Will everything be done by our closing on Tuesday???

It's coming up fast. We're still waiting for the appraisal, still dealing with getting the financing, had a little trouble finding insurance but that seems to be under control now. Mortgages are so confusing...we had to move to stated income verification since we're pretty much self-employed. That means a higher interest rate which bumps our payments up a little, fortunately not too much and the numbers still work. Everything is such a headache! I can't wait until it's done and we start with the fun stuff (remodeling!).

Turns out we will have to get the plumbing changed but the price and time required is not too bad considering. Hopefully that can all be taken care of before we move in and then we have to decide whether to scrape off the popcorn ceiling or live with it. I've heard horror stories about the work involved with smoothing out a popcorn ceiling.

Anyway, we keep moving forward.
-Jordan

Well, the inspection was nothing if not thorough. They found one major problem and a bunch of simple DIY-type cosmetic issues. The major problem could possibly be a blessing in disguise, we're doing more research to find out. Apparently the plumbing is polybutelyn (something like that), popular in the 80's but prone to leaking and bursting. The inspector described it like a ticking time bomb, meaning all the plumbing needs to either be replaced or repaired in some way, even though no problems are apparent now.

The possible blessing is that the class action lawsuit against the manufacturers was reopened 3 weeks ago, and they are paying claims to replace plumbing systems. Since this would be reimbursible and we wanted to change some sinks and maybe rearrange a bathroom it could make that possible for us. But of course our case might not qualify (I remember after 9/11 living in NYC when we qualified for an air purifier which we were never reimbursed for!)

Anyway we'll keep our fingers crossed until we learn more....

Some people have asked to see more pics of the house we chose...here they are.
View from the backyard

Here's where we visualize the screen porch going.

Scuzzy pond in the backyard

Shed to store our newfound yard stuff.

Skylight in main living area.

We've found out the fireplace works!

The inspector is coming on Wednesday. More to blog after that....

Whew! A couple counter-offers later we've come to an agreement on the house! Once it's in writing and we've officially signed the papers I'll feel like I can really think about the rest of the process. More later....

Well, we did it! We put in an official offer on the place with the pond and the gazebo. Good thing our real estate agent is cool...it would have been a scary process otherwise. We'll see if they go for it and what happens.....

It felt good to have the third mortgage broker tell us we were in good shape. It doesn't feel that way sometimes but I guess our hard work being financially prudent pays off. Wish us luck as the process moves forward!!

We're back from vacation and ready to buy a house!! We saw 5 more houses yesterday, and 2 of them were pretty much perfect! As a sidenote, we went back to look at the first one we'd fallen in love with and it paled in comparison. So maybe we need to just keep looking forever and we'll find the perfect house? No, we're ready to get moving.

So the two we like best are pretty equal in location, really convenient and both in good areas. Here's the first:

Not great curb appeal.

On a pond.

With a gazebo! (Not that we'd ever use it with all the mosquitoes around here)

New kitchen appliances.

No fighting over the sink in the morning!

The garage has been converted, so no inside place to park the car. Does that matter in sunny SC?

It looks like some erosion has happened. We'll have to check that out.

Anyway this house has new hardwood floors so we wouldn't have that expense, it's got plenty of space, it's got maybe too much yard but it's nothing that needs much maintaining (the grass is all pretty dead already). Most importantly, it's got motivated sellers and is seems to be already underpriced for the neighborhood (in terms of square footage, although it does seem to be one of the larger houses in the area).

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Onto the second house....

The second house had a better layout and more curb appeal.


Big kitchen but with older appliances and an ugly floor.

Luxurious bathtub and TIMED HOT AIR BLOWERS (not a technical term) in the bathroom!

Cute little yard, fenced in for privacy but a little claustrophobic I thought...Clayton liked the fence.

This is where the screen-in porch would go.

Why the ugly curtain in the skylights?

Moss on one side of the house. What does that mean?

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Anyway as you can see we're getting close. We're looking at comps for both houses and will do a second viewing tomorrow or Tuesday. Now the scary money part begins!