That evening, they sat on the floor of their empty living room, eating pizza off a moving box. The radiator didn’t clank, the neighbors didn't stomp, and for the first time, every nail in the wall belonged to them.

Finding a policy to protect their biggest investment yet. Chapter 5: The Blue Pen

The bank checked to make sure the house was actually worth what they were paying.

The period between the offer and the keys was a whirlwind of "The Three H’s":

Before they could pick out paint swatches, they had to face the numbers. Their first stop wasn’t an open house, but a lender’s office. They learned about the —the golden ticket that proves to sellers you’re a serious contender, not just a window shopper. They scrubbed their credit scores like a stained rug and gathered two years of tax returns, realizing that "buying a house" was 60% paperwork and 40% imagination. Chapter 2: The Hunt