Pretty soon this will be our yard!
We’ve been on the home buying roller coaster for almost a month now, and I can’t believe the highs and lows we’ve hit. I thought it would be fun and informative to recount everything that’s happened. As I’ve been searching the internet high and low for information on buying a home, I haven’t been able to find any typical timelines. So I figured I’d write my own, and hopefully it will reassure someone else who is buying a home for the first time.
Friday, June 27…late at night. I was online, browsing homes for sale at johnlscott.com, one of my favorite hobbies. While playing around with the mortgage calculator, I discovered a few homes had finally fallen back into our price range. I saw a home that looked suitable for us. The home happened to be located near where my dad lives.
Saturday, June 28. I called my dad to ask about property taxes, owning a home in that area, and other home buying questions. My dad offered to head down the road to check out the property I was interested in. He came back with a good report.
Sunday, June 29. After talking it over, Jim calls his cousin, who is a realtor. His cousin arranges for us to see the house. We meet my dad at the house and tour the inside. It’s in bad shape, but we like the lot and the layout of the house. Most of the issues seem to be cosmetic.
Monday, June 30. We take a second look at the house, along with my dad’s handyman friend. We want to determine if the floors are structurally sound. My dad’s friend says they are, and also determines that the foundation seems to be in good shape. We’re definitely interested in the house at this point.
Tuesday, July 1. I spend a lot of time on the phone, trying to find out if we will qualify for a mortgage. A mortgage broker runs the numbers, checks our credit, and determines that we should have no trouble qualifying. That night, we meet the real estate agent and make an offer. We go to bed that night nervous and excited.
Thursday, July 3. Our real estate agent calls us back and tells us the sellers accepted our price and agreed to pay some of our closing costs. They countered on a few minor points, namely wanting to close later. We met the real estate agent to counter their counter with a closing date in between the one we wanted and the one the sellers wanted.
Sunday, July 6. The sellers accept our counteroffer. We do a big happy dance!
Monday, July 7. I meet with a local mortgage broker to apply for a mortgage. He agrees that we will have no trouble qualifying.
Wednesday, July 9. I run some forms to the mortgage broker before we take off for vacation. We spend the next few days relaxing, knowing that the rest of the summer will be crazy.
Wednesday, July 16. It’s the day of the appraisal. The appraiser seems to think our the house will appraise at the price we need easily.
Thursday, July 17. I meet the real estate agent and the inspector at the house for the home inspection. My dad’s handyman friend is also there to take measurements for flooring and paint.
I highly recommend following the inspector around the house during the inspection. I really learned a lot about what was wrong with the house and what it would take to fix it. The inspector was great about giving me advice and answering my sometimes very basic questions.
Friday, July 18. We’re told the appraisal should be ready on Saturday. The inspection report also comes in, and there are a few things that might cause problems for our loan. We quickly put together a meeting with our real estate agent to address the concerns. We postpone the well/water test that is scheduled to take place on Monday, until we can address our concerns with the sellers.
Monday, July 21. The appraisal still isn’t ready. The seller’s agent gets back to our agent, and we find out the sellers will do what needs to be done to make the house OK for the loan to go through.
Tuesday, July 22. Still no appraisal…
Wednesday, July 23. We run the postponed well/water test. After 4 hours, we find out that the well is in superb shape. The water chemical test could take 10 days to come back. Fortunately we were expecting that.
Our agent also has a chance to talk with the homeowner, who mentions if things fly along and they are able to get moved out before our tentative August 12 close date, we can close earlier. I do another happy dance.
Now the financing is the only thing holding us up. But still no appraisal…
That brings us to today, July 24. The appraisal was supposed to be in late yesterday afternoon or early yesterday evening. As of this morning, I haven’t heard anything. As soon as the appraisal is in, our loan can be sent to the underwriter for approval. I have no idea how long that process should take.
Beyond the financing, there needs to be an engineering report on the foundation, since it’s a manufactured home, and tie downs need to be added to the foundation. That’s a new FHA rule, apparently, and that was the hang-up we had from the inspection. The sellers will take care of that as soon as we sign off on some of our contingencies, which is supposed to happen later today or sometime tomorrow.
This last month has definitely been full of ups and downs. Barring any delays with our loan, we should be able to close by mid-August, and we might be able to get moved in before school starts. That’s the goal, but it’s an optimistic goal.
When I first told you we were buying a house, I was hopeful that everything would work out, but I was far from convinced. At this point in the process, I’m pretty sure everything is going to work out, and I’m more nervous about the timeline in regards to school than anything else.
It’s hard to believe that a few months ago I was thinking about renting for the long term, and now I’m thinking about packing. Wish me well! I’m going to need all the help I can get!
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Best wishes for the remaining processes! There’s certainly a lot that goes into buying a home, wow.
Congrats! Hope your move goes well. Packing has always been hard for us – what to take, leave, give away (usually just take it all if it’s a local move, long distance we found it cheaper to rebuy at new place).
Since you are buying a manufactured home, if the sellers are not giving you the plans, specs, etc, you probably can get them from the manufacturer. This can save you time & money when needing to make repairs, figure out wiring, plumbing etc. Our info also included paint make & color, cabinet color, items that were an add on, flooring make & color, etc.
That info really came in handy when we needed to change the thermostat to a programmable one – the wiring was run oddly making it harder to just run new wiring. Saved about an hour in labor costs – at $45/hr!!
Good luck and how exciting! My boyfriend is buying a condo now and that’s a great idea to post a timeline so others can see what the process is like.
Congrats! That’s so exciting for you guys. Owned is home is much more exciting than we ever imagined (but also a lot more work as well).
Hope all goes smoothly through move in!
I understand what you’re going through! My husband and I purchased our first home in January and it was a crazy process. Everything took longer than expected. Our appraisal also took forever, so perhaps that is normal.
Good luck!!
Usually there’s about 30 days from acceptance of offer to closing. Looks like you need to add a week to that for the appraisal hangup. Once the loan is approved,( a LOT of paperwork involved in that – allow up to a week for that) there’s the property title search for mortgage insurance check and that might take a couple days also.
Of course, it can be done faster. I made an offer and got the keys in seven days on the house I’m in now – but then it was as-is and a cash deal.
About schooling – I would STRONGLY suggest that you go to the new school for their registration and orientation days. (I used to be a school secretary, can you tell?) And if you can’t move in by then, is there any chance that the kids can stay at Grandpa’s for the first week of school? Maybe you too? It would be so much easier on them than starting a week later. Or If it’s close enough, you might consider driving them there everyday if need be for the week or so you will be commuting. Hopefully everything will be a go for an early move in. If school starts there the day after Labor Day, like it does here, then you should be ok :)
I’d suggest putting the school supplies, backpacks, and the first week of school clothes in a suitcase or a specially marked box so they are right on top and easy to find :) You might want to do your school shopping now while you do have the time :)
Sounds like you have motivated sellers who are willing to compromise – consider yourself lucky there :)
@Bellen – Getting info from the manufacturer is a great idea! I never would have thought of that. Thanks!
@Marci – We’ll definitely be able to get them into their new school regardless of when they move. I just don’t want to deal with living at my dad’s or commuting them up there for a week. But we’re definitely close enough to work it out.
And I have the registration dates on my calendar. I’m just hoping we close by kindergarten registration, or I might not have proof of our new address. 5th grade registration is a week later, so we should be OK for my daughter.
And fortunately the title work is already done. We’re just waiting on the appraisal…still no word, but it’s only 9:00 here.
Best of luck, I am sure it will all work out. Cannot wait to see some pictures!
Of course we wish you well! I am soooo excited for you! What a great feeling to buy your first home and even better, if you are getting a good deal! :-)
And don’t worry about your address. All you need is a copy of the accepted contract and they will take it as proof at the school.
That is great you will be so close to your dad too!
Keep us posted!
Cool post, you outlined the process pretty lightly I have been looking around all week for something like this.
@boomeyers – thanks, that’s good to know!
Still no appraisal……
Congratulations on your home purchase! You didn’t mention whether or not the home was on the city mains or on a septic system for waste/water …. if you’re on septic be sure to get the septic system pumped and certified. If the septic’s been in the ground for a while, you should also get a video camera inspection of the lines to be sure that there will be no nasty surprises after you move in.
@MoneyBlogga – That’s the beauty of this house. It’s far enough out of town to be on a well and in a quiet area, but it’s close enough to town to be on city sewer, so we don’t have to deal with a septic system. :)
Congrats and good luck! I look forward to also buying someday also :)
Congratulations! I’m so happy for you and your family! It will be a lot of work but well worth it.
Blessings!
Lynnae,
Congratulations for finding the new house. Best of luck for getting in there sooner.
We are planning to buy our first home and this experience of yours definitely gave me some more things to think about. We are still about 6 months away from really choosing a house and taking things further but I’m just planning to be persistent and keep socking money away for the down payment.
When my wife and I bought our house, and sold our townhouse it ended up being a year long process, so it sounds like yours has been moving at light speed!
Good luck and I hope it all works out well for you.
Wow! This is such a great thing to read for anyone who is considering buying a home. There ARE a lot of ups and downs when it comes to buying a home. It’s great to hear that everything turned out like this. By now you should be all settled in and having a great time in your new place :)
plz read!
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