Brave little toaster.

When I announced that I was looking at houses, the reactions I got from friends and family were positive and supportive. But what I didn't expect was that people would comment on me buying a house "alone." None of the comments were negative or discouraging... but I was kind of surprised that people would even mention it. I heard things like, "I'm sure it's not easy to do this by yourself," or "I'm always amazed when a woman buys her own house." Is it really that brave of me to do this alone? Then again, most of my homeowner friends are married... and most of the single homeowners I know are men. 
   
Well, I will say this: it's certainly not easy. I mean, home buying itself isn't an easy process. But doing it alone just plain sucks. Not just financially (because, OH BOY does it suck financially), but also emotionally. Aside from my realtor, I don't have anyone to offer an opinion about any of the houses. No one is walking around an empty home with me imagining where furniture will be and how the rooms will be used. I know that some people would consider that a huge plus - sometimes too many opinions make the decision more difficult. And there is definitely something empowering about knowing that this will be MY HOUSE and I did this with no help from anyone else. But sometimes it also feels a little lonely. It's definitely not how I pictured myself doing it... but if there's one thing I learned, it's that life usually doesn't go the way my 10 year old self thought it would go. If that was the case, I would have been married at 25, and live in a beautiful suburban development with a gazebo in the backyard (who actually uses those things?), with my handsome successful husband, a big fluffy golden retriever, and 2 adorable children (one boy and one girl, naturally). 

     
But I digress.
  

So now I'm at the point where I found a house that I like. The rest is a waiting game. Put in an offer and wait to see if it's accepted. If it is, then I wait to get the house inspected and hope that nothing major is wrong with it. If the offer isn't accepted, I look at more houses. Or wait for more houses to go on the market. And then it starts all over again.
   
Well... maybe I'll get lucky. Never know.