Archive for February, 2010

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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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The Appraisal


2010
02.19

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Posted in Appraisal | 1 Comment »

Day 53 - 38 to go.

 

And the verdict is… WE’VE APPRAISED! That’s right, one more thing to no longer worry about. Our house appraised for the purchase price or higher, although we will never actually know what that number is. Shhh, the bank keeps that one a secret. You have to be in a certain club, it’s called the “Buyers Club”, not the “Sellers Club”… Ahh, who cares, it’s done!

 

Oh mighty bank Gods you actually weren’t tightwads
You’ve come around and didn’t bring our price down
We passed your test. Yes, that is the best!
I’m so glad, can’t you see, Let’s Celebrate! Drinks on me!

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Mold, Mold… Mold Mold Mold!


2010
02.18

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Posted in Home Inspection, Mold | No Comments »

Day 52 - 39 to go.

 

This seems to be our largest issue. Oh, could you guess? Our mold test came back… and it’s not pretty. The laudry list of molds in the house is a bona fide smorgasbord of spores and not the psychedelic kind: Cladosporium, Penicillium (this is a bad one!), Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Arthrinium, Curvularia, Stachybotrys (black mold), Chaetomium, Pithomyces, Epicoccum, smuts, Periconia, Trichocladium. I can’t even pronounce these things let alone believe they’re in my HOUSE! I asked myself, if I was buying this place and I knew this mold exists would I bring my two kids into this situation? No. So really there is no question… We have to take care of it ASAP! Repeat after me… REMEDIATION! Time to bring on the mold guys!

 

Our real estate agent recommended a few companies and we got on the horn. Our guy is here now with my husband in the basement going over our “options”. I really like this guy! He’s big on personality, seems to be quite knowledgeable, likes what he does and is originally from London (love the accent!) Who better to exterminate mold than a Brit?

 

Curious myself, I went down to check up on them. Wow, hire the professionals to do what the professionals do. This guy found even more areas than the home inspector did. This is what he recommends… The Fog! (yep, bring on John Carpenter and Adrienne Barbeau!) Team of guys in scary white outfits and a fog machine. Well, it sounds easier than it is. They spray the fog into and onto the affected area(s), the fog will then travel through our air system and annihilate those mean ol’ spores! Hey, I think I’ll leave my sons hockey equipment in front of the air duct and perhaps kill the mildew that I’m sure is growing in there. Maybe it will also get rid of the “hockey” smell too! ooo… this is getting interesting, what else do I want to bomb?

 

The process he says will take two days and they will also dispose of the extra junk that has accumulated over the years in the crawl spaces (extra insulation, wood, paneling, old wiring, etc.) some of it with visible mold. Now that’s worth paying for! I’m not crawling in there touching that crap and dragging it out. It’s spooky, disgusting and way too claustrophobic for me. So then after the fogging they put on their dehumidifier and hepa filter and that’s pretty much it. We asked if our computers and electronic equipment needed to be covered and the answer was no. The fog is so fine it does not affect these things. Wonderful! We also don’t need to fret with ourselves. He recommends us leave during the actual fogging, which we will do, but the fog is not even harmful to our pets! Great! After all that… we test again, and hopefully we win the war!

 

So, how much is this all going to cost me?… I was estimating upwards of $3,000 but it seems more like $1,200 – $1,500. Which, don’t get me wrong, is still a lot. Wonder where that money is coming from.

 

My friends, in the end, I highly recommend getting a mold test done. Whether you are buying a house or not. It can’t hurt, it can only help. Better to be safe than sorry sharing airspace with a pestilent fungalfarm.

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Still Waiting


2010
02.17

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Posted in Home Inspection, The Offer | 1 Comment »

Day 51 - 40 to go.

 

Still Waiting… double entendre intended! I feel like this house, the process, the weather, my physicality is just plain lifeless. I’m stuck in a blah blob milieu.

 

The Home Inspection process is turning out to be a long one. The inside of our house has been thoroughly inspected, however, we are still waiting for a “mold test” sample to come back… What exactly will that report state? I’m wondering… Our radon test was fine, we passed. The pest inspection, also fine. But we are being held up because of the snow. AARRGGHH the damn snow! The inspector can’t inspect the exterior of the house with 4 feet of snow on the ground and the roof. The buyers had us sign an addendum to the contract so that they can have an ‘inspection extension’. This is what is said…”Buyer requests an extension of the time frame to inspect roof and exterior components of the property due to weather conditions. Said inspection will be done within seven (7) days of notification by Sellers agent to Buyers agent of the roof being clear of snow.” Well, the way the weather is going that may be well into June. So we’re… Waiting Again!

 

The offer on our foreclosure house is still out there in the foreclosure abyss. No word yet. – Waiting Again!

 

Every day I’m checking out the new listings on-line. Maybe one here, another there, but nothing really worth looking at. I guess everyone is waiting for the snow to melt to list their house. – Waiting Again!

 

This waiting game is making me fat! There is nothing to do but eat and watch the Olympics. Oh well…Go team USA!.. pass the brownies.

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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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The Waiting Place


2010
02.11

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Posted in Buying a Home | No Comments »

Day 45 - 46 to go.

 

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we’ve had a bit of snow recently here in Baltimore. I can’t believe it, but there is over 44″ outside my window. The world has stopped, cabin fever is setting in and I’m about ready to murder my kids!

 

Here is the bane of my frustration: My life is on hold… with just about everything…The home inspector needs to come back to inspect the exterior of the house, too much snow. The kids have been out of school all week and won’t be back til next Tuesday. They are driving us batty and for a couple who works from home, with them here, we can’t get anything done. I also can’t search for a new home in 44″ of snow. We can’t put an offer in on the foreclosure house we love because our agent is snowed in and can’t get to her office. The bank is closed, so I can’t deposit the checks I have, therefore I can’t pay my bills. I don’t even think the mail system is running. I’m losing it! I… my friends, have entered… The Waiting Place! I have never liked the waiting place, it’s NOT for me. I need life to move! Things to happen! I’m not bored, just utterly frustrated. So, being in this mental state, I thought I’d pay a little homage to the incomparable Dr. Seuss.

 

I’m headed… I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…

 

Waiting for a car to go
or the inspector to come,
or entering escrow
or the mail to come,
or finding out what they know
or the phone to ring,
or the melting of snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
I seem to be just waiting.

 

Waiting for the potential buyers to bite
or waiting for the power to light a lite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for the appraiser, Jake
or to look for a house, or a Better Break
or a string of emails, or a pair of pants
or an offer to go in, or Another Chance.

 

Everyone is just waiting.

 

NO! That’s not for me!
Somehow I’ll escape all that waiting and staying.
I’m determined to find the bright places where the snow is decaying.
With the For Sale signs flip-flapping, once more I’ll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
I’m SO ready! You see…I need to find a house to buy!

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Old Home (Inspection) Week


2010
02.10

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Day 44

 

Our home inspection was yesterday. As a bevy of people flooded into my home I began to lose count of them. Let’s see… One buyer’s agent, one buyer, inspector number one, inspector number two, one seller’s agent, one 7 yr. old home from school, one dog, one husband leaving, WAIT… where’s my son, oh that’s right he spent the night out. And a partridge in a pear tree.

 

I took a double take at this cast of characters and some of them looked a tad familiar. Hmmm. The buyer’s agent, not Mr. Bowtie, but a stand-in I know I’ve seen before. Home inspector number one looked familiar to me too. What was going on, was I delving into some sort of past-life experience?

 

My husband had stepped out and wasn’t there for most of the inspection. It wasn’t until he returned a few hours later that we put it all together. Get this…The home inspector was the same guy who flooded my “Cute Little House’s” basement at that Home Inspection and cost me upwards of $5,000.00. See “The Nightmare of the Last House We Sold” Whoa! What a coincidence. Once we pointed this out to him, he turned bright red. Oh-ho-ho, he remembered us alright. “That insane cat lady with the litter down your toilet, right? Oh, man, what a mess!”… Yep, that’s us. It was quite funny to make this oh-so-strange connection. The story then unfolded and was retold to everyone in the room, including our potential buyer. Although, I don’t really think she heard any of it, she was busy redecorating in her mind.

 

Her stand-in agent actually turned out to be a guy who showed us a house in Timonium 3 years ago when we were shopping for this one and before we actually hired another agent. Ooops… Awkward. We ended up buying this house without him after he showed us the Timonium house… twice.

 

The whole situation was quite a hoot which lightened the mold situation a bit! That’s right you heard me MOLD! But not as bad as you may think, but still… it’s MOLD! And I didn’t even know it was there! How long have we been breathing it in? It is located under the stairs to our finished basement. Not on the floor, but on the actual stairs. AARRGHH! Not good. Probably every time we go up and down those stairs we dislodge a few particles. This I’m sure will be some sort of sticking point with the buyers, although, I’m hoping the mental renovating trumps a few tiny spores.

 

Apparently, there is also some sludge on our basement wall by the oil tank. YES, I know it’s there. It was there when we bought the house. It’s there because some underpaid oil delivery man could care less about actually getting every drop of oil in the tank. It’s just something we live with. It’s behind a door. You can’t see it unless you open it. So, hey… Don’t open it!

 

From what I can tell, those are the only real things they could find wrong with my house. I knew it was a good house! Nice, expensive, good house. Yes, I guess you get what you pay for. But I could still be wrong… Home inspector number one might hold his basement flooding embarrassment against us… you never know.

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Bad Neighbors


2010
02.09

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Posted in Neighbors | 1 Comment »

Day 43 – Home Inspection today. Awaiting the onslaught of people.

 

We have these neighbors… And when we move… I won’t miss them. You see, they are old and crotchety and are the kind of people who get into everyones business and one day, they got into mine.

 

One sunny day I was taking my life into my hands retrieveing the mail when a car, instead of speeding past at 50 mph, actually slowed down and stopped in front of me. It was an older couple. He was driving. She leaned out her window and said to me, “We live up the road and I was just wondering when you were going to get around to mowing your side lawn?”.. Our house is a corner lot and one side of the yard is a steep 10-15 foot incline. It is mowable and my husband has done it several times. It is however too steep for a ride-a-mower. He has to use the push kind so he doesn’t mow it as much as the rest of the lawn because it is basically a time consuming pain in the ass.

 

So, I kindly said to her… “Well, we have been busy and are planning to get to it” She said to me in return “And what’s with the…” she rolled her wrist, pointing her figure while, I could only guess, gesturing to our new fence. “Do you have dogs?” she continued… “No, (now I’m starting to get aggravated) but I have kids and I don’t want them chasing a ball onto a busy road” I replied. She nodded and they drove off. After I told my husband he said to me, “Did you get their name?” Well, I hadn’t thought of it… As a matter of fact they did not introduce themselves. Well, my husband was pretty pissed off. So we decided to do what anyone in that situation would do… Never mow that part of the lawn again.

 

A few weeks went by when we found an anonymous letter in our mailbox. Asking us to please take care of our property and if we needed a lawn crew one could be recommended. Recommended? By whom? Who will recommend someone, the note was anonymous. This pissed us off even more, so my husband mowed… a wavy pattern into our now 8″ long grass. My son was hoping to aid in our recent departure into the Hatfield-McCoy face off by offering to head out to the side lawn late at night with some fluorescent spray pant to “jazz up” the remaining tall grass. We didn’t want him to become a vandal in training. But, hey, he was thinking!

 

A few more weeks went by and our side hill was looking pretty desperate. Brown, ratty, kind of all over the place. The rest of our lawn however… immaculate! It was a beautiful day in June and we were celebrating my sons 10th birthday with a Survivor themed pool party, complete with all the challenges. As we were wrapping everything up and the kids parents were showing up to pick up their children, that woman pulled into our driveway and blocked it completely. She proceeded to get out of the car and wave her finger at my husband. “This is an upperclass neighborhood” she said to him… “your trees are dying, you need to mow your lawn, just who do you think you are?” (who did we think we were?… Who the hell does she think she is?) My husband replied to her in a calm voice. Holding out his hand he said…” Hello my name is… and you are?” Over and over he asked her name and she just kept waving her finger in his face and criticizing his skills at lawn care. Our guests could not leave! They were trapped by a raving lunatic of a woman. My husband chased her back to her car where she finally got back in, but did not leave, just proceeded to make a phone call. OK, time for the tough language. A few necessary words were uttered by my husband including ‘trespassing’.

 

Wow, did she really think she was going to get our lawn mowed this way? Seriously?

 

Later that week my husband went out to get the mail when the same car pulled up… this time her husband. What was it with these people and our mailbox? Oh, did they exchange some heated words. Still, no name. WTF?

 

Well, about a year past since that encounter. We had forgotten all about them, went about our lives, even started mowing the side lawn again (it was looking pretty bad). But things never change. We got busy with work, weekends were busy with kids activities and therefore the side lawn suffered neglect once again. The one Saturday my husband could find the time to get out there and mow we found yet another note in our mailbox, this time stating maybe the neighbors could take up a collection so we could pay someone to mow our lawn, again anonymous. Seriously? My husband, furious, decided to let it slide and went to mow the lawn anyway. He didn’t see the point in letting the lawn go another year just to spite these idiots. As he was mowing away, that man pulled up beside him and slowed down. As my husband pushed the lawn mower forward 5 ft. then back 5 ft. while the neighbor proceeded to follow him in his car… pulling up 5 ft, then backing up 5 ft. all the while yelling out the window of his car at him. More heated words were exchanged. That was it! We were done with this adolescent crap! Did we really have to put up with these crass and uncouth people the rest of the time we live here? We did what any other civilized individual would do when confronted by blatant harassment… Called the cops! Oooo what the gossip in the neighborhood must have been when that policeman showed up on their doorstep.

 

We still get the evil eye when they drive by, but since the long arm of the law knocked on their door no more mailbox abuse.

 

Once we move, we won’t miss those neighbors, that’s for sure!

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The Appraiser’s Coming Today?


2010
02.08

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Posted in Appraisal, Headaches of Selling Your Home, Home Inspection | No Comments »

Day 42 – 49 to go.

 

“The Appraiser is Coming Today?” Are you kidding me!?! This is the message I received while biding my time with 30 other people in the waiting room of my pediatricians office. I knew the Home Inspection was tomorrow, and knew there would be an appointment with the Appraiser sometime in the future, but now?.. Today!?! In 3 hrs!?! The house is a complete disaster! We have been snowed in, the kids are home from school, my daughters bedroom has become her pull-everything-out-and-play-with-it-on-the-floor amusementzone, the dishes are piled high in the sink, mud and dirt from shoveling the driveway is sprawled across my kitchen floor along with every mitten, snowsuit, boot and hat we own. AARRGGHH! I’ve got to get home and clean! NOW!

 

2.5 hrs. later… Phew! I made it. The house is not the cleanest I’ve seen it, but at least it’s presentable. Hopefully we can maintain it thru tomorrow when the Home Inspector invades my home. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, we are expecting yet another foot of snow, so I’ll be spending all my time in line at the grocery store, because… I’m out of milk.

 

Well, here I go again, following my kids around with a dust pan. Just for one more day. I think after tomorrow I’ll finally be in the clear. And we can proceed with our normal messy lives.

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Bring on the Inspections


2010
02.05

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Posted in Home Inspection, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Day 39 – 52 to go.

 

When you sell your home the buyers expect various inspections to take place. The other day we had the Pest Inspection. This didn’t take too long at all. The guy was here maybe 40 minutes to an hour and the results are in… They are recommending that some repair be done to some wood due to previous termite damage. This is the same report we got when we purchased this house only we decided not to fix the ‘previous termite damage’. And if I’m not mistaken, the house is still standing. Our agent is sure that the home inspector will also bring it up when he is here on Tuesday. It might be something that the buyers will recommend a contractor fix. Hmmm, wonder how much that will cost. But the bottom line… NO PESTS, unless you count my dog, who proceeded to jump all over the inspector.

 

The well inspection was today. This took much longer. The inspector ran a hose outside for what he said could take 3-6 hrs. (ice rink anyone?) and we shouldn’t use the water during that time. Not use the water!? Was he kidding!?! Our kids are home from school (snow day) and no water for 6 hrs? Is he crazy? Well… we survived (and cheated a few times), in the end it only took about 3 hrs, not 6. We did find out our gallons per minute which is over 10! Not too shabby! He took some water back to the lab to be tested. Still waiting to see if we have been slowly poisoning ourselves to death.

 

Home inspection takes place this Tuesday. Think I’ll try for a mark of 10 on the cleanliness scale. Wait, what?.. That’s not part of the Home Inspection? Well, don’t tell my kids that… I’m making them clean their rooms.

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