Made an offer on a house!!!! (Yikes!)

Hey TDHers!
My wife and I have been "virtually" searching for a house for a while now. The plan was to buy a home here in VA once I returned from Korea. Well, we've taken our first steps toward that goal!
About 10 days ago we went to look at a house that struck us. It's an older 1918 square foot 2-story brick house in a pretty good location. We liked it enough to go into our credit union and get pre-approved for a mortgage. This is the first time we've ever done this, so it was sort of nerve wracking. We got the approval and contacted the seller's agent to make an offer.
After about 2 rounds of offers/counteroffers, we've agreed to a price and we're meeting with the agent tomorrow to ratify the contract! If all goes well with the inspection/appraisal, we may be home owners by the end of September!
It's a huge step, as both my wife and I have rented all of our adult lives, including the time before we got married.
Not a 'perfect' house, but I love doing home improvement projects and I can handle all the cosmetic stuff that needs doing. Here's a pic of the house.



I feel excited and a little panicky, too. Is that normal???

Very cool man. You'll be amazed at how much of a better mindset you have towards your home when you actually own it rather than renting. It's nice to know you can do whatever you want to the house without having to answer to anyone.

I also like the looks of your house even though it is a WIP, really looking forward to seeing it weathered and with the proper dent in the roof ;P

Congrats vode!!!

Dude Eric that is sweet! Now Scott and I will have to crash the house warming party..

I just bought my first house also. We had to make a couple of offers before we got it. It's stressing like crazy! Good luck with everything. There's nothing like knowing it's your home and no one can tell you anything!

Hey, congratulations! The house looks nice. You could fit our entire house on your first floor. It's a great feeling to be making payments on your own house, instead of somebody else's.

When you figure out all your salary withholding and property tax, mortgage interest and all that, your paycheck actually may end up being bigger than before.

Congratulations and good luck!

We have been looking too and just got an offer accepted. Just finished an inspection today, waiting for the appraisal, etc. That house you are looking at would be still be super expensive out here. The one we are current working the deal on is much more modest but it's something.

Like mentioned before, it's super stressful. My wife and I are doing our best to keep our sanity. With all the "For Sale" signs you'd think it's a cakewalk. Maybe it is in some places, but in San Diego in the entry market, there are 10-50 offers on every house! Everything else is being held captive by investors.

Even now to, huh??? I say it's just plain wrong.

Oh,and P.S. Shockwave, I think we met on the midway??? I was the boba fett at the reenlistment.

Good Luck and my the Force be with you

Congrats!!! Welcome back to the states too brother!

Originally Posted by Fractal-Fett

Oh,and P.S. Shockwave, I think we met on the midway??? I was the boba fett at the reenlistment.

That's right we did! I was in my Sandtrooper. I haven't had my mandalorian gear out for awhile. Good to meet you!

Thanks for the well wishes.
We signed the contract earlier today and we'll hopefully get the inspection done this week sometime. Hope there's no womp rats in the attic!

Congratulations!!!!!!!

Everything's on track so far. The sellers have their termite/moisture inspections scheduled for Friday the 14th, and we have a home inspector scheduled to do "our" inspection on Monday the 17th.
We're keeping our fingers crossed that everything looks OK!

Originally Posted by ShocKWavE

That's right we did! I was in my Sandtrooper. I haven't had my mandalorian gear out for awhile. Good to meet you!

Me Too!!!

Congrats Eric to you and the wife,,,,now call a brother!!!

Congratulations! May everything go smoothly for you

Congratulations!
That's awesome.

I just did the same myself... super exciting and some what scary!
=)

Congrats Bro. Best wishes in your new place. Now get back to work, painting, modeling, and making cool stuff that I couldn't even dream of.....

Not a perfect house? It looks like very good!! I like it

Remember that the key for a perfect home is the love among the members who lives in the house, not the house itself.

Congratulations!

I was looking for the "like" button LOL! You are so right Ogait!

DUDE! a house is a house... most things that are more than 15 years old need work anyways.

it's all steps...new siding (brick not a problem in your case as much) new roofs, plumbing maintenance, insulation, windows, etc. etc.

If you spend money here and there you're really only increasing the value of your home.

That's awesome you got approved and the sky looks pretty clear.

I was saving for a house til I lost my job earlier this year.... but i just got a new one yesterday...start tuesday.

Hope all goes well


POST MORE PICS if it's a go

Got a call from the realtor earlier. The seller's termite/moisture inspection was done today. It's been raining on and off the past 3 days or so, so we figured that would be good to really see about moisture intrusion.
He did tell us the house would be getting treated for termites, which is not necessarily a show stopper. My dad said when they sold their house in CA they had to have it treated, too. They also found one joist under the house that would be getting repaired. So all in all. . . looking pretty good.
Our inspection is Monday morning, so we'll see how that goes. Still keeping our fingers crossed that all goes well.

Termite Section One work is dominate on coastal regions. Here in Cali on the coast termites typically return within 3 years after a chemical treatment. If the joist is the only issue, then you are doing great, less impact on the seller which allows more repair monies to be directed to other issues. Pay serious attention to the sewer line (or septic, which I would get a seperate, specific report) and electrical aspect of your Physical Inspection Report, which is being conducted on Monday.

And the process marches on!
Our home inspection went pretty well. There were a couple areas of concern, just as I expected with an older house, but nothing too dramatic. The inspector went under the house in the crawlspace and couldn't see any evidence of active termites or termite damage, so he's not sure what the seller's inspector was talking about last Friday.
After discussing our inspection report with our agent, we've put together a list of repairs we're requesting of the seller. As long as they agree and sign a paper to that effect, we'll proceed with the appraisal!! We're getting kinda nervous at this point, as the appraisal is the only major step remaining before closing.

*Sigh*. . . Drama.

Got a call this afternoon from our agent. He had just gotten off the phone with the listing agent who told him she had just found out the house we're under contract for. . . IS UNDER FORECLOSURE!!
Apparently, the genius seller was trying to hide the fact that it is scheduled to be auctioned off on September 10th!!!!!!!!!! Um. . . er. . . huh????????
The listing agent had found this out from the title company, who had been researching the payoff amount for the seller.
Now our entire buying process is in jeopardy because they have to get permission from their bank to proceed with the sale instead of going to auction.
Found out the sellers are a couple who are divorcing and the husband had been the one taking care of all the bills. They were behind by at least 3 mortgage payments and the wife knew nothing about it.
I just looked under legal notices in our local paper, and sure enough, the property was listed under foreclosures.

Good Lord, did this guy think this information would never come out?

Now we have to wait till Monday or Tuesday to see if we can proceed with the sale, into which we already have over $1000 in earnest deposits and inspection fees.
If they won't allow the sale, I'm taking the guy to small claims court to get our money back.

OK, the emotional roller coaster ride ain't over yet.
Got a call from our agent today saying the sale will be allowed to proceed. He told me the seller's foreclosure had been "postponed" by 30 days, which should be enough time for us to go to closing.
Dang. . . I'm getting to be a nervous wreck about this.

We had to cancel. Everything was a go and was looking good. Our general inspection was pretty thorough but was non-intrusive, meaning they don't lift up flooring, go into the walls, etc. Anyways, I did my own final look through and found a cracked slab. The house was bank owned so they didn't offer any disclosure. Had it looked at by several professionals who said it could be repaired, but I don't want to carry that disclosure with me.

Now I'm fighting for my deposit. No matter what I am out about $800.00, but it could be about $4000.00. Probably going to miss the $8000.00 tax credit now too unless it is extended.

Sorry to hear that, ShockWavE.

Our situation is moving in fits and starts. We got the appraisal back clean, and over our offer so that is all good to go.
But today we got a call from our agent saying there is still repair work that needs to be performed to fix one of the items our inspector identified.
The inspector had identified some evidence of staining in the downstairs ceiling that he traced to a toilet upstairs. He said the toilet must have leaked at some point. Well, it turns out it was more of an "active" leak and now there's some water damage that has to be repaired.
We were all set to close on Tuesday the 15th, but we'll probably have to push that back by about a week.
We were talking about it and agreed that it's much better to have found this out now rather than the day after closing!

Good luck!!

Looks nice....


Alfredo

You are right. It stinks to find problems but it is much better to find whatever you can now.

Good luck! I know there are a few issues but the house looks great. We are trying to just keep our chins up over here and do what we can.

Leak repaired: Check!
All other work: Check!

Well, we're reeeeeeally close now. We're all set to close Friday morning at 10:00! The sellers have a few last items to move out of the house, and we're going to do our final walk through just before we go to the closing in the morning.
I'm really nervous and excited today. By this time tomorrow, we could (will) be home owners!!

*Gulp!*

YEEEESSS!!! Welcome to the world of home repair and lawn management!!!!

Woohoo... buy a rider.

Originally Posted by ShocKWavE

We had to cancel. Everything was a go and was looking good. Our general inspection was pretty thorough but was non-intrusive, meaning they don't lift up flooring, go into the walls, etc. Anyways, I did my own final look through and found a cracked slab. The house was bank owned so they didn't offer any disclosure. Had it looked at by several professionals who said it could be repaired, but I don't want to carry that disclosure with me.

Now I'm fighting for my deposit. No matter what I am out about $800.00, but it could be about $4000.00. Probably going to miss the $8000.00 tax credit now too unless it is extended.

If you didn't pull any contingencies then your deposit will be returned. On REO's of course they make you sign their Addendums and such which try and convert the sale into AS-IS sale. There is no such thing as an AS-IS technically in California, and in the case of a cracked slab, you should be able to exit the transaction. On the Tax Credit, my boss and Broker Diana is pushing hard in D.C. to get that extension pushed through. My sources on the Hill tell me that the extension is very likely.


Congrats SuperJedi! Few more hours!

cool bro,,now what kind of house warming gift,,, maybe a rake and some lawn bags ,,Fall is coming????,,,hmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe something SW related,,let me know bro

Tim

Originally Posted by XJPilot

cool bro,,now what kind of house warming gift,,, maybe a rake and some lawn bags ,,Fall is coming????,,,hmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe something SW related,,let me know bro

Tim

Housewarming gift? Hmm. . . know anyone with a big truck who likes to lift heavy things?

well my friend,,it so happens I got an F150 with an 8 foot bed,,let me know if ya need help,,but you buy n the gas,,HA!

Tim

WE'RE HOME OWNERS!!!!!!!!!!!
Closed this morning, so as of 11 AM today, we are officially grown ups!
It's a really weird feeling, but a good one. I spent a good portion of the afternoon getting the place ready for some paint. Interior I mean, it's a brick house. I took a week of leave so I can really hit the painting and all the other little stuff I want to do before we start moving.
Woo hoo! I have a garage now!

Originally Posted by XJPilot

well my friend,,it so happens I got an F150 with an 8 foot bed,,let me know if ya need help,,but you buy n the gas,,HA!

Tim

Hmmm, you don't say. I may just take you up on that!

Congratulations! It is great having a place to call your own. The house looks very nice. There is nothing wrong with putting work into a home. I think it makes it feel like it is even more yours. Now get you a zero turn mower and enjoy that new home. Congrats again.