It is Done (almost)

Buying a home is a lot harder and takes longer than I thought it should. But we have finally done it. I haven't written much about the experience because I didn't want to jinx it in any way. I wanted to make sure it was a done deal before I started saying anything about MY new house. Well, I can finally tell you about it because we signed the paperwork today and will be moving in on Saturday. YAY! So below are some pictures of the house and some of the things we have gone through in the past 6 weeks.

Living room from the dining room

We saw the house April 7 and put in the offer that day. We then arranged for the home inspection and everything else that we thought we needed to do.

Our new kitchen

We had the inspection done by a very thorough inspector and we were mostly pleased with the report. The only problem was evidence of leaking in the upstairs bathroom above the downstairs bathroom. The inspector had an infrared camera that could tell us that there was a leak in the ceiling, but there was no other evidence of water damage. So we were concerned that because we had no way of looking through the sheetrock in the ceiling that we couldn't tell how expensive it would be to fix the problem.

Dining room

We asked the seller to fix it, but were unsure of whether or not they would do it. They had an agent who was good at making us believe that the sellers not be willing or able to to much. Fortunately the sellers seem to be a lot nicer than the agent has implied, and when we went back to check what it might cost to fix the leak and any damage that may have developed, we discovered that the seller really had fixed the problem. YAY! We were really happy because the seller had recently redone the bathroom and it looks really nice.

The upstairs bathroom

So after we decided to stay with the house (if the leak had caused a ton of damage, we were not planning to pursue the house) we arranged to have the appraisal done. Grr. I really don't like the current system where a clearinghouse picks the appraiser and randomly assigns them to the banks/lenders. Because of this system it took two weeks to get the appraisal back (even though the appraisal was done within 3 working days of being paid for).

Downstairs room and hallway (with a laundry room, bathroom, and bedroom)

And then when the appraisal did come back, it was for less than we had offered for. Grrr again. And because we are getting an FHA loan, we can't ask the bank for more than the appraisal. So we were really concerned about that. So we had to counter the original offer with the appraised value (and how do you counter your own offer, I would like to know?!?), and were unsure if the sellers would accept the new offer.

Flower garden in front with tulips and a lilac bush waiting to bloom

But the Sellers accepted. YAY! But it still took almost two more weeks for us to get to the Settlement and signing all the papers to make it official. We kept getting calls asking for more papers or signatures. It got to the point that when the phone rang, Ian would ask, "What do they want now?" But it is done now, the papers are all signed and the house is all ours.

Fruit tree in the back yard

Well, ours and the banks.

Close-up of flower on fruit tree

So now we get to pack up everything and move into our new home. I think I would be more excited about it, if I didn't have to pack everything and make sure it gets transported safely. Good thing I have Ian who is much better with it than I am.