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The House Hunters Thread

Yep, foreclosure on the MLS. They do need to get a clear title to us, but we think that they may be trying to place the burden of paying past due HOA fees on us in order to clear the title. Not our responsibility. We need to do more research on this one, definitely.

Foreclosures are sold as-is here too, and we're certainly expecting some work, but if there's too much work needed then we want to be able to back out.
 
Oh, Blenheim, what a headache. First of all, I'm really glad your realtor immediately said you wouldn't be signing the addendums.

First things first, you're absolutely right about making sure the title is clean and there are no liens. I'm hoping that there aren't since it hasn't come up--you'd think that the bank would have to legally disclose that information in the contract if there were. But who knows, the last thing you want is thousands of dollars of hidden costs to pop up.

I'm hoping that the closing costs/home warranty won't be a big issue--if they had agreed in the original accepted offer, then that should absolutely be in this contract. If they're trying to change it now then that's a very back-handed thing to do. I'd definitely be worried about them trying to pull the wool over your eyes if they're backing out of anything they can.

Where is the inspection report for this termite inspection? Do they really expect for you to just sign something stating they did an inspection when you weren't there and have no report? So annoying!!

If it were me, I'd bring in a lawyer at this point, even if it's just the lawyer who works for your lender (usually the contract review is thrown in for free). We used our lender's lawyer for our first accepted offer, and that Purchase and Sales was very tricky, so he spent a lot of time reviewing it. We backed out, but still didn't have to pay him since he was working for the lender. We used him again the next time we put in an offer and also had an independent lawyer review the contract. Since this is a contract, I'd just want to know what was standard and what was completley ridiculous.
 
Blen, good luck. I hope everything works out!
 
We ran some things by a lawyer and also had our realtor talk with the HOA. Basically all of our questions (minus the termite inspection) have been cleared up. The HOA is absorbing all overdue fees from before the bank took possession, the bank is responsible for fees while they own it, and we'd be responsible for fees going forward from closing. The clause about the inspection will allow us to back out if we find things that are worrisome to us. Our realtor wrote in two other places in the contract to specify that the warranty is in addition to the closing costs (I'm not too worried that the bank is trying to pass one over on us, as the form that they gave us seemed to be a standardized form for them... I just don't want that ambiguity!). The termite inspection... it looks like the bank did send it to the listing agent, and she just keeps forgetting to send it to us. She says it's fine though. They also sent her the addendums on Monday, like they said they would, and she just thought that she sent them on to our realtor but didn't bother to actually send them. Our realtor contacted her to request it, again.

After talking with all of the relevant people and amending a couple of points, we did go ahead and sign the paperwork tonight. We signed the termite thing to avoid having to meet up with our realtor again, but she is not going to send it to them until we receive a copy of the termite inspection (and I trust her with this).

TACORI and ZOE - I do appreciate the light at the end of the tunnel stories. :)) Our realtor did say today that she is glad that we're not doing a short sale, if I'm getting this impatient about things.
 
Blenheim, I'm so glad everything was cleared up! Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the inspection doesn't reveal anything that would be a dealbreaker!
 
Blenheim - What a roller coaster ride this process has been, with all the drama of offers and counteroffers and crazy contracts. Btw, the listing agent sounds like a plan old moron with her repeatedly "forgeting" to send you crucial documents. Ugh, how annoying. Anyway, it sounds like there is definitely a light at the end of this tunnel now. I hope that you are able to resolve those last few issues and become a homeowner soon!

PS I emailed the admin asking her to send you my email address, so hopefully you got it.
 
Blen, I also have my fingers crossed for you. Short sales are NOT for the faint of heart but they are worth it.
 
Hey, Blenheim! I just wanted to check in with you--how is everything going? Are you still scheduled to close on 9/10? Did you have the inspection? I hope it's going smoothly!!
 
Hey, NEL! Thanks for thinking of me. Late on Tuesday afternoon, the listing agent sent an electronic file entitled something like "Ratified Contract" to our realtor... but then when we went through it, the bank's lawyer had signed it in all of the relevant places, and initialed it, but had also crossed out some things and they neglected to mention anything about it to us. Grrr. In the end, we decided that the changes were minor enough that we were willing to go along with them, but our realtor really gave them a talking to about trying to slip that by like that.

We were supposed to have the inspection today, but when we got there, the power had been shut off for non-pay. Our realtor's contacting them and they need to make sure that we have all utilities on before we can do an inspection. We're not sure how this will work with the 10-day deadline; we may end up needing an extension. We did a quick walk-through though, as my in-laws came with us and hadn't been inside before. And when we walked through the basement, there was water damage to the flooring that wasn't there the last time we were in there. The wood was extremely buckled in one area. The inspector was still there and tested it, and his moisture reader gave him the highest possible reading. But there was no moisture on the baseboards or in the other room or in any other area. Since the power was off, the A/C's been off, and so there's been nothing taking away humidity. As a result, it could be that someone going through the house (it's still not marked on the MLS as under contract, and we know that people have been going through it) spilled a drink on the floor and didn't clean it up, or it could be water somehow coming in through the foundation (and we've had our share of storms lately), or it could be water coming through from the townhouse next door as they share a foundation and so it could have come under the wall. There's no way of knowing more without ripping up some of the flooring unfortunately, and while he declared the floor unsalvagable, it's not our floor to rip up. It sounds like the roof may be in better shape than we thought, but he needs to go up and poke around in the attic to give us a definite opinion on that. He also said that the deck was minimally built and he'd recommend redoing the supports if we really plan on using it. A/C needs maintenance but is only 6 years old, which is also newer than we were thinking. I don't know what I think right now. We're going to reschedule the inspection for later this week regardless, as we're supposed to give the bank a completed inspection report if we back out under that contigency. Our realtor has contacted the listing agent to let them know that we need all utilities to be on, and also to tell her about the water damage.
 
Blenheim,

This bank is seriously a pain in the neck. They rejected your offer when the bottom line was the same, they threw a bunch of addendums in the contract at the last minute and now they're editing the contract after you've signed? I'm just glad you and your realtor are on top of everything--I wouldn't trust them at all.

Sorry about having to reschedule the inspection, that must have been a let-down. I'm glad you were able to reschedule for this week--hopefully they get the lights on in the next day!

I'm glad to hear the good news about the A/C and the roof! That's a pleasant surprise!

The water damage does seem like a mystery--the fact that it's only in one spot is what makes it so mysterious. On one hand, it's good that the damage is isolated. On the other hand it's new and you don't know the source--water damage in the basement is never good, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's something superficial and not recurring!

Thanks for the update--let us know how the inspection goes this week! I'm sending you lots of inspection dust :)
 
Blenheim said:
Hey, NEL! Thanks for thinking of me. Late on Tuesday afternoon, the listing agent sent an electronic file entitled something like "Ratified Contract" to our realtor... but then when we went through it, the bank's lawyer had signed it in all of the relevant places, and initialed it, but had also crossed out some things and they neglected to mention anything about it to us. Grrr. In the end, we decided that the changes were minor enough that we were willing to go along with them, but our realtor really gave them a talking to about trying to slip that by like that.

We were supposed to have the inspection today, but when we got there, the power had been shut off for non-pay. Our realtor's contacting them and they need to make sure that we have all utilities on before we can do an inspection. We're not sure how this will work with the 10-day deadline; we may end up needing an extension. We did a quick walk-through though, as my in-laws came with us and hadn't been inside before. And when we walked through the basement, there was water damage to the flooring that wasn't there the last time we were in there. The wood was extremely buckled in one area. The inspector was still there and tested it, and his moisture reader gave him the highest possible reading. But there was no moisture on the baseboards or in the other room or in any other area. Since the power was off, the A/C's been off, and so there's been nothing taking away humidity. As a result, it could be that someone going through the house (it's still not marked on the MLS as under contract, and we know that people have been going through it) spilled a drink on the floor and didn't clean it up, or it could be water somehow coming in through the foundation (and we've had our share of storms lately), or it could be water coming through from the townhouse next door as they share a foundation and so it could have come under the wall. There's no way of knowing more without ripping up some of the flooring unfortunately, and while he declared the floor unsalvagable, it's not our floor to rip up. It sounds like the roof may be in better shape than we thought, but he needs to go up and poke around in the attic to give us a definite opinion on that. He also said that the deck was minimally built and he'd recommend redoing the supports if we really plan on using it. A/C needs maintenance but is only 6 years old, which is also newer than we were thinking. I don't know what I think right now. We're going to reschedule the inspection for later this week regardless, as we're supposed to give the bank a completed inspection report if we back out under that contigency. Our realtor has contacted the listing agent to let them know that we need all utilities to be on, and also to tell her about the water damage.
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I'm sorry this deal is so complicated. I would have thought the bank should be biting your hands off to offload assets for cash! Silly. As far as the wood goes? Is it very hot? It could be the floors swelling if the A/C is off. I don't buy the moisture from the townhouse: if it is that it could be very serious esp. as the flooring should be sitting on a damp proof course (plastic) to prevent this kind of bridging plus if the moisture meter was at max, that is a lot of bridging! I would not hesitate in lifting a plank of wood to see where the moisture has come from - but I am known to be a nosey trouble maker! Are they going to allow you access to have it investigated?
Good luck!
 
Steal - he didn't say that moisture coming over from the neighbors was likely, just that it was within the realm of possibility. It's been super humid and hot lately - DC area in August.

We went into the house briefly today (inspection isn't until Friday) and the power has been turned on. I felt the spot on the floor to see if it still felt damp, and when I took my hand away, it reeked of pee. We've heard from neighbors that the prior owners had a hellish dog... We may have a culprit for the damaged floor. All of the carpet has recently been replaced, by the way. I wonder if dog pee plus all of the moisture could still feel damp months later... the inspector is an HVAC expert and says that the A/C needs to be serviced and currently isn't able to draw moisture out of the air, and the house has been closed up (not to mention the lack of electric). When he was going over possibilities for causing it, he said that if they had spilled aquarium water when moving out it may have done it, so I guess there was a chance that dog pee could have done it too.

I don't even have enough time to go into it right now, but we may be running into problems with our bank completing the appraisal in time (Friday). I'm calling our processor's supervisor tomorrow and asking for a new processor. She keeps giving us info that's in direct conflict with what she gives us in writing, telling us contradictory things, and has an attitude to boot. They're also evidently going to be having GMAC doing the servicing of the loan, and GMAC royally screwed up our escrow of our prior mortgage and then sent us foreclosure notices as they tried to sort it out - we never paid even a day late and had statements from them showing so. The processor told me over the phone that they waive the escrow requirement with 20% down (although the paperwork she sent us disagreed....), and so we're now contemplating just putting 20% down and doing our own taxes and insurance. That would give us a 3-4 mo emergency fund and I personally feel better with 8+ months, but 3 mo is within a lot of recommendations and we would be able to build it back up relatively quickly (first mortage payment would be almost 2 months after closing, plus we're budgeting for 2 kids in daycare).
 
Blenheim, it's great to hear from you!

You know, I was actually glad to hear that the mystery dampness could be dog urine. I know it's going to be really gross to clean up, but the fact that it's cosmetic and not something indicative of a huge problem is actually a good thing!

We also used GMAC for our mortage because our broker could get the best rate through them. I was really on the fence about going to a local credit union so that I could avoid the issues with going through a large bank, but in the end I wanted that rate, haha. I did get frustrated with GMAC because they kept dragging their feet about important dates--for instance, I was literally on the phone FREAKING OUT the day our mortgage commitment was due because they had waited until the last minute to send it over and I was terrified we were going to have to extend it (D was travelling and is the only one on the mortgage, so signing an extension would have been a huge headache). The same thing happend the day before closing. I had gotten everything to them weeks in advance and was told multiple times that I'd have the HUD-1 and a few other documents 3 days before closing. Nope, we got it the night before and D and I were up until 3 a.m. finding mistakes in it that had to be rectified before we could close. Anyway, this is turning into my own rant. The bottom line is that we did get through it and now I'm happy with our rate--oh, and in typical GMAC fashion, they sold our mortgage to Fannie Mae within a week of us closing.

Also, we didn't have to put anything in escrow putting 20% down through GMAC. We paid the annual insurance premium and quarterly taxes straight to the town. I prefer not having an escrow account because I just like paying things directly (and hate any type of monthyly payment--I just want to pay it all at once). Anyway, it wasn't an issue for us.
 
Hi everyone! Dipping my toes in here after lurking for quite some time...since DH and I looked at a house last night I guess we are officially househunting.

We're in the suburban Philly area and don't want to stray too far from our current area, but would love to get into a more family friendly neighborhood (and one with more single family homes, ours is all rowhomes).

We own a rowhome right now, so selling that is going to be our first big stumbling block. The whole idea of having to balance selling our current place while looking for a new one is definitely stressing me out, we don't want to end up carrying two mortgages or without a place to live!

Must haves for the new place:
Single family home
3+ bedrooms
1.5+ bathrooms
1500+ sqft
completely fenced backyard or potential to fence
central air
dishwasher or space to install one

Nice to have:
hardwood floors throughout (our cats are a little too fond of carpet)
Garage
Outdoor space (porch/deck/patio)

Reading everything here has definitely been helpful!
 
Blenheim said:
Steal - he didn't say that moisture coming over from the neighbors was likely, just that it was within the realm of possibility. It's been super humid and hot lately - DC area in August.

We went into the house briefly today (inspection isn't until Friday) and the power has been turned on. I felt the spot on the floor to see if it still felt damp, and when I took my hand away, it reeked of pee. We've heard from neighbors that the prior owners had a hellish dog... We may have a culprit for the damaged floor. All of the carpet has recently been replaced, by the way. I wonder if dog pee plus all of the moisture could still feel damp months later...
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:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

Probably not.
 
Appraisal issues continue over here...

Steal - You don't think so? :(sad

Steph - Welcome! We had a very positive experience selling in a bad market, and I swear that a lot of it was due to us doing a lot of work before putting it on the market and using a house stager as well as being realistic about what the house was worth. Good luck!
 
Steph, lots of luck! I've already been through the process, but am still addicted to this thread (obviously).

Blenheim, inspection is today, right? And what are the appraisal issues, are there no comparable, er, comparables?
 
I am exhausted.

NEL - the appraisal issues weren't even about the value; they were about getting the dang thing done. USAA told me before we ever signed the contract that they could appraise within 10 days like the selling bank was insisting on. When I sent them the ratified contract I pointed out that we only had ten days. I then called for an update, was told that I had been assigned a processor but that they hadn't gotten around to telling me, talked to the processor who hadn't yet looked at our file, and then - over the course of the next couple of days - was told a ton of conflicting things about the appraisal as far as when it was going to be completed and if it had even been ordered. As of close of business yesterday the supervisor I was corresponding with and the manager my realtor was corresponding with didn't even know if the appraisal had even been scheduled, but then they sent her an email and us a voicemail at 10:30 pm saying that the house had appraised at or above sales price. I'm not going to even ask about that timeline at this point; the main thing is that it got done in time.

Inspection was this afternoon from 4:30-8:30 and then we had until 9 pm to make a decision. The dang bank wouldn't agree to an extension, even though it was their fault that we couldn't complete the inspection earlier. We talked more to the inspector about the floor damage and for various reasons he does not think that it is consistent with an ongoing issue, so I feel okay with that. There of course was the long list of "issues", but overall the inspection was pretty normal considering the house's age and area. The roof will need replacing over the next few years and a couple of the appliances are nearing the end of their life expectancies, but it's structurally sound, maintenance hasn't been neglected until the past couple of years (often a concern wtih foreclosures), and he said that the plumbing is outstanding. We decided to go ahead and proceed.

Right before we went in for the inspection, the neighbor two doors down was coming back from the pool with her son. He's a little blond 16 month old, just like George... I think both of our families are now excited about that. Our realtor was also amazed at just how many neighbors were out walking their dogs out after work, and I think that Chloe and Dylan are going to be quite happy as well.
 
Hi everyone!
I've also been following this thread a bit, and jumping in. Our home is right now getting staged for sale, and going on the market in a little over a week. My husband bought it with an 80/20 loan 4 years ago, so we owe about what we will probably get for it. Which means we will also then need to be bringing some $ to the table at closing...ick. we decided a month ago to move and be closer to family, and by some act of God we both found great jobs, promotions for both of us! Yay!

So, I've been painting up a storm just to freshen things up. Boxing things, and even moved all my clothes two hours away to my BILs house, since that's where I'm staying until DH moves down...which, we don't exactly have a date for that yet. We won't be buying until ours sells, but I'm looking forward to home shopping!

There are 3 other homes in our neighborhood that are the same style as ours up for sale, and I know it won't go super quickly, but hopefully we aren't stuck on the market for months and months. I'm looking forward to moving out of our "starter home" and into more of a home with features we really want. More bathrooms, bedrooms, and either a pool or room for a pool are non-negotiables. In our price range I think we are going to find some great newer build homes that were bought in the market boom and selling way below the value they were bought for. We found a great house not in foreclosure, not in short sale being sold bc a couple is getting divorced for $90k below what it sold for 6 years ago!

I look forward to sharing this with you all and learning while I go thru it!
 
Blenheim, what a whirlwind couple of days you had!! No doubt you were exhausted! Do you find the whole "let's wait to the last possible second to give you what you need" game as frustrating as I do? The reason I try to stay organized is so that doesn't happen (I quickly learned it doesn't matter how organized I was--they'd still drag their feet)! On the bright side, I'm really glad your appraisal came back fine! And also that nothing big came up in the insepction! Small things are ALWAYS going to pop up in an inspection, so the fact that the water damage doesn't seem to be from a recurring problem and everything else was expected is great news. I really hope you can relax for the next couple of days...hopefully you find packing relaxing :) Just a few more weeks!! I'm really excited for you!

Charbie, first of all congrats on the new jobs! That is awesome! And how excited are you to move closer to family?? It's great that you guys are so realistic about the market and I'm glad that you have that equity in your home, it will definitely give you more flexibility! Is your house going on the market this week?

The house we just bought was a product of a divorce as well. They both wanted to move on and HAD to sell the house. They had a lot of equity in it and wanted to sell quickly, thus were really willing to negotiate. It ended up appraising for $100K more than we paid. So there are deals to be had that aren't SS or foreclosures! I'm sending you lots of selling AND buying dust!
 
Charlie - Welcome! Congrats on the new jobs; that's wonderful! Staging a home and keeping it super clean is stressful but it will definitely pay off.

NEL - I definitely find it frustrating! The funny thing is that after this whirlwind, we suddenly don't have any looming deadlines with major crises and I just kind of feel like, "Now what? What am I missing?" I mean, we still need to finalize with our bank exactly what our downpayment will be - and I think we've come to the decision to put down 15% and have a larger emergency fund and some money to do repairs off the bat - but that's just too easy compared to everything else we've been doing.

I'm finally feeling comfortable thinking about making the house "ours" - preliminary decorating decisions, etc. My in-laws very generously offered to buy us the washer/dryer as a combined housewarming present and Christmas present, and so we're starting to shop for them. They're anticipating that they may be able to find some good Labor Day sales, and so we want an idea of what we want before then. We're also going to need to buy window coverings for all of the rooms and so we're trying to figure out what we want. And paint. So many choices! :bigsmile:
 
Blen and NEL: thanks for the congrats! We are excited, and I'm excited to get him into the same town I'm in...even if we've only been apart a few days so far!

Blen: I totally understand what you mean about making the house your own. I moved in with DH while we were engaged, and he was perfectly content with all the same outdated stuff the previous owners had left in the house. I told him the only reason they left crap in there is bc it wasn't worth the energy to move it! Our home went thru an overhaul when I came into the picture :)

Any tips on how to tell a realtor we are going with someone else? My mom used to work with this guy, and he used to sell cars, now sells homes. I contacted him and his wife who are a team when we first started looking for realtors, and it took over a week to get them out to our house. Then I'm still waiting on the net sheet. I feel like they have too much going on, and honestly was not impressed. We decided on another woman who was very professional, keeps only a small inventory of homes, and will do the best job we feel. Now I need to get the other guy off my back, but don't know what to say...its a sticky situation.
 
Thanks for the welcome everyone!

Blenheim, congrats on a great inspection! How exciting that one of the neighbors might be a playmate for George. And yay for a new washer/dryer!

Charbie, welcome! I would just tell the guy, thanks for your time, but we've decided to go with someone else. Better to just be upfront about it.

We saw a house on Sunday afternoon that DH fell in love with. I really liked it, but the street it was on was kind of busy, and I told DH I wasn't making any decisions after only having seen two houses. He's definitely the impulsive one while I'm the cautious one in this process.

We saw three more last night. One was insane - it had a great floorplan, and the owners had obviously started renovating it, but had kind of stopped mid-stream. So you have ridiculously over-improved kitchen and bathrooms (seriously, there was a bidet!) while all the other rooms are falling apart. The finished basement smelled so musty and was starting to mold.

The second home last night was great, but didn't have central air and was on a busy street. It was a real shame because it had a gorgeous screened porch that wrapped around, and was across the street from a park, but all you could hear was traffic going by.

The third house was definitely the best. It was a split level, huge rooms, and really great location in a quiet subdivision. The bathrooms and kitchen are definitely outdated, but they are in livable condition. There is a lot of other potential to improve the house - we were able to look at listings for several with similar floor plans in the neighborhood that have added decks, screened porches, and even one that had bumped out the attic to make a master suite.

We're meeting with a realtor about listing our current home tonight. Can't wait to hear what he has to say so we can use that info in deciding our timeline. We also have a few more showings scheduled for later this week.
 
Eeee! DH signed the paperwork to put the house on the market...Monday the sign will be in the yard. Hopefully we will get everything done by then...since I'm out of town, DH has a bit of work to do. He procrastinates, so I really hope he gets the last few things done. I'm hoping this means we will get some showings the first weekend (we are having an open house) and we will be out of town so no worrying about getting things in place before a showing.

So that's that. I will be home next week for a few days, so I hope we can get it together and go to the bank and see what kind of loan we can get pre approved for. Then the real fun starts!

Steph: make sure you don't settle!
 
Blenheim, how is everything going for you?? Are you enjoying the few days of sanity :)

Steph and Charbie, you're both putting your homes on the market this week--I wish you lots of luck! That is very exciting!! Steph, have you seen any of the homes you're scheduled to see this week? It sounds like you've found a couple you really like, but nothing that makes you say "this is it!'
 
charbie said:
Eeee! DH signed the paperwork to put the house on the market...Monday the sign will be in the yard. Hopefully we will get everything done by then...since I'm out of town, DH has a bit of work to do. He procrastinates, so I really hope he gets the last few things done. I'm hoping this means we will get some showings the first weekend (we are having an open house) and we will be out of town so no worrying about getting things in place before a showing.

So that's that. I will be home next week for a few days, so I hope we can get it together and go to the bank and see what kind of loan we can get pre approved for. Then the real fun starts!

Steph: make sure you don't settle!
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We've got so much to do at our house too! Our realtor says it shows great, but I know there are some areas that need improvement and decluttering. We decided not to start active showings until after Labor Day to give us a little more time...too bad we have weddings both of the next two weekends so our free time is very limited.

Every time we go look at houses DH finds a new one he is madly in love with, I've informed him it's becoming ridiculous. We saw three last night...and DH and I both can't stop thinking about one. It has been vacant for 2 years and is showing associated neglect, but the potential is amazing. It's got 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and two living spaces, which are all more than we were hoping for in our budget. The deck would have to be torn out, it's too far gone to rehab. The kitchen and baths are in decent condition. It's on a huge lot for the area - 0.75 acres, and it's set down from the street on a really nicely wooded lot. Apparently the home has been owned for 45 years by the same couple, the husband passed away a few years ago, and the wife has been trying to sell since then. The price is a steal for the neighborhood and size of the house, it's currently listed for 60% of what it was originally. It's also walking distance to a great downtown area that DH and I already frequent The biggest issue is making sure the neglect is more an issue of dead bugs and dust, as opposed to major issues that we can't afford to fix or live with right now.
 
Ooo, Steph, the house sounds really promising! Since the owner has been trying to sell it for so long, it sounds like she'd be open to possibly accepted an offer with a house-selling contigency. At least then you could have it inspected to ensure that the work it needs is only cosmetic. It sounds like she's let the house go, but if even if it does need a new deck, new roof, new water heater and furnace, etc., then for the right price it's all do-able. Let us know if you decide to make an offer or want to keep looking!
 
Steph and Charbie - good luck to you both! Sending lots of house dust your way.

Steph - that house does sound promising.

NEL - we should be enjoying our last days, but instead we're just plotting out what we're going to do after closing. Haha. We need a washer/dryer before moving in and so MIL and I are going shopping for those as soon as someone wakes up from his afternoon nap. We need window treatments as well, as there are none in the house. We're looking at paint colors. We're planning a house-warming party for the day after closing - it was initially just going to be our parents but then it ballooned a teensy bit. It's still going to be potluck though, which makes it a little bit easier on us.

Oh, and we're arguing with our processor on nearly a daily basis - I'm actually going to just go over her head again tomorrow. Closing costs are coming in less than expected, and as we're getting money back for closing and lose whatever we don't use, we've decided that we want to buy down some points. We obviously need to buy down points from the rate on the date that we locked, but this shouldn't be a big deal. Only she's insisting that there's one and only one possibility for us to buy down points (to get to 4.25%), but we want to try to get to 4.125% as buying the interest rate down to 4.25% isn't eating up all of the closing cost money. I know that they offered that possibility on the day that we locked. I'm speaking with a manager about this tomorrow.

Speaking of, damn interest rates are low right now. It's fabulous.
 
After seeing the place again on Saturday, we put in an offer and got a verbal acceptance. :appl: Still waiting for everyone involved on their side to sign off...apparently both children of the owner also have to review so it has to travel between four different states (where we live, where the owner lives now, and where both kids live). We have an inspection scheduled for tomorrow morning. We also got our current house up on the market a week earlier than we had planned, we decided if we were going to put in an offer we needed to have our house open for showings. We spent all weekend staging and cleaning, I think it looks pretty great, I almost don't want to move!

I'm still being cautious because I know the inspection could turn up a dealbreaker, but it's hard not to get excited!

Blen, did you pick out a W&D?

Charbie, did you get everything done at your place?
 
Steph! That's so exciting! Two big moves in one week...I hope everythung goes well with the inspection. Do you have a contingency clause?
Staging was hard work, but I really feel like the house is showing well. My husband said the same thing...why are we moving when the house now looks so great!?
So I've got the house listed, and my realtor told me today she will give me the name of our buyers agent in our new city. I'm wanting to begin looking at houses by next week so I can weed through homes before my husband moves down at the end of September.

How's it going, Blen?
 
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