Sharon and I had always lived in apartments or rental houses, so neither of us had any experience buying a house. We had enough money for a down payment (10%) and decided to go for it.
At the time, Sharon was not working, so she hooked up with a Realtor friend of mine and started looking. Nothing she found really seemed right to me, and after a month or so of not finding anything that seemed right, we decided to build a house.
We found a plot of land we liked and began working with a builder, which was an experience in itself. The builder's representative and I had a personality conflict, and I disliked her intensely.
We were promised that the house would be built in 90 days. It took more than six months. We asked for French doors to the back yard. They installed a sliding glass door instead. We insisted that the French doors be put in.
We wanted a refrigerator with water and ice capabilities in the door. The builder representative tried to talk me out of it.
After we moved in, we found that the back door leaked during heavy rain, which damaged the floorboards. The appliances the builder installed were cheap junk that failed just after they were out of warranty.
In the end, though, we loved the house and we are still there, more than 15 years later.
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