Christ is Risen!

Well, I'm really late, but Happy Easter everyone! The Orthodox Church celebrated Easter this year a couple weekends ago (April 27), and this Sunday was St. Thomas Sunday, where the Church commemorates the event where St. Thomas, hearing from the other disciples that the Lord was risen, said, "Unless I put my finger in the holes in His hands, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." The Lord later came to Thomas and the others, and allowed Thomas to touch the scars in His hands and in His side. After this, Thomas believed.

To continue the story, St. Thomas ended up bringing the Gospel to India, where he was ultimately martyred, being run through by 5 spears.

I'm sorry for being so late in posting; I've been very busy, what with getting the house, moving in, Easter, and getting settled, but I'll try to post more often.

As a final note, let me just say that I love the Paschal troparion:

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!

Buying a House, Part Fin (or, I Own a House!)

Well, well, it's all over and now we are homeowners! We met our real estate agent and our lender from our bank at the closing attorney's office. The selling agent wasn't there, nor was anyone representing the selling bank, which was kind of weird. But all the documents were there and the attorney was there, and I signed a bunch of stuff, and we were handed the keys!

Well, actually, we weren't. There were no keys, either. Not that it was a huge deal; there was still the key in the lock-box on the house, and we were changing all the locks, anyway. The back door deadbolt was broken, so we decided to just go buy all new locks, and I installed them tonight. Kristen brought over the vacuum cleaner and a broom to start cleaning up the place (it's been vacant for a few months, IIRC).

Tomorrow, a plumber will show up to replace the water pressure reducing valve, and our real estate agent hired a guy to come and clean the carpets for us. So, after tomorrow, we'll have clean carpets and running water! My mom has suggested we "camp out" in the house before moving in, but I guess I'm not in that big of a hurry.

So, now, we just have to get packed up and move in! That'll be this weekend, which will mean we'll move into a new house before Easter (according to the Orthodox calendar)! Yay!

Buying a House, Part IX

Again, a lot has happened since I last posted. That 'lot' that has happened has been part of why I've not posted in a while. I've been running around going crazy. As such, this is a long one.

The week before closing, everything was going well for a while, the appraisal got done, and we were all set for a scheduled closing date of Monday, April 7. This would be 2 days before our deadline, when they'd start charging that $100/day. I had learned that my bank had stopped doing 100% loans the day after I had locked in on ours, but that was okay, because our file was in the system before the cutoff. Wow; thank God! I was just waiting to hear the final numbers from the bank (i.e., how much of the closing cost we'd have to pay, if it went over what the selling bank was paying).

Thursday evening, I was preparing to fly home from a business trip in Florida when I got a call from the Mortgage Consultant at my bank. He had just heard from the underwriters that he had been wrong about the date of the cutoff; we'd actually missed it, and now the best we could do was a 97% loan. This meant we needed 3% to put down by the next Monday (giving us 1 business day to do this). We didn't have 3% that we could afford to put down.

So, I gave Kristen a call and told her the bad news, and spent the flight back trying to decide what to do. We had just enough money in savings to cover that 3%, but then we would have nothing left over. By the time I got home (around 11pm), I was nearly decided that we couldn't afford the house. Then I got some good news: Kristen's parents had already agreed to let us borrow what we needed for 6 months (my parents were also willing to help, though I hadn't talked to them yet about specifics). That 6 months would have given us time to save up some extra, earn more interest on what we had, etc. I went to bed less decided about walking on the house.

The next day, I got in touch with the M.C. at my bank, and he was working to try and get us the 100% loan again. Apparently, the main problem was that the mortgage insurance companies had stopped insuring 100% loans because our area had been declared a declining market, but, our M.C. thought he might be able to get us an exception. So, I decided to wait and see what would happen.

However, by the end of the day, he was back to the 97% loan, and had decided (acknowledging that it was his mistake that caused the trouble) to take as much as he could out of his earnings on the loan and apply it to our down payment for us. In addition, there were apparently some marketing funds or whatnot that the bank had available that he was trying to get authorization to use to pay more of the down payment, to help ease the burden on us. He wasn't able to get in touch with his manager, though, so he asked if we would mind delaying the closing to Wednesday, to give him some time the next Monday to get those funds. That was fine with me, so the closing got rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Now, the reason we had to schedule for Wednesday was that the attorneys mandated by the selling bank (who were, by the way, already more expensive than most attorneys, probably because the specialized in foreclosure properties) insisted that they needed 48 hours from the time they got the package from our bank until they could close. So, if they got the package Monday around noon, they could close Wednesday afternoon.

Over the weekend, I finally sat down and took a long look at our finances. This was, for me, one of the best things to come out of the weekend, because I have a better idea of where, exactly, I am financially than I have in the 5-6 months since I moved into the apartment. Not only that, but I have an idea, now, of where we're going financially, and how we can get there. Also, I discovered that, if we had to bring any money to closing at all (even if just paying a remainder of closing costs), we'd have to borrow it.

The next Monday, I hear back that our M.C. was about to get us an exception and we had the 100% loan again. The loan package was being processed, and we were waiting for a final word, but everything was looking good. Unfortunately, by Tuesday afternoon, the bank had not gotten the package to the attorneys; they would get it first thing Wednesday morning. With the 48 hours they had been telling us they needed, we wouldn't close until Friday, two days past the deadline. So, our M.C. got approval and told us that the bank would cover the $100/day, since it was the bank's mistake that caused all this in the first place.

The attorneys, however, responded by telling us they couldn't close until the next Monday. Suddenly, 48 hours had become 72 hours. Although our bank was already going to pay the per diem, this put us in a bind. Kristen's parents had already sold their house, and had moved out. They had left a few things behind for us, but we had to get the stuff out by that weekend. I really didn't want to have to rent a truck twice (once to move that stuff into storage, again to move into the house). So, we argued with the attorneys for a short while, but they wouldn't budge: we were closing on Monday.

After conceding that argument, our M.C. called the selling attorney to argue that the selling bank shouldn't charge us the per diem past Friday, since it was their attorneys that didn't want to close then. She called the selling bank, and then called back to let us know the selling bank had decided to forgive the per diem.

Also, we got the HUD from the attorneys Wednesday afternoon, I think, and after looking over it, and having both our M.C. and real estate agent go through it with us, it turns out that, rather than having to bring money to the table, we should be getting most of our earnest money back! This is great news, as it's money I wasn't expecting to have this month!

In addition, Kristen and I were both sick last week, and neither of us got any packing done, so we wouldn't have been ready to move last weekend, anyway.

In the end, I rented a smaller truck, and put the stuff from Kristen's parents' old house into a friend's garage for the week. Kristen got started packing stuff up yesterday, and has already gotten a lot done. I've still got my home office to pack, which will probably involve throwing lots of random stuff into boxes and not being about to find it for the next couple years.

We're closing this afternoon, and moving in this weekend. I had hoped to be moved into a new house before Easter, and we're going to be doing just that. I had figured on us cutting our finances really close this month, but it looks like we've gotten some help there, too. God-willing, this afternoon, we will become homeowners, and, according to the appraisal, we'll be starting out with a little bit of equity in the house. If all goes well, this Saturday's move will be our last for a long time. Glory to God.

Buying a House, Part VIII

Okay, so I've not updated in a while. A lot has happened.

Where I left off, we had sent in an offer on a house we really liked, and had to wait over the weekend to hear back from the bank that's selling it.

The next Monday, I got a call from Eric, our Realtor, and the bank wanted to accept our offer, with a couple changes: 1) shorten the due diligence period (the time in which we have to do inspections and, if we find something we don't like, can walk on the house and recoup our earnest money) to 7 days instead of the 14 days we'd asked for, and 2) move the closing date to April 16 (we'd asked for March 31). Eric talked them out to 10 due diligence days, and we got a closing date on April 9 (or sooner if we can manage it). However, if we miss the April 9 closing date, the bank wants to charge us $100 per day (alternatively, they can walk on the deal).

So, we came to an agreement, and put the house under contract. Woo!

Last week, I received the Good Faith Estimate from our lender, a guy Eric knows and recommended at Countrywide. Now, stupid me, we had just gone with the guy Eric recommended rather than shopping around. Frankly, I hate dealing with money, and I wouldn't really have known what to look for, anyway.

Fortunately, a coworker of mine used to work at a mortgage company and had learned about all this kind of stuff, so I took my copy of the Good Faith to him, and he looked it over and told me I could be getting a much better deal. I decided I needed to shop around while I still could, so I told the lender at Countrywide I wasn't ready to lock in on the loan yet, and let him know I was going to shop around.

Because the closing date was so close, we weren't able to use Kristen's credit union, which probably would've been ideal. In the end, though, I found a good deal with my own bank (I got half a percent lower rate than Countrywide could offer me, for one thing), and locked in with them Friday afternoon.

Then, on Monday, Kristen and I met with the inspector we'd ordered and did a detailed look over the house. This guy seemed very thorough, and we were there for 3 hours. We found one major issue: the water pressure regulator is broken, so the pressure inside the house is way too high. Fortunately, we have the valve closed at the moment, which should protect the appliances. Eric spoke with a contractor he knows to get an estimate on fixing that and the other bigger issues, and is going to try to get the bank to pay for those repairs.

In addition, we went by the company we have our car and renter's insurance with, and spoke with them about insuring the house. They have contacted the bank, so once the appraisal comes back, they'll be able to tell us how much insurance will be.

As of right now, we're waiting on the bank to get the appraisal done, and everything should be set. God-willing, by April 9, we should have a house. And then the next adventure: moving. Who wants to help (I don't know when we'll be moving yet, but I plan on being moved before Holy Week, which in our Church is April 20-26)?

Buying a House, Part VII

Because of the gas prices, my company has approved us to work a day a week from home. I chose Fridays.

While I was working from home this past Friday, Kristen went out with Eric to look at some more houses. A little after 4pm, Kristen called me and asked if I can meet them in a certain neighborhood a few exits on the Interstate north of the apartment. I reminded her that I don't get off work until 5pm, and she responds that it's important. My curiosity was sufficiently piqued by the fact that this neighborhood was the same neighborhood with the house that we'd really liked but was too expensive, and she sounded excited, so I checked to make sure I didn't have any pending emails to deal with, and headed out to meet them.

When I pulled up, I discovered that the house Kristen and Eric were excited about was a foreclosure that had, previously, been well outside of our price range, but had been reduced to the high limit of our price range. It's a "Cape Cod" style house with a garage/finished basement. This time, Kristen and Eric spent a lot of time, including the time waiting for me to get there, looking over the house trying to find anything wrong with it.

They did find a few issues: a piece of wood trim on the chimney needs to be replace, and a piece of wood over the porch is also bad. There's a deadbolt in the back that needs to be replaced, and the stove/over needs cleaning. The carpet could also use a good professional cleaning. These things are relatively minor, and probably won't be terribly expensive. Once we're past that, there are a number of things that could be done to make the home even better than it is.

At the reduced price, Eric believes that this house will be somewhat of a hot item. In fact, he was able to find that at least 3 people other than us had looked at that house that same day. Since none of us felt any reservations about the house, we decided to make an offer that evening.

Because the house is a foreclosure, and a bank is selling it, they aren't likely to receive the offer until Monday, when it may be that they receive two or three other offers as well. At the same time, Eric expects that other people, looking at the house, may decide to try and talk the price down even further, so we considered it and decided to offer the full price of the house (minus the fact that we're asking the seller to pay closing costs), and told them we want to close at the end of March. This should give us enough time for an inspector to come through and check everything out to make sure the house is as good as we think.

We signed the paperwork, and Eric has sent in the offer, so now we can only wait. The bank has until Tuesday evening to respond, so we'll know by then whether we have a chance at this house. If not, we'll find something else. God-willing, we'll have a house before Easter (according to the Eastern calendar, April 27).

Buying a House, Parts III-VI

Okay, so I've been lazy and skipped parts III-VI. Here's a quick recap, though, so you don't feel too left out:

Part III
Eric called us a couple days after our first tour to let us know that an offer had been placed on the one house we had liked. Since things in our price range seemed to be moving quickly, we decided to move quickly. The next tour, covering an area between my office and our apartment, was covered by Kristen and Eric on a weekday while I was working. They called me and I met them to see the house they'd kept: a home in the neighborhood Kristen first grew up in. It was well within our price range, and though it had a couple issues that could be dealt with, we really liked it. It was the same floor plan as the other house we'd liked.

Part IV
The next weekend, I joined Kristen and Eric again to go looking at an area a bit further away from my office. We looked at a number of homes, and, again, ended up with only one house (again, the same floor plan) that we kept, although the price was still a bit steeper and it was further out. I didn't like the way they'd finished the basement, myself. We also came across a few more homes that were surprising to see on the market. From people I've talked to that are selling homes, "stagers" say you're supposed to remove all personal stuff from walls, etc., to make the house more attractive to potential buyers. I haven't really liked that, but, at the same time, there's a difference between "personal stuff" (like photos of children) and clutter. In some cases, you couldn't see the house through the stuff.

Part V
Now we had two similar houses that we could consider. Because the market seems to be moving quickly for the nicer houses in our price range, we felt that we needed to be coming close to making a decision. Between the two we'd kept after our last two tours, I decided the next Monday to make an offer on the cheaper house. Admittedly, I didn't have a great feeling even at the time about it, but I put that aside, figuring that it was just nervousness about making such a huge decision. I called Eric, and we decided to meet that Thursday to sign the paperwork required to make an offer.

Part VI
From the time I called Eric until that Thursday, the "not great feeling" I had about the house grew into more of a foreboding. I continued to tell myself it was just nerves, and pressed on. That Thursday, as Kristen (who had met me at my office) and I were heading out to the car to meet Eric, he called us and suggested that, as he was coming from somewhere else anyway, it might be easier to meet at the house and take another look at it before we do the paperwork. This time, we looked even more closely, and the longer we stayed there, the more all three of us felt that this wasn't the right decision. I'm not sure if it was any one issue for any of us, but the number of issues, smaller and larger, that would need to be dealt with made us all feel uncomfortable. In the end, we decided to table that house for now, and look for a bit more.

We decided to do a broader search, including houses that didn't have basements, and Eric and Kristen planned on going out the next day while I was working.

Buying a House, Part II

Things are going well with buying a house, so far. I contacted the lender that Eric (our realtor and a friend from our old church) recommended and got pre-approved for a loan that should more than cover what we need.

Then, this past Saturday, we went out with Eric to visit some houses that he'd picked out from listings near my office. One of the things we'd told him we'd like was a basement. As it turns out, a house that is listed as having a basement doesn't necessarily have a basement. In some cases, it was a small area behind the garage which happened to be under the house. Granted, all the houses we saw had a garage/basement (as opposed to just a basement that sits under the whole house), but some were better than others.

Anyway, I had expected that we would take most of the day looking at houses, but it only took about half the day. This was certainly aided by the one or two houses that we pretty much walked into and quickly walked out of.

I think the most interesting house was, I believe, the second one we visited. The exterior was not terribly confidence-inspiring. The roof looked like it had been shoddily done, the siding didn't look too great, etc. In contrast to the exterior, though, the family room we entered through the front door was "pimped out." Tile floor, nice fireplace, leather chairs, nice TV, even a bar that had been cut into the wall between the family room and the kitchen. The kitchen, however, wasn't quite as impressive. When we opened the door to the hallway that led to the bedrooms, it almost looked like the exterior (in quality, at least), except for the master bedroom. What was so interesting to me was the huge contrast between the different areas. One might say they were very telling as to what this resident's priorities were.

Another house we visited was nice enough, except that everywhere you looked there seem to be a half-finished project. Well, except for the kitchen; that had totally been redone, but we didn't really like what they'd done with it (the floorplan was similar to a house we did really like, which gave us an idea of what the house may have been like before). The listing for the house promoted a "finished bath" in the basement. "Finished," in this case, means a toilet connected to a hole in the ground where a pump is probably going to be buried.

At the end of our tours, we had only one house we were planning to keep in consideration. On the downside, the seller is asking a bit more than we're wanting to pay, but there could be some working with that. Also, the house is very, very nice—certainly worth what the seller wants for it—which means there's a chance it may get snatched up before we've had time to look at other options.

Hopefully, over the next week, we'll get a few chances to meet with Eric again, and we'll probably be out looking again next Saturday, this time in some other areas we've considered. God-willing, everything will work out for us to have a house before our lease is up on the apartment.

Buying a House, Part I

With the wedding, honeymoon, and being sick out of the way, Kristen and I are ready for our next big adventure: buying a house.

Currently, we're living in the apartment I moved into back in November. At the time, I was already planning on getting a house as soon as possible (at least partly to take advantage of the current "buyer's market"), so I only signed for a 6-month lease. This means that I need to have a house by May (I could, of course, renew my lease for another 6 months, or pay an extra $100 monthly, but I don't want to do either of those). So, with less than 3 months to go, Kristen and I decided to call up a friend of mine from our old church who happens to be a realtor, and get started looking for a house.

We met with Eric (our realtor friend) at a local Chick-Fil-A this past Saturday, and he went over a "first-home buyer's" brochure he had put together with us. We also caught up with each other a little, since I hadn't seen him in some time.

After the meeting, both of us were very excited. I can't wait to get out looking, and I know that Eric is a realtor that not only has the experience to be able to help us, but is also trustworthy.

Of course, before we can get out looking at homes, we have to figure out what we can afford. To that end, Eric gave us a card for a lender that he knows, so that we can get pre-approved for a loan. I gave him a call yesterday, but I got an answering machine. Of course, if I'm enjoying a holiday, the banks are, too. So, hopefully, we'll hear back from him today, or I'll try calling him again this afternoon.

I really want to get this show on the road. God-willing, by May, I will own a home. Which means I'll be able to vote! Wait...