We buried the Mr.'s mother. We spent time with friends and family. It snowed. We tried to rest and recuperate from months of sleepless nights, jumping at phone calls, and worrying. We all got nasty colds and sinus infections after accepting a lot of consoling handshakes. In the meantime, the seller was looking over our documents. He previously had access to the bids but we had been told he was not interested in looking at them, since this was his childhood home and he didn't believe it needed any changes. The words 'gold leaf on the walls' were heard a few times. (For the record, never part of the plan. ;) )
After a few weeks we heard from our realtor that the seller would agree to a new offer for $15,000 less than our original purchase agreement. He understood that a lot of the repairs and updates should have been done over the past forty years but hadn't been. The Mr. was understandably reticent. We were pretty battered and exhausted, emotionally and physically. We told him we would consider it, and we called our conventional lender who gave us the go ahead. We let the Mr. stew for awhile.
The house popped up on the multiple listing service again, and I was heartbroken. We went out on a 'Consolation Tour' (with a whole box of kleenex for my nasty cold) and looked at what was available. Nothing was tempting. There was a house that could have been workable, but wasn't in the right neighborhood and was wildly overpriced. We had an honest talk with the realtor about where we were at, and he said that he thought that we could maybe make the house work, but if not, we'd find something better. I was skeptical but willing to see what happened. All the reasons that we loved the house were still true - nothing had changed on that front. I may have been quoted as saying 'this is my house, and you can pry it from my cold, dead hands' in the midst of the 203K. I still felt that way, but the house wasn't worth my marriage. I would have to wait and let the Mr. come to the house on his own.
The Mr. eventually decided that he needed to talk to an appraiser about the house, and we even discussed having it appraised ourselves. In the end, he met with a local appraiser and we wrote the new purchase agreement. By this point the seller was getting pretty impatient, and set us a deadline. Then he countered the offer he told us to write, to include a clause that we would repair the wallpaper and pine paneling in the basement if we didn't close. We laughed out loud, but whatever. So we moved forward with the conventional loan. We had until the end of April under the new agreement, given the volume of loans being processed. It seemed like nothing was happening for a long time. We didn't get emotionally invested, and didn't go inside the house. We didn't call any contractors. We just didn't believe it would happen. (We did get our house listed in the meantime, but rented a storage unit and planned to be homeless if it sold quickly.)
We were worried about the appraisal, again, and the purchase agreement was contingent on the appraisal coming in at or above the purchase price (my understanding is that this clause usually exists as part of 'obtaining financing' but it was explicitly stated in this agreement). We were also concerned that the lender might require repairs to be made prior to closing, and we weren't going to put more cash into a house that we didn't own. The appraisal was done. It was low. Again. This time, another $15,000 below the purchase agreement. I was sad, but not as sad. The realtors sent new and different 'comps' to the appraiser hoping to increase the value. This time the appraiser was very thorough and the rest of the appraisal was solid, so we didn't have a lot of hope. She declined to make changes and the value stood.
I thought it was all over. I thought the seller would never agree to lower the price AGAIN. We weren't open to splitting the difference but thought we could do something along the lines of covering closing costs and taxes. In the end, the seller was just ready to let go. He lowered the price and even signed the amendment before we did. We gave him a few grand to help 'salve the wound'. The lender was pleased with this arrangement and sent the loan to underwriting. Within four or five days, we had final approval. I couldn't believe it. Total crazy talk. We set the closing date for April 29, and things started feeling real. We were actually going to buy a house! The house of my dreams! The house that requires thousands of dollars of renovation and isn't in move-in condition. The house that had no contractors lined up. The house that we would have to pay to renovate on our own. That house. ;)
As I write this, on April 27th, we've wired the money for closing to the title company and have a final walk through on Monday before we drive to closing. I'm thinking I won't go in. I'm too anxious that something terrible will have happened to the house and things will fall apart again. That being said, we walked by Thursday afternoon. We met new neighbors and some old friends who will be neighbors. We didn't go inside, but it didn't matter. I still didn't want to leave. Neither did the Kid. At home in the park is where we want to be.
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