And so it begins...

If you don't already know it, I moved to Hawai'i in 2001 from Southern California. I met the man o' my dreams, got married and had a baby girl, K1. I took as much time off from work as I could, but needed to return when she was about 6 months old. I urged my mom to move over so she could be closer to her granddaughter and so she could watch her since I was terrified to leave her with a stranger, plus it's really hard to find daycare for a baby under 2. I should mention, we have never been close and always had a contentious relationship, so this was not really set up for optimal success. In December 2005 she ended up buying a house with 4 bedrooms upstairs and a 1 bedroom 'ohana (like a separate apartment) downstairs on nearly 1/4 acre where we could all live in peace and harmony. Yeah.

Fast forward 4 1/2 angst and argument-filled years and my dad, who had been divorced from my mom since I was about 10, passed away. My mom had mentioned several times over the years that she needed to sell the house to pay for whatever mysterious medical condition she was undergoing at the time. So about 6 weeks after my dad passed away, and after several comments about my dad's house being sold, she approached us about buying this house. I say approached, but "strong-armed" is a more appropriate term. I knew nothing about buying a home and all that it entails, and she used that to her advantage. She also wanted us to buy the home for what she paid for it in 2005, which is about $200,000 more than it is currently worth in this recessive economy. I felt pressured and overwhelmed and was still grieving the very fresh loss of my dad. I would lay in bed, sleepless at 3am, my mind spinning with racing thoughts about everything in my life.

One night, during one of my few stretches of sleep, my dad came to me in a dream. He said "do it on your time. There's no need to rush. It's on your time." I woke up so rested and at peace. I told my mom to back the f*** off, that when the time was right and we had everything lined up, we would make it happen. She was not very happy with that, but couldn't do anything about it.

As the summer went on and time went by, I began cleaning up my credit and learning about buying a home. The New Homebuyers Tax Credit was extended, so we had even more time.

Fast forward to the beginning of March, 2010. I realized the extension of the tax credit would be ending soon, so we began the pre-qualification/preapproval process of getting a mortgage with the intention of buying this home. However, a good friend, JS, pointed out that you cannot qualify for the tax credit if you buy property from a relative. Sh!t.

And so, the quest for the Haserot Hale begins.