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It’s amazing how much owning a property means to any average Indian. Whether it’s for growing old in, or raising a family, or purely for investment sake, it's considered an achievement.

So here we are too. Our first home in the State of California.

The process has been long, but fortunately we had good people around who knew exactly what they were doing. We had been looking at a lot of open houses and were on the verge of discouragement, when we found this house.

It was perfect. The only house that actually met each and every single criterion we had in mind.

The initial part of putting the offer and waiting for a response is nerve-racking. We had set our minds to this house, and so we ended up going back and forth with the sellers and finally settling down on a “Na tera Na mera” price.

After that, it was mostly reading and signing documents, and then more reading and signing. After a while, the reading stopped, while the signing continued.

Last week, we got the keys. It feels exciting and scary, all at the same time.

Julie, the owner's wife had tears in her eyes when she looked at us and said, "Take care of this place, its a home." We love the fact that we are buying a home where someone raised their kids in, where someone has a lot of good memories in, where someone lived happily, if not ever after.

I'm looking forward to a lot of things in the new home. Reading in the backyard, may be a swing, star gazing with hubby, having both sets of parents around. It will be all good.

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