Our Journey to Home Ownership

[andemalia]

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@StartingOver10 wrote:

Congratulations! Sounds like you made the right move. Short sales are difficult now, at least here in S Florida. The banks are looking for more than market value on many of the short sale properties (that's crazy, right??)!

Getting the townhome that is move in ready sounds like an ideal solution!

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Yes, and to add to all that, the home that we had viewed before this last one and for which our offer was rejected happened to have appraised under sales price and under the seller's bottom line for selling plus a few issues came up that the seller was not able or willing to fix. We know this because their agent called our agent to ask if we were still interested!! We are so glad we moved right along and kept looking even though we were so disappointed at first that they rejected our offer or should I say picked someone else with the exact same offer as ours.

[andemalia]

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@frugalQ wrote:

congratulations!  all of the stresses and let downs makes finding the right house that much more exciting!!

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Yes frugalQ I believe it's all part of the game, the ups and downs. If it's smooth sailing how can it be exciting? In retrospect at least?

[andemalia]

Hello friends,

We had our inspection today. Very uneventful and just a nice opportunity to take our time to look at the house in detail with no pressure. There was a few very minor issues that actually do not require any attention at all. We are just asking the seller's to pay for home warranty for us (continue whatever they had for another year on them) since the appliances and everything else is original to the home which is 14 years old (2001). 

We also just paid for the appraisal so it was ordered today. We also sent all of the documents the lender needs for the loan so I guess we can say that we formally "applied" today even though our preapproval was okayed by whatever system they use (including DTI, income and credit).

So updating the timeline:

Type of loan: FHA loan, $265k at 3.5%

Location: Prince George's County, Maryland

So here is a new timeline:

02/01/2015 : Put an offer

02/03: Offer verbally accepted... pending on Redfin YAY!!!

02/04: Offer ratified

02/09: Inspection done! Appraisal ordered! Application submitted!

[Movin_on_up]

Congrats!  These are big steps.   

Did you get the inspection report today as well?   Curious about the usual turnaround time.

Thanks.

[andemalia]

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@Movin_on_up wrote:

Congrats!  These are big steps.   

Did you get the inspection report today as well?   Curious about the usual turnaround time.

Thanks.

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Movin_on_up, no we didn't, but the inspector had a tablet so at the end he showed us all the pictures with his comments, it was about 5 pictures I believe. He updloaded the report on some website that we can access and sent us a link sometime in the evening. I am not sure how longer it would have taken him if there had been more serious issues. But the fact that he does everything on the tablet and uploads as soon as he is done makes it faster. Paper and pen would certainly take longer... Weren't you blogging as well? I mean weren't you recording your own journey on another thread? I was wondering how far you had done. I had subscribed

[Anonymous]

Our inspector had a giant 3 ring binder that he took all his notes and checked all his boxes in. Before we left the house after the inspection (2.5 hours), we had the binder in hand and he had copies to give to our realtor and whoever else. Everything in that book was carbon paper.

[andemalia]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Our inspector had a giant 3 ring binder that he took all his notes and checked all his boxes in. Before we left the house after the inspection (2.5 hours), we had the binder in hand and he had copies to give to our realtor and whoever else. Everything in that book was carbon paper.

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Oh wow, your inspector definitely seemed to be very organized. I like the idea of the carbon paper LOL. Except if we wanted to scan everything and keep it digital like we ave done for everything up until now. 

[andemalia]

A few small updates:

I just spoke to our loan officer and he informed us that the appraiser went out yesterday. I was itching to ask for the results but I know it takes sometime for appraiser to finish his job and communicate the results and that it's much more than just looking at the home and neighboring homes so I'll ask that early next week.

He also said that he believes we should have our conditional approval by the end of next week. It would then go to CDA (we are getting assistance funds from a first time homebuyer state program), which usualy gets back to them in 48 hours. So we should be close to the end in about 10 days if all goes well, according to God's will!

I will keep you all posted about the appraisal!! We offered full price at $265k and I don't think it will appraise for that much. Maybe a few thousands under, it hasn't been updated but again not sure whether the homes around it have... I mean carpet all over, vynil in the kitchen, 14 year old oak cabinets, black/white original appliances and everything else is original to the home which is 14 years old this year. However, it's been very well maintained and is extremely clean in a nice family-friendly community. Only update is a new deck (less than 3 years old).

[andemalia]

Updated timeline

Type of loan: FHA loan, $265k at 3.5%

Location: Prince George's County, Maryland

So here is a new timeline:

02/01/2015 : Put an offer

02/03: Offer verbally accepted... pending on Redfin YAY!!!

02/04: Offer ratified

02/09: Inspection done! Appraisal ordered! Application submitted!

02/10: Addendum ratified; loan disclosures received

02/11: Appraisal completed; Earnest money deposit received by title company (not cashed yet)

[cammyspot]

I am excited for you. Keep us updated!