Our new place!

The house hunting has ended!

After nearly 2 months in temporary housing we *finally* worked out a deal that allowed us to move into the house of our dreams.

It was a long, terrible process and it didn't go at all like we planned.

We put an offer in back in April and we and the bank agreed on price. Fantastic since our lease didn't expire until June 1! Well not so fantastic. So we waited for paperwork (because this is a foreclosure) and waited and signed everything as soon as it'd come in and then we sent it back. Again and again. There were even a few trips with me and the kids driving to Derek's office so I could immediately sign a document and fax it back. Things got intense. Our lease did run out and we moved into temporary housing to wait for something to happen.

The bank that was representing us didn't really meet our expectations from the get go. We had a hard time keeping communication clear and open between us and them. I feel awful because I just can't recommend this bank that we spent so much time working with. The local bank (who owned the property) was pretty good. They worked with us. Our lender though? Not so much.

After several hiccups and misunderstandings we finally got into the home stretch. We waited for the appraisal. It was due on a Wednesday, but then we were told it'd be ready on a Friday. We waited. Then we were told Monday. Promised. We waited. Then we were promised the following Wednesday.

This is where the final straw started to break the camels back. No one had given this guy a deadline and as he missed his we also missed ours. Several. Back to back.

Finally it came back nearly 2 weeks *after* the due date. Even worse we were told we had to pay an extra $150 to the guy because his services cost more. I won't say what I think of being overdue and then charging extra.

Anyway the appraisal came back terrible. The price we had agreed on the house plus the 15k in instant renovations we wanted to roll into the mortgage (look at that roof! No really! It needs one! and other things) was a lot more than what the house would be worth with said renovations.

So we were about to buy a house that we would instantly be upside down on.

My agent assured me this guy had missed the mark. That the house was worth more. I agreed, I mean, it has a basement apartment nicer than our first place in college. However I wasn't ready to be upside down on anything especially considering how upside down we were on our previous house.

D said walk. He was done done done stick a fork in him done. I couldn't blame him. I had a hard time backing down. I'm just stubborn and after spending so much on contractors and home inspectors I hated to walk away from it all.

Insert my dad here. He came up to help us with some known issues in the house and was primed and ready to get some basic reno work done as we moved into whatever house we bought. He felt the house was a great deal, no matter who lived there. It would rent easy with access to two different lakes and with a basement apartment could become a 3/3 and 1/1 duplex in a heart beat.

So armed with our appraisal and our original offer he went to talk to the bank. In just 4 hours he bought it. Seriously. Months of us trying vs 4 hours of dad's time.

So we're renting it. Not what I expected to say or have happen but there it is. D and I will keep saving up and when we're ready we'll get another appraisal and we can either buy it then or keep renting. Dad and I are doing improvements with him footing most of the bill and giving me tons of direction. So there's a point where I'm going to help do work that might price the house out higher than I want to pay. It's a risk I'm willing to take.

Last week we officially moved in with our stuff from the temporary housing. That means beds on floors, very little furniture, very very little stuff. We're slowly emptying our storage unit into the new house. And as of the week before Dad officially closed on the house we're doing reno. Pretty reno. So I'll be updating about that on here.

Hope you guys are ready for photo dumps of before and after photos!