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Inspections

2010-03-16T21:33:00.000-07:00

The house has been inspected, and is pretty much in the shape that we suspected it would be in. As the closing date draws closer, the sheer magnitude of the cost is making its presence known. Everything but the roof is at least 13 years old, and to make matters more unstable, the garage furnace and both air conditioners were untestable.

We sent a notice requesting that the seller pay to have the a/c units and furnaces inspected by a specialist. Our agent says that the worse they can say is "no", but then were do we go from there? There was clearly deception in the advertising of the house, but was it the fault of the seller or of the agent? The seller's agent also advertised a fire place, and you only found out that it was non-functional after the condition report.

The whole "buying a house" thing makes me sick, in many ways. The ad for the house was false. Someone should be punished for being a liar and cheat, whether it is the seller or the agent. Yet, both are being rewarded by us buying the house.

The other disgusting fact is that most credit unions will turn around and sell our loan to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. I will most likely be supporting these organizations simply by getting a mortgage. It really kills some of the excitement of buying a new home.

Well, someone's got to own the home we live in, whether it's us or someone else. I guess I will just have to learn to live with it.

Acceptance

2010-02-24T20:18:00.000-08:00

We just got pre-approved for our home loan! Now I can start scheduling viewings, and not feel like I am wasting someone's time.

The meeting with the mortgage specialist was very informative. The $8,000 housing credit is way cooler than I thought it was. I was under the impression that it was $8,000 that would be deducted from your gross income. I was wrong. It is literally cash in hand. You fill out the tax form, and the gov sends you a check. We can even amend our taxes and get it this year. The only problem is that we need to find a house soon - we have to have an accepted offer by April 30th. Needless to say, I have been devoting hours every day towards house hunting.

I also learned more about the FHA loans. What a lot of websites/mortgage companies/etc fail to mention is that there is a pretty substantial fee involved. If you can scrounge up an extra $1000, you are better off getting a conventional loan and paying a 5% down payment.

Opening Lines

2010-02-23T20:26:00.000-08:00

My new job requires that I correspond with people. Lots of people. I talk to people, and I write to people. A lot. And I have found that I pretty much suck at corresponding. Especially in email.

I have to write a lot of other stuff, too. It has been a very long time since I have really had to write anything substantial. So, I thought I would exercise my finger muscles and blog. Maybe some eloquence will return to me. Or maybe not.

What will the future hold for my readers, supposing anyone actually reads this blog? It will probably entail hearing about Babies. Lots of baby stuff. As a new mother, I live and breath baby. So if you don't want to read about babies, quit while your ahead. I'll also be writing about my house hunting/buying experience.

If I get really ambitious, and can tear myself away from my time-consuming FaceBook games, I might even talk about Art again. That would be nice. I hope I get to that point. I really miss talking about Art. I has only been 6 months since I graduated, and I already feel like I am missing something in my life. Maybe I will subscribe to a magazine. Or hit the library or something.

As a recap... this blog will be mostly about Babies, Houses and Art (wow...), and will function as a way to improve the flow of my writing. On that note, I have some baby clothes to fold...