We have been in living in Chicago for the last 3 years in West Loop and knew when our lease was up this time around we wanted to buy. We started looking in March and closed on our first place on May 1! We are excited for what’s to come and for you to follow along!
It was a great process our realtor and mortgage lender were wonderful people to work with and made the whole experience enjoyable….now don’t get me wrong home buying is not something we want to do often and by no means is it fun or seamless, but they really helped us through all the paperwork and that really is where the headaches are!
Our must haves were…..located in or within walking distance of West Loop, 2 Bed , 1.5 or 2 Bath, Loft Style (tall ceilings, exposed wood/brick, open space), in unit washer/dryer, 1 dedicated parking spot, dishwasher, and rent-able. Would be nice to have balcony. Basically where we live now +1 bedroom is what we were looking for.
I think we saw about 6 or 7 places before we found our home, it was a weekend Alex was out of town and I was going to see a few places myself. When I walked in the building it felt right, it had the loft warehouse feel and was in the best location we had seen yet. When I walked in the unit I just started smiling and my realtor noted that this was the happiest I had been. I texted Alex right away and told him I think we found the one and had to come home early Sunday so I could bring him back during the open house hours. Sunday afternoon Alex had the same reaction I did to the loft. We were in shock, we were really about to our first home and say “Yes” to this place? It was quite nerve wracking, were we making the right decision? Should we hold out and look more, but why if we liked it why would we wait, and what if we lost this place? We thought about it for a day and made the decision to put the offer in and couldn’t be happier! We settled on a 60D closing, which was perfect and gave us a one month overlap with our rental.
We officially move in June 24th and are excited to start this next chapter! Now that the place is ours we are getting started on some projects and making my Pinterest boards ( https://www.pinterest.com/serafina_s/625-jackson/ ) become reality!