Home Buyers' Guide: Apartment dweller finds perfect home

If times are tough, someone forgot to tell Janice LaPorte.

After living in a two-bedroom apartment in Carson City for eight years, LaPorte is so excited about moving into the three-bedroom home she just purchased in Dayton that she's about to bounce off the newly painted walls. Even a flooded kitchen caused by a broken water hose couldn't keep her down.

"I love this house, it's awesome," LaPorte said. "I'm excited because this is my house, and I get to do whatever I want."

LaPorte, who has worked at Allied Engineering for 12 years, said she first started looking to buy a home last year, but the prices were high enough that it kept her from pursuing her dream. But that didn't last long.

"In January, I said that I'm going to look and see what is out there," she said. So she went online and found about five homes that fit within her budget, and had her real estate agent Kathy Tatro set up showings.

The house she settled on, off Dayton Valley Road near Dayton High School, was just what she wanted, despite most of the walls being painted sky blue. With three grown children, two grandsons and another grandchild on the way, LaPorte wanted a backyard for them all to enjoy.

"This is a pretty house, the ceilings are up high, everything is stationed just perfect," she said.

Because the home was in foreclosure, LaPorte said she got a great deal, with a payment that is only $100 more than her apartment rent.

"And it was easy. It wasn't hard at all," she said about the process of buying the foreclosed home.

The only bump in the road was the broken hose that happened while the deal was closing.

"Things went really fast until we had the flood," she said. "And once we had the flood, we had to figure out who was paying for what. But we got it all taken care of and moved in."

Her son-in-law and his friend helped clean up the water damage and painted over the sky blue hue, and the boxes are slowly being unpacked.

"I live by myself anyway, so I just do one box at a time," LaPorte said. "I'm just enjoying this house, and little by little getting it fixed up how I want."

LaPorte qualified for a government tax credit of $8,000 for first-time home buyers, which applies to anyone who hasn't owned a home in three years.

"That's actually wonderful, and I'm waiting for that so I can get a new stove," she said.

LaPorte offered some advice to people who are thinking about buying a home.

"A lot of people who are renting should be looking to buy because it's so easy to get into these homes," she said. "Towards the end of the year, they are going to start going up again."

LaPorte said she plans on being in her new home the rest of her life.

"I get home every night and say, wow, this is mine," she said. "I'm just so amazed. I never thought I could do this on my own."