House Hunting - Day 3

Today we decided to drive to a town that has been on and off of our list of places to live. The location is not good and that makes it more affordable and everything is new.

It wasn't all that bad. Only 10 minutes away. I thought it would be much further.

We drove to a specific neighborhood and looked at a few houses. There was one that was a pretty good deal for us. We thought about it for a bit and decided to tell the builder that we were interested. While we were waiting to talk again, another person was coming in and about to steal it from us. It was a race to get a check into the builder's hands to secure the house. The other man was coming back the following day.

We decided to drive back home to get my checkbook when we suddenly realized that the house is facing the wrong direction. We confirmed the direction with the builder and had to explain to him that it was a deal breaker unfortunately. It's an important factor to my wife, so it's important to me.

Lessons learned are keep the checkbook ready when you are house hunting, driving to the location is a good indicator of how far it is in minutes.

We have put that city back into our searches and the results coming back are grand.

Now what can we do about realtors? We have the original that wasn't very aggressive. Then there is the new lady I talked to who just had a baby 2 months ago and is at home taking it easy. Don't know. I sent over a list of places to the original realtor for her to check on. We'll wait and see.

This deal's getting worse all the time - We're out

We agreed to meet with the realtor this morning at her office to discuss details for the contract to put forward to the seller.

Before going over there, the lender called me to get a copy of our most recent bank statement. I got it all together and sent it over. Upon looking at everything she said it was looking lighter than we had told her. I explained the balance would be where we said at the end of this month when it comes time to pay the closing costs. She explained to me that it needs to be at the target balance a few weeks prior in order to get everything approved. I told her I could deposit some additional savings in cash. She said that would not benefit us in this case at this time.

Confused, I looked around online and found out that we were about to make a huge mistake adding cash to our account. It must be verified and bunch of legal stuff like that. I found this article. Check it out here.

I took this new information to the realtor. She said she would see if the seller could delay the closing cost a few extra weeks. The response came about a half hour later that the seller will not budge.

The seller is completely inflexible on all accounts. First, we offered over $4k more than the listed price. Second, they wanted to cut our option period in half. Third, they wanted to have all closing costs paid for in full 3 weeks. Fourth, they don't want to move out of the house for another 2 months from now. Last, they don't want to give us a solid date in which they would move out and don't agree to pay for lease back.

As Lando says, "This deal's getting worse all the time."

Maybe they have good reasons. But enough of this. We're out and moving on.


Additionally, we are looking for a new realtor. One who is more aggressive in helping us find something. But now after learning all of this, I kind of want to wait another month before getting into another one of these multi-offer scenarios.

UPDATE:

My supervisor recommended a realtor. I called her tonight and she has already sent a list of houses to browse.

The Chosen - The Sweet and Sour Deal

I took over checks to the realtor for the Option Money and Earnest Money today at lunchtime. Throughout the day, I received emails with copies of our offer, sellers disclosure of house condition etc...


The realtor called me shortly after lunch to tell us that there were offers higher than ours and wanted to know if we wanted to raise our offer. I gave her a big NO! She said she was glad that I stayed firm on our offer as she knows increasing will only make appraising even more difficult.


Then, the lender called me to tell me that there is pending disputes on my credit history against a zero balance that I opened a few months ago (see previous blog entry.) She basically needed me to sign a form allowing her to go in and have the dispute removed. I complied.


I got a call from the realtor later in the evening. She told us that the seller has chosen us. The higher offers would not appraise. We came in just under the threshold.


All is not so sweet and we have much to sort out before we can come to agreement.


The seller wants us to pay all closing costs in 3 weeks, which is a bunch of crap in my opinion. We will do it if it means making the deal happen but I'm not happy about it. The reason it pisses me off is that the seller still wants to stay in the house through March 5, well over a month after we have paid closing costs. It forces us into a situation where we may get stuck paying rent on our apartment and a mortgage payment.


So, tomorrow we have to put the ball back in their court and put the pressure back on the seller. If we can't agree, we'll pull the plug without another thought.

House Hunting - Day 2

I left work an hour early today so that we could go look at two houses before it got dark. We never made it to the last house because we liked the first one so much. Here is a video and some photos.

We decided to drive back to the realtor office to make an offer. It turns out that there were a couple of offers on it already more than the asking price.

This house has almost everything upgraded already which makes it attractive visually and monetarily. What it will appraise for is a separate issue.

We decided on our top dollar offer based on what we've been researching with the area, the upgrades, and everything else. We have offered $4k over the list price, buyer pays closing costs and allowing the seller plenty of time to pack it up after closing.

I made some video walking through the house to look at again later. When we got home neither of us wanted to watch it for fear of getting emotionally attached.

Now we have to get a $100 check over to the owner for our option payment (get out of the deal money). We also have to get $1500 earnest to the title company for the deposit.

The realtor has vouched for us so that we can get the deal on the table as serious shoppers.

House Hunting - Day 1

My wife and I were on Zillow most of yesterday looking at houses and saving the ones we wanted to go see. Later in the evening we reviewed our list and removed the homes that didn't meet our common criteria.

We started out the morning with a list of 8 homes to see. We met the realtor at her office at 10:15 am to give her the list so she could schedule visits with the sellers.

Zillow is not precise. That should come as no surprise to the experienced home shopper. Many homes came off the list immediately. One house is in the wrong school district, one was already sold, two have pending contracts, two are in option periods. That left two houses available to be viewed right out of the gate.

The first is a new home nearing completion. We looked at two models. We passed on both and here is why. They are called express homes. That means the buyer takes it as is. No upgrades, no swaps, no extra money for perks. It's just whatever is there. So, that was the first and biggest issue.

The first house of these two had small bedrooms and just felt kind of cubical. No tub in main bath, just walk in shower. Large bathroom counter and one sink. Stupid.

The second of these two had slightly larger rooms, but the kitchen was a deal breaker. It has an island with a space for a dishwasher that when open would be right in the way. There was no exhaust duct in the kitchen either. Really weird.

The drive was much farther than we imagined as well.

We skipped over to the next town. This one is much closer to our jobs and current location. This house was looking like a very good choice but unfortunately someone made a cash deal on is about an hour after we looked at it. Bye bye!

Lastly, we went back to our town where one of the option period houses is located. We really liked this one though a few surface cracks in the rear ceiling is concerning. It meets or exceeds most of our important needs/wants. Perhaps it could become available but we won't wait for it. Here are some photos of this one and a video.

House Shopping Scorecard

I made a scorecard today. I know I'll get into a house and forget what important things to look for. Not the common things, mind you, the hidden stuff. The idea is to score based on 1-3 with 2 being neutral.

Here is the list I came up with. Keep in mind this is specific to our needs based on our current location and situation.

About the Price:

Asking price (Total)

Asking price (Square Foot)

How much did seller pay?

How much does seller owe?

Comparable sales value

How many offers received?

How many days on market?

Real estate taxes

Water bill average

Electric bill average

HOA dues and frequency

Extent of HOA

About the Condition:

Year built

Number of stories

Square Footage

Lot size

Number of bedrooms

Master bedroom size

Has one isolated room for music studio

Number of bathrooms

Front door faces South

Living room

Dining room

Kitchen

Cabinets

Countertops

Modern open design (Y/N)

Interior illumination/Natural lighting windows

Closets condition

Master bedroom closet size(s)

Laundry space

Storage space (will HOA allow a shed)

Attic storage

Covered patio

Pool (none, included, or community)

Fence overall condition

Landscape condition (lawn)

Landscape condition (flowerbeds)

Trees and shrubs condition

Wood frame, Brick & Wood frame

Roof age (good for 15-50 yrs)

Walls and attic insulation

Refrigerator replaced (Y/N-date)

Oven/Range replaced (Y/N-date)

Dishwasher replaced (Y/N-date)

Microwave replaced (Y/N-date)

Garbage Disposal replaced (Y/N-date)

Plumbing replaced (Y/N-date)

Sump pump/drainage replaced (Y/N-date)

Gas lines replaced (Y/N-date)

Water Heater replaced (Y/N-date)

Water heater adequacy

Electrical replaced (Y/N-date)

A/C replaced (Y/N-date)

Thermostat replaced (Y/N-date)

Security replaced (Y/N-date)

Fire alarms replaced (Y/N-date)

Chimney sweep cleaned (Y/N-date)

Rain gutters cleaned (Y/N-date)

Water sprinkler system

HVAC ducts cleaned (Y/N-date)

Pool pump replaced (Y/N-date) if any

Upgrade to Storm windows? (Y/N-date)

Garage door opener replaced (Y/N-date)

Exterior illumination

Ceiling fans updated (Y/N-date)

Window coverings

Hard flooring

Carpet and pad (If any)

Aluminum siding?

Exterior condition

Garage capacity

Heat is Gas or Electric?

About the Location:

Clean streets

Neighbors' property well maintained

Flooding

Loud noises (traffic, highway, animals, etc)

Bad odors

Train tracks

Open drainage ditch

All utilities installed out of sight

Area zoned residential

Nearby industry

Proposed special assessments

About the Location:

Garbage collection

Street lights

Streets and alleys well maintained

Heavy air traffic

Foot traffic from nearby schools/stores

Neighborhood traffic

Speed bumps/low speed zone

Community rating

School rating

Convenient shopping

Parks

Minutes from Dad's work

Minutes from Mom's work

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

Vicinity to Asian community for my wife

Neighborhood demographics

House Hunting Begins this Weekend

With the holidays finished we can finally get an idea on where our bottom line is financially.

In previous months it looked like we would be financially ready to start house hunting mid first quarter 2015. However, when considering the amount of time it takes to find the right house and close on it, now seems like a good time to get the wheels rolling on the house hunt.

Our pre-qualification letter expired a few days ago. I just got back from the lender. I had to give them our most recent bank statements and pay stubs. They will email a new pre-qualification letter to us and the realtor in the next day or so.

Since the realtor is next door to the lender, I stopped by to put our names back on their radar.

We can continue to save until we close. Meanwhile, let the house hunting begin.