Archive for the ‘Foreclosure’ Category

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Less Stress


2010
03.10

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Posted in Buying a Home, Foreclosure, Mold | No Comments »

Day 72 - 19 to go.

 

So we did another whirlwind day of house hunting. Seven homes all in under 4 hrs. It all started with a trip into the boonies to take a gander at a foreclosure in Glen Arm. We had to park on the side of the road, because, even though it was 60 degrees and sunny, the driveway hadn’t been plowed and there was still much to melt. Climbing the driveway tundra was a challenge. Especially since Roxie was wearing clogs. We took a peak inside the window and could not believe what we saw. “Oh, no. We can’t go in there” Roxie exclaimed. “That’s just not sanitary.” The place was caked in mold! It was visible on every surface you could see through that window. Oh, disgusting! So we turned to leave. As we were falling on our asses down the snowy driveway, Roxie through a jab in my direction…”That one was your wifes idea, not mine.” She directed at my husband with a giggle in her voice. Yes, that one was mine. I take full ownership. I’m now done with foreclosures!

 

We saw a couple of great places too, one that was a zen-like tree house, and one that was over 4,000 sq. ft. They were both on the high end of our scale and I think we have decided to keep things on the down low. Saving money in the long run with a smaller mortgage will result in… let’s face it, less stress. And my friends, isn’t that what we all really need in life… LESS STRESS. I think I might be able to slow the population of gray hairs, improve my complection and maybe even loose a few pounds… all with less stress. I could actually RELAX with a martini in the evening instead of escaping my reality with a martini in the evening. Less stress could make for a happier marriage, happier family, all-in-all… a happier life.

 

With that said, we have turned our attention to the house with “the view that saved it”. That we saw earlier, see Here We Go Again. It’s a perfect size, optimal for great sunrises, it has garage and basement storage, a fireplace and the future makings of a possible mudroom. It needs my creative touch and a little… ok A LOT of love (as my mortgage broker put it… “It’s just peachy”.) Yes, lots of painting and ripping out of apricot colored wallpaper and carpet awaits. But, I think we could make it a wonderful place for my kids to grow up. The neighborhood is quiet with a lot of not-so-busy-streets to ride bikes on. That is a drastic change from the high speed road where we currently live. There is a nice yard for a vegetable garden and a place for the play set. Sorry kids… no pool, but the in-laws are 15 min up the road and they have one!

 

So, at the end of our second flurry of homes, we took a second look at the house with the view. I have been asked if a second showing means an offer is on its way. Well, I have to say, in this case… Yes. Roxie is on her way over tonight to finalize the details on our offer. Initially, we were thinking we would try to close on the 31st, this being the 10th. That way, moving would be more actual moving and less storing, but logistically… it’s not going to happen. It’s too much to accomplish in such a short amount of time… Didn’t I just determine my life would be better with less stress? So, less stress it is! Of course, now we have to see if they accept our offer. Oh no, not out of the stress woods yet… but I’m getting closer.

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Dazed and Confused


2010
03.04

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Posted in Buying a Home, Counter Offer, Foreclosure | 1 Comment »

Day 66 - 25 to go.

 

Well, it looks like the mean ol’ bank has rejected our offer on the foreclosure house. Well, we think they did… Unofficially. Roxie spoke to the banks agent to find out where our offer stood. All he said back was that the bank has authorized him to lower the listing price to $7,000 over their previous counter offer to us. What?!? So basically we’re out. I don’t know about you, but I find that just plain rude. Whatever happened to common courtesies? Couldn’t they officially decline our offer instead of just throwing us into foreclosure purgatory? I mean, pick up the damn phone and communicate, people! Poor manners! Your mothers would not be proud! So, we remain in limbo, we may submit another offer to them, we may not. Don’t know, kind of pissed at the whole situation. It’s horribly poor form.

 

Yesterday we did the whirlwind of house tours. We were originally scheduled with Roxie to see 7 of them, but when we met her, she smartly reduced it to six, all in 2 1/2 hrs. Today, I’m suffering house shopping hangover. I can’t remember much, bit of a blur really. And it’s all topped off with one big headache! There were split levels, ranches and traditional homes all with doors… all with walls. Some with fireplaces and some without. Some had garages, some did not. Some had basements, some had the master bedroom in the basement. (Yeah right, let’s snuggle up in there!) There were dogs with tennis balls, parakeets, fish, renegade squirrels and one mean, angry cat. I remember being warm and I remember freezing. I barely recall the one that was my favorite of the day. I believe that it was too far out, or on the wrong side of town or… road… or… something, I can’t be sure. I also vaguely remember the one my husband liked, but something was amiss. No backyard or perhaps the front yard was an exposed urban wastland with apparitions of crosswalk guards yelling at school children… I don’t know. Anyway, none were all that noteworthy and I wouldn’t really be happy waking up in any of them… at least I don’t think so.

 

People, I’m beginning to feel a bit defeated. I’m told by many that spring will bring new arrivals to the housing market. Really? Spring??… When is that? A few more weeks? Months? We have to be out of here in 20 some odd days. My future seems bleak. I’m about to be 40 and homeless.

 

Time to face facts… Call the In-Laws… We’re movin in!

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Do Banks Counter Foreclosure Offers?


2010
02.23

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Posted in Counter Offer, Foreclosure | No Comments »

Day 57 - 34 to go.

 

Yes, they do. Mine did anyway. I actually just thought they would deny our offer all together. But to my surprise… they countered! It took them exactly a week to get back to us with their new price. It wasn’t as great as we had hoped it to be, remember… we really lowballed them. Well, they highballed us back. I fear this could go on for sometime.

 

We have now countered their counter with another lowball number. This time we sent along a little ammunition. Pictures of the state of the interior and our contractors bid to bring it up to snuff… and the waiting game goes on.

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Making an Offer


2010
02.12

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Posted in Foreclosure, The Offer | No Comments »

Day 46 - 45 to go.

 

We were getting ready to submit an offer on the foreclosure house when our agent Roxie sent us this email… “Hi, I just got off the phone with the listing agent for the foreclosure. He said they will not be able to have electric or plumbing working for the FHA inspection. According to your lender, your loan will not be approved without it.”

 

GASP! What did this mean? Was that it? Was it over? It can’t be. You see, we were planning on getting a FHA 203K Rehab loan to fix up the house. We knew it would be subject to an FHA inspection, we just didn’t know the inspector needed working electric and plumbing. What kind of a rehab loan is that?

 

rehabilitate [ree-huh-bil-i-teyt, ree-uh-] -tat-ed, -tat-ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to restore to a condition of good health, ability to work, or the like.

 

Exactly… Rehab, to me, means it is in desperate need of help, nothings working. And in this case, nothing is! So, let me understand this… in order to get a Rehab loan, the house needed to have already been rehabilitated enough to actually have working electricity? I just don’t get it!

 

Depressed and defeated we drank heavily and went to bed.

 

In the morning woke up with new vigor. Nothing like a good nights sleep to clear your head. This whole thing had to be WRONG. We emailed over our concerns to our lender and did a bit of our own research via the internet (what did we ever do without it?) We checked out this site www.fhainfo.com looking for answers:

 

FHA 203K Loan – Eligible Property:

 

To be eligible for the FHA 203k mortgage loan, the property must be a one- to four-family dwelling (it is, ok, check) that has been completed for at least one year (built in the 50’s qualifies, check)… Homes that have been demolished, or will be razed as part of the rehabilitation work, are eligible provided some of the existing foundation system remains in place. (that’s the plan, Stan.)… the rehabilitation funds will only be used for the residential functions of the dwelling and areas used to access the residential part of the property. (Yep!)

 

We dug further… On properties older than 30 years and over $7,500 in rehabilitation costs, the cost estimate must include a contingency reserve. The reserve must be a minimum of ten (10) percent of the cost of rehabilitation; however, the contingency reserve may not exceed twenty (20) percent where major remodeling is contemplated. If utilities were not turned on for inspection, a minimum fifteen (15) percent is required. (Ah HA!) There it is! Right there!

 

We sent this info along to our lender, and lo and behold, she confirmed it! Crisis averted! Moving onward!

 

The next stumbling block, other than the blizzard of 2010, is the fact that the listing agent for the foreclosure doesn’t think the bank will take less than 13% off the listing price. Are they insane! Who would buy this place for that? It is NOT livable. No kitchen (no cabinets, no appliances, even some hook-ups are missing), It’s listed as a 2.5 bath, but really it’s one. I could only find one toilet in the home. I don’t think a hole in the floor qualifies. It’s also listed as a 3 bedroom, but during our inspection of the property the “master” had absolutely no vents. How would we get heat in there? We’d freeze! So, I wouldn’t really consider that a bedroom, plus it didn’t have a floor. But here is our problem… The bank who is handling the foreclosure is in Texas. TEXAS! The house is here in Baltimore. How would the bank even know the condition of the house? Would they fly someone up here to check it out? Not for the price we are offering. I guess we are going to have to rely on the listing agent to communicate our concerns to the bank. If he actually does, will they even care? Not sure… But my money is on NO.

 

Even so, we are going to offer… 42% lower than the asking price. We think it’s fair, it’s basically the cost of the land plus the cost of the garage (which is new) hmmm, priorities I guess…

 

Yesterday we drew up the papers. Geez! Like 40 pages of signatures and initials all to see if the bank will accept our lowball. Seems like a lot don’t you think? Especially when the odds are stacked against us. Roxie is sending it off today! We have heard rumors about how long it takes a bank to get back to you on an offer on a foreclosed home. Apparently, they’re backed up with stacks of foreclosure paperwork. But we have been assured with this property, it might be just a week. Well, we shall see…

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Quiet Neighbors


2010
02.04

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Posted in Buying a Home, Foreclosure | 1 Comment »

Day 38 – or maybe I should say 53 to go.

 

We toured 4 more houses today. The first one, a short sale in the Mt. Washington area of Baltimore. It was very cute, nice sized rooms, kind of meandering and it had… drumroll please… A Mudroom. Total “country charm in the city”… lots of character! I dig character. The porches out the front and back doors were wonderful. I could see sitting there having coffee in the mornings. But, seriously, when have I ever sauntered outside in the morning with coffee? My mornings are way to busy to sit with coffee, it’s more of a jog with coffee. Anyway, the downside of this house was the small yard, no garage and it’s just a tad too close to the edge of the not so nice side of Baltimore. I decided to keep this one on my “back-up” list.

 

The second house was smack dab in the city. A nice part of the city, but city non-the-less. But it was HUGE! I couldn’t believe the size of the place. But, that’s about the extent of it’s allure. The house was out-of-style and needed updating to no end. Plus, it had a slate roof that has seen better days. We would need to replace that. I don’t think it had central air and I’m not going back to window units. Also, the back door, again was up a flight of stairs, kinda hard for my cute little pooch. It did have the slightest bit of potential… but a bit my friends, just doesn’t cut it.

 

The third house was touted as a 6 bedroom in Towson, Maryland. Six bedroom, WOW! What would we do with all that space? From the photo it looked like a split-level (we know how I feel about those.) You see, I grew up in a split-level. I like my childhood home. I enjoy going back there, I have wonderful childhood memories of that house… I just… don’t want to grow old in one. Been there, done that if you know what I mean!

 

So, we arrived at the 6 bedroom house. And parked in it’s parking lot. Yes, that’s right. It’s Parking Lot! It was located directly behind a plaza and the driveway was a part of it’s lot. This house was awful! Hated it before I even walked in. Oh, can I say it again… Awful! I think it used to be a day care center or some kind of doctors office I wouldn’t send my worst enemy to. There was a yellow sticker on one of the “bedroom” doors that said: “Do not enter without knocking first.” I can’t imagine what used to go on in that room. No, no, no. Let’s go!

 

The fourth house was also in Towson, another split-level, and a foreclosure. Better location than the last, but I think it had been abused in it’s past life as a frat house. Oh, if those walls could talk. There were remnants of a hot tub on the back porch which smelled of old pool. This place had abandoned IKEA furnishings, carpets that I think were at one time tan, the walls I believe were white, and the bathrooms, well, I couldn’t tell what color they used to be. And way to many water stains to actually believe the house would stand another 5 years without crumbling onto itself. AARRGGHH!

 

At least the first home was kinda cool. Short Sale… Hmmm. Even hearing back from a bank on an offer on a short sale can take a month. And if you’re not really sure if it’s the house for you, do you really want to waist the time? Especially, when we need to be out of this one in 53 days.

 

So, Roxie took us back to our foreclosure home. The one we love! To see into the basement. Our contractor was meeting us there to assess it. As we were waiting for him to arrive we walked through it again, checked out the garage and scanned the grounds. There’s this oh-so-cute-and-spooky cemetery right next door. Old, abandoned cemetery with the vestige of a church’s foundation. There are maybe 30 or so gravestones and we wandered through them to get a better look. The majority of dated back to the 1800’s. From what I gathered mostly family plots. Very cool, very cool. I can just see them illuminated for my annual Halloween Party. I loved it! Now that’s character. Yep… about 30 of them.

 

I really like the foreclosure house. I can tell my husband likes it too. We bring it up to each other all the time. It’s the one, we both know it. I guess we just want to see exactly how sound it is and exactly how much bread it’s going to take to make it fabulous. You see, looking to buy a house isn’t just buying a house, it’s buying a home. One my kids will be raised in and hopefully one some day they will bring their families home to. And even though it’s not much now, we sort of feel at home at that foreclosure… and we like the quiet neighbors!

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And the Quest… Is On!


2010
02.01

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Posted in Buying a Home, Contractor, Foreclosure | No Comments »

Day 35 –

 

We went to two open houses over the weekend. This was a hoot. The first one… too small. But amazingly the new bathroom in that house was bigger than the kitchen. I could have fit my whole family into that bathtub. It was almost like they just took a hot tub installed it and called it a bathtub. I couldn’t believe the size. I’m still dumbfounded by it. I think my son could use it as a half pipe.

 

The second one, great location, strange layout. To get to the family room (which was kinda cool) and to the backyard you had to walk through the master bedroom. That’s right. You heard me. Imagine my 11 year old having friends over and wanting to play outside and run thru my bedroom right when I’m changing. Nope, don’t think so. Movin’ on.

 

Today Roxie, our agent, picked us up took us to 3 places that were on my list. The first, which I really like from the photos on-line was extremely disappointing in person. It was on a hill which made the backdoor 2 stories up. My small dog couldn’t run down those steps to pee if he wanted too. We could build him an extreme dog slide, but… no. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

 

The second, was ok. First of all, it smelled right away like “old people”, we can fix that. We also would have to take off some hideous wallpaper, do A LOT of painting, and re-do the kitchen. That kitchen was old! The oven in the wall was something I had never seen before. I’m guessing “50’s modern?” It looked more like a microwave. I couldn’t fit a turkey in there if I wanted to. There was even a Montgomery Ward Brand TV in the kitchen which was so old you have to actually get up off your chair to change the channels. My kids would flip to see such a relic. There was also a strange bedroom in the basement with a shower. Not a bathroom with a shower, just a shower, right there in the room. But, all in all I think with my creative ability that place had some potential and it was the perfect size. It even had a dream feature of mine… a mud room. Oooo, I get giddy at the idea of a mud room. Keep that house on the maybe list.

 

The third house we saw was my foreclosure house. I couldn’t wait to get there and see inside. After my initial walk through I was jumping up and down, literally. I loved it! It was bigger than I thought it was going to be, which was a good thing. The layout was also kinda cool. I was sold. I could see myself in it baking christmas cookies in the kitchen. Even though there currently is NO kitchen. I, my friends, have the gift of visualization. I just can’t understand why some people don’t have it. Some will write off a house just because they don’t like the paint color. People it’s paint! $25 at the hardware store. Deal with it! But, they just can’t see a room in their heads as another color. I don’t get people like that. Kind of feel sorry for them.

 

Anyway, this foreclosure home did have a few odd things. There was a big hole in the floor of the living room that was covered with plywood. The basement, which is partially furnished, is only accessible from the outside. The non-existent half bath had a divided light french door, that you could see through. What’s with that? The master bedroom didn’t seem to have any vents. Not sure how the heat gets in there. But these things seemed like it they were an easy fix. But then… our contractor extraordinaire showed up and stomped all over my parade. It seems I may need anywhere from $90,000 – $150,000 to update all the things the last guy did wrong (‘Harry Homemaker’ he called him), and build an addition. I was hoping more along the lines of $70,000. And this ballpark estimate is without him looking at the basement (we couldn’t get it open. It was sealed with a Master Lock.) The estimate could even get worse once he got into the basement. Boy-o-boy, to be able to pull that off, I’d have to get that house for a song. Like $72,000 less than they are asking for it. And it’s a foreclosure, bank owned. Do they even negotiate that low?

 

I did learn one Interesting thing today… I was thinking of building an addition OFF of back of the house. It is a ranch after all, like to keep it long. But our contractor said it would be easier to build up instead of out, cheaper too. Wow, wouldn’t have thought that. Keeping that one in mind.

 

I did mention my foreclosure house to our mortgage broker, mainly because I didn’t know if I could get cash on top of the house price for fixing it up. Wasn’t sure how that worked. Her initial e-mail reaction was “YEESH!!!” Yeesh, what the hell is yeesh? That doesn’t sound good. She thinks we may need a “rehab” loan. A FHA 203K Rehab Loan. Whoa, sounds complicated. And complicated it seems to be. Inspectors, licensed contractors, higher interest rates… blah blah, blah. Is this something we really want to tangle with? Well, if we can get that dream house for a dream price… damn straight.

 

The best thing about this whole process is, I’m kinda having fun. It’s an adventure into uncharted territory. My husband too has finally taken to looking on-line at what is out there. Before it was just me. You see, he was the strong one. He held out til we were under contract. I was weak! Well, good for him. And, I’m glad he’s finally on the band wagon. It’s exciting now that we can share in this quest to find a new abode. I’m just hoping it remains fun for a while, I’m sure it will start getting stressful as we get closer to closing on our current house and haven’t found our new one yet.

 

Well, we are back at it tomorrow. Roxie is setting up more appointments so we can see other homes, walk through them, get a sense of how other people live, moth balls, old TV’s and all. It’s a lesson in urban anthropology. :)