Dolphin’s Dock » Blog Archive

Our New Home?

June 17, 2009

Front of house

I didn’t expect it to happen so soon, but we’ve put an offer in on a house! It’s actually the very first house we went to see in person. We’ve looked at other since and will continue looking until this one is set in stone, but really it’s the best we’ve seen by leaps and bounds. Prior to starting the house hunt, I was told “Don’t settle, you’ll know when it’s the right house.” If that’s the case, then this is the one because from the moment we found the listing we both were very excited about it.

The front porch

It’s being sold by two real estate agents. Well, two guys, at least one of whom is a real estate agent. I get the distinct impression that the other is a buddy who “joined the team” perhaps after getting laid off or something. The first time we saw the house it was with the “buddy” and we left a bit concerned because, while we really liked the house, the guy who showed it (who is the owner) didn’t seem to know much of anything about the house, or even about the work that was supposedly done to it, by him. For instance, we noticed that the upper kitchen cabinets were an almost imperceptibly different color than the lower ones. So we asked about it, and he assured us that the cabinets were all new, until we pressed further and he eventually called his partner and was told, that indeed the upper cabinets were new, but the lower were not. Little things like that bother me because if the owner can’t take the care to learn about the house (or even know what was done to it under his ownership), then how much care was taken when he was working on it?

The foyer

The second showing, we specifically requested the other guy (is that rude? I don’t really care, we’re spending a ton of money here). Felt much better with him. He knew about the house, as we walked through he even pointed out things that the inspector was likely going to note and he was planning on fixing. He was able to answer all of our questions, and when we noted that we are going to have to replace all the windows, he even offered his 10% discount if we were interested. He wasn’t being a pushy salesman, he just actually knew the property and clearly knew about real estate dealings, something his partner absolutely did not.

The kitchen

The really interesting thing about this place is how everything has miraculously fallen into place for us with this particular house. First of all, even as we began our house hunt, we have been worrying about where our down payment was going to come from. The bank had told us that if necessary we could get a second, no interest loan, to be paid off immediately upon receipt of our $8k first time homebuyer’s tax credit, but frankly, we wanted to use that 8k to do some work on the house (in the case of this house, we want to use that to replace the windows and blow insulation into the walls, both of which would offer double energy credits on taxes as well if we do them this year!). It was actually on the trip back from our second viewing of the house that the thought suddenly occurred to me; I vaguely recall my mother mentioning that I had some life insurance dividends I could get my hands on. I was pretty sure I couldn’t pay the full down payment with them, but even if I just had $1,000 (which was my guess), that’s $1,000 that we wouldn’t have to find elsewhere! So that night I called up my mom to ask about how much I had in there. Interestingly, she’d just received a statement the previous Saturday, so she could tell me EXACTLY how much I had. I was quite a ways off with my $1,000 estimate. turns out, I have nearly EXACTLY the down payment amount (about $50 over) sitting there just waiting for me to ask for a check!

The backyard from the back porch

The other concern was getting out of our current place and into this one with no overlap. I hate the fact that you have to give 60 days vacating notice because, while I understand the rental office doesn’t want their home sitting empty and therefore need to find a new tenant before we move, I feel like it’s hard to have a place lined up for 2 months down the road. Most owners want to close as soon as possible so they are no longer paying mortgage payments on the place. Turns out, there’s a little legal loophole that just happens to protect us from that. FHA loans (which is what we are getting) have an “anti-flip” provision that requires home sellers own the property 90 days before selling it. The guys we’re by from did in fact “flip” this home after buying it as a foreclosure. They’ll have owned it 90 days in August. Perfect timing.

Of course there was one other concern that I had regarding getting out of our old place. Namely, what if we needed back in! I mean, there are things that can fall through in the best laid plans. For instance if something big showed up on the home inspection and our land lord had already found a new tenant for the house we’re in now, we would need to find something in an impossibly short period of time or find ourselves homeless. Turns out, like every other concern that has popped up in this process, the solution has popped up just as quickly and effortlessly. When we went to give 60 days notice to our landlord, we voiced the concern. Turns out, they want to put a new roof on the house after we’re out anyways (side note: that’s good, it needs it). There for, they won’t start advertising the place until after we move, giving them time to install a new roof before the next tenant moves in. Meaning, if something does fall through with our house purchase, our current place will still be available for us!

It’s really been amazing how everything is just falling into place for us on this. We’ve placed an offer, been countered, and accepted the counter (though we haven’t yet heard back from the seller). It appears the only other obstacle left to cross is the home inspection. Wish us continuing good luck!

posted by dolphin at 1:20 pm

5 Responses to “Our New Home?”

jim voorhies on June 19, 2009 at 9:07 am

Way cool, dolphin! Nice house. I love older homes.
Exador on June 26, 2009 at 8:50 am

Oooooo. That’s a really nice house. Good Job!
grandefille on June 30, 2009 at 2:23 pm

Oh, sweeties. I can see why you picked it. It’s welcoming even in photos!

May you boys have a most wonderful life in your new home. (I can’t even comprehend how berserk the pups will go in that backyard. O my goodness!)

Best wishes!
grandefille on June 30, 2009 at 2:29 pm

Where was my head? Did I have it with me all day?

Of course there are kittehs in your home, not pups. Pet them for me in apology, if you will.

Plus, they’ll get more use out of those dormer windows than any dog would. HA.
- dolphin on June 30, 2009 at 9:40 pm
  
  No worries, there may well be a pup as well before too long now that we’ll have a nice big fenced-in backyard.
  
  Thanks (to everyone) for the well wishes!