Not much has really been happening lately then today several things. First Ron and I decided to head out to home depot to check out tile for the kitchen and just get ideas for other things we want to do to the house. Now since day one Judith has told me dont buy anything because it's a jinx and it wont work in the new house. Today I bought a door pull for the kitchen cabinets, that Ron and I agreed on. It was $4.39 with tax. Not much.
Then I get home and suddenly my blackberry is chirping with all the email coming in. I had an email from someone at the mortgage lender (not sure who) and an email from Chad (the mtg person I've been talking to), the title company, and 2 from State Farm (insurance company). I thought for sure I'd jinxed us by buying that darn door pull.
Fortunately I had not. The email from the mtg lendor was for information that is already, mostly, enroute to them. The email from Chad was for me to call him to explain the email from the other person at the mtg lendor. State Farm wanting the appraisal. The title company sent the appraisal. Yay appraisal!
It appraised for 88900 and we are buying it for 72900. I like those numbers. Comps in the area have gone anywhere from 50k up to 119k. I think that once we do the improvements we have been talking about we could definitely get much more for the house then what we paid. I am going to be keeping a detail log of every penny we spend on the house to see just how much we put into it.
I am tired. I have slowed down on the OT a little bit the past couple of days because I am just absolutely worn out. Fortunately we will have the downpayment with my next check even if I dont work anymore OT. Right now I'm working for things like paint and flooring. *LOL*
I do have grand plans for the house. I am very much looking forward to getting the keys and starting to get things done. First thing I'd like to do, especially if they have not removed anything from the house, is have a garage sale. It's kind of a pain to bring stuff from the apt to the house but it's easier to have a garage sale at the new house. Is it silly that I'm excited to have a driveway and garage that I can have a garage sale in? I'm really excited about that.
I'm such a goof. But I'm an excited, soon to be, homeowning goof. ;)
Friday, August 21, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Inspection
I was so tired yesterday I completely forgot to post about the inspection.
We had the inspection yesterday morning. It went well. As we expected there were lots of issues but nothing major. Most everything was quite small. The house inspector was very nice and put up with my silliness and spent a long time going over each bit of the inspection report to make sure we understood it.
Our main concern when we left was the roof. Judith got in touch with the seller right away and found out the roof had been fixed and just hadnt done the cosmetic work inside. Cool!
She also sent a list today of other issues to be addressed. Quite a few items but nothing major. The seller has agreed to fix everything on this list. Woohoo!
We also got our interested locked in at 5.45% today. That's less then it was 3 wks ago. again WOOHOO!
The past two days have been nervewracking but ultimately great!!
We had the inspection yesterday morning. It went well. As we expected there were lots of issues but nothing major. Most everything was quite small. The house inspector was very nice and put up with my silliness and spent a long time going over each bit of the inspection report to make sure we understood it.
Our main concern when we left was the roof. Judith got in touch with the seller right away and found out the roof had been fixed and just hadnt done the cosmetic work inside. Cool!
She also sent a list today of other issues to be addressed. Quite a few items but nothing major. The seller has agreed to fix everything on this list. Woohoo!
We also got our interested locked in at 5.45% today. That's less then it was 3 wks ago. again WOOHOO!
The past two days have been nervewracking but ultimately great!!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Financials are done!
Yes! Just got the email from Chad and financials look good. I was concerned because I was part time last year after my back surgery.
Gosh I feel elated right now.
*does a little dance*
Gosh I feel elated right now.
*does a little dance*
Nerves are shot...
Ok not sleeping at all because I'm thinking about the house. Today I finally got my w2s and paystubs over to the mortgage company. I have a preapproval but now there may be a problem with my debt/income ratio. Problem being that I have to count Ron's debt but I cant include his income without including his credit.
Ugh. I'm so nervous they are going to say no. Especially considering I'm about to drop $425 for the inspection on the house tomorrow.
Yes, I'm a nervous wreck.
Ugh. I'm so nervous they are going to say no. Especially considering I'm about to drop $425 for the inspection on the house tomorrow.
Yes, I'm a nervous wreck.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
It's almost done
Ok there are lots of things still to do but we dropped off the final signed offer papers and the earnest money and options money today. The sellers only changed a couple of things on our original offer so we accepted their counter and we are good to go!!
Today we got in touch with State Farm to get information on the insurance we need to have. They will be getting back in touch soonish. Since they need to speak with our mtg lendor and he's out of town until Monday it will probably not be until then.
Tuesday we have the inspection and I am really looking forward to that. Ron will be there for the technical stuff and I'll be there for the "ohhh pretty" stuff. *G*
I have to say I am super excited but I'm beyond exhausted and will be so glad when we are sitting comfortable on the couch in our new house.
Closing date is set for Sept 23rd. That seems so far away and yet right around the corner!!
Today we got in touch with State Farm to get information on the insurance we need to have. They will be getting back in touch soonish. Since they need to speak with our mtg lendor and he's out of town until Monday it will probably not be until then.
Tuesday we have the inspection and I am really looking forward to that. Ron will be there for the technical stuff and I'll be there for the "ohhh pretty" stuff. *G*
I have to say I am super excited but I'm beyond exhausted and will be so glad when we are sitting comfortable on the couch in our new house.
Closing date is set for Sept 23rd. That seems so far away and yet right around the corner!!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Whew...
Ok it's done. After playing with the numbers we were able to get them to something manageable for me. The official offer has been submitted. Now we wait.
Argh!
I am not patient!
*bounce*
Argh!
I am not patient!
*bounce*
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Frustration
Ok gang, if you are thinking about buying your first house then let me clue you in on a little secret. You have to have more then your downpayment at closing. A lot more.
We just may lose this house because of it.
Highly stressed right now.
We just may lose this house because of it.
Highly stressed right now.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
The offer...
Now we deal with "the offer".
The original person we had been dealing with at the lendor was promoted and so we would be dealing with a new person I hadnt spoken to yet. So we have to get in touch with him and get all the preapproval stuff taken care of and find out how much we'll need at closing, etc.
I am excited. This is happening. I head to work that night and all night day dream about the updates that we'll have to do and how each room will be decorated and the parties that I will be able to have. I dream about the house. I woke up this morning and while watching HGTV day dream some more.
Then I get a call from Judith that there might be a snag. Apparently the woman that owned the house has died and the will is in probate. The big thing is though that she apparently took out a reverse mortgage on the house that might affect our ability to buy it. I wont begin to say I completely understand the reverse mortgage bit but it boils down to the house cant sell for less then what is owed on that mortgage. Ouch. She says we still have about a 90% chance of getting the house but now I'm nervous. Now I have to be patient and trust that Judith is going to make sure everything is good before we spend money to get a house we might not be able to close on.
I trust her but gosh I'm nervous now.
Now you are caught up to date on our adventure. I'll keep you updated!!
The original person we had been dealing with at the lendor was promoted and so we would be dealing with a new person I hadnt spoken to yet. So we have to get in touch with him and get all the preapproval stuff taken care of and find out how much we'll need at closing, etc.
I am excited. This is happening. I head to work that night and all night day dream about the updates that we'll have to do and how each room will be decorated and the parties that I will be able to have. I dream about the house. I woke up this morning and while watching HGTV day dream some more.
Then I get a call from Judith that there might be a snag. Apparently the woman that owned the house has died and the will is in probate. The big thing is though that she apparently took out a reverse mortgage on the house that might affect our ability to buy it. I wont begin to say I completely understand the reverse mortgage bit but it boils down to the house cant sell for less then what is owed on that mortgage. Ouch. She says we still have about a 90% chance of getting the house but now I'm nervous. Now I have to be patient and trust that Judith is going to make sure everything is good before we spend money to get a house we might not be able to close on.
I trust her but gosh I'm nervous now.
Now you are caught up to date on our adventure. I'll keep you updated!!
And so begins the adventure...
So now we have our approval and I know what price range to look at. I scour all the real estate sites I can find looking at houses in that range. I had also emailed our friend, Judith Abbott and told her we wanted to start the process. She hooked us up with our lendor and then took us out on our first day of looking at houses.
Now in all of my website trolling I had fallen in love with a house that had been listed for 188 days. It had almost everything I wanted. Hardwood floors, big updated kitchen, 2 living areas and cute curb appeal. So when Judith emailed me about setting up a day to go see houses I sent her the link to the house and asked if we could include that in the list of houses we would look at.
The day arrives and we head off to look at houses. Wow. There was definitely quite a mix. Some of the houses we walked into and immeadiately walked right back out. A couple we spent more time in but figured they probably would not be around by the time we were able to gather enough cash for the 3% down required by FHA. Then we came to my website house. I was in love. The moment we pulled up I was happy and excited to get in the door. Once inside I was still delighted. There were a few quirks with the house I wasnt too keen on, such as the "glass" inserts in the kitchen cabinets that was actually plastic and the bedrooms that were very small. But I still loved it. Ron was not excited (he rarely gets EXCITED) but he liked it as well. So that's the house I kept in my mind that I wanted. I started working overtime at work like mad so I could get the downpayment together. All the while I am picturing the house in my head and placing furniture and thinking about what it's going to be like living there. I called my parents and let them know about it. I just couldnt get it out of my head. Everyday I would go to the listing and just look at it.
Then it happened. One day about a week later I went to the listing and it was gone. Someone had bought the house. It had been on the market for 188 days and less then a week after I look at it it's sold. I was crushed. Everyone had told me not to get attached but I had. My mom told me that just meant a better house was coming my way. Judith assured me that we would find a house I would love just as much if not more.
I decided to keep chugging along. I continued working all the overtime I could get (I'm averaging about 25 hrs a week overtime) and I kept browsing the realtor sites.
Then I got an email from Judith and the first thing it said was "do NOT fall in love" and it included a link to some houses she was going to go look at for us. The second house on the list I was immeadiately drawn to because of the architecture. It was a 1950s house with a unique design. No pictures of the inside but I did like the looks of the outside. The price was frightening as it was at the very top of our budget.
I had also found a few on the sites I wanted to look at including a very small house near the area that I grew up in. For some inexplicable reason I was drawn to that house.
So Friday comes and we go meet Judith and look at a couple of houses that I liked but didnt "fall in love" with. Then we went to the unique design house and I got to see the inside. *swoon* It was perfect. As soon as we walked in I had a good feeling about it. It felt like home. It is a large house (1811 sq feet) with a large kitchen and hardwood floors. It needs a LOT of updates but it has such great bones that even Ron liked it. I didnt want to get to excited yet, though. We still had the house in the neighborhood I grew up in to view. It was a much lower price and might be "the one". We took off to see more houses, include "the one". It turns out it wasnt "the one". While it was a cute house there was too many concerns about structural issues that we didnt feel would be a good fit for us as first time buyers. So while we are in that house we decide we want to make an offer on "unique design". We went outside and discussed it in length and we are putting in an offer on the house!
Now in all of my website trolling I had fallen in love with a house that had been listed for 188 days. It had almost everything I wanted. Hardwood floors, big updated kitchen, 2 living areas and cute curb appeal. So when Judith emailed me about setting up a day to go see houses I sent her the link to the house and asked if we could include that in the list of houses we would look at.
The day arrives and we head off to look at houses. Wow. There was definitely quite a mix. Some of the houses we walked into and immeadiately walked right back out. A couple we spent more time in but figured they probably would not be around by the time we were able to gather enough cash for the 3% down required by FHA. Then we came to my website house. I was in love. The moment we pulled up I was happy and excited to get in the door. Once inside I was still delighted. There were a few quirks with the house I wasnt too keen on, such as the "glass" inserts in the kitchen cabinets that was actually plastic and the bedrooms that were very small. But I still loved it. Ron was not excited (he rarely gets EXCITED) but he liked it as well. So that's the house I kept in my mind that I wanted. I started working overtime at work like mad so I could get the downpayment together. All the while I am picturing the house in my head and placing furniture and thinking about what it's going to be like living there. I called my parents and let them know about it. I just couldnt get it out of my head. Everyday I would go to the listing and just look at it.
Then it happened. One day about a week later I went to the listing and it was gone. Someone had bought the house. It had been on the market for 188 days and less then a week after I look at it it's sold. I was crushed. Everyone had told me not to get attached but I had. My mom told me that just meant a better house was coming my way. Judith assured me that we would find a house I would love just as much if not more.
I decided to keep chugging along. I continued working all the overtime I could get (I'm averaging about 25 hrs a week overtime) and I kept browsing the realtor sites.
Then I got an email from Judith and the first thing it said was "do NOT fall in love" and it included a link to some houses she was going to go look at for us. The second house on the list I was immeadiately drawn to because of the architecture. It was a 1950s house with a unique design. No pictures of the inside but I did like the looks of the outside. The price was frightening as it was at the very top of our budget.
I had also found a few on the sites I wanted to look at including a very small house near the area that I grew up in. For some inexplicable reason I was drawn to that house.
So Friday comes and we go meet Judith and look at a couple of houses that I liked but didnt "fall in love" with. Then we went to the unique design house and I got to see the inside. *swoon* It was perfect. As soon as we walked in I had a good feeling about it. It felt like home. It is a large house (1811 sq feet) with a large kitchen and hardwood floors. It needs a LOT of updates but it has such great bones that even Ron liked it. I didnt want to get to excited yet, though. We still had the house in the neighborhood I grew up in to view. It was a much lower price and might be "the one". We took off to see more houses, include "the one". It turns out it wasnt "the one". While it was a cute house there was too many concerns about structural issues that we didnt feel would be a good fit for us as first time buyers. So while we are in that house we decide we want to make an offer on "unique design". We went outside and discussed it in length and we are putting in an offer on the house!
About us and why we want a house
Ok a little background about us and some of the reasons I want a house so badly.
My husband and I have been together for a little over 12 yrs. We have been married for 3 yrs. We have two kitties named Ambit and Meeko.
I am 38 and have severe arthritis in my knees and, not so severe yet, arthritis in my hips. This makes things quite interesting for my mobility at times. The apt we currently live in did mark a handicap spot for me in front of our apt but the restriction is ignored a lot by our neighbors and our guests. This sometimes can make just getting to my front door a chore because parking is a premium here. This is one reason for a house. I dont have to worry about someone stealing my parking spot and I have to make a trek just to get to my door.
We have been in this apartment for 4 yrs and as time goes on our neighbors get louder and louder. Our newest neighbors that share a wall enjoy their music but I think they must be either deaf or very proud of their music because they play it VERY loudly and love to share it with the building. The neighbors across the way live out their very own soap opera and quite frequently do it in the shared hallway for all the apartments so we can all hear every bit of their drama. Lastly, the neighbors upstairs have 3 small children that have feet made of cinder blocks. There is a constant rumble and thump in the ceilings that can be quite distracting when I come in from work at 2am and I'm trying to sleep while they are getting up and running around like happy little children have a tendency to do.
Right now we live in a 984 square 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. The master bedroom was converted to an office for all the computers because we have a lot of them. (13 at last count) The master bath was converted to the kitties own bath because I couldnt figure out where to put there litter box and food that wouldnt be in the way somewhere else.
When we moved into the apartment it was around $600/mo which was great. Now we are paying almost $850/mo for the same apartment and it's definitely not so great. There have been no upgrades to the apartment. More and more seems to be falling apart in fact. I am tired of throwing away all of that money each month and I cant even paint the walls.
I am a huge huge fan of HGTV so I want a house that I can actually fix the way I want and not the way some cookie cutter apartment designer wants.
My husband is very laid back and hasnt been keen on the idea of a house because, as he says, there will be long "honey do" lists for him. heh. He's right but I want to do a lot of stuff myself so I can say I did that!
We finally decided to do this when I heard about the rebate that is being offered for 1st time buyers. I figured this was the perfect time! Now, to be honest, I didnt think we had a chance in hell of being able to get mortgage approval. My credit has been horrible for most of my adult life. The past three years though I have worked very hard to have no late payments and nothing that doesnt get paid. I was VERY excited when the lendor my friend Judith connected us with said that I was pre-approved for $75k. It was very close because we cant include my husband's credit, due to recent blips, but we had to include his debts.
But the approval was there and the search began!
My husband and I have been together for a little over 12 yrs. We have been married for 3 yrs. We have two kitties named Ambit and Meeko.
I am 38 and have severe arthritis in my knees and, not so severe yet, arthritis in my hips. This makes things quite interesting for my mobility at times. The apt we currently live in did mark a handicap spot for me in front of our apt but the restriction is ignored a lot by our neighbors and our guests. This sometimes can make just getting to my front door a chore because parking is a premium here. This is one reason for a house. I dont have to worry about someone stealing my parking spot and I have to make a trek just to get to my door.
We have been in this apartment for 4 yrs and as time goes on our neighbors get louder and louder. Our newest neighbors that share a wall enjoy their music but I think they must be either deaf or very proud of their music because they play it VERY loudly and love to share it with the building. The neighbors across the way live out their very own soap opera and quite frequently do it in the shared hallway for all the apartments so we can all hear every bit of their drama. Lastly, the neighbors upstairs have 3 small children that have feet made of cinder blocks. There is a constant rumble and thump in the ceilings that can be quite distracting when I come in from work at 2am and I'm trying to sleep while they are getting up and running around like happy little children have a tendency to do.
Right now we live in a 984 square 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. The master bedroom was converted to an office for all the computers because we have a lot of them. (13 at last count) The master bath was converted to the kitties own bath because I couldnt figure out where to put there litter box and food that wouldnt be in the way somewhere else.
When we moved into the apartment it was around $600/mo which was great. Now we are paying almost $850/mo for the same apartment and it's definitely not so great. There have been no upgrades to the apartment. More and more seems to be falling apart in fact. I am tired of throwing away all of that money each month and I cant even paint the walls.
I am a huge huge fan of HGTV so I want a house that I can actually fix the way I want and not the way some cookie cutter apartment designer wants.
My husband is very laid back and hasnt been keen on the idea of a house because, as he says, there will be long "honey do" lists for him. heh. He's right but I want to do a lot of stuff myself so I can say I did that!
We finally decided to do this when I heard about the rebate that is being offered for 1st time buyers. I figured this was the perfect time! Now, to be honest, I didnt think we had a chance in hell of being able to get mortgage approval. My credit has been horrible for most of my adult life. The past three years though I have worked very hard to have no late payments and nothing that doesnt get paid. I was VERY excited when the lendor my friend Judith connected us with said that I was pre-approved for $75k. It was very close because we cant include my husband's credit, due to recent blips, but we had to include his debts.
But the approval was there and the search began!
Why a blog?
Ok first post will be about why I decided to start this blog. I recently that I was tired of living in an apt and I want a house. This blog will chronicle those adventures. Hopefully we'll look back at this in a few years, from the office in our lovely house, and will laugh about the adventure it was!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)