Mortgage update: things are going...alright.
New mortgage guy is on the ball and had me convinced up till last night we were closing on Friday (tomorrow).
Then he drops the bomb that he cant get the place appraised for 3-5 days.
So no closing tomorrow.
I suppose there is a higher reason for all this but when you have already attended goodbye dinner after goodbye dinner with friends, your husband has quit his job, you have movers lined up for Monday, ebay has been shut down for weeks in anticipation of moving and everything is packed and boxes are everywhere...I don't see any bright side to this.
Maybe Obama will increase the home buyers credit. That would be worth all this hurry up and waiting.
And its TOUGH to have $$ in the bank but you cant spend it! (Total selfish whine here) but it's hard to want to go out to eat but tell yourself you cant afford it when you have major money sitting in a savings account. I just wanna pay my down payment and get rid of this "rich" feeling already. It's a very intoxicating and powerful feeling to see the $$ sitting in the account day after day after day. (yes- I am paranoid of identity theft and obsessively check my account online to make sure the money is still there.)
One thing I have learned- closing costs are EXPENSIVE. It is EXPENSIVE to buy a house. I don't know how people can afford to regularly buy houses. I am wondering if people factor in their closing costs when they determine if they "made money" off their house.
Our good friend is in the process of buying a house right now as well and he is rolling the closing costs into the loan- not understanding that the 8k will cost him about 18k after 30 years- "he would rather save himself 8k now" was his line. So since he is not paying closing costs out of pocket he is really not concerned about their cost. We are paying them upfront and I am totally aghast at the prices. How are banks failing after they charged these prices and made such a profit during the market boom!?
BB and I are hoping this is our "forever house" because I never want to go through the mortgage process again, and I never want to pay closing costs again.
If we eventually turn this duplex back into the single family house it once was- it will be plenty big to raise a family and I think we will come out much much richer if we don't have to buy a SFH down the line.
House Update
January 22nd, 2009 at 03:40 pm
January 22nd, 2009 at 05:00 pm 1232643632
January 22nd, 2009 at 06:36 pm 1232649415
I am little concerned/confused by people's excitement surrounding the first time homebuyer credit. You are aware that it is basically a loan and you will have to pay it back? Granted it is an interest free loan, but it is a loan nonetheless.
January 22nd, 2009 at 07:37 pm 1232653053
January 22nd, 2009 at 07:59 pm 1232654395
i hope everything goes well for you in the next couple of days. everything seems to be going wrong for you guys, it's really crappy! i am hoping in the end, when you FINALLY move all your stuff in and unpack into your brand new place, that it will all be worth it!
January 22nd, 2009 at 08:59 pm 1232657991
Yes, buying a house is expensive, and so is selling one (what with real estate agent commissions and sales tax on top of the other fees). As I said to DH after we bought & sold our first place (our condo), if we buy & sell many times, the only people who will get rich are the agents, banks, and state tax agencies. There must be a lot of people out there who just don't register how much they are paying when they buy & sell ... Those are probably the same people who don't mind paying bank fees, late charges, etc.
I'm a bit surprised the appraisal got held up ... I know appraisers have been hungry for business lately ... I wonder if the recent spate of refis has something to do with it?
Keep hanging in there. You are doing great.
January 22nd, 2009 at 09:55 pm 1232661356
Now I am looking to buy a house under 200k, and the prices are starting to come under that in good areas of Sacramento so...my goal is to be able to pay off the house i purchase sometime this year (hopefully) in less than 10 years. I am even willing to have a room mate for the first couple of years and pay it off faster. (if i pay 1500 a month it could be gone in 5 years...when i think of it like that...wow!!)
January 23rd, 2009 at 01:42 pm 1232718169
I swear this happens to everyone. I was almost 9 months pregnant when we bought our home 21 years ago and DH had taken the day off, we were all set to move. I could have the baby at any moment and the funding letter or something didn't arrive or the bank didn't send in fed ex in time or something. I threw a huge tantrum (because we had done everything right) and the realtors agreed to have us move in even though the funding was not going to be there until the following Monday.
PS I am not one to throw tantrums, but this was ridiculous. Baby girl born 9 days after move in!