Tale of a First-Time Home Buyer: Signing on the Dotted Line?

A day after we looked at houses, I was taking Gene’s advice and scouring the website he had sent me. South Riding is a large area, but on our first day of house hunting, we had been all over. I only found three more listings that were not already under contract that fit our criteria and price range that we hadn’t already seen. I started to feel a little worried that we wouldn’t be able to find something fast enough to qualify for the first-time home buyer tax credit. I sent the listings to Gene.

The listings consisted of two re-sales and one new construction. I thought we had looked at all the new construction in South Riding, but this one is right next to South Riding, but it’s not technically in South Riding. The price was right and the house had everything on our list. I thought we would look at it the following weekend.

I got out of a meeting and I had a missed a call from Gene on my cell phone, my work phone, and an email that said, “CALL ME ASAP.” So I did. “Can you get away right now to look at this house?” It was the new construction. He said that he called the property representative, and only one more was available for a May delivery. May would be the latest we could still get the first-time home buyer tax credit, which expires June 30th. I went to meet him at lunch time.

We went to the model home. The house was great. Two car garage, upgraded kitchen, large, spacious master suite with upgraded bathroom, two extra bedrooms, a basement rec room, separate dining room… this place had everything. And since it wasn’t located in the heart of South Riding, the price was great for the size and quality of the house. I loved it.

The house is considered a “luxury townhouse,” which means it comes with lots of upgrades standard. Some of the standard features that impressed me were hardwood in the kitchen and middle floor half bath, and energy-compliant upgrades that include upgraded windows, extra insulation, ENERGY STAR appliances, and 2x6 framing. The “optional” upgraded master bath with soaking tub, separate shower, double vanity, and oversized ceramic tile wasn’t optional at all – it was also standard. The house also comes with an interior trim package and upgraded light fixtures. But the best part is the builder incentives. The current special was $15k for upgrades and an additional $5k towards closing costs.
The builder representative, Corey, then informed me that there was only one left and a customer was supposedly returning the following day to ink a contract. The customer had been there the previous day and said he wanted to sleep on it. Well, you snooze, you lose. I asked how much the fee was to reserve the place until my wife was able to see it. Shocker, you can’t reserve it. You have to sign a contract.

I called my wife. She didn’t answer. I paced around nervously, instantly sweaty. She called me back. I told her everything and asked her what she thought I should do. “Do it!” she told me, “Do it now!” A cold fear overtook me.

I pulled Gene aside and asked what would happen if I signed the contract and then changed my mind. He said I have three days to escape free of any obligations. So, I took a deep breath and signed on the dotted line… about 100 times. I texted my boss, “Might be a while. Buying a house.”

Yeah, that’s right. I bought our first house on my lunch break without my wife even seeing it.