Thank you sweet baby Jesus! The appraisal came in perfectly! Spot. dead. on! I'm so excited, we're actually closing and moving in 2 weeks. After last time it's hard to beleive it is actually happening. We've been putting off packing, and I've just been organizing and purging the apartment of things we don't need and won't want to move for the most part. I didn't want to buy boxes because after last time, I was feeling really superstitious. We're almost home owners! YAY!!!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
We're Homeowners!....again...kinda...ok not quite yet if we're being technical.
Our offer was accepted, woot woot! Once again we are under contract.
So here's the deal, as of Friday, we had an offer on a house DH and I both thought was OK. I had only seen pictures, DH took off work and spent most of the day Friday looking at houses, and said this one was worth putting an offer on. It needed some work, but all cosmetic and it was a good deal. For our price point in Northern VA, we've seen the good the bad and the ugly, so we aren't afraid of a little painting and tiling if the bones of the house are good. We're also ready to freaking move already. We were supposed to be closing on Friday on our first house, if the sellers hadn't turned out to be such tools. :(
Anyway, the sellers were already out of town Friday, they wanted to be out of the way since the listing agent had scheduled an open house for Sunday. We hadn't heard back yet so we went to the open house and let the listing agent know we were the offer from Friday. The listing agent was nice enough, but she was obviously holding out to wait and see what other offers came in. My feelings about the house didn't really change when I was there, it was, again, just OK. DH suggested we go to another open house in the area that just went on the market when we were done, just to look.
Well as fate would have it, we got there and feel immediately in love. We called our agent and retracted our other offer and immediately put one on this house. There was A LOT of traffic at the open house, of all the people there I'd say about half were neighbors, and half were couples like us. (The neighbors and the neighborhood were awesome btw.) DH and I were kind of sneaking around listening to see what the other couples were saying, we were so nervous it would turn into a bidding war. Of course, out agent is fantastic, we were the first offer, and the final offer!!
Already I like these sellers so much better. They priced their house right, their agent is fast and smart, and they didn't take our (extremely competitive no where near low ball) offer as an excuse to get greedy and wait and see what else would come along. Our tentative close date is May 27th, but we're trying to move it up. We have to be out of our apartment and have the carpets cleaned by May 31st sooo.....that would make moving pretty hectic.
I'm trying not to get super attached yet though, just in case another crazy appraisal ruins this for us. Of course, the chances of that happening are pretty slim to none, especially since DH and our agent did really diligent research on this one just to ease our nerves.
I've decided house hunting is like going on a string of blind dates, exciting, exhausting, and frustrating all at the same time. Like on a dating site when you are "matched" with someone and the match looks great on paper, but then you met the person and it turns out their picture was taken 10 years ago in very flattering lighting, and now they're teeth are rotting, their hair is falling out, they have serious earwax issues and they fart and burp loudly throughout dinner. Or you meet someone who looks amazing in person, and you are immediately attracted to them, but then realize their beauty is only skin deep? Then putting an offer on a house is like telling someone you love them for the first time and waiting for them to say it back...awkward. And if you're ever under contract and get majorly screwed over, it's like being in a relationship, getting cheated on, and then getting dumped. Awful. So to continue with this metaphor, I will not be happy or at ease until the final closing papers are signed on this house, aka, the marriage license. Praying that the inspection (introducing to the parents) the appraisal (is this serious? are we exclusive? where do you see this going?) and the underwriting (planning the wedding, mostly fun but stressful since it's the last minute and there is always something that could go wrong) all go smoothly!!
So here's the deal, as of Friday, we had an offer on a house DH and I both thought was OK. I had only seen pictures, DH took off work and spent most of the day Friday looking at houses, and said this one was worth putting an offer on. It needed some work, but all cosmetic and it was a good deal. For our price point in Northern VA, we've seen the good the bad and the ugly, so we aren't afraid of a little painting and tiling if the bones of the house are good. We're also ready to freaking move already. We were supposed to be closing on Friday on our first house, if the sellers hadn't turned out to be such tools. :(
Anyway, the sellers were already out of town Friday, they wanted to be out of the way since the listing agent had scheduled an open house for Sunday. We hadn't heard back yet so we went to the open house and let the listing agent know we were the offer from Friday. The listing agent was nice enough, but she was obviously holding out to wait and see what other offers came in. My feelings about the house didn't really change when I was there, it was, again, just OK. DH suggested we go to another open house in the area that just went on the market when we were done, just to look.
Well as fate would have it, we got there and feel immediately in love. We called our agent and retracted our other offer and immediately put one on this house. There was A LOT of traffic at the open house, of all the people there I'd say about half were neighbors, and half were couples like us. (The neighbors and the neighborhood were awesome btw.) DH and I were kind of sneaking around listening to see what the other couples were saying, we were so nervous it would turn into a bidding war. Of course, out agent is fantastic, we were the first offer, and the final offer!!
Already I like these sellers so much better. They priced their house right, their agent is fast and smart, and they didn't take our (extremely competitive no where near low ball) offer as an excuse to get greedy and wait and see what else would come along. Our tentative close date is May 27th, but we're trying to move it up. We have to be out of our apartment and have the carpets cleaned by May 31st sooo.....that would make moving pretty hectic.
I'm trying not to get super attached yet though, just in case another crazy appraisal ruins this for us. Of course, the chances of that happening are pretty slim to none, especially since DH and our agent did really diligent research on this one just to ease our nerves.
I've decided house hunting is like going on a string of blind dates, exciting, exhausting, and frustrating all at the same time. Like on a dating site when you are "matched" with someone and the match looks great on paper, but then you met the person and it turns out their picture was taken 10 years ago in very flattering lighting, and now they're teeth are rotting, their hair is falling out, they have serious earwax issues and they fart and burp loudly throughout dinner. Or you meet someone who looks amazing in person, and you are immediately attracted to them, but then realize their beauty is only skin deep? Then putting an offer on a house is like telling someone you love them for the first time and waiting for them to say it back...awkward. And if you're ever under contract and get majorly screwed over, it's like being in a relationship, getting cheated on, and then getting dumped. Awful. So to continue with this metaphor, I will not be happy or at ease until the final closing papers are signed on this house, aka, the marriage license. Praying that the inspection (introducing to the parents) the appraisal (is this serious? are we exclusive? where do you see this going?) and the underwriting (planning the wedding, mostly fun but stressful since it's the last minute and there is always something that could go wrong) all go smoothly!!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
It's been a while since I updated.
Unfortunately I just don't have a lot of good news. We're likely going to be out of our contract for the house today or tomorrow, not that these assholes had much respect for the idea of being under contract anyway. DH is putting off signing the papers and debating on whether or not going to a new lender and getting yet another appraisal would be worth it. If we do that though, and spend the money to do it, there is still no guarantee that the sellers will actually sell to us at the appraised price. Who the hell lists their house for 50 grand more than it is worth?? What real estate agent worth his shit would let them do that?? Zillo is fucking free information on the internet and we brought these price concerns up to you before we said we would give your the listing price?!?! These are all questions DH and I have been asking ourselves lately.
Just one more piece of evidence that proves the people selling this house are crazy: Last week DH and I are grocery shopping and he gets a phone call. It's our agent relaying a message from the seller's agent. They have had a day or two to let our final offer sink in after all the crazy appraisal stuff went down. We said we would give them as much as the bank would lend us, basically the appraisal price, and we would take care of all closing costs and take the house "as is." Our agent, who really knows his shit and knew that something was shady about the selling agent/sellers from the get-go said they are crazy not to take that, and if they don't they just don't want to sell.
They said they would be willing to come down to 20 grand below the price we originally agreed on, and that they would "finance a separate loan for us" (um....you'll what?) for $30,000 to make up the difference. If you're ready to scream and run for the hills, that is the correct reaction. Yes, apparently they think this is possible. (and now, when banks are not lending of all times they seem to think that a mortgage and 30 grand loan are things banks are just giving away) They also seem to think that we are stupid enough to be underwater before the ink is even dry on the papers. Your house is not worth that goddamn much, what will it take for you to get that through your heads?! DH thinks maybe another lender and appraisal is the way to go, and I'm almost in the same boat. At this point as sad as I am to see the house go I'd be just as happy to be rid of the nutcases failing to sell it to us.
We'll see. Hopefully I will have better things to report in my next post.
Just one more piece of evidence that proves the people selling this house are crazy: Last week DH and I are grocery shopping and he gets a phone call. It's our agent relaying a message from the seller's agent. They have had a day or two to let our final offer sink in after all the crazy appraisal stuff went down. We said we would give them as much as the bank would lend us, basically the appraisal price, and we would take care of all closing costs and take the house "as is." Our agent, who really knows his shit and knew that something was shady about the selling agent/sellers from the get-go said they are crazy not to take that, and if they don't they just don't want to sell.
They said they would be willing to come down to 20 grand below the price we originally agreed on, and that they would "finance a separate loan for us" (um....you'll what?) for $30,000 to make up the difference. If you're ready to scream and run for the hills, that is the correct reaction. Yes, apparently they think this is possible. (and now, when banks are not lending of all times they seem to think that a mortgage and 30 grand loan are things banks are just giving away) They also seem to think that we are stupid enough to be underwater before the ink is even dry on the papers. Your house is not worth that goddamn much, what will it take for you to get that through your heads?! DH thinks maybe another lender and appraisal is the way to go, and I'm almost in the same boat. At this point as sad as I am to see the house go I'd be just as happy to be rid of the nutcases failing to sell it to us.
We'll see. Hopefully I will have better things to report in my next post.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Mental Health Day
House stuff is not going as smoothly as expected. Here we are less than 2 weeks before we are supposed to close and the appraisal comes in at 50 grand less than the listing price, almost 50 grand less than the price we agreed on. Of course this really screws things up with the bank, who doesn't want to go with a new appraisal. (We expected the house to appraise a little lower, maybe a few thousand, but this was completely unexpected by everyone involved.) If you've ever been around any major city, you know that the neighborhoods can change drastically within a few blocks or just on the other side of the road, and that's basically what happened here. The appraiser only looked at comparable houses in the iffy area to one side of our neighborhood. If they had looked literally a few blocks the other way, the appraisal would have been drastically different. Either way, things are really stressful right now, and the sellers are already extremely stubborn. And even though the first guy made a pretty big mistake, he didn't make a 50K big mistake. The numbers will probably go up 10-20K with a new appraiser, but certainly no more than that. The sellers are pretty delusional if they think they are going to get their listing price in this market. No lender is going to let you buy a house for more than it's worth, and no buyer has the cash on hand to make up that kind of price difference.
Not sure if I have a bad flu bug, stress, or ate something bad at Easter, but I had major digestive issues yesterday. My ass basically exploded for a half an hour straight in a public restroom, and I know basically everyone on my floor. I had to leave early to avoid another incident and today I just decided to stay home for my own sanity. My poor DH is really stressed and we're both going to be disappointed if this does not work out. I'm going to drink a ton of gatorade and eat some toast, then I'll probably scrub the apartment from top to bottom and get out all my frustrations out on laundry stains and the bathroom tile grout. It's better than taking it out on clients.
Friday, April 10, 2009
things I have the urge to say to my boss this morning....
1) Thanks for finally showing up at 10am. Now please leave me alone, it's a major Catholic holiday and I have 4 hours of traveling ahead of me tonight.
2) Wait, you really want me to make "as many sales calls as possible" ? you realize next to none of our clients are working right now, they are 80% Catholic and 15% Jewish, Passover and Good Friday....ring a bell?
3) Seriously, quit sending me cryptic instant messages about how I should be bothering more people already this morning.
4) Rationalize it anyway you want slut, telemarketing and phone stalking is not my job. It's still not ok. Kthanksbye.
1) Thanks for finally showing up at 10am. Now please leave me alone, it's a major Catholic holiday and I have 4 hours of traveling ahead of me tonight.
2) Wait, you really want me to make "as many sales calls as possible" ? you realize next to none of our clients are working right now, they are 80% Catholic and 15% Jewish, Passover and Good Friday....ring a bell?
3) Seriously, quit sending me cryptic instant messages about how I should be bothering more people already this morning.
4) Rationalize it anyway you want slut, telemarketing and phone stalking is not my job. It's still not ok. Kthanksbye.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Barf
This morning I woke up from a carb coma and feel like I have a bad hangover.
I've been watching my weight fluctuate since being back on BC, mostly it is all water weight and lack of regular BMs. Other than that I feel pretty good because I'm still sticking to the low GI foods and the supplements. But today I feel like crap because my MIL brought us a huge pan of brownies on Saturday, and I polished them off last night with a few left over bottles of beer. I could literally feel my blood sugar going through the roof afterwards, not at all a pleasant feeling. I was asleep 45 minutes later, I can only assume it was a mix of being close to my bedtime and my blood sugar crashing back down.
Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing really. Last night I obviously overindulged in something I have not eaten in months, and because I have been watching what I put into my mouth and how it affects me pretty closely, I can understand why and how I feel like ass today. Will this keep me from being tempted by those foods in the future, absolutely. But what I can't quite wrap my head around is did these foods do the same thing to me a year ago and I never noticed? 6 months ago? am I somehow losing a tolerance for them? I feel like this might be a bad thing, like I'm now so sensitive to it I am skirting the line between insulin resistant and diabetic. At the same time I feel like being more sensitive to those foods means the opposite, that my body is starting to process them correctly. ??? I can't remember, I will have to re-read some of my PCOS books when I get home. Until then, interwebs, if you have any insight, feel free to fill me in.
I've been watching my weight fluctuate since being back on BC, mostly it is all water weight and lack of regular BMs. Other than that I feel pretty good because I'm still sticking to the low GI foods and the supplements. But today I feel like crap because my MIL brought us a huge pan of brownies on Saturday, and I polished them off last night with a few left over bottles of beer. I could literally feel my blood sugar going through the roof afterwards, not at all a pleasant feeling. I was asleep 45 minutes later, I can only assume it was a mix of being close to my bedtime and my blood sugar crashing back down.
Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing really. Last night I obviously overindulged in something I have not eaten in months, and because I have been watching what I put into my mouth and how it affects me pretty closely, I can understand why and how I feel like ass today. Will this keep me from being tempted by those foods in the future, absolutely. But what I can't quite wrap my head around is did these foods do the same thing to me a year ago and I never noticed? 6 months ago? am I somehow losing a tolerance for them? I feel like this might be a bad thing, like I'm now so sensitive to it I am skirting the line between insulin resistant and diabetic. At the same time I feel like being more sensitive to those foods means the opposite, that my body is starting to process them correctly. ??? I can't remember, I will have to re-read some of my PCOS books when I get home. Until then, interwebs, if you have any insight, feel free to fill me in.
Friday, April 3, 2009
My DH is so smart.
Seriously, I don't know what I would do without this man. He rearranged some things with our finances and I feel so much better, we're really on the right track and can probably start TTC sooner than we thought, and we even have a safety net for me to switch jobs.
We have 22k for our down payment, 75% of which is our own savings over the course of this year. FIL is throwing in the rest of the down payment, the prepayments and a few improvements (inspection only turned up a few minor things, all of which are fixable in a weekend and FIL knows how to do all of them!) From there we're left with our other savings and Redfin's $3500, rebate (if you don't know about these guys and you are buying a home, CHECK THEM OUT!) then $8000 from the government. We are using that lovely government money and putting 10K towards my student loans, which takes a serious chunk out of our only source of debt. So now our mortgage and our loan payments will be significantly lower, and we still have about 3 months salary in savings left over. In case I "flip out and throw shit at my boss" (in DH's words) or just for the transitional period between jobs if I have to quit or get laid off. If we don't have to use it, it becomes our TTC and baby fund.
DH is a really fantastic money manager, and we're truly fortunate his parents are so generous. I felt such a wave of relief after he explained all of this to me last night, not just because we're in a good place money wise, but because he really listened to my concerns for the future and did what he could to make things better for us. <3
We have 22k for our down payment, 75% of which is our own savings over the course of this year. FIL is throwing in the rest of the down payment, the prepayments and a few improvements (inspection only turned up a few minor things, all of which are fixable in a weekend and FIL knows how to do all of them!) From there we're left with our other savings and Redfin's $3500, rebate (if you don't know about these guys and you are buying a home, CHECK THEM OUT!) then $8000 from the government. We are using that lovely government money and putting 10K towards my student loans, which takes a serious chunk out of our only source of debt. So now our mortgage and our loan payments will be significantly lower, and we still have about 3 months salary in savings left over. In case I "flip out and throw shit at my boss" (in DH's words) or just for the transitional period between jobs if I have to quit or get laid off. If we don't have to use it, it becomes our TTC and baby fund.
DH is a really fantastic money manager, and we're truly fortunate his parents are so generous. I felt such a wave of relief after he explained all of this to me last night, not just because we're in a good place money wise, but because he really listened to my concerns for the future and did what he could to make things better for us. <3
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