Housing Update V

We're back to more hoop-jumping! The seller (the unfeeling megabank) agreed to knock $10k off the purchase price. So, now I have a HUD consultant to help me figure out the rehab, because the rehab loan is over $35k. The seller wants us to sign something saying that I'm not going to make any more demands, but I want the HUD guy to do his inspection first. The seller (and heaven) can wait. We also need to make sure that all the assessments and vacant building fees get paid by the seller. I'm guessing that the new close won't be for another month. We've been trying to get a renter for our apartment, and the ones we had just backed out, which is probably for the best, as we don't really know when we are moving. Our one senator in Minnesota, Amy Klobucher (which roughly translates in German to "books one reads in the bathroom") has announced a bunch of grants for rehabbing foreclosed homes. Hopefully our HUD guy can help us find out more about such things. Stay tuned!

Housing Update - Part IV(?)

Well, our new closing date was supposed to be the 25th of this month. I see it coming and going without a house. We have not heard back from the seller about dropping the purchase price. We haven't been contacted by the HUD consultant about our new rehab loan amount. We have heard from the city inspector, who informed us that the seller (the unfeeling megabank) has not actually paid the vacant building fee ($1000). That's it for the update. And today's photo is not someone jumping through a hoop, but rather twirling around in the same hoop. Over and over and over. Over and out.

Sunday in the Park with Whiskey

Minnehaha Falls: Cold and Icy

Grannykatz and the A.N. (Adorable Niece)

Whiskey Nose: Cold and Wet

It's really not this grey in Minnesota - the camera setting was on Tungsten.

Look! She's almost up to our knees!

Compensation for Missing Leg: Flag Tail to the Right

Running across the Mississippi: Whiskey and the Stay-Puff Marshmellow girl

Close-up of the speedy girl

Car Ride Home: Warm and Sleepy

Whiskey Weigh-in

Taken February 5th. We're making good progress on that Johnny Walker too!

Everyone Loves the Crate

It was getting harder and harder to fold Whiskey into her pet porter, so we found a larger crate on Craigslist. And everyone seems to approve!

Trend Spotting

Do you remember a TV show in the late 80's called Alien Nation? No, well, I don't think it lasted long. There were these aliens, who came down to earth (I think maybe they escaped from a slave ship...?) and integrated into society. They looked like this:

From what I remember of the show, it was very boring because everyone got along and the show was all about tolerance and acceptance. And I think the main alien character fought crime. But the point of this trip down amnesia lane is that they were SPOTTED. A few days ago, I noticed that Whiskey is starting to get more spots! At first I thought I had just spilled coffee on her (not an unlikely scenario), but they didn't wash off.

Close-up of spots:

This isn't a great photo, but she doesn't sit still for that long. I recall from 101 Damnations that puppies don't always have all their spots when they're born, and eccentric old women have to wait a while before making coats from their hides.

Which always seemed a bit odd to me, as puppies have that distinct skunky smell. But I guess I should be grateful for any Disney movie that doesn't involve a buxom young lass who lost her mother and takes care of her dotty father. You know what I'm talking about...

Housing Update, Part III

The contractor gave us his new bid! This addresses all the concerns that the City Housing Inspector had. And man, did he have concerns. Apparently, the galvanized plumbing in the house needs to go. All of it. Which is ridiculous. It's not dangerous, but there's no recourse. So what will these paltry little expenditures add up to? An additional 10k. There's a dent in the keyboard from where my jaw hit. Now that our rehab loan is over $35k, we need to have a 3rd party HUD consultant, which will cost another $1000. How did buying a cheap foreclosed property get so expensive?

The realtor sent an amendment to the seller, telling them they need to knock $10k off the purchase price. We'll still have to have the HUD consultant, but the overall mortgage should stay the same. We've sent the new bids to the city inspector and the mortgage guy. The contractor guy is getting nervous, because if the seller (the unfeeling megabank) says no to the amendment, we might just walk. Which is a sad proposition, and makes me feel very tired at the prospect of trying to find *another* dilapidated forclosed home. I think NPR needs to do a story on the true cost of buying cheap foreclosed homes. I guess there isn't such a thing as buying a house for $30k. So.....stay tuned. The seller (the unfeeling megabank) usually takes about a week to answer any questions we have. In the meantime, I will delight you with puppy photos!

House Update

Actually, this is still part of the overview. Because our house (or rather, we want it to be ours) has been vacant since July, the city has to inspect it before anyone can buy it, in case it might be better just to bring in a bulldozer. As I said before, only the current owner (the unfeeling megabank) can order the inspection. And neither the seller nor the city are in a rush. The city told us the inspection would be in 4-6 weeks. Which was about correct. They inspected it at the end of January. So, now all we need to do is have our contractor address all the inspectors concerns, and we are good to close! Ah hem. The city found all sorts of things that they wanted fixed, that weren't in the initial rehab bid. Things like replacing lead junctures on the pipes, or putting tempered glass on windows that are too close to the floor. And while I know all of these things are good to have fixed, I'm guessing every other house in the neighborhood has these same issues, and there hasn't been mass mortality in this neighborhood. Maybe I'm just not an alarmist.
Here's the recent chain of events:

-The contractor-guy told me that he couldn't do the city recommended rehab while staying within the current budget. Can we increase the rehab loan?

-I talk to the mortgage-guy. While we could increase the rehab loan, we don't want to do that, because that will bump us into a new loan category which requires a HUD consultant, which involves another (sigh) inspection, and about $1,000 in fees. Is the contractor guy sure he can't stay within budget?

-I talk to the contrator-guy. Yes, he's sure. He's already doing a bunch of stuff for me at below-cost and/or free, and his children should eat something other than Ramen Noodles. We need more money.

-I talk to the realtor-guy. He blows a small gasket and says unkind things about city inspectors. He tells me that I might need to prepare myself for getting a HUD consultant.

-I have an idea - could we get the seller (the unfeeling megabank) to knock a few $1000 off the purchase price, which would leave our overall loan the same, but make more money for the rehab? I call the realtor guy - he thinks it's a good idea. (Why hadn't the realtor-guy proposed this?)

-I call the contractor-guy. He says that sounds like a good idea too - he'll get a bid for me by this weekend, and then we can start rearranging the deck furniture on the Titantic with the seller.

So, that's where we are right now. More updates to come. You'll recognize these updates by the hoop-jumping photos.

Everyone Loves a 3-Legged Dog

Our commander-in-chief, without a worry of all that white fur on his expensive suit jacket, holds a three-legged dog. In front of the Lincoln Memorial, no less.

Housing Update: The Overview

It's true. Buying a house involves jumping through hoops. So many hoops, in fact, that I am devoting some time to updating folks on the whole process. But first, I wanted to give people an overview.
We decided we wanted a house. We're tired of living in tiny rented spaces, where we have to ask permission to get pets or put nails in the wall. We wanted a yard to grow veggies and raise chickens, as well as the ability to take a sledgehammer to walls if we so choose.

After the market fell off the map, we decided to really go for the bottom of the barrel houses - that is, we were looking at houses $60k and below. We were going for an FHA loan, which is a big pain the neck for all concerned - so when a bank has the option of accepting our offer or a conventional loan offer, we would loose. I spent many many hours looking on line at potential houses, and then driving by them, sometimes looking in the windows. This isn't as creepy as it sounds - we've been looking at foreclosed houses. Then my very patient realtor and I looked at many many houses. Many bad houses. Houses that probably housed cottage industries of meth production. Houses with doors to nowhere, houses without stairs (but with multiple floors), houses with that looked like they were designed by 10-year old boys. Houses with thriving mold colonies, houses in which many many cats lived and died. Crummy houses in great neighborhoods, great houses in terrifying neighborhoods. Houses with all the copper stolen, houses with squatters (It's like trying to buy a haunted house, although the squatter did oblige us and leave out the window when we came in). And we put offers on a bunch of houses. We kept getting outbid by conventional loaners. Finally, we put an offer on a house that no one else wanted. Is that a bad sign?

The seller (aka: a giant bank corporation) and I went back and forth on the price, which seemed akin to quibbling about the arrangement of the deck furniture on the Titantic. We setteled on a price. I got a contractor in there to look at what needed to be fixed, and we applied for a rehab loan. Minor things, such as the roof, siding, ceiling, walls, plumbing, and electrical needed some tlc. (I've discovered that "Needs TLC" is real estate speak for Crap-House). I got my mortgage in line (which is a whole novel by itself), and we were all ready to close. I'm glossing over a bunch of details, and the many times I jammed a pen in my eyeball (my go-to measure for when I'm stressed). Then the title company realized (even though I had told them this months ago) that city needs to inspect the house before it can be sold.

This update is going to have to contine into the next posting, because my ball-point pen is getting dangerous close to my eyeball. Stay tuned.