It's a Marathon....

Fall is officially in full swing and I love this time of year!  We have been in our house now almost three months and paid two mortgage payments! (358 left to go.... I suppose I need to stop the countdown it will only make me depressed...haha)

One of my favorites from our wedding! 

It's crazy to think that this time last year I was just over two weeks away from marrying my best friend. Now a year later we are homeowners (or mortgage payers) and about two months away from having a baby!  What a year!

Little baby feet!

I am not just over 7 months pregnant and officially in full nesting mode! I just want to get everything set-up and decorated and just perfect for our new addition!  But I know I can't do everything at once... baby steps they say.  Unfortunately, I can't always see that and had a minor pregnancy breakdown the other night just thinking of all the things I wanted to do to the nursery and the house in general.  At the time it was an overwhelming list both from the amount of items on it and just financially.

However, after a good night's rest (as good of night sleep you can get seven months pregnant... which means at least two trips to the bathroom)- the list didn't seem so overwhelming and after a trip to Target I scratched off a few items and I'm feeling good!

I know that we still have time and even after the baby comes we will still have things in our house that we want to work on. I also know that having a perfect home to bring the baby home to is an unrealistic expectation. Life isn't perfect, it's messy and crazy and sometimes the craziest and messiest parts are the best parts about life!

I just need to take it one day (baby steps) at a time and enjoy the ride.  I can't get too caught up in trying to get everything done and checked off my list in one day.... sometimes I just need to sit down take a break and enjoy our home and life!  And I know that one way or another it will all work out because there really isn't another option. Ready or not.. there will be a baby on board this December!  :)

J.S.

Settling In

We have been in our house about a month now- and paid our first mortgage (only 359 more to go)!
I just have to say I am so glad we did not go with a house that needed some work. Our house was pretty much move in ready and we have still found plenty to do! It's been so exciting to set-up rooms and decorate, buy a few new things and really start to make the place feel like our own!

However, it's also been a little overwhelming!  We are trying to be very budget conscious because we have a house now and all the bills that come with it!  But we have had to purchase items we just never had to worry about before- all sorts of landscaping tools, shovels, clippers, a weed-wacker, a saw.  These items were especially frustrating for me to buy because frankly, I do not want to use them- but I can't have our house looking like a jungle either so.... we bought them. We also went from a small apartment to a three bedroom house with a large living area- so we have purchased a chair and an additional sofa. While we got a good deal on both items- it was still a large chunk of change!

We were lucky enough to pay for our down payment and still have some money in savings so most of these expenses have come from money we had put aside for moving- but sometimes it's still hard to spend the money we worked so hard to save!

One thing I have especially enjoyed is having a larger kitchen!  I finally have all the items we received as wedding gifts out of my parents basement and they are now happily being used in our new kitchen! I just have to say you can never have too many Pyrex containers!

Having a larger kitchen has allowed me more space to store food. I am trying to be very diligent about planning our dinners out for the week and then following this plan when grocery shopping each week.  This is helping our budget as well. I have become a Pinterest nut for quick and easy dinners to prepare.  I know I'm only a month in but I am hoping I will just make this a routine each week. So we don't run into what we had at the apartment- there is nothing for dinner, let's just go out.

Now that we are settling into our new place, I feel like this is the new beginning of a new chapter in our lives- dare I say I feel like a grown-up! Maybe part of the reason I feel this way is because on top of buying our first home, we are also expecting our first baby- a little boy due in exactly three months (Sorry, I have been keeping that from you for quite a while).  So I guess it really is time to grow-up and dive right into the land of diapers and milk!

I have to say moving and getting set up our new house has really allowed me to see how we can have a family here, and I am just so excited to be in a place now that gives us the space to raise our family.  It's definitely been a year of change and we are going to be ending with the biggest change of all- a new baby- I am excited and intimidated (I hope we can do this- since it's not just about us anymore) but most of all I just feel so blessed and grateful!

J.S.

Moving on up!

We did it!!  We closed and moved in!! Woohoo!!

The last few weeks have been crazy busy just getting packed and organized and making sure all of our paperwork was in order.  We had a couple  documents we had to re-submit to close, updated bank statements, etc. But we found out about four days before our closing that our loan was cleared and we were officially approved for the mortgage!!  Thank goodness!!

Another part of getting ready to move- aside from the annoying and tedious packing, is moving or applying for electric, water, trash, etc. We already had electric and gas in our name from living in the apartment but I did have to submit a move request form to alert them of our move. I had to sign-up for water and trash service as those items were covered by our apartment previously.  Signing or requesting a move service is not too difficult just make sure you know who is providing the service at your new home.  I discovered both our water and trash bills are going to be combined- which made signing up for them a little easier! :)  Don't forget to move or sign-up for these services, because you definitely want everything right away at your new home!

You also need to set-up a forwarding mail address service from the post-office- letting them know where to send mail addressed to you starting the date you move from your previous address. One other item I forget to address prior to moving was changing our mailing addresses associated with our bank accounts and credit cards.

After all the packing and planning Tuesday July 30th finally arrived and at 9am we were signing paper after paper. About an hour later we had the keys to our first house and a car load of stuff to start unloading!  By July 31st we were all moved in and thanks to friends and family we avoided having to pay our August rent! (Thanks guys!!)

We are now settling in and realizing all the things we need to buy that we didn't have to worry about in our apartment-mainly lawn equipment and tools!  But we do have a lawn mower so we will not be living in a jungle. The rest of the items we will get in time.

I am so excited to be in our new house- I love it! I still can't believe we did it- we bought our first house!!  There is still some unpacking to be done, a few items to buy and definitely some decorating to do- but I am just enjoying being in our very own place!

Now the real adventure begins- caring for and maintaining our home.  Stay tuned- I will update as we experience and uncover adventures of being a first time homeowner.

-JS

Step One... Wait.... Step Two....Wait..... Wait....Wait

Welcome back- thanks for sticking with me! I know I have been gone for a while again... but there are a couple of reasons for that.  One June was just super busy for me, the second reason being that we are just waiting to close on the house- so I didn't have much to update.

We are now 28 days away from closing which is still quite a long time but we have been making small steps to a closing.  From my last post you know we had completed our inspection.  The steps after the inspection are largely out of your hands and your mortgage consultant will handle them- but you should still be involved and know what is happening. 

Since the inspection we have completed, signed and sent back all of our mortgage paperwork.  Get ready to sign and initial a lot of papers, and get a lot of  personal paperwork together- bank statements, paychecks, W-2s, etc. Some of this paperwork you may have already given to your mortgage consultant depending on how much pre-work you have done- but you just need make sure to give them updated paperwork.  This was something we had to do because our original paperwork was submitted with my maiden name- so we had to update a lot of it. 

Another thing we saw on the mortgage statement was an estimate of all the money we need to bring to the closing table- which is more than just the money we are putting down on the house. You will also need to pay the fees for the mortgage consultant, appraisal, title search, and closing costs.  Our closing costs are covered for up to $3,000 by the sellers so we do not have to bring that to the table, but there are some additional costs that I was originally not aware of.  I am very glad we got to see this early just so we can prepare and make sure we have all the money we need at the closing table. 

We also learned last week that the appraisal went through!! The appraisal is basically the bank making sure the house is valued at the amount you are buying the house for; it is ordered by your mortgage consultant so you will just hear when it is completed.  This is a big concern now at closings- because if the house does not appraise for the value you are buying it, the bank will not approve the loan amount and the sale can fall apart. 

There are have been a couple other things we have worked on so far to prepare for the move.  We contacted our insurance agency and decided on a homeowners policy. This needs to be done prior to closing otherwise you will not be allowed to close.  By combining our home and auto insurance we are getting a little bit of a discount on the policies- which is very nice- I'm all about a discount! 

We also contacted our apartment complex and told them we were moving out. I had to give our apartment 30 days notice but make sure to check your individual rental contract and to give them enough notice so you do not get hit with any additional fees.  One thing that is going to make this move a bit challenging is that we are scheduled to close on July 30 and we have to be completely out of our apartment on July 31. Otherwise we are going to have to pay for the entire month of August.  So we are going to have 2 very busy days!  Let's hope for an early closing time on July 30th! 

We are now basically waiting on the closing date- financial items and title search are still being worked on- but I think we are just waiting- and will be notified from our mortgage consultant if we need to do anything else.  This whole process has been dragged out a bit because our closing date is so far away.  The process can be completed in a much shorter time frame but our mutually agreed upon date was about two months out when we signed the contract so we are moving just a bit slower than normal.  But this gives me more time to pack and organize so hopefully the actual move will go smoothly! 

Until next time... 

JS

New beginnings!

So I guess I didn't keep up on my end of the bargain- it's been a while since I updated! (Time flies.) But this a long entry- so I am sort of making up for my time away! :)

And I do have some news!  After all that looking we finally found a HOUSE!!!  There was a new listing that was actually not a short sale- so surprise surprise it moved MUCH faster.

Our "dream" home is quite like this- definitely no heart cloud- but you get the idea!! 

We looked at this house on a Friday night and we really liked it. We walked in and it was SO nice. Nothing needed to be fix/updated or even painted (we probably will paint- but it will be for fun not because someone thought lime green would be a great bedroom color). This was a new feeling for me- every other house needed some work- maybe not immediately to live in, but to get it to where we wanted our home to be, some changes need to happen!

This is something you need to think about when you see a house. Include the cost of fixing things or upgrading rooms in your list price.  It might be worth spending a little more on a mortgage if you do not have to include remodeling and replacing carpet costs.

This is the case with this home. It is actually listed a little more than we originally wanted to spend- but it is move-in ready, and with the market improving so quickly, to get what we wanted in a house we needed to increase our budget a little bit.

The home has everything we wanted- three bedrooms, two and half baths, a basement and two car garage- plus, bonus, it even has a fenced in backyard!  After we saw the house we took the weekend to think about it, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted it.  I was quickly loosing hope in our short sale offer and kept thinking even if we get the short sale offer accepted- how long will the rest of this process be, what about the inspection, what about the appraisal???

After the weekend we decided to make our offer. We sent it on a Tuesday and by Thursday we had an accepted contract!  (Very different than the short sale process.) We were lucky we didn't miss out on the home, since we had taken the weekend to think it over.  It's just such a big decision though, I'm glad we did wait. When we moved forward we were confident in our decision!

With our accepted contract this started the clock on our inspection period. We gave ourselves 10 days to complete a home inspection (This was enough time to allow us time to do an inspection and then if we need to call in a roofer, electrician, or any other specialists we still had time to get estimates from them.).

The following Tuesday we had our house inspection. We did a full home inspection, termite inspection and a radon test. (Radon is a  cancer causing gas found in some soils and may get into the air in the home).  All the inspections and test came back OK. We had no major issues with the home! We did ask the home owners to make some minor electrical fixes which they agreed to and have actually already been completed.

When you get a home inspection- do not expect the home owner to make any major improvements to the home.  A home inspection is more of a reassurance to the buyer that they know what they are walking into. But the current home owner is not expected to make the home completely new and perfect for the buyer.

So now we are on to the financing and appraisal part of the home buying process.  This is all very exciting and a little nerve racking- I just want to know we are all set and we can move in!  But our closing date is not until July 30th- so we have a while to wait.  This closing date is much longer than an average closing date- but it was the date both the sellers and us (the buyers) agreed upon.  It will give us longer to pack and give our apartment complex notice- so that is a positive.

We are back to a waiting game now- but at least this waiting game has an end date- that will hopefully also be our move in date!

JS

The Long and Winding Road....

We went on a family vacation a few weeks ago- and since we have been waiting to hear anything on the short sale house, for more than a month- you know they are going to need something from us the week we are 700 miles from home.

This is exactly what happened!  I told the listing Realtor- we would be out of town but I would have access to my email and four days into the vacation what do I get- an email! I don't get more than one email a week updating me that we are still waiting and I'm 4 states away and I get an email needing a form filled out, signed, notarized and faxed... and it can't wait until the following Monday.

It's pretty much how real estate works. There is A LOT of waiting and then a real quick rush to get something completed.... then you wait and wait until the next mini-crisis!

Anyway we had an email asking us to complete a Short Sale Affidavit- which is basically a form saying that the seller makes no profit on the sale of the home.  We had to sign it and get it notarized before the bank closed Friday afternoon.  No big deal except- I had no printer, fax or bank with an account anywhere within a 200 mile radius.

But we were up for a challenge!  We were able to print the form at the office we where we were staying.  Getting it notarized was a bit more challenging because no one wants to notarize your form unless you have an account with them.  Luckily, we found one who bent the rules a little for us and notarized our form.  We then just had to fax it back at the office.  We got it done- but it was a bit more challenging to complete than it should have been!

So we get our form back into them- and since then (more than 2 weeks ago)  I have heard nothing!!! Makes me feel like that form totally could have waited three days! (haha)

As this short sale process continues I am understanding more and more why short sales are so frustrating- you just spend so much time not knowing! It can get discouraging.  So all I can say is just keep looking and be certain you are not missing out on anything you may like better.  And just get comfortable because when you put an offer in on a short sale you are in for a long haul!

I'll keep you updated and try to update more frequently- but as I said it's a slow process and so far I know nothing more than I did three weeks ago!

JS

Back in the Game!

First off- I apologize for taking so long to update.  I left you hanging saying we were looking at a house that night- then didn't update for two weeks! So I am very sorry- I know you were all on the edge of your seats!  :)

Anyway- we did go and look at another house and... it was awful!  Well not all of it- the neighborhood was very cute and nicely landscaped and just looked very inviting.  But the house we toured was left in shambles. Not one single room was fully furnished. I thought maybe they were in the process of moving out, but there was dirty laundry scattered about the house.... so I was a bit confused! I was also a little bit upset- because it looked so cute from the outside- but alas, looks can be deceiving!  

Cute home on the outside looks nice and spacious....

but the inside feels like this! 

But aside from the decorating and laundry issues there were cracks in the ceiling and holes in the walls.  And the actual layout of the home made it feel small and almost like an apartment instead of a single family home. So we have elected to just forget about this home!

Actually seeing this home encouraged us to raise the offer on the short sale home we previously offered on (this was the home that was re-listed at the higher price).  We re-submitted our offer and are now awaiting their response once again.  So we are back in a waiting game!

We re-submitted our offer two weeks ago and have gone back to our weekly email updates which so far have told us there is a 1-2 week delay, which we are in the second week of- meaning we should hear something next week. So until next week fingers crossed....

JS

Funny Story...

So we have been waiting for the results of our offer on the short sale home and have been getting these weekly updates that say where our offer stands.  All while we're still looking to see if there is anything else we want to look at... and that has basically been the game for the past 3-4 weeks.

Guess what I found this week while looking at new listings!!!!  The house that we placed an offer on  was listed as a new listing $20,000 higher!

SURPRISE!!! 

A few hours later I received our weekly update saying that we have the opportunity to resubmit our offer at the new asking price. So that's stinks!  :(

This particular house was in the middle of a appraisal dispute when we placed our offer. Now that they have finally settled the dispute the value of the home has increased. This is why it is being re-listed at the higher price.

Well, now the ball is in our court.  We must decide if we want to re-submit the offer at the new asking price or if we want to let this one go and look for a new house.

I'm still not sure what we are going to do.

We are going to look at another house tonight, so we will see how this home stacks up against the one we already  placed an offer on.

Needless to say I'm a little frustrated...but it is all part of the game.  I know we will find a home eventually, it just might not be this one.....or maybe it will.... WHO KNOWS????

I'll keep you posted!

JS

And We're Waiting...

Hey guys- I wish I could write a great update stating how much we have moved forward with our offer..

But unfortunately I can't- I don't want to mislead or lie to you guys!

I know nothing more since my last update.  We are still waiting on rejection, acceptance or a counter   on our offer. This part can  be really frustrating because you are in limbo- and nobody wants to be there in any situation- but 'tis the nature of a short sale.

We just have to continue to wait and weigh our options. We have done everything we can do, and are still looking everyday to see if there are any other houses that we would like to see.  So far nothing can compare to the value of the house we have made the offer on.

So all we can do is hope this isn't a colossal waste of time.  But  we are being smart about this short sale and are continually looking to make sure we are not passing up any other houses we really like.

It's always a balancing act.  How long do you wait, how important is each feature of a home, what are you willing to compromise on? As I said before this whole process can be tricky, but hopefully the end result will be... Home Sweet Home! 

Ready, Set... Wait...

It's the waiting game...

Tick Tock, Tick Tock...

We received a weekly email update on the status of our offer.  It said the average short sale takes 3-5 months to complete.  (I knew this was coming.)

We have been told there is a one week delay on processing our offer while we wait for lender approval or a counter offer. (That's why they say short sales should really be called long sales-haha real estate joke.)

So the choice is up to us since our offer technically expires Tuesday- we can choose to leave our offer in the pool or we can withdraw our offer and look for another house. We can play the game or move on.

We have looked at the houses currently on the market and decided there isn't really anything that we want to look at right now- so we will keep our offer right now and see what we find out next Monday.

The most important thing you can do in this situation is to keep your eye on the market to see if anything else comes available that you want to see.  But if you decide to make an offer on another home be certain you withdraw your first offer.  You DO NOT want to have two accepted offers.  Compare the houses to the house you have your offer in on  and see how they stack up to each other.  If there is a better option you may want to withdraw your offer and avoid the waiting game.

For us right now I guess we are just going to get ready for an intense waiting game!

It's a tricky thing...

Good news!

We saw two houses over the weekend!  We scheduled to see one and went to an open house for another.  Both houses are short sales.  Which could be a really good thing because we can get a really good deal- but from all I have heard they can be a little tricky and quite a headache! (Do I really want to take that on.... the answer is... Sure, why not- I'm all about getting a deal!)

So what exactly is a short sale?  Let me try to explain this in normal terms.  Essentially a short sale is when the bank agrees to sell the property for less then what is owed on the property.  It is a way to avoid foreclosure for the seller and the bank. This means you can get a really good deal on a house but the process is a bit more complicated and slower because more people are involved (buyer, bank and seller).  And I'll let you know what else I find out if we move forward with either of these properties.

Both houses we toured needed a little bit of work- but nothing that I am not willing to take on- a little scrubbing, painting, steam cleaning- these are projects I can handle!

The first house we saw was the open house.  It was attractive, great curb appeal, but small. I think if we choose that house we would only stay there for maybe three years and then move again because we would just run out of room.

We really liked the second house- it has everything we were looking for. It's in an area we like and the neighborhood seemed very family friendly and inviting. It's big enough that we could stay for a while and I would not feel that we need to move to accommodate a growing family.  We decided to put an offer in on this house!!  OMG!!  Super exciting and a little bit scary!

We put an on offer in on this house on Tuesday morning... since this a short sale we gave them a week to respond to the offer- which is much longer than you would give in a conventional offer (24 hours normally).  We haven't heard anything back yet but we will see what happens next week.  Do we continue the hunt or begin the closing process!!!  I will keep you posted....

The Pros and Cons...

Well... we went and looked at our first house in person!  And now I am more confused than before! 

(This isn't the house- it's just a house that looks like it has it all!!)

It is a great house. It has four bedrooms, two and half baths, basement, gas fireplace, two car garage, and really nice entrance and a fenced in backyard.  Plus it's in a great neighborhood, that has a pool, tennis courts and backs up to a park.  All things in the "pros" column. 

(This is also not the house- just my fear of what the house could turn into!)

But (you knew there had to be a "but" right) it needs some work. Immediately we would have to replace all the carpet, and the kitchen floor, buy a refrigerator, stove, washer and dryer and there are probably a few other hidden things that could lead to more expensive immediate fixes. All things in the "cons" column. 

The house is banked owned- so all the repairs are on us, along with closing costs. So it's a lot of money upfront. But because of the condition the house, it is priced lower than the other houses in the neighborhood, so if we move forward and get this house we would have immediate equity in the house.  

So here is the question- is it better to try for this house and put some money immediately into it, or look for a little bit more expensive house that is more move in ready?  It's a question I do not know the answer!

I keep going back and forth. I know the house can be a great home, but I do not want to stretch ourselves too thin and get in over our heads. 

Maybe I am being too conservative but right now we are holding off.  We both like the house and love the neighborhood, but are uncomfortable with the amount of money we need to put into it right away. I do not mind painting and doing a little bit of work but I think this one might be a little more than I am up for! 

So we will keep looking and maybe if the house is still available we might go back to it but I think we need to see a few houses before we are ready to make any decisions. 

The Drive By

I would love start looking at houses…. But so far I cannot find one that I like enough online to go look at in person. Fortunately though, my friend is currently looking for her first home as well and she brought me along to do a “Windshield Tour.” I thought it was such a good idea -  that I am sharing it with you!

A “Windshield Tour” is essentially a neighborhood tour.  You drive by houses you see online that you like that meet your criteria. By doing a windshield tour you can determine if you like the area. It allows you to see how close together houses are, how big are the yards, what do the neighboring homes look like, what is the overall feel of the neighborhood.  How close is the closest grocery store, how close is the highway and any other exterior features that may be important to you.

This can be very enlightening.  You may love the way a home looks online (sometimes pictures can be deceiving) and once you drive by you realize you really don’t want to move into the area where the house is located.  When I went with my friend on her “windshield tour” we eliminated two out of the five houses she wanted to see solely based on the information we gathered from our drive by.

There are many things you can change about a home- but location the is not one. There is really no sense in touring a home and falling in love with it if you don’t like the location.  So my advice is to make sure before you tour a home that it passes the drive-by test. 

Thanks everyone- hopefully I will have some homes to preview soon and discuss with you- after they pass the drive by test of course! 

Ahhhh Math!!

So… now that we are looking for a house we need to figure out what we can afford and more importantly what we should afford.  This is the "not so fun" math portion of buying a house!!  AHHHH (I haven't done this much math since college freshman year!)

Now let me preface this entry by saying I am not a mortgage expert. These are just my thoughts from my experiences so far as we are trying to figure out how to buy our first home.

This is the process we are following:

Ideally the mortgage and pre-approval should be determined before you even look at a house; as this will help you decide what price range you should be considering.  We are working with a mortgage consultant that was recommended from one of my friends and fellow Realtor. 

What we have decided we can afford is actually much less than what we were approved.  We came to this conclusion once we looked at all of our monthly expenses- and keeping in mind that we may want to have children soon (and it's my understanding those can get expensive)- so we do not want to stretch ourselves too thin!

It’s important to figure out what you are comfortable spending per month on a mortgage payment.  The monthly payment is the number you need to pay the most attention to- not just the approval number.  Once you have a property in mind you can send this property information (address, price) to your mortgage consultant and they can give you a very good estimate of what your monthly payment will be.

When your mortgage consultant gives you an estimated monthly cost find out if this cost includes taxes, insurance and PMI (Primary Mortgage Insurance).

We have reviewed our budget and figured out what we are comfortable spending taking into account our other payments such as cars, insurance, phones, electric, Internet and cable… etc.  Also since we are moving from an apartment we have to consider new bills such as water, trash- other unexpected expenses that we will no longer be able to call the landlord for. :(

We have come up with an ideal monthly payment and are trying very hard to stay close to this number.  It’s my suggestion to other buyers to do the same thing- figure out how much you can give to a mortgage payment each month and work backwards to see how much you afford on a house.

This is the most important part of buying a home; it’s also the least amount of fun! But it is so necessary and vital to avoid getting in over your head. So take your time and really think about what you are comfortable affording. 

Ok that's all I have right now- and I will try to make the next entry less math centered and focus on fun side of buying a house!! 

JCS 

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Your first place, first home, dream home.  It’s the American Dream isn’t it?  To own your own place; have your own land; make your own home.  But it’s a scary process and sometimes bumpy road to get to the closing table.  A process a lot of people do not understand or know what to expect. So....

How about we go through it together?

Let me introduce myself. I am 27 year old and live right outside of Cincinnati. I work in marketing for a local development company and I am a newlywed. I married my best friend last October and it was honestly the most PERFECT day!

Last summer I completed real estate courses and passed the real estate sales agent exam (while planning the wedding!) – so now I am a licensed Realtor in Ohio.  This has given me a little more insight into the business and the process of buying a home.

We have been looking off and on at houses for 3 years! Honestly we started looking when there was the tax incentive in 2009- and we were not at all prepared or educated…so we didn’t find one we even wanted to make an offer on (and probably could not have afforded it- so I think it worked out for the best).

We now have some money saved up for a down payment and are a little more realistic about what we want and need in a house.   We are getting ready to start seriously looking for our first home.  I am so excited but I am also so nervous it is such a BIG decision! 

As a first time buyer and realtor- this should be an interesting journey! But I am ready to get started!

I hope this blog will be helpful to other first time buyers, or really anyone who just wants to read about the journey to our first home. 

JCS