Whitewater's House Hunting Update

[Whitewater]

Ok -- wow, it's been a busy few months around here, what with the house hunting and all!

When last we met our heroine . . . . ..

I was going crazy because the home we loved had HUGE and SERIOUS and EXPENSIVE issues, one of which being that the ancient old converted octopus furnace didn't work anymore and would have to be removed and replaced, to the tune of $10,000. Yah, like we had that kind of money. The bank refused to pay for it, we got out of the deal, and the bank tried to keep our earnest money!!!! After threats of legal action (and what finally worked, threatening to charge them 100% interest per day for every day that we didn't see our check back) we FINALLY got our earnest money back. After that experience we lost all liking for that particular house and we didn't want to deal with the sellers anymore, so it was time to find something else that would suit.

While we were waiting or our money back, we'd found a fantastic little house that was in a better neighborhood and in much better shape. Yea! We wanted to put in an offer.

Unfortunately, we lost the house because we didn't have our earnest money available because the prior bank was dragging their feet!!!!! By the time we got our earnest money back, the home had already been sold.

After that, we decided to take a break from house hunting until we had the money to make an offer right away.

When we finally got our money back, we started looking at homes again. And we found an excellent prospect in the best possible neighborhood, it was really a A+ property. But somebody else thought it was an A+ property too, because while we were putting together an offer, (literally, at the same time), somebody ELSE manged to submit their offer first and the sellers accepted THEIR offer, so we never even got a chance to put ours in.

Well. Fiercely disappointed but determined not to give up, we continued to search for a house that we could be happy in as our first home.

As luck would have it . . . . this past weekend we looked at a house that is roomy, well-maintained with hardly any issues, in a decent part of town, close to everything, and something that we really like. It has extras like a fireplace and central air, and we're quite happy.

We thought about it for 24 hours, then had our agent come over yesterday and put together an offer, which he submitted to the listing agent for the property today!

So now, we wait for the selling bank (it's a foreclosed property) to give us their response. Hopefully we'll hear from them either this week or early next week.

I really hope that the bank accepts our offer, that the inspection goes well, and that we manage to successfully buy this property. I am getting very tired of being in the same place, like a hamster on a wheel, and not moving forward at all. I'm also tired of the emotional roller-coaster, and would really like to get off the ride! We've been looking at properties since a couple weeks before Christmas and we expected to have bought a place and be moved in by now. Well, hopefully the fourth time is the charm :)

Whitewater

[sweetvenus]

I feel your pain. I put offers on five houses before one finally decided to accept my offer. I had sellers decide they no longer wanted to sell, sellers that counter-offered with prices above the original asking price, it was crazy. I'll cross my fingers for you!

[Nekochanpurr]

Good luck!!! I hope it all goes well for you..!

[KMS]

I'm really hoping you get this one!

[MrsDM]

Good luck! Hope you get it!:goodluck:

[Whitewater]

Fiance and I are first-time home buyers and we've been looking for our first home since early December, and after much trial and tribulation (some of which I talked about here on the forum), we put an offer in on a 1.5 story cross between a Cape Cod style and an American Bungalow style home. Less than 24 hours after we put in our original offer we got word that there was another offer on the property and would we like to do anything about it?

We promptly raised our offer as much as we could, and hoped it would be enough.

Then we waited. 24 hours passed. Two days. Three. I kept telling myself, "It takes longer to accept than to say no".

FINALLY, today, after a full week of waiting, we heard back from the seller, and they ACCEPTED OUR OFFER!!!!

Yahoo!!!

We're doing the inspection tomorrow and with any luck by Monday or Tuesday of next week we'll be in escrow, looking towards closing at the end of May.

I can't tell you how excited and relieved we are. It's a good home in a decent part of town, and it's ideal for *us*, because it has a fantastic garage with electricity and storage, a fenced yard for our dog, an upper story that's all loft (perfect for a master bedroom) and our monthly payments, including insurance and all that, are going to be less than what we're paying now for rent!

I wanted to share our good news with you guys and I'll keep you updated as things happen.


Whitewater (a soon-to-be homeowner!)

[TangoWedding]

Oh, how exciting!!!

I can't wait to see pictures of your new place! CONGRATS!!!

[val24]

ohhh congratulations!
i cant believe they waited a week to accept!!! Dont they know the anixety of waiting...

cant wait to see pics

[sweetvenus]

Congratulations! Good luck with the inspection! :D

[WebLady]

:whoohoo: Congrats!!

[MrsDM]

Whoo hoo! Congrats!!!

[Nekochanpurr]

Yay!!!!! Good like with the inspection!

[ChibiAiChan]

yay!! happy for you!

[CelticAngel]

Yeah, congrats! I hope everything goes smoothly from here on out. Be sure to post some pics for us.

[WBandMe]

Awesome! Keep us updated on how it progresses. Congratulations!!

[RosieAngel]

Yay, congratulations on your first house!

[ladymelissa]

A bidding war in this housing market?! Wow, I am amazed, but congrats none the less! :D

[Whitewater]

A bidding war in this housing market?! Wow, I am amazed, but congrats none the less! :D


I know! I don't know what the market is like in your area, but I live in Saint Paul, MN and our real estate market has been flatter than a pancake since this past fall -- and our local experts say that it's not going to start get better probably until next fall. So even though the beginning of Spring has been the absolute best and hottest time to sell, show, and buy property over here (it's been that way since time began, I think it's because houses show better when you can see the grass and you're not having to battle -24' F temps to get to them!), I still was't expecting any competition.

There are a little over 15,000 houses for sale just in the metro area alone! And at last count, a couple weeks ago, the computer was returning over 300 within about a 2-3 square mile that fit our requirements, so obviously there were plenty to choose from.

It wasn't a bidding *war*, really, more like a skirmish. We went with our tried and true Ebay strategy, which is recommended in most transactions by experts, and offered our best and highest price, then sat back and waited for a decision. We offered everything we could right away -- it wouldn't serve us to be timid. Then, we waited for the bank (yes, this house is ALSO a foreclosure) to make a decision -- it was between us and one other buyer, so there weren't really a whole lot of people to choose from.

All I can say is that we're both very happy that the selling bank chose us over them. I find it kind of fun to poke around other people's (mostly vacant) houses, but in many other ways, this experience has resembled a scene from a nightmare. It hasn't been wine and roses the whole way, not by a long shot!

At least I know now, without any 'buts' or reservations or hesitation, that the man I'm in love with and am going to marry, is without any doubt in the world the right man for me! Going through this harrowing process was actually easier because we were doing it together, and even in the worst of it, when we were yelling and fighting with each other (in two years, we've had two fights, both of them while house hunting), we knew that we could count on each other and that we had each other's backs. Without that support we neither of us would have made it to this point.

As Fiance says "If we can get through this, we can do ANYTHING!"

I have butterflies in my stomach now, because the de-winterization and inspection is in a few hours. Around here, when a home stands empty for a long time, particularly over a winter, the smart seller will pay to have a home's utilities turned off, particularly the water, and have the plumbing drained and unhooked from the city water supply, so that the pipes don't freeze. If the pipes freeze, they burst, and they spray/drip/run water inside the walls of the house (sometimes, if the water hasn't been disconnected, it flows for months . . .), which then, when winter's cold warms up, melts and sits there inside the walls. The walls then get moldy and soft and icky, and that costs roughly $10K minimum to fix, so people try to avoid that, because it's almost impossible to sell a home in that kind of condition.

Obviously a home can't be inspected in that condition either (either all moldy or with the water not hooked up), so we're paying to have the home's plumbing brought back online, also the electric and the heating systems, so that it can be properly looked over.

This particular home has been vacant since July '07 (possibly earlier), and I have no idea how long things like the furnace have been turned off. I am hoping and praying that everything comes back like it's supposed to.

The last time we were at this stage of the home-buying proceedings neither the furnace nor the plumbing were able to work at all, and we had to scrap the deal. I hope that doesn't happen here!


Whitewater

[alli816]

Well good luck with the inspection.....keep your chin up....it sounds like you found your soul mate...and that's awesome....

[Whitewater]

Wow, ok, I forgot I had this thread. Wish there was some way to merge this one with the one I just started . . . . *blush*. Anyway.

May I rant for just a moment about the STUPID STUPID STUPID people that the listing agent has working for them? Their idea of 'de-winterize' is merely to hook the water back up. That's it. They didn't turn on the electricity, nor the natural gas. So when we went to inspect the home today, we couldn't turn on the FURNACE, nor any of the APPLIANCES or even any of the LIGHT FIXTURES to make sure they work, and that's kind of the bread and butter of any home inspection!!!!!!!!

ARGH!!!!! I am SO FRUSTRATED right now!!!!! And really upset. The home inspector did her best but dang. She says that the furnace works, more than likely, all it needs is a good cleaning. And we're pretty sure the electric works, too.

As for the inspection itself, the house got a B/B+ but unfortunately the garage got a D- because it's at the bottom of the slope and all the water running down underneath it over the last few decades has caused significant and potentially fatal foundation issues. If the foundation topples over or crumbles with us or our car or dog inside, well, that wouldn't be good.

The biggest problem we're facing right now isn't really the garage itself, because that can be fixed, but that when the FHA loan appraiser comes out to look at the property and sees the garage foundation, he may well decide to deny us our funding!!!!! Which means that we won't be able to buy this house -- or go through with it with the sellers. If the FHA guy decides that it's a big enough problem to interfere with the loan, we won't be able to get our mortgage.

The FHA appraiser *might* either A) not notice or B) decide it's not a big issue because it's the garage and not the house but we'll have to wait until they come out to look the house over before we know which way the appraiser will jump.

Seems like every time we fix a problem, another one jumps up. Oh well. The path to homeownership never did run smooth!


Whitewater

[WebLady]

Wow, ok, I forgot I had this thread. Wish there was some way to merge this one with the one I just started . . . . *blush*I merged the two threads for you ;)

Hopefully everything will work out for you soon :)

[Whitewater]

Thanks!

Right now the only other hurdle is getting the FHA appraiser to ok the property for a FHA loan. If we can get that, we're gravy. Nothing will stop the closing and the moving and all after that. And moving and so on is just the usual life crud, nothing like buying the actual house! But the problems and hurdles and things that we've overcome are most of the reasons why people tend to stay away from foreclosed homes, and why a lot of banks (until this housing loan crash happened) didn't like FHA loans because getting an FHA does complicate things even more.

On the other hand, mortgage brokers and lenders like FHA loans because they're insured by the Fed, so even if we (perish the thought) default on the loan, the mortage company will still get their money through the government. FHA loans fell out of popularity a while ago but I have a feeling they'll start to make a comeback.

Hopefully, by this time next week, we'll be in escrow. Yea!

Whitewater

[Whitewater]

I'm replying to myself to post another update.

Ok, so we heard today that our house got appraised by the FHA guy for *more* than we paid for it (always a good thing!) and that it "meets the minimum standards for FHA approval" so yahoo, the house we're buying has passed it's FHA appraisal and our loan can go through!

Unfortunately because we got a 'gift' from my folks for the downpayment and we don't have any of the documentation for that (our lender tells us that the FHA loan folks need more than the typical) our lender told us that we shouldn't give our landlord notice until the whole gift thing gets straightened out and documented to the satisfaction of the FHA. The problem here is that we're closing on June 6th, but my folks are currently on a European river cruise and pretty incommunicado -- until June 3rd, when they arrive home.

But since *I* have the money in our joint account, my lender is seriously considering having the 'gift' come from *me* and leaving my parents out of it all together. Works for me, the sooner and easier we can get this done the better!

The 'gift' appears to be the FINAL, LAST hurdle. Really. One can only hope!


Whitewater

[Whitewater]

Yahoo, our house passed the appraisal (and actually appraised for *more* than we're paying for it, always a good thing!) and we're CLOSING TOMORROW! Yes, that's right, at 1pm USA CST on Friday, June 6th, we're *closing* on our first house!

I'm so stressed and panicky that I've been taking hits on my emergency asthma inhaler all day, because I can't breathe! It's an unreservedly good thing, but the thought of suddenly aquiring that much debt makes my stomach churn. Additionally my biggest issue is OMG, we're suddenly responsible for EVERYTHING -- if something goes wrong, we can't call our landlord! And we have to pay for trash pick-up! This whole 'freedom' thing cuts both ways -- one the one hand, you can pretty much do whatever you want to your property (as long as you stay within the law!) and you don't have to abide by your landlord's rules, but on the other hand, if something breaks or whatever, YOU have to fix it because YOU are the only ones responsible for it!

I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight. Tomorrow, before the big event, we're going over to my folk's house because tomorrow morning is the only time they had before they leave for the summer -- and I wanted to see their cruise pictures and hear their stories and stuff. And it's a good way to NOT go nuts before closing :) Only thing is, I'm going to have to get up about 4 hours earlier than I normally do, and be short on sleep because this is one of those nights where Fiance works till 11:30pm and doesn't come home until midnight -- and *he* has to be up at his regular time (7:30) to make sure to get to the bank and so on for the cashier's checks that we need to bring with -- before we go to my parent's house.

I never really thought that we would EVER close. I mean, we've been looking for a house since early December of 2007, and after all the utter crud we went through, it just didn't seem like actually succeeding in buying a home was in the cards.

I love being wrong :) At least, in this specific instance! And the house is growing on me (I didn't love it when we went to see it, but it had everything we wanted and was in a nice location, and the price was right, so I agreed to buy it), and I think that after I repaint and do some of the stuff that I've been talking about, that perhaps I will come to love our first house.

There's so much to do . . .

Whitewater

[Nekochanpurr]

YAY!!!!!! Thats GREAT news!! :D I must see what this house looks like!! ::Nosey nosey:: lol

[Whitewater]

Oh, you will. Trust me! I started the DIY home re-do journal tonight that I talked about -- most of the pictures will be in there. I'm going to take a lot of them starting tomorrow, so look for them!

Whitewater

[Nekochanpurr]

Sweet!! :D I really can't wait!

I will also make Dani start putting up her house photos soon.. We are painting walls :D

[ChibiAiChan]

Already one step ahead of us... our loan agent SUCKS. Didn't tell us anything. At least there was a comerica near by... because he didn't tell us ANYTHING to bring! You sound like yours will go fine! =D

[Whitewater]

Actually, it didn't.

Through sheer laziness, incompetency and idiocy (I won't give details unless you ask, it's a long story) they made us wait two hours after we were supposed to start because they didn't have the paperwork done, then an hour into it we learn that our good faith estimate was off by about $3000.

Yeah. That's not an estimate, that's a Wild @$$ Guess!!!!!! Morons! So after some fierce talking we got our lender to agree that we only needed another $1500 -- but by the time we got the certified check that they swore they needed, the title company was closing! Such a comedy of errors. We're supposed to finish the closing 1st thing Monday morning and everybody involved has told us repeatedly that THIS time we're guarenteed to get everything done and be homeowners by 10am on Monday the 9th of June.

I certainly hope so. So far closing is, quite honestly, more stressful than the day I came home and my first husband told me that he didn't love me anymore and that I had two days to pack my stuff and get out.

People think I'm exaggerating but I'm not. It really is that bad. Right now I'm just waiting for my double dose of sleeping pills to kick in so that I can get some sleep tonight. I don't know how I'm going to make it through the weekend.


Whitewater (needless to say, this throws a HUGE monkey wrench into our home rehab plans. I don't know what we're going to be able to afford now, if anything).

[ChibiAiChan]

what a bunch of bull! I swear these people could care less as long as they get their money....

[Nekochanpurr]

Oh no! That really stinks.. :(

[Whitewater]

I keep telling myself, it could be worse. We *could* have wound up without the 'extra' money -- and have been stuck being forced, due to our contract with the seller, to buy the house anyway!

Thank God we had the money. My parent's gift came in handy. Tiernan and I looked at each other and simultaneously decided (without talking to each other!) that it was more important to successfully close and actually take legal posession of the house, and that prettying it up could wait. So we used virtually all of our rehab money for closing costs, and had to beg $700 more from my parents to cover the movers. Where we're living now is too steep and narrow for anybody but professionals to safely move our stuff, hence why we're paying for it instead of doing it ourselves. We don't want to put our friends in the hospital.

TODAY, though, my in-laws (bless 'em!!!) told Tiernan that they decided to help us out and they are giving us enough money so that we can continue with necessary repairs and very basic renovation, basically we get to paint the walls, clean, and fix the furnace, A/C and water lines. It's a significant amount of money, but it won't let us do anything fancy. At least, not for now. We're going to do all the repairs and figure out how to pay the July rent we will still owe our landlord (the best possible scenario here is that they rent the place out for July and we won't HAVE to pay rent . . . thus giving us an extra $900 . . . but we don't know if they can rent our current place in two weeks) and if we have extra money, we may go ahead with some of the 'pretty' things -- things that are more of a 'want' than a 'need'. That remains to be seen.

Right now, we're being very cautious financially and not buying anything that's not absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, being 1st time homeowners and the proud possessors of a yard, necessary things include yard tools, a ladder, and a lawnmower, and those are all expensive. We're going to *have* to buy the yard tools new, but for everything else, see below!

This weekend we've bought a Weber 22" Kettle style grill (he considered that a necessity!), a 10 gallon shop-vac, and a dishwasher. And we're also hoping to buy a lawn mower. How can we afford this, you ask? Craigslist!!!!!! www.craigslist.org (http://www.craigslist.org) -- it's wonderful. It's local, totally free (both to list and to click on the email links to contact the sellers) and they have just about everything under the sun. It used to be just used stuff from individuals, but now dealers and retailers are getting into the act, so you can occasionally find brand new stuff too. What I like most is a few things:

A) You're helping out your fellow man, by buying his old stuff that he doesn't want anymore, or helping him (in these troubled times) pay for medications or to keep his electricity on, or something like that.

B) You are recycling, at a very grass roots level! And keeping stuff from landfills, always good.

C) You save a LOT of money. This weekend alone -- the same dishwasher, new, would have been $350, the lawnmower $195, the Weber grill $150 and the shop vac $100. We paid $35 each for the grill and the dishwasher, and $50 for the lawnmower (that is, if the people who have the lawnmower get back to me soon!)

I have no trouble buying used stuff. And I'm not one of those that needs the latest and greatest -- if it works, fine. I can smarten up the outside with a lick of paint or some polish, and save hundreds of dollars that way. Heh, in fact, that's kind of the attitude we took towards this house! It's *really* not new (built in 1948) and needs some paint, polish, and elbow grease. :) We couldn't have afforded new, so we bought something that needs a bit of spit and polish. A little bit of sweat equity will go a long way!

I'll still do the whole DIY journal thing, it's just going to be a little abbreviated because we won't be doing as much as we had hoped, not right away. But I fully expect that new paint will make the interior practically unrecognizable (in a good way!), and I also expect that people, having seen the house before it was altered, will look at the new decor and exclaim "Wow, is that the same house!?" I think just new paint will make that much difference.

We'll see. First we have to successfully get through Monday morning . . . .


Whitewater