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She has no idea…
She has no idea how complicated things have been around here for the past few days. Wouldn’t it be grand if all we had to worry about was how much longer we could stay at the playground?
(We weren’t able to come to an agreement with the appraiser, so we will be getting another appraisal from a different bank. I’ll keep you posted!)
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The Bumpy Road to Home
I have news! Our closing date is set for June 16th. If we do, in fact, get to close the deal on that date, we will be moving the week of the 23rd.
There is a slight chance that we won’t be able to close that date, however.
After getting back in town on Tuesday, my Fantastic Realtor asked me to follow up on a few things. Mainly, we needed to know how the appraisal came back. Now I knew that our original loan officer was out of town until June 10th, but I needed to find out something ASAP. Fortunately, I was able to talk to one of her colleagues. Unfortunately, she did not have good news for me.
Our appraisal came back lower than the price that we offered for the home. Significantly lower.
Our Fantastic Realtor, Dr. D, and I were all stunned. We (well, actually the Fantastic Realtor) parsed through the appraisal report, scrutinizing every minute detail. The three of us were completely unsatisfied with the report. After calling the bank to request another appraisal, having that request denied, and crying a little, we are back on track. They are allowing us a few days to try and get the appraisal report amended by the original appraiser. If he is unwilling to redo his analysis, we will be switching lenders and getting another appraisal.
How do I feel about all of this? Tired. Dog tired. I’ve been on the phone with too many bankers this week. Our deal is not dead, but it is on life support. It may temporarily flatline next week, but if that happens, we’ll just revive it by moving to another bank! I just have to hold out and be patient until Monday. Do you know how hard that is?
Almost Home
First off, thanks so much for all of your sweet emails and comments about the house. It means SO MUCH to me that you are interested enough to keep reading this blog!
And now for the big news….the sellers accepted the offer! We are under contract! Overall, we are pleased with the terms of the offer. They excluded the hot tub, but that’s fine. I doubt that we will replace it either.
Our next big hurdle is the inspection, which we will be getting within the next 10 business days. If that is clear, we will proceed to closing!
Is it too early to start picking out paint colors?
Wishing, Hoping, Thinking and Planning
Ok. Things have been a little light in the posting department this week because I’ve been busy. Ladybug started Preschool on Thursday. She did great, and I’ll write more on that in a later post. Other than that, our week has been consumed with anticipation.
Will they accept our offer? Will they counter? Will they just laugh in our faces and tell us that we are crazy?
That’s pretty much how the dialogue in my head has been running since Monday night. Why is buying a house so much of a head trip? I’m about to go out of my mind!
Today, we got our counter offer. We have had some time to absorb the information that it contained (we got the disclosure today too), but we still have some questions. Hopefully they will be answered quickly so we can either re-counter or reject.
I hope we can come to an agreement. We are this close. I don’t want to have to settle for another house that we don’t love.
The House that Haunts Us.
A year ago, our awesome realtor took us to look at this house. We had already been 10-15 homes in the area trying to get a sense about what was on the market. There are a few different floorplans here that we weren’t familiar with, not to mention the completely new concept of a large basement that functions as living space.
Fortunately for us, our realtor was able to quickly (and I mean SUPER FAST) learn what we liked and didn’t like. She was able to also get an idea of what our “dream” situation would be. Even more fortunate for us was the fact that she knew the people that lived in this house. How you ask? They were clients considering buying/selling with her!
After going in the house the first time, Dr. D and I were hooked. It is in wonderful condition (or so we think), it has tons of space for us and our junk, and it is in a nice little subdivision with sidewalks and mature trees.
And check out the deck. It has an awning that rolls out over it if you don’t want the sun!
And a HOT TUB!!!!
Aside from all of the posh outdoor features, the inside is pretty awesome too. The Master Bedroom has it’s own fireplace, and sitting room. Not to mention a closet that is big enough to be a nursery!
And then there’s the basement.
See the drawers? They are refrigerated drawers! There’s a sink to the left, and a dining area to the right.
While we were in the process of falling in love with the place, we knew that this house was out of our price range. We kept running the numbers in our head, unable to make them work at the price that the owners were wanting.
Unfortunately for us, we had already been in the house! We knew that it would be a great home for our family. Every time we would talk about things like getting new furniture or a new TV we would start hypothetically talking about where we would put that item in “the big house”.
A year has passed and we are still talking about this house. We drive by it occasionally. (Ok, not occasionally. More like constantly. I’m sure they think we are stalking them!) We have started eating and shopping in that area to get a feel for the community. I even drove over there this winter “just to see how they cleared the snow from the streets”.
The house has been haunting us. The fact that we knew that it would be perfect for us wasn’t helping. Neither was the fact that we had sold our house in Arkansas. We are just dying to move out of this place!!
So, we made an offer on it last night.
Yep. You read that correctly. I am so giddy with excitement that I can hardly contain myself today. The market here has gone so soft that we are (hopefully) going to be able to get the house at a much better price point for our budget than it was a year ago. It is still not “on the market” but they are actively seeking a bigger home (they just had their 4th little girl). We should know their answer by tomorrow.
While it is hard waiting, I have tons of paperwork and errands to help me pass the time. Ladybug starts preschool on Thursday!
It has been a super busy week so far, and it’s only Tuesday. Don’t forget to check out the Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 Giveaways, and check back tomorrow for another one!
We gotta get out of this place
Last week, Ladybug got to spend some time with my parents back in Arkansas. They begged and pleaded for her to stay graciously allowed her to stay while Dr. D and I returned to Michigan to do some serious house hunting (and recuperating).
Well, I didn’t really get much accomplished last week. I was recovering from the two-month-long festival of illness that has plagued my house for, well, two months. Sore throats were the main culprit, but the week that we were in AR, a gross cough consumed both Ladybug and me. I chalked it up the stupid blooming Bradford Pear trees, but I’m not sure if it was really allergies or not. I’m still not 100%, but I am certainly feeling better. The copious amounts of NyQuil I consumed last week HAD to help with that, right? More likely, it was the sleep that the NyQuil allowed me to get, but I digress. I feel better and that’s all that matters.
While the little one was away, I was able to look at a few houses that interested us, but overall, I think we know which one we want. The only problem is, it’s occupied. The owners had a baby in February (my birthday, actually) so they kind of stopped looking for a bit. I know that they are still open to the prospect of moving into a larger home, but I’m not sure how quickly this deal could be executed. We are pursuing it, but I’m growing impatient with this tiny duplex. I’m ready to close and move TODAY!! I so desperately want to move out of this place.
This is a picture of Ladybug coloring at our 4-top kitchen table. I turned my computer around to get the pic with photobooth. See the stretch of kitchen cabinets behind her? Yeah. That’s all there is. less than two feet on one side of the sink where we have to store the crock-pot (notice the fruit dish ON TOP of the crock-pot), and only about three feet on the other side where the dish drying rack and microwave are housed. The kitchen table is our saving grace in here. We use it for a desk, craft table, island, and general surface to set stuff down. I would just LOVE to have at least one stretch of true counterspace that wasn’t occupied by a piece of kitchen crap equipment. The worst part of it all? See the sweet pink dish brush on the sink? Yeah. That is our dishwasher. It is not automatic.
But, my kiddo is back and life is returning back to normal. I missed her terribly and it seems she has changed so much. I always swear that a “week is too long and I’ll never do it again.” We’ll see. I doubt it will be her last vacation with the grandparents.
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