House Hunting Hams: October 2006

Friday, October 27, 2006

Waiting...Again

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while, but not much has happened.

I had to sign another piece of paper...more legal/financial stuff.

Our apartment situation might be worked out (as best as it can be). We will still have to pay for it through February, if no one comes along and rents it before then. That's what we're praying for. We definitely don't want to refer anyone we know, because the management company is terrible. So, now we are starting to pack all of the nonessentials. Bright side: I get all the boxes we could ever need for free from work. We have our timeline for when we want to get each area of the apartment packed...it's nice to have a schedule.

I don't want to get too excited, because nothing is certain, but my supervisor has resigned. This creates an opportunity for me to advance, which is something I've been praying for. I have already filled out the internal application form for the position and asked my manager if she will sign it. She said that she would, but we need to wait until the position is posted before we can submit it. This opportunity is coming at, what I think is, a good time. I've been working on a big project that I developed from its beginning and it's starting to get close to happening. That has brought me a lot of attention and compliments from the right people. There are other factors that are working in my favor too, so we'll just have to wait, pray, and see what God has in store for me in my career. Praise God for the opportunity!

The FHA inspection/appraisal will probably be sometime next week, so I'll keep you posted on when that ends up being and what happens. Be in prayer that the inspector is merciful and won't require us to make a lot of repairs. This would allow us to put more money down, thus making our payment lower, which we really need.

Thanks & we'll be in touch...

Monday, October 23, 2006

Inspection

Our home inspection was today. I met our inspector, Denise, at the house at 11:00 a.m. She was very nice and seemed to know her stuff. We got right to it and here's what we found (from her report):

Items Not Operating

*Some exterior lights and garage lights (light bulbs burned out, more than likely)
*Plumbing was not turned on, so we couldn't check any of that
*Back left burner on the stove was not working (the rest worked fine)
*There are two exhaust fans in the kitchen. One in the ceiling (looks like the original) and one directly above the stove (newer hood style). The one in the ceiling appears to work fine, but she did not think that it was vented outside the attic. The hood is not working properly and appears that it is not vented outside the attic either.
*The radiator in the bathroom did not warm up and there is a small electric heater built into the wall by the sink that did not work either.
*None of the switches in the living room operate outlets, so there must have been a ceiling light, but no longer.
*Smoke detector (battery operated) in the basement not working (probably just needs a new battery).

Majors Concerns

*Peeling paint & what appears to be old moisture in the soffits.
*Leaking joints & corners in the gutters and missing extensions for the downspouts. Gutters need to be cleaned out and are rusting.
*What appears to be mold in the laundry room closet (more serious).
*Evidence of moisture behind the tile in the bath area of the bathroom.
*What appears to be mold in bedroom #1 closet (less serious).
*Evidence of old moisture on basement walls, ceiling, & floor.
*Kitchen waste water is draining to a floor drain in the basement.
*Excessive cracking on the basement walls & basement garage stair area.
*Water heater is missing the pressure relief valve and is leaking.

Of course, there is a lot of other information in her report and some of the stuff listed above is not as bad as it sounds. We found out what we wanted from the inspection and we verified what may be problem areas for our FHA inspection (unsure of when that will be). With a lot of work cleaning, repairing, & refinishing things, we should have a very comfortable home.

We also received our first round of paperwork from the seller that we need to read & sign today. Exciting stuff to be sure!

We're still waiting to hear how the financing portion of our home buying experience is going. I need to submit some more paycheck stubs, because my employer, in the Verification of Employment form, told the lender that my hours vary between 35 & 40 hours a week. What?! I told our mortgage broker that, if it's not overkill, I would be willing to give the lender every paycheck stub from the time I started working here (1 year & 5 months ago). He didn't seem to think that would be necessary. ;) Oh well, I'll do what I have to do to get it done.

As always, I'll keep you posted on any & all updates or revelations. Stay tuned...

Friday, October 20, 2006

Wait

It's hard to be patient and wait on something when you are so excited! I have so many things I'd like to do in, on, and around that house to start to make it our home! I know Stacy is feeling the same way.

I've been making lists. A list of things we would like to do in each room of the house, the basement, and outside (some realistic, some dreaming). A list of our needs & wants (lawn mower-need, dishwasher-want). A list of resources for how-to information (eHow.com, Lowes, Home Depot, New Yankee Workshop, etc.). A list of basic things we will need to do when we move in (switch utilities over to our name, USPS change of address, etc.). This has occupied me a little.

I e-mailed our realtor today to see where we stand with paperwork. She has been out of town and will have to wait until she gets home tomorrow to see if she has received anything. Stacy and I will be out of town for the weekend, so we will have to wait until Monday to do anything.

Wait, be patient, relax, don't be anxious...hard things to do at a time like this. Possible though, with the help of the Lord.

Matthew 11:28-30
28 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles,
a division of Good News Publishers
All rights reserved.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Craziness

This mornings meeting with our mortgage broker & realtor went well enough. I didn't walk away with any definite answers, but I'm sure that is usually the case when dealing with these matters. What we did accomplish was figuring out that USDA Rural Development, our first time home buying program, will most likely approve our loan amount. If they decide not to, we still have a down payment that they don't know about that will change their minds. The other thing we accomplished was notifying the listing agent that we would accept the banks counter offer. That brought about another set of circumstances. The listing agent told our realtor that they had already told the seller about the other offer, but had not informed them of what the offer was. In my play book, that is a foul. I always thought that when someone makes an offer on a listing, no other offers are accepted, especially after the seller makes a counter offer. It seems unethical at least. Oh well, it is what it is. So, we were at the mercy of the seller. They could choose to look at the other offer and possibly accept it. So, we waited...

Just a side note here. Evidently, the other offer did not come from the mortgage insurance company, but from another individual or couple. I'm not sure why the mortgage insurance company got mixed up in this.

Our realtor called me shortly after 2:00 and told us that we had gotten the house! The bank accepted our acceptance. ;) I called Stacy to tell her. We are both very excited, yet still grounded. We know that not everything is settled yet, so we shouldn't get overly excited, but it's hard not to.

I already called and made an appointment to get the house inspected on Monday. That will, hopefully, reassure us that the house we want, is the house we want & get.

As always, we need your continued prayers. Here's why. I called the property management company for our apartment this morning. I informed them that we were buying a house and asked about the possibility of moving out soon. Without pause, they said "I'm sorry, but you signed a Lease Renewal Form that says you cannot move out in the months of December, January, or February, so you will have to pay until February 28th." No "Congratulations on buying a house!", no "Let's talk this through and see if there is something we can work out." So, unfortunately, we chose the "wrong time" to decide to buy a house & move out of our apartment(wrong time according to the management company). We don't have any options here, only strategies. We just have to continue to trust that the Lord will provide a way. The only way we will be free and clear of the apartment after moving out is if someone rents it. So, PLEASE pray for someone to come along and rent our apartment in December. Thank you.

Well, that's all I have for now. I promise to keep you updated as I find things out.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Offer...Counter Offer

We heard back from our realtor today and the bank (the house is bank owned) made a counter offer. Unfortunately, it wasn't what we were hoping for and there was a twist. Evidently, the mortgage insurance company that insured the mortgage for the previous homeowner wants to make an offer now. Our realtor says that she has never heard of a mortgage insurance company doing this, but reassures us that she does not think that it's a scam (trying to get us to accept the banks offer for fear of getting into a bidding war with the mortgage insurance company). So, it's decision time (not like it hasn't been up till now). Do we make our own counter offer, thus rejecting the banks counter offer and allowing the mortgage insurance company to get into the bidding game? Or, do we accept the banks offer and pay more than we were prepared to pay? Another item to take note of: evidently, the bank can reject our acceptance of their counter offer (before we sign papers, of course) and still open the bidding up to the mortgage insurance company. Needless to say, we are glad that we can rely on the Lord for guidance and trust that He will put us where He wants us, when He wants us there.

So, please continue to be in prayer for us. I meet with our realtor & mortgage broker tomorrow morning to talk things over and decide where to go from here. I will update you all tomorrow, Lord willing. Thanks again for checking in.

Joel

Monday, October 16, 2006

NYA - Our Photos (1 of 16)

Well, here are the photos from our 2nd trip out to see the house. As I said before, our friend from church, Steve M., accompanied us to give us a professional contractor's opinion. We were very happy that we had him as a resource, because he saw some things that we probably never would have.

There was one small section of the foundation that was bowing slightly inward. There had been water (a little bit, not a lot) coming into the basement through windows or the wall (foundation). We found that while the house had gutters and downspouts, it did not have the part that carrys the water away from the house. It also looked like the basement window wells had not been covered previously. Making those small, inexpensive changes may make a world of difference. The only other problem that would need immediate attention is the bathroom wall where the fixtures for the tub/shower come out. It appears to have some rot, and will need to be torn out and replaced. What we do there will depend on how much work we want to do and how much money we will have to spend. The rest of the house appeared to be in good order and just needs cosmetic work.

Based on Steve's recommendation and the thought & prayers we had already put into this house, we decided to make an offer. So today, we met with our realtor and signed the Purchase Agreement with our offer and a proposed closing date of December 1st. Now we just sit back and wait to see what they come back with.

Your continued prayers are needed and appreciated.

Thanks for checking in. I'll update you when we hear something.