Sunday, January 30, 2011
P.S.
Just wanted to say that if you read every post of my three-part home buying series... I'm very, very impressed! lol I know I wrote novels and,I expected that many of you would put them in the "TL; DR" category (Too Long, Didn't Read - as Jacob likes to say). So, if you did, Thank you and congrats! =)
The Story of Our House (Part 3)
Alright, I think this should be the last bit of the home-buying series... Getting the $$$.
I said in part one that house shopping sucked... well, getting the loan sucked just as much (if not more).
At the very beginning of our home buying adventure Jacob and I met with two different lenders to get "pre-approved". We had to take in a variety of documents (bank statements, pay stubs, tax returns, etc.). We had credit checks done and answered several questions about our debts and our incomes. We were asked what we were thinking in terms of home purchase price. We gave them our highball number, and both lenders gave us documents stating that we were "pre-approved" for up to that purchase price. This step was super easy... took about an hour or so for each (still not really sure why we went to two different people, but Jacob thought it was a good idea, so I went with it).
I said in part one that house shopping sucked... well, getting the loan sucked just as much (if not more).
At the very beginning of our home buying adventure Jacob and I met with two different lenders to get "pre-approved". We had to take in a variety of documents (bank statements, pay stubs, tax returns, etc.). We had credit checks done and answered several questions about our debts and our incomes. We were asked what we were thinking in terms of home purchase price. We gave them our highball number, and both lenders gave us documents stating that we were "pre-approved" for up to that purchase price. This step was super easy... took about an hour or so for each (still not really sure why we went to two different people, but Jacob thought it was a good idea, so I went with it).
Saturday, January 29, 2011
The Story of Our House (Part 2)
So, after the offers had been signed and accepted, it was time to move on to the inspection process. Inspections are EXPENSIVE (especially when you are already putting every last cent into savings for the down payment). They aren't necessary, but really, do you want to find yourself purchasing and moving into a place with huge issues? I know that I certainly didn't. There's also a ton of different inspections that you can add on to your average "home inspection".
A coworker of mine bought a house a year or so ago in the same part of town where our house is located. She urged me to have a radon test done, as her house had tested high and she'd had to negotiate with the sellers to put in a mitigation system. I asked our agent about it, and she was able to get me a couple of quotes from different companies on the cost, but said that she'd never had a client request one before and that, as far as she knew, problems only really came up in homes with basements. (My coworkers house does not have a basement... neither does ours) After looking at some info on radon and looking at maps for our area (we're in one of the "moderate risk" areas), I decided to go ahead and get the test done. The very last thing I wanted was to move into a house that was going to make me sick.
And boy am I glad that I did!
A coworker of mine bought a house a year or so ago in the same part of town where our house is located. She urged me to have a radon test done, as her house had tested high and she'd had to negotiate with the sellers to put in a mitigation system. I asked our agent about it, and she was able to get me a couple of quotes from different companies on the cost, but said that she'd never had a client request one before and that, as far as she knew, problems only really came up in homes with basements. (My coworkers house does not have a basement... neither does ours) After looking at some info on radon and looking at maps for our area (we're in one of the "moderate risk" areas), I decided to go ahead and get the test done. The very last thing I wanted was to move into a house that was going to make me sick.
And boy am I glad that I did!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Story of Our House (Part 1)
House hunting Sucked (with a capital "S"). It was not something that I enjoyed, and not something I want to do again for a very long time.
Jacob and I had the plan to start shopping for a new home after we got back from our honeymoon. I was expecting a somewhat slow, relaxing process. You know, maybe hit up an open house here and there--just kind of wait for the right house to fall into our laps. Jacob, I discovered, had other plans.
Jacob and I had the plan to start shopping for a new home after we got back from our honeymoon. I was expecting a somewhat slow, relaxing process. You know, maybe hit up an open house here and there--just kind of wait for the right house to fall into our laps. Jacob, I discovered, had other plans.
A Life (and Blog) in Transition
Sitting at home this evening after dinner, a little tv, and catching up on my daily blogs, I realized that my life now is very different than it has been for the last 3 years. I no longer have something else to do outside of work. I don't mean "things" like doing the laundry or mopping the floor... I mean that I do not have school work looming over my head. I don't have to get in touch with a florist, figure out seating charts or tie bows on favors. I no longer have to surf real estate sites or organize a showing schedule with our buyer's agent.
This realization is definitely a weird one. My life is in transition (again.... but, is it really ever NOT?). Because of this transition, in addition to my sudden lack of interest in weddings (recapping mine imparticular--though I will throw a few more weddingy posts in) I thought it was time to do a little blog re-vamp as well. Part of the revamp includes moving all prior posts (i.e. my "wedding planning blog") to a new URL. If you'd like to review these posts, feel free to do so at Sand Dollars & Sunflowers: The Wedding! Don't fret though, all new posts will go directly to this site.
Everything is still under-construction, so bear with me. But, at the very least, I hope it will give me a little project to conquer and, maybe, an renewed desire to write.
(P.S. I would love to know that I still have readers... so feel free to leave a little shout out and let me know you're still there... and any post ideas that you may have to get my wheels turning!).
This realization is definitely a weird one. My life is in transition (again.... but, is it really ever NOT?). Because of this transition, in addition to my sudden lack of interest in weddings (recapping mine imparticular--though I will throw a few more weddingy posts in) I thought it was time to do a little blog re-vamp as well. Part of the revamp includes moving all prior posts (i.e. my "wedding planning blog") to a new URL. If you'd like to review these posts, feel free to do so at Sand Dollars & Sunflowers: The Wedding! Don't fret though, all new posts will go directly to this site.
Everything is still under-construction, so bear with me. But, at the very least, I hope it will give me a little project to conquer and, maybe, an renewed desire to write.
(P.S. I would love to know that I still have readers... so feel free to leave a little shout out and let me know you're still there... and any post ideas that you may have to get my wheels turning!).
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