house is technically ours. The solicitors call it 'completion'. It's where they transfer all those savings I mentioned earlier to the developer that built the house. From there we'll be able to pick up the keys and move in. It would be an understatement to say I'm looking forward to it. As difficult as it was to watch a decade's worth of hard earned savings disappear from my accounts, it's brilliant to see their purpose finally realised. I'm not just finally buying a house. I'm buying a home.