Friday, December 3, 2010

House stuff.

So, I don't want to get too excited yet, but promising things are happening with the house.

About three weeks ago, my realtor called me out of the blue (we hadn't had anyone look at the apartment for at least a month). He wanted to let me know he wasn't giving up and eventually we would get our apartment sold. In that same phone conversation, he mentioned a house he just listed for someone that he thought we might like. He said it was extremely well cared for, reasonably priced, the right size for us and had a large lot.

I told him that I didn't want to look at any more houses until we had someone interested in our apartment, because we have technically lost two houses. The first in Warwood, where we had the contract, the close date, the inspection, appraisal, etc. I had even bought some new curtains. Then our buyer backed out. The second was not so involved. We made the offer, she accepted, and then changed her mind because she wasn't comfortable with the contingencies.

So, by complete coincidence, my realtor called again a few days later saying someone wanted to look at our apartment on Sunday. We said fine, if someone was looking at ours, we would look at a few as well. (We have looked at maybe 25 houses by now...)

Long story short, the first house we looked at that day, the house he had told me about, is, in a word, perfect. As soon as we got out of the car, Clint loved it, which is rather aggressive for Clint, as he is the mild mannered and reserved one of the two of us. It's a newer house, (built in 1969, which is about 50-60 years newer than houses I typically like) it's in North Park, where we have lived before (renting when we first got married), three bedrooms, two bathrooms, rec room/play room, remodled kitchen, two car garage, covered back porch, adjacent lot included in the purchase, beautiful refinished hardwood floors, lots of closet space, it's on a flat cul de sac with only two other houses, it has a large driveway, perfect for a basketball hoop in a few years... I think Clint was ready to sign that day. Of course, we were reserved, waiting to find out about our apartment.

Apparently, the couple looking at our apartment really liked what they saw, had spoken with the co-op president, and wanted to come back with their contractor to price a new kitchen. We were thrilled. It had been so long since anyone was interested, and this happens right out of the blue. So, they planned to come look at it again on Black Friday. The requested parking information, and the bylaws of the co-op association. They told my realtor they would get back to him soon. My realtor is convinced they are extremely serious. Which made me feel comfortable with the following.
Last Sunday, anticipating this couple making an offer on our house, and us wanting to make an offer on the North Park house, we drafted a contract to be submitted once we had an offer on the apartment. We wanted to be prepared, and catching us through the week can be tricky. Tuesday my realtor told me that someone had looked at the same house on Sunday and then were planning to go back Tuesday afternoon. We agreed we didn't want to take any risks, and were willing to lose the front end money over losing the house to someone else, this close to getting an offer on our apartment. I told my realtor to submit our offer, and then held my breath. The next day, he told me our offer was accepted. No counter offer or anything. He agreed to our terms, no questions asked. We have a close date at the end of January. I'm meeting with the bank people on Tuesday, have received preapproval and been provided a good faith estimate. Everything looks great.

Of course, we are still going crazy over whether or not these people are going to make an offer on our apartment. I think at this point, we will accept any offer within reason, as long as it covers our expenses of getting the new house (realtor fees, down payment, etc.). Like I said, my realtor is very confident, and he knows the seller pretty well. He said that if we needed to extend the close date, he feels confident that the seller would be comfortable with that. He feels the couple interested in our apartment is just taking their time (you mean people don't rush through buying a house?) and reviewing the bylaws and all that. My realtor said someone else contacted him about the apartment, someone moving to the area mid December (which is already very close).

We are still nervous as hell, but this all feels right. The house is literally perfect for us. The finance end of it looks good. I'm not going to worry yet.

Here's a couple of pictures from the realtor's website. Everyone cross your fingers and keep us in your prayers. We deserve a break!