We started by talking with our local bank to get pre-approved for a mortgage. For those of you who have never done this, it is basically a lot of paperwork and faxing and stress. Our bank declined us. It was such a bummer to hear that news, but we decided to press on. We had heard some things about QuickenLoans, so we applied there and were pre-approved (Keep reading to learn about our experience with them). So the process started...
Because I was home a lot, I didn't think we needed a Realtor because I could look up houses myself! BAD IDEA! I scheduled a whole Saturday with different selling agents to view house after house with no real candidates. About halfway through the day we met with Kelsie Keleher. We loved her right away and decided to sign her as our agent. And thank goodness for it! She showed us a few houses that Saturday and one we were prepared to put in an offer, but I didn't feel ready. I couldn't describe why I didn't want the house, but to me it didn't feel right. At that time we were waiting for our bank to go over a mortgage pre-approval with just Michael since I have some student loans. I told him we should wait for that because the house was a little over our budget.
Then it snowed... two feet of snow... in a week. And our bank took FOREVER just to tell us we had been denied again! So I talked to our Realtor and set out to look at MORE houses. We found a house that day that I fell in love with. And here it is:
 |
| The outside is stucco |
 |
| I am so excited to have a porch! |
 |
| Living Room |
 |
| Looking from the Dining Room into the Kitchen |
 |
| Back porch! LOVE these arches! |
 |
| Kitchen |
 |
| Basement needing to be finished...Michael's project! |
 |
| The master bedroom is HUGE... this is only half of it! |
This was on Friday, which meant we had to wait until Monday before we could even meet with someone to talk about getting another pre-approval. We decided to go through US Bank because we also have an account with them and we hoped that because they are a bigger bank they would finance us... and they did... and it literally took them 2 hours to do the application! (Way better than 2 weeks)
At this point, I began thinking that we had a house! But then I remembered we were just getting started! And so now, we are in the inspection period! BLAH! We had our first inspection last Friday (a sewer camera). And so the bad news began! Apparently he went out to do it and found that because of how the house was done, it would cost $1000 just to do the sewer camera and required digging up the yard! EEK!!! Well, today we got the news that our Realtor fired him. He was being so unprofessional and couldn't get his story straight. Did I mention he wanted $100 just for driving out to the house!?!! YEAH RIGHT! So today RotoRooter is coming out to give a FREE estimate as to what may need to be done.
On the same note: This weekend Michael and I were praying and stressing about what we should do. We really love this home, but we are putting a lot of money into it already as a down-payment. And then guess what! Michael checked his email last night and he was awarded a $1000 scholarship for his good grades! What a blessing!
I am confident that this house is the house for us and I am super excited to make it into our home! Tomorrow is the full home inspection and I am so nervous that it is going to cost us more... but that's the life as a home owner I supposed! Then there is appraisal and the FHA inspection, and if those go well... it is ours!! YAY!! :)
March 13, 2013:
Well our inspections were yesterday, and overall, it wasn't too bad on our part! I was most worried about structural issues only because the house is older and that tends to be a common problem. Luckily there were NO structural issues! WOOT!! What we did find was that there were three gas leaks! That is so scary for the homeowners living there now. Luckily, it is something that is not too hard to fix, and it will be done before we move in. There we also a few electrical things that needed updating to meet current fire codes. We have asked the seller to complete these as well.
RotoRooter did come out and were able to get their sewer camera in and everything checked out there! We were really glad that it wasn't as big of a deal as the first plumber said.
Appraisal was yesterday, but we haven't heard anything back yet.
Now all that is left is the FHA inspections and if that goes well... the house is ours!! One more month til closing!!
March 22, 2013:
Well, some good and bad news came last week about our house. The bad is that for some reason the seller tried to lie and hide the fact that he had $21,000 on liens against the title of the house. After hearing this and feeling like my heart was going to break, I was comforted with the fact that because he was caught, he will have to pay for this and therefore we will not be held accountable. The good news? It will take 60 days to process this because he now has to deal with a lawyer. Why is that good news? Well, now that is 60 less days that we have to pay a rent and a mortgage! YAY! I have little hope that we will procrastinate closing until our lease is up, but hey, that is two more months we save!
Also, the appraisal came in at $14,000 over what we are paying for it! YAY! And apparently the FHA inspections were done at the same time and to my knowledge we didn't have any problems except getting a sink fixed, which is in our contract anyways.
First things first; congratulations on your new home! Nice to see sewer cameras aiding you in finding potential plumbing problems. Sewer cameras can be used to easily spot where the leaks are so plumbers don't have to dig up entire floors or lawns just to look on where the leaks are. It's too bad about your creepy first plumber though. It was a good decision to get a second opinion, as there are people out there to make a quick buck. So it's a good idea to seek another opinion just to be sure.
ReplyDeleteRudy Swanson @ Haaker Equipment Company\