That home-buyers itch...please don't scratch

My mom always said "don't scratch your bites".  Rub if I needed it, but never use those nails and scratch...no matter how bad it itches.  I didn't listen then, so it's no wonder I didn't listen when people told me not to buy a house while in the military.

I had this itch.  This homeowners itch.  It started about 2 years before we bought a home and I couldn't kick it. 

We tried to rub it and just rent a home off base.

It worked, but made us realize how much we just wanted to own.

We wanted to paint and rip things up we didn't like. Maybe too much HGTV was to blame or maybe it was our age.  At 30, almost every single one of our non-military friends owned a home.

So we looked and researched.

I panicked and got cold-feet.

My husband reassured me and talked me back into it.

We found the perfect place.

I panicked more, since we both didn't love the city we are stationed at.

"What if a chance to move came up and we were stuck here?" I asked.

"There is about a 2% chance of that happening at this point," he confidently reassured me.

So we took the plunge.

Nobody mentions how grueling the home-buying processes is.

And L O N G.

And stressful.

There were about 3 different times we either threw the towel in or the seller did.

It's emotional.

You picture your family in the this home on cozy winter nights playing games next to a roaring fire in the fireplace...only to have your realtor call and tell you something fell through. 

You cry and try to get over it.  You try to find things you didn't like about the home anyways to make it seem okay.

You get a call the next evening saying things are back on and the home in yours.

It's a rollercoaster.

Did I mention I was pregnant during this?

After months of stress the keys are FINALLY in your hands and the home in YOURS!

HOORAY!

Two months later your husband comes home from work and tells you there is a  job opportunity for his rank in the exact spot you wanted to go. And it's a pretty stellar job.

However, you just bought a home. Here. In a city you only had a 2% chance of leaving.

So is the military.  You can't put a guesstimate on when you'll have the opportunity to move where you've been dreaming about.

My advice, as everyone said to me, don't buy a home while in the military.  If you must, please don't do it while you are 6 months pregnant.  Things will be just fine living on base or renting off base. I promise you.

I know those itches though...sometimes they just don't go away until you scratch them.  Just scratch very carefully.

*disregard this if you happen to live on the beach in Hawaii.

**double disregard if you plan on retiring in the city you buy a home.