Tuesday, September 27, 2011

At a Loss

So the big move came.  We knew that there were issues.  Supposedly our buyers loan was taking a bit of time to come through.  The person in charge of their loan left and the new person was trying to get things put together in a very short period of time.
Our agent diligently called and emailed to get some idea of what was going on.   We scheduled our change of service, set the move date and off we went.

Yesterday, the movers came and cleared out our house.  When the house was at it's 90% we heard that there would be a 50/50 chance that the loan would NOT go through.  Well, it was denied.
Our house is back away, I am in a hotel and in several hours the power, etc will be shut off.

I cried, I curled up in my fetal position and just wondered "What do I do next?"

At 5:30pm we received a call saying that the buyers still have options (but what of ours?) and that if they can get them to agree to a few things, the loan "may" go through.

So now we wait.  If the contingent plan goes through, we can "rent" our new house, move in and keep moving forward.  If not, I have to move BACK into my old house and start over.   I so don't want to start over.

Please keep the positive thoughts headed this way.  I really, really need it.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Moving boxes and anxiety

We are one week away from our closing date.

Chris and I have been slowly transferring utilities and packing boxes.  We have been sending in the last few items for our mortgage and have scheduled the moving van, reserved a hotel room and reserved 2 spots at the puppy motel.  

Unfortunately, not all is moving smoothly.

Our buyers are having issues with finalizing their mortgage.  

We have had to re-sign for due diligence twice.  The buying agent states that all is fine and not to worry.  Unfortunately, we are.   I guess that due to "cultural issues", the bank is having a hard time verifying credit.  I don't like to hear this 1 week before closing.  It does not increase my confidence!!!  Supposedly, the person handling their loan left the bank within the last week.  A new loan officer is now on the job and he seems to be working at his own pace.  Meanwhile, our sellers are moved out and on their way to Pennsylvania.


As I am typing away I noticed a email alert.  My MORTGAGE IS FINALIZED!!!!   WOOOhOOOOO!!!     I have a mortgage for my new house!!!!!! Now all we have to do is get our buyers one!!!!

So….say a little prayer that our buyers mortgage goes through.  I would hate to be sitting in my old empty house with no power or water come next Tuesday night.  

Friday, September 9, 2011

Reminiscing nature and things….

This morning a twitter feed made me think of some of the good times and bad in our soon to be former home.  So I felt the need to share.
Some of the stories friends have heard a billion times and I apologies….

Chris and I built this home.  It was our first and by no means were we planning to be in it 16 years.  We were very lucky that the "seller" liked us.  She went on about the property that she had and how she thought the one next door didn't have a premium.  Because of her, we saved $5000.

Our property is definitely worth a premium.  It is butt up to a large common area that now holds the playground.  It was perfect for sitting on the deck and watching our kids play.  It was very close to the house so we could take the children there when they were very young.  It has also has been frequented by an array of neighborhood teens late at night.  My bedroom window opens to the playground.

I have spent time over the years catching neighborhood children practicing cheerleading, smoking pot, drinking and occasionally having sex at all hours of the night.   I have witnessed a girl hike to the back of the gazebo to cop a squat. One neighbor, committed suicide in the woods behind us (thank GOD, I didn't see that). You name it….

The back of our house has a large wooded area.  It is home to a lot of wildlife.  Have you ever been woken up in the middle of the night to screaming fox?  My dogs have been sprayed by toads, bitten by copper heads, tormented by deer.  We listen to cicada, owls and a multitude of beautiful birds.

We did have an opossum that used to like to frequent our bird feeder that was placed on our back deck.  Our deck is about 10 feet off the ground and the ugly thing would eat the seed and drool all over our railing.  My husband finally in annoyance, asked a co-worker by the name of "Redneck" what to do.  Redneck stated that if you were to hit it with a broom it would play dead.  You could then pick it up by the tail and walk it back to the woods.  It would play dead for about 30 minutes and then wander away and never come back.
So one morning my husband saw the nasty thing at the bird feeder and attempted to scare it away.  He tried to spray it with water, yell at it and the thing just hissed.  So Chris grabs the broom and with my children at the window, marches out to try and get rid of it.
Chris felt extremely guilty in regards to hitting it, so instead he whacked the handrail.  The opossum sat straight up, went completely stiff and fell over…..14 feet off the rail to the yard below.
Chris and children were hysterically laughing by this time.  They ran to the rail to see the ugly beast lumber away into the woods never to be seen again.
Our neighborhood backs up to a farm that has cows, goats and horses.  Several occasions calves and cows have found themselves through the fence and wandering through the neighborhood.  One morning we woke to a calf on my neighbors front porch.
One night about 2am I heard one of the cows just mooing in distress.  As I dozed I noticed the mooing getting louder and louder and then quieter and quieter.  I thought in my confusion of sleep "I bet if I sat up I could see a cow!"  Well, I was on the mark because the next morning we woke up to cow patties on our neighbor's driveway!!
My last story….
I was coming home from work early one afternoon with both children.  As they went to the front of the house a truck came full throttle down the road.  It slammed on the breaks in front of the dead end near the farm.  A man jumped out of the truck, grabbed a rifle, and hopped the fence.  I yelled at my kids to get in the house, I grabbed my phone in preparation to call 911.
The man came back over the fence and asked if I had seen anybody go over the fence?  As I looked down the road I noticed several boys hop the fence and sneak back around a house.
Turns out that the bull was rutting and was not very nice.  The man basically told the boys "Now that bull would kill you and I would have to kill him.  Now he is a very pricey bull and although I would shoot him, I wouldn't be happy about it."  Ahhhh…country living!!!

Our home has been through ice storms, hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes.  We have brought 2 babies home and raised them.  We have had 4 dogs and a multitude of neighbors.  Although I am ECSTATIC  to be leaving….I'll still be sad just the same.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Inspections and Repairs

We have been slowly plodding through the action of buying and selling.  Our latest endeavor is the process of having inspections performed.  Our current home's inspection went fairly well.   We had several items that required repairs but they were relatively minor.

The most difficult of the repairs entailed fixing dented gutters.  The gutters were damaged when a tree came down on our house.  Chris took on the repair prior to Irene coming to town.  The gutter outside our bedroom window tended to dump water in front of our window.  I had been complaining about it for some time and with the hurricane heading for a direct hit to North Carolina, it appeared to be the best time.



Although the actual gutter looks a bit worse for wear, it held up fantastically during the storms over the following days.   Chris continues to take care of the few issues and we now have to deal with the new house.
For the record, our current house is 16 years old.  It has been through SEVERAL hurricanes that had resulted in a few repairs over the years but Chris has always dealt with these things.  Chris also, being a HVAC tech, has maintained our major equipment throughout the years.

The house we are purchasing is 4 years old.  Although there were only 4 items requiring repairs, one has reared its head as a potential major problem.

It appears that there is a foundation issue causing water to drain under the house.  Structurally the house is sound but the potential for major foundation issues is a real issue.   Not a couple hundred dollar quick fix but a MAJOR problem.

We have asked for the sellers to repair professionally.  We have opted for a re-inspection and if it isn't performed correctly we will terminate the sale.

I could be homeless in less than a month.  Oy.