Laying it all out there...

...in an effort to cope with internal strife. I figure, I can't jinx it anymore than it already has been.



This is my new house. Or will be. Or won't be. Or will be(fingers crossed!). It's not even close to certain what the outcome of this little experiment will be, sadly.

The adventure began 6 months ago when I put an offer on a stinking adorable little house PERFECT for us. 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, fully fenced, nice concrete patio, dog run, and a small enough yard that the idea of maintaining it didn't give me a nervous breakdown. I've only mowed a lawn once in my life, and let me tell you, SAD (SAD!!!) sight. Our yard wasn't flat, the lawnmower heavy, and my wimpy ninety pounds just couldn't push the silly thing. So my rounds around the yard didn't match up and there were literally 1 inch wide "stripes" of 6 inch grass between the passes. I offered to trim it up with scissors but I think that was the moment dad realized my "punishment chore" turned into punishment for him instead of me. I was never allowed to mow again. How many kids can say that???

But I digress... the months passed and still nothing back from the sellers bank on the short sale price. So I kept looking. Another offer, and another. Oh, yet another. Still no answers from banks. I know they are busy with all the short sales and foreclosures but OH MY HECK!! It's like they want the homes to sit vacant forever!

Long story short, finally an offer was accepted and a bank approved the sale(not the cute little perfect-for-us one previously mentioned, but the one pictured above). They gave me 3 weeks to close and the adventure began. For financing, I'm a shoo-in(a side benefit of being in the parents basement for almost 5 years now). It seemed a done deal, and then the call came.

The house needs a little TLC, that's the reason it's in my budget, and truthfully part of the appeal. I couldn't afford the neighborhood otherwise. The appraisal came back with a good value but was listed as "below average" condition. Not a surprise really, since I am well aquainted with what it needs. However, it throws a serious kink in the works for financing. My bank is not wanting to approve the loan and is trying to get clarification from the appraiser on what it needs. Gotta say, their financial stability and wise reasoning is part of what I love about my bank, so I can't blame them. But as a consumer I'm getting frustrated.

On one hand, the realtor is hollering for a list of repairs we need to complete before closing (I'm going to do them all right after closing anyway). On the other hand, the bank can't give me any information until the appraisal is clarified. So all these people are working on my behalf to make this thing happen and I'm irritating everyone by trying to drag information out of them when they don't have it yet. At this rate, I expect an answer back on the appraisal next tuesday; and closing has to happen by next Thursday at 3:00 or the sellers bank removes the acceptance of the offer. No pressure or anything.

I suppose it's not a big deal, but it's sort of stressing me out. I mean, if this house doesn't work out there will certainly be others I like. In fact, I still have the first offer on the cute house from December floating out there somewhere. But GOOD GOLLY I just want to know what to expect. Living in limbo is not fun, especially when I can't help but hope despite feeling that hope is hopeless.

In the back of my mind I can't help but get irritated that I can't buy a house!!! Despite an 800+ credit score, a good down payment, and stable employment. Despite the fact that for 5 months my bank keeps calling me and saying "we really want to partner with you on a mortgage." Despite the fact that co-workers with $0.82 to their name and no credit history were able to get a house after only 3 weeks of looking. ARGH!

I'll stop dwelling and dragging you into the middle of it. It's just so darn frustrating and all I want is to be excited and feel a need to start packing. So think happy thoughts and know that if it happens I'll disappear into a dozen gallons of paint and come out all colorful in the end, which will make for good pictures at least.

Have you had any home purchase chaos? I'm starting to feel totally alone in this though with the number of short sales and foreclosures on the market it is clear that housing stress is not infrequent, unfortunately.

So, I'm done. I can't worry about it anymore tonight. Goodnight dear house, I hope to see you soon.