topic Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo.... in Mortgage Loans

Made an offer...accepted! ----> a.k.a Home purchase venting thread

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:50:08 GMT

So...after all my scary thoughts about being approved because of my self-employment, I ended up getting approved no problem. Which by the way, was much less painful than I expected it to be! Got the full approval and commitment letter before house hunting.

Went up to look at houses all weekend. Actually went into about 12, drove past about 20. Some we just didn't like from the outside or the block etc. We had originally had it narrowed down to a few neighboring towns (moving out of state) but decided on on particular town towards the end of the trip. Neighborhood was nicer, better schools, closest in terms of commute to city, etc.- it was just more "us" as well. We saw a few that were okay but they needed a LOT of work. After going through the last house on the list - I was not impressed.So, we were talking about coming back up next weekend to try again. (Which is a major hurdle with a kid in school, a dog to board, neighbors looking in on cats, etc. argh!!!)

My realtor asks me why I didn't ask her to see one of the houses she sent me in the list of homes she sent me and I told her it just didn't 'wow' me and I didn't like the staircase going up to the bedroom in one of the photos, it looked really narrow and strange, etc. She tells me things can look really different in photos and it's right down the street, so why don't we just take a peek at it. Okay fine...we go in and it's perfect! Kitchen needs remodeling, but I expected that...and wanted that. I don't want to pay for someone else's renovations I know what I want and wanted to do it myself. Hardwood floors are in great shape, windows are fairly recent, roof looks only 2-3 years old, heating system is NEW and was converted from the old oil system to gas!! (Que: singing angels/music)

Yard is fenced and just needs a gate at end of driveway. Perfect for the doggie. The neighborhood is full of similar style homes- great block. Everyone seems to maintain their property nicely, noteably landscaped even though it's winter and everything is dead. Now, it's a few hundred sq feet smaller than I had hoped for, but I think that the nicer neighborhood and better school district is worth the size compromise.

Bank owned, but in surprisingly good shape. Made an offer yesterday, it was accepted today!! I offered only $5k under asking price, as I knew it was a great deal after seeing all the crap I saw for the whole weekend. The house across the street is 130 sq feet smaller and sold for $55k more 3 months ago. And, this home that I plan to buy sold for $104k more in October of 2007, so I think I'm getting a steal! I am so excited and so thankful for all of the support that has been given to me here! I don't think I ever would have made it this far if it were not for this forum.

Thank you, thank you!!

Message Edited by UpUpUp on 03-25-2009 07:50 AM

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:07:18 GMT

Congratulations!

I've enjoyed following your progress through the forums so i am very excited for you! And what a great lesson to the rest of us still looking... pictures can be deceiving

Sending good thoughts your way so everything from here out goes just as smoothly!

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

GFer — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:27:38 GMT

Wow! Congratulations to YOU!

Your scenario sounds sooo much like mine! My realtor threw one in one day (I usually only look at ones I pick out and send her). We pulled up in the driveway and I said 'NO" and started to get back into the car. She and my son convinced me into going in. I fell in love! Offer accepted today!

I know exactly what you mean about photos. I've looked at close to 80 now and none of them ever look like they do in pictures!!! Good or bad---they just don't!

Ironically, the night before and morning of the day I first saw this one I had looked at the pictures and said "EWWW! No way!" (Didn't even realize until after I had put a contract on this house that I had seen it in online searches a few times!) After putting a contract on it was trying to pull up pics to show family. I was never so happy that listing was really wrong in showing the amount of rooms and bathrooms and the pics were horrible!

So, everyone out there looking....drive around as well as looking online. And if the listings seem to have what your looking for in an area that is acceptable to you---LOOK at it in person!

Again UP.....BIG Congrats!!!

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:54:52 GMT

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:09:59 GMT

Thank you, guys! I feel like I am so close I can almost taste it. It's still too good to be true, so I'm weary in the back of my mind. I can not wait until the day I find myself at the closing table. Oh what a nice feeling that will be!!

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

MsKiwi — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:32:49 GMT

Huge congratulations to you. This is looking to be your year! It's so exciting to see people reaching their goals. I'm very happy for you.

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

WannaHouse — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:39:08 GMT

HUGE congrats!! Let us know when you have those keys

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

musikklvr — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:35:07 GMT

Congratulations Up!!! I'm sure it feels good to be almost there. Way to Go!!

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

valley_man0505 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:31:37 GMT

Congrats! You and I seem to be living parallel lives here. I have also been fearing the approval process for almost a year now. I finally got my credit to where I thought I'd have a chance (mid score at 623), so I went for pre-approval on Feb. 9 after seeing a home I liked the day before. I was quickly pre-approved, placed an offer, did a counter back and forth with the seller and was accepted. I never thought I'd be in this position even as recently as 3 weeks ago and now, suddenly, I am scheduled to close on my first home March 30 due to some very timely CA deletions. I have my fingers crossed--still waiting on final mortgage approval which is still scaring me to death despite the pre-approval (should hear back on that by next Wednesday). Appraisal is being done today. I can't even imagine how much fun this must be for someone with good credit who knows FOR SURE that nothing can go wrong before closing.

I will race ya to the closing table

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:53:19 GMT

@valley_man0505 wrote:
Congrats! You and I seem to be living parallel lives here. I have also been fearing the approval process for almost a year now. I finally got my credit to where I thought I'd have a chance (mid score at 623), so I went for pre-approval on Feb. 9 after seeing a home I liked the day before. I was quickly pre-approved, placed an offer, did a counter back and forth with the seller and was accepted. I never thought I'd be in this position even as recently as 3 weeks ago and now, suddenly, I am scheduled to close on my first home March 30 due to some very timely CA deletions. I have my fingers crossed--still waiting on final mortgage approval which is still scaring me to death despite the pre-approval (should hear back on that by next Wednesday). Appraisal is being done today. I can't even imagine how much fun this must be for someone with good credit who knows FOR SURE that nothing can go wrong before closing.

I will race ya to the closing table

I bet you beat me there! Actually this house is HUD not Bank owned. I don't know what I was thinking before when I said REO, probably because every other house I found was. There are only 2 HUD homes in the entire town I was looking in and of course leave it to me to pick 1 of the only 2! Honestly, this home was pretty well cared for and I don't know the circumstances behind it winding up a HUD home, but I think I got pretty lucky. I know typically they are not in this good of shape.

Already had one hurdle today. Had to overnight the signed P&S agreement to HUD by this morning. However, since I live out of state, I had to have my realtor fax it to me, then me sign and overnight to her. Her go over everything and put package together and overnight it to HUD. They got it today and because it was faxed they thought it was a copy and they want original signatures. She had to point out to them that the signature is original, it was only a fax because I live out of state and no way could we get everything to them within 48 hours of accepted offer (that's their rule, they accept offer and you have 48 hours to get them P&S) without faxing me the P&S. The guy said, okay and that he would see if 'they' would accept it. Whatever that means.

Then I have only 15 days to get my inspections done. Normally that would be no big deal, but the house is winterized because it's in new england and it's winter it's common to do this...However, since they aren't going to pay a dime for anything. I have to pay out of pocket to dewinterize (Approx $200) for a DAY! Have electric, gas and water service turned on for a DAY...then schedule it to be turned off the next day and also pay AGAIN out of pocket to Re-winterize the home! I even offered to just pay to have the utilities kept on until closing and they said NO! So...scheduling all of this is going to be fieldday...trying to do it from another state and then travel up for the inspection and hope that everybody (utility companies) comes through...is going to be a stress.

Of course, then after close I will have to pay again to dewinterize house and then turn utilities back on. Basically it's a lot of stress and about $600 or so of wasted money, BUT....in the end, if the inspection doesn't turn up any major issues, it will be WELL worth it.

But...again...can you say stress?

So, don't be envious of my credit scores....I'd rather be waiting to hear from the mortgage guy then dealing with this crap! LOL

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:53:46 GMT

Oh and congrats!! (I'm so rude, that should have been the FIRST thing I said!)

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:03:51 GMT

Super Congrats UpUpUp!!!!

I'm thrilled that your home purchase worked out

for you. Your experience just goes to show that

things aren't always what they appear to be until you

actually see them for yourself. And in your case,

things turned out better than expected. What more

can a person ask for??!!!

Once again, Congratulations on your pending purchase.

You'll own a piece of Americana before you know it, and

we look forward to hearing you jingle those keys here in

the room. Enjoy!!!!

CanDo

"The right attitude is everything"

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:06:58 GMT

Thank you, CanDo!! You are always so supportive.

I can't wait to jingle those keys. This has been such a long time coming. I am in my early 30's and have been renting since I was 17/18 years old. (Right after highschool!). I have been waiting and waiting for this time to come. I hope that everything with the inspections works out.

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

valley_man0505 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:10:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

But...again...can you say stress?

So, don't be envious of my credit scores....I'd rather be waiting to hear from the mortgage guy then dealing with this crap! LOL

Actually, I didn't even notice your score when I made my comment--that was just a generalized statement. Now that I did notice your mid-score, I have to admit, I am kind of envious--but only about the score...lol. It does definitely sound like you do have a stressful situation. I was lucky in that the house I am getting was pre-certified, meaning it was already inspected and comes with a one-year home warranty. I was able to see the inpsection report before I even made an offer. Now, I COULD do another inspection of my own, but the report that has been done was very detailed. Besides, I never thought about the winterization aspect. I am in Wisconsin, so I would probably be in the same boat as you there. Speaking of "winter", though, I do know that I am getting into a place with a 37 year old furnace, which was a mental factor I had to overcome when deciding if I liked the place, but I will save the stress of dealing with that until after the close--there is enough stress already. I will just hope it fails during the one-year warranty

My appraisal was supposed to be done sometime today, but I don't anticipate any problems from that.

The only other "stress" I have at this time is the downpayment "gift" which is coming from my fiance. The first broker I talked to said it could ONLY come from a family member, which was very concerning since this broker only does FHA loans (well, 99% of their business anyway), so I figured they knew what they were talking about. But, I did some research and they were wrong, but they wouldn't admit they were wrong, so I went to another broker--the one I am working with now. He originally said "it WOULDN'T be a problem", but then it changed to "it SHOULDN'T be a problem" which has now changed to, "if we go about it the right away, we should be able to convince the underwriters to accept--it just may take some work". Sheesh. I have never had such a hard time convincing someone to take money.

Best of luck to you. I will continue to follow your journey as long as you continue to post updates.

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:20:54 GMT

Oh, well as for the credit thing. My SE income was my biggest hurdle. I could have had an 800 and still would have been just as scared. It's crazy how each situation is truly unique.

You know, I was able to see the inspection from HUD too which was also surprisingly detailed, but the heating system is newer which a big part of the reason I choose this house. To not have the ability to verify that it's working properly and there are no leaks, etc. just is too unsettling for me. I'd be really bummed that I picked this home over a larger one that needed more work, only to find out this one needs just as much work, too! So, to me, I'll eat the money and the stress to find out for sure. In your case, I totally see where you are coming from and it makes sense both financially AND mentally to take the route you are taking. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the furnace dies during your warranty period. Hehe.

I have been looking into the home warranties online. Some seem pretty decent. I can purchse one myself if I wanted to, right? Or does it have to be the seller purchasing for the buyer?

VM, I'll follow your experience as well. Hopefully everything goes smooth and your stories and reports are boring. Boring would be good! Hehe. No news is good news. In this case, that's what we want!

Here's a question to all: Have any of you ever had a home warranty and had an experience where you needed to use it? Was it worth it? And, what company was it with?

Message Edited by UpUpUp on 02-19-2009 05:20 PM

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

first48 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:58:27 GMT

I don't own my own home yet but I was living in my mother's home and she lived in another home with her husband. Anyway she had a home warranty and kept it up the entire time I lived in her house and she still has it. It really does come in handy. I have gotten a new washer, a new water heater, and have had the toilet and the air conditioner serviced. You pay a monthly amount which I think for my mom was about 38.00 and then when something goes wrong you call the home warranty company and they fax your info to whatever company is in your area. You have a service charge which depends on home warranty company. For my mom it started off at 40.00 and now I think it is 55.00. You pay your service and that's it. Even if something has to be replaced. For instance the motor went out on the washer and I had an option to have the washer fixed or given 300.00 to go towards a washer. Of course I got the new washer. Like I said it comes in handy. The name of the company my mother has is American Homeshield.

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:13:38 GMT

Thanks, First48 that was a big help.

There is a part of me that is thinking, maybe instead of going through all this hassle with the dewinterizing process, we purchase a home warranty and hope for the best with the heating/plumbing situation. The cost of the warranty for the first year would be less than the $ shelled out for winterization services alone which really are a big waste of money. Atleast with a home warranty we'd have some peace of mind for a little while. Even if it doesn't cover everything, or has caps on what it pay out, it's better than nothing... I am willing to buy the home and pay up to $10k in repairs if needed. I am thinking that maybe I take the chance that the plumbing/heating is alright...and even if it's not, that it won't cost more than my alloted $10k that even if I had to pay, still make this house a good deal all around. All utilities had been on in the house when HUD inspected it on 12/2008 - so it's unlikely that were any big plumbing or heating issues. Hmmm...I hate havng to make decisions like this.

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:09:59 GMT

Hmmm...google search is not providing good reviews on the home warranty idea.

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:50:16 GMT

Congrats UpUpUp!!

We keep having the similar stories! I'm under contract for a house too (although I don't think I got as great a deal as you, I'm very happy.) I got it inspected last week, and the sellers agreed to do a couple things that were minor..no major problems found.

Now come the hard part....waiting till they gives us da keys!

Re: Made an offer...accepted! Woo Hoo....

valley_man0505 — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:53:25 GMT

In my case, I know I can renew the warranty for another year for $480 after my initial one year warranty is up. However, I don't know what it takes to get one set up in the first place. I would assume some type of inspection needs to be done first prior to the policy being issued. Not sure what your google search turned up, but I would imagine it is like anything else--there are good ones and bad ones and you may never know which one you are going to get. The house I am purchasing was listed by the largest real estate agency in my area and a good share of their listings have this home warranty. From what I have heard from the agent I have been working with is that they seem to work out pretty well.