It's a HOUSE!

Scott and I took a mental health day off from work yesterday. Things weren't progressing at all with the realtor, and I was really starting to panic that we were going to be trapped in this apartment for the rest of our lives.

We planned to look at three local townhome complexes, starting with the cheapest, furthest from work. It was nice, smaller than Scott had anticipated, and was right on the edge of what we could afford. The second complex was 3 miles from work, but WAY high for our price range, and after seeing the cheapest model, we found ourselves wondering whether we could budget ourselves into it. The third was the most expensive, so we decided to skip it completely, and decided to go driving around neighborhoods and look for FOR SALE signs.

On the way, we pulled into a complex that I had forgotten about. It was one that I was really intrigued by when it first rolled out 2 years ago, but back then we could have only afforded the smallest model, which was 2 bedrooms on a single story. Not what we wanted. So we decided on a whim to pull in and check out the models. We told the sales rep our price range and what we wanted, and she showed us the first of the 3 bedroom models.

We walked in the front door, took one look at the kitchen and the great room, and I asked Scott if we could have it. "Yes." We went through the rest of the model marveling at the amazing layout, at the nice closet space, at the DOUBLE SINKS in the master bath, at the fabulous counter space in the kitchen...

For kicks, she took us over to the larger 3-bedroom model, and while we LOVED the downstairs, we didn't really like the upstairs layout. (the deal-breaker for me was the closet that you had to walk through the master bath to get to. what if someone is pooping and someone else needs a pair of pants?)

We took a look at a unit that was ready for move-in, but it was in the old phase and - again with the master bedroom closet - the layout wasn't quite right. So the sales rep got us into a place that's being built now and should be ready to close at the end of next month that's just like the model. She got us the appliance package that includes the full kitchen (side-by-side fridge! smooth-top range! microwave!) plus the washer and dryer. The building has no rear neighbors, and actually backs up to a pond with sand hill cranes and a fountain.

We signed immediately. Then we ran through the whole model again, twice, picturing our furniture and our own colors. Then we walked through our very own construction site!

For those of you who are my Facebook friends, there are lots more pictures there, including the building floorplan, and some taken inside.

I got the call that we were most worried about a little after noon today. The loan agent called and said our pre-qualification looks great, and when she and I couldn't get our schedules to mesh next week, she said she'd overnight the loan packet today. We'll have it tomorrow.

So...it looks like we're going to live there some day! I'm still using the word "hypothetical" a lot because it seems that things are just going by too smoothly and I'm waiting for two shoes to simultaneously drop. Until we get the keys, I just don't think it's going to feel real.