Category: Home Purchase

Rescheduled Again

On By debweeksIn Home Purchase, UncategorizedLeave a comment

After being home most of the day, we left to run some errands.  The sky opened up and began to pour down rain and around the same time we received an email from the lender telling us they were missing a form they had sent us to complete, sign and return to them.  They requested we complete the form, sign it and get it back to them asap.  So, while I’m driving in a torrential down-pour, hubby begins to search thru all the documents and finds the one they are missing.  It was one of several documents the lender had asked us to complete 1-2 weeks ago.  A document we had completed and signed.  A document hubby had scanned and emailed to them within 24 hours of their request.  He re-sent the missing document letting them know it was sent previously and should have been in their email records.  The lender confirmed receipt of the document and told us everything was back in the hands of underwriting.

A short time later I received a call from our realtor telling us that closing has once again been changed.  Instead of closing at 8:30 tomorrow morning, we’ve been pushed back to noon.  All because the lender neglected to submit a document.  Of course we must not forget that last Friday our closing was pushed out to Wednesday and we were guaranteed it would be the last time.  Instead, it’s been rescheduled again.

I can’t say any of this is too shocking.  After all, this is the seventh time our closing has been scheduled and rescheduled.

  1.  June 15th – the seller requested a later closing date so they had time to find a rental.
  2. May 26th – the seller found a rental sooner than expected, so everything was moved up.
  3. May 27th – appraisal wasn’t received in time.
  4. May 28th – appraisal needed updates and the updates weren’t completed in time
  5. May 31st – appraisal updates still weren’t completed in time
  6. June 1st – appraisal updates were completed and our file submitted to underwriting for final approval.  Closing at 8:30 a.m.
  7. June 1st – lender didn’t include a document needed by underwriting so closing pushed out to noon.

As of 6:40 this evening we’ve been guaranteed that underwriting will review the last document and we WILL be closing tomorrow at noon.  Until all paperwork is signed and we have keys in hand, I will not trust this is the last reschedule.

Once everything is truly done, I’ll post and share more detail.  Until then, I’ll wallow in my frustration and continue preparing for our eventual move.

 

 

WEEEEEEE!

On By debweeksIn Home Purchase, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I jumped the gun yesterday.

Even though we were told closing was happening Tuesday morning, it appears that wasn’t accurate.

Around 7:30 last night, our lender called to let us know that closing has been moved to Wednesday.  It’s due to appraisal changes underwriting is requiring and the appraiser didn’t get them done yesterday.

We were promised this will be the last change, but at this point we’re not trusting anything we’re told.  After four changes, it becomes a little difficult to trust what we’re being told.  On top of that, underwriting is asking for more and more documentation.  It feels that as long as they have more time, they’ll just keep us busy chasing down documents. 

Our moment of joy dashed and now we wait to see what will actually happen.

On the bright side, I found out this morning that roofing materials were dropped off and tomorrow the roof will be replaced.  This was something the seller told us they would do from the very beginning and documents were signed stating they would replace the roof. 

With all the storms we’ve had this spring, I’m quite sure they wanted to wait until the last possible moment to try and avoid any possibility of another hail storm damaging the roof while they still carry the insurance on the house.  I’m also sure they didn’t want to default on the agreement, which would have given us the power to back out of buying the house.  Not that we would at this point, after all we’ve been thru just getting here.

So the roller coaster ride continues and with each blog post, I’m taking you along on the ride.

WEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Happy Dance

On By debweeksIn Home Purchase, Uncategorized2 Comments

The appraisal has arrived!!!!

It was sent after our lender left for the day yesterday, so technically on time, just not during the regular work day.

As of today we’re signing all necessary documents to close Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m.

We’ve informed the RV Park of our departure.

I’ve set up our accounts for water, gas, electric and garbage.

I’m contacting all our creditors to give them our new address.

I’m contacting all providers of junk mail and telling them to quit sending me junk mail J

We’ve been shopping for things we’ll need for the house and making plans for move-in.

I’m still feeling stressed, but now it’s a good kind of stress.  It’s the kind of stress that makes me do the Happy Dance!!!!!!!!

 

The Saga Continues

On By debweeksIn Home Purchase, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Closing has now been pushed out to Tuesday because the lender still doesn’t have the appraisal. 

The fact that the lender doesn’t have the appraisal is not shocking in the least.  We are working with the VA and they are not known for expediting things.  However, the frustrating part in this is that waiting until Tuesday means we have lost the entire three-day weekend.  A weekend we could use for moving things to our new home.  The weekend, when friends and family are off work and more able to assist us with getting things moved. 

I expressed my frustration to our realtor and she suggested we sign a temporary residential lease that would allow us to move in prior to closing.  It would cost us a little bit of money in rent, but would at least allow us to spend the weekend getting some things into the house.  It would also give us a more solid date and we could begin doing things like having the utilities switched over to our name, get address change notices out and make arrangements to move out of the RV Park now instead of continuing to put it off while we wait to find out if and when we’ll close.

So, we signed the document and now we wait to see if the current homeowners will agree. 

The saga continues!

 

Visiting Our Home

On By debweeksIn Home Purchase, Uncategorized6 Comments

Today we were able to spend quite a bit of time at our future home.

The realtor met me there for the pest inspection and final walk-thru.  When we arrived, the home owner was there finishing up some things around the house.  He walked me thru the house to show me some things, such as, the electronic device used to control the pool and hot tub.  That’s important!  It was really helpful and I’m glad we have been able to meet the owners and get information from them regarding the house.

I did have a somewhat embarrassing, yet funny moment today though.

The girls didn’t know who the guy at the house was and thought he was just someone working there.  As he headed to the garage, he turned around to quickly tell the realtor something and just then Lili asked, in a fairly loud voice, “Is this the ugly carpet”?  I immediately covered her mouth and whispered, “That’s the current owner”.  The realtor fought back laughter and as soon as he walked out, we began laughing and I said, “Yes, this is the carpet I was talking about”.

Lili and Naomi were excited about our visit today because it was the first time they had seen the inside of the house.  They confirmed their bedroom choices, walked around the house a bit, but spent the majority of their time at the pool.  Hanging out in an empty house wasn’t their idea of a good time, so I told them to take off their shoes and put their feet in.  Before long, both had pants pulled up as high as they could and they were wading as deep as possible.  They also checked out the hot tub and by the time we left, Naomi’s pants were pretty damp and both girls has smiles on their faces.

Now, did I take pictures of their first time in the pool?  No!  It didn’t even dawn on me.  Bad mommy moment.  Bad new homeowner moment.

Since we were combining the walk-thru with the pest inspection, hubby drove over from work.  Walking thru the mostly empty house (the owners have all the big stuff out, except for a few boxes yet to be moved), gave us a completely different view of the house.  While we still like it, there is a lot more work to do on the house.  Our to-do list grew today and we realized we needed to change our plans a bit.

Shortly after we started the process to buy this home, we thought it would make the most sense to get the downstairs flooring replaced and then move in.  However, we really would like to take some more time choosing flooring and after our visit today, we have discovered there is a fair amount of painting that needs to be done as well.  While doing all the upgrades would certainly be easier with no one is living there, it would also mean incurring additional expenses living at the RV Park even longer.  That money would be better utilized on upgrades.  Now the plan is to move a few things to the house, so we can live there while we upgrade the downstairs.  Since the flooring alone is going to take an additional 2+ weeks, it just makes more sense to move right away.  So as soon as we take possession of the house, we’ll begin moving in.

The other thing we learned today, is that there are several things that need to be done on the second floor as well.  Our primary focus will be on the first floor and getting it upgraded.  We’ll get to the upstairs as time and money permits.

We’re anxious to put our new plan into place.  Problem is, we don’t know exactly when that might be because we don’t know when we’re closing.  What we do know, is that closing isn’t happening this Thursday as planned.  Unfortunately, the appraisal did not get done over the last 4-5 days and the lender needed it today if we were to close Thursday.

Fortunately though, shortly after the pest inspection was completed, a gentleman rang the doorbell.  I assumed it was hubby arriving for the walk-thru, but it wasn’t hubby.  It was the appraiser!!!!  Woo Hoo!!!!!!  He told us he was going to be walking around the property, taking measurements and would then come inside to look around and take measurements.  Unfortunately, we have no idea how soon the report will get into the hands of the lender.  In the State of Texas, buyers must sign certain documents three days prior to closing.  Three days prior is today and we received no documents to sign, so no closing Thursday.  If the appraisal is received tomorrow, closing will happen on Friday.  At least we’re hoping it will happen Friday, because there is one other complication.

The seller signed an agreement stating they would replace the roof.  As of today, the roof still hasn’t been replaced.  I’m not sure the seller is to blame.  They have been waiting on the roofer to come out and get started.  With all the hail damaged roofs around this area, roofers have been very busy and they haven’t made it out to complete the roof on our future home.  This doesn’t just complicate things for us.  It complicates things for the seller as well.  They have moved into their rental property (they are going to have a new home built) and will not only be incurring additional expenses by paying rent and a mortgage, but they can’t get started on building their new home without the proceeds from the sale of this home.  I’m sure they are anxious to get all of this done as well.

The seller is being told that the roofer will be out tomorrow to get it done (it should be a one day job), but the bottom line is, we won’t close until we have a receipt showing the roof has been replaced and the bill paid in full.  If, however, the appraiser was concerned about the roof and writes anything in the report about it, the VA won’t approve the loan.  This means the loan itself is on hold until the roof is replaced.

Seriously, I’m tired of roofs creating problems for us.

The good news from today is that the pest inspection was good.  No pests!!!!

The other good news is that we met one of our future neighbors.  She had peeked over the fence earlier and said hi to Naomi and later when hubby went out, she peeked over again to introduce herself.  I walked out a short time later and was able to chat with her for a little while.  Good first impression and I’m even more excited about getting moved in.

While all of these set-backs and potential set-backs are a frustration, we really are at the end of this process.

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That’s How We Roll

On By debweeksIn Home Purchase, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Our home purchase experience has been full of ups and downs.

First we found a fixer-upper in Arlington.

–          Offer made

–          Nothing back from the seller on the offer

–          Finally, a new offer is made

–          Offer is accepted

–          Home inspection completed

–          Roofer out to inspect roof

–          Seller decides she will not replace the roof

–          We walk away

 

Next we find two houses we like.

–          Offers made on both houses

–          Counter offer comes back on our favorite of the two

–          Counter offer accepted

–          Home inspection done

–          Paperwork moving along smoothly

–          Sellers request an earlier close date

–          Request accepted

–          Problems with VA entitlement

–          Problems resolved

–          Waiting on appraisal, which needs to be completed and to the lender in three days

–          Realtor suddenly realizes the termite inspection hasn’t been ordered

–          Trying to expedite termite inspection

Yes folks, we are down to the wire.  No getting everything done early and then sitting back and waiting on closing.  Everything in our life needs to have some excitement built in, because that’s how we roll 🙂

 

The good news is, our realtor sent me a text yesterday letting me know that the appraisal is due to be completed within the next 3 days.  If it does get completed and to the lender by Monday, we’re good to go on Thursday.

We’re trying to bring this to an exciting finish!!!

Stay tuned.

Check and Check

On By debweeksIn Home Purchase, Uncategorized, Upgrades4 Comments

Today, the girls and I drove to the title company and gave them the earnest money for our Tuscany home purchase. – Check

The home inspection is scheduled for tomorrow morning which is an important next step in the process.  The inspector has given us a really good deal on doing a pool inspection as well, so everything will be covered. – Check

Although I’m still guardedly excited, my excitement over buying this house continues to grow. I’m especially excited about the prospect of completing the upgrades in a Tuscan style décor. After all, the house is on Tuscany Ct.

 

The next 1-2 weeks will be crucial as we get the inspection and appraisal done. One or both will determine if we move forward with this home purchase, renegotiate the deal or start shopping for a different home.

Fingers crossed!!!!

1, 2, 3, 4 . . . . . Our Tuscany House

On By debweeksIn Home Purchase, Uncategorized1 Comment
  1. Find a house you want to buy.
  2. Make offer on house.
  3. Offer accepted.

We were able to check items 1 and 2 off our list on Tuesday, then we spent the following two days waiting on the counter offer. It didn’t help that the seller’s agent told us (via our agent) that we would be getting a counter offer on Wednesday. We didn’t receive it.  She told us the same thing Thursday, but no counter offer had been received by that afternoon. At this point, our agent decided it was time to have a talk with the woman representing the seller and that seemed to get the ball rolling.

The end result was that we needed to resubmit a new offer. Not that our offer was bad, but we had requested some upgrades be completed on the house and it was challenging to write a counter offer addressing those requests.  So I ran thru the numbers with our realtor and then Dave talked to her and went thru numbers again. In the end, we all felt like we had come up with a reasonable offer.

This morning, I had another conversation with our realtor and went over the numbers one last time and then she was off to call the seller’s agent to discuss the new offer. Considering how many documents we signed just to make an offer, I can’t say I blame her for wanting to have a conversation with the other realtor before completing paperwork.

About an hour later, I got a text from our realtor letting us know that our offer had been accepted. Then a couple hours later, we got another slew of documents to sign and we are now officially in process to purchase a home.

At this point, I’m guardedly optimistic.  There is a lot that needs to happen before this is a done deal, but we are definitely on our way toward home ownership again.

I am calling this house “Our Tuscany house”.  It makes it sound like we have a house in Italy, when in fact it’s just a house on a street named Tuscany.  Still, it’s fun to say, “Our Tuscany house”.  🙂

Our Tuscany house needs some upgrades, but it has just about everything we were looking for in a house. The only thing missing in more yard, but finding a house with a yard and a pool is difficult, so we went with the pool.

I guess this means we can check #3 off the list.

Now on to . . . . . .

4.  Inspections completed.

Introducing the home we hope will very soon be the Weeks’ Casa.

You can see more photos here.

Wish us luck!!!

Offer and Negotiations

On By debweeksIn Home Purchase, Uncategorized6 Comments

HOLY COW!!!!!!

The housing market in the DFW area is CRAZY!!!!

Buyers are bidding against each other, but if you walk in with a cash offer or financing thru a conventional loan, you have the upper hand.

Offers are being made for $5,000 -$10,000 above asking price.

It’s not uncommon for a house to go on the market and have a contract for purchase the same day.

Realtors don’t like buyers to use big banks. They want buyers to go with a local lender.

It’s enough to make a buyer’s head spin or at least this buyer’s head is spinning.  At the same time, I’ve learned a lot.

With that said, we have put an offer in on a house and are now negotiating with the seller. Hopefully we’ll have a deal hammered out before the end of the day. Although we’ve been trying to hammer out this deal since Tuesday, so who knows.

Only time will tell.