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Archive for September, 2011

We think we'll save the $8,500...

September 27th, 2011 at 04:57 pm

DH told me this morning that after some thought, he would rather us save the $8,500 that it would cost to hire professional painters to do the outside of the house and for us to try to do it ourselves. He thinks after some research, that we should be able to attempt this... and if all else fails, we may end up using the pro but at least we'll give it the ol' college try.

Money, money, money

September 26th, 2011 at 08:12 pm

So, we closed on the short sale house a couple of weeks ago... we've got roofers almost done putting up the much needed new roof at a cost of $11,000! The house also is in much need of a good paint job--- that will cost $8,500 (not including the decks/porches)!! So, for $19,500, we'll have a great looking house from the street... just don't go on the front porch or back deck or in the door yet! Smile Those were the big expenses we knew we had to get done ASAP so we'll slow down now and just do a little renovation at a time and try to slow down the money drain!

The house is officially ours!

September 15th, 2011 at 05:56 pm

Just closed on the deal about an hour ago!!! We officially own the great short sale house now. I'm so excited. I walked through the house this morning with our realtor just to make sure it was still in the same condition and it was. So, after a very smooth closing, we now have the keys to make it our own.

I got some information at closing that I thought was interesting... there was an offer on the house prior to ours. It was for $240k and after a counter here and there, the buyers' last offer to the bank was $280k. The bank at that point just dropped it because they didn't want to play anymore with those buyers. A few weeks later, we appeared in the picture and put in our original offer of $300k. I truly believe our realtor was the reason for our ultimate success with the deal. He suggested we offer a number beginning with a 3 and not a 2 so that we could get the bank's attention... and it worked. We were glad to offer $300k and it made perfect sense not to offend the bank with an offer in the $200's. Months later, the house is now ours for just $305k. Yahoo!

Closing Date next week!

September 9th, 2011 at 12:53 am

OMG, how things are moving quickly since the contract was put into play!

A timeline for the curious:

June 14
We put in an offer of $300k on a short sale house that is listed at $395k (down from $550k)

June 24
The sellers accept but the bank says no and counters us at $375k

June 28
We offer a counter to their counter of $305k plus $1k in seller's closing costs

July 28
The bank says OK to our offer!!

August 25
Finally all the paperwork is signed and completed...officially in contract now

August 31
Inspection of house with contractor went very well -- just the obvious expense which is to replace the roof like yesterday

September 1
Met with the bank to finalize mortgage... ugh

September 8
Appraisal of house comes back at $360,000 so we are good there

September 15
CLOSING DATE!!!

Poo! Closing costs suck.

September 1st, 2011 at 02:48 pm

We got our good faith estimate from the bank yesterday... yuck. With each of the 3 houses we've bought in the past, we always negotiated for the sellers to cover closing costs. So, it was a shocker to see how much we'll have to bring to the table with this short sale deal!! Yuck, is all I can say. Poo!