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.
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| 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
