[Foreign object in muddy water] House on my mind

[Haniza Schlosser]

Sigh! I'm in a heavy mood nowadays. Mostly coz we're searching for a house to purchase and the road has been tough and rocky. We live in an expensive area, so even with a good salary on a US average, it's not that big a deal here plus I'm not holding a paying job. My job is paid with kisses, hugs and huge emotional rewards but it doesn't impress lenders unfortunately.

So, our budget is tiny in this area. Ten years ago, we would probably afford a new house. Now, the houses we're looking at are usually 30 years old, with things we need to fix up and 90% of them are bank owned properties. What frustrates us more is that there's tons of real estate investors who are buying these properties with all cash. Banks and sellers love those coz there's no contingencies in their contract and it's fast. We have put in about 10 offers, and most are rejected coz the sellers got cash offers, though we have a couple who hasn't got back to us probably coz banks are also having tons of properties on their hands but usually, they have about 10-15 offers to look at. The surrounding areas of the houses are usually not the best but at this point, I like square footage better than location as long as it's not in a really high gang area coz I don't understand that and am respecting that it could be a bit dangerous.

However, there's a house that we are in contract with at the moment. It's not 100% there yet coz we have the appraisal due and we suspect that it's not going to reach asking price. If it doesn't, then it's up to the sellers if they want to sell at the appraisal price or take it off the market. They're also not that desperate coz they haven't found a house to move into yet. I found out about this house by letting people know I'm looking for a house and one of the Moms on the playgroup told me of houses that's for sale in her community. We checked it out and find that it's big enough for us, the housing density is low, common area is well kept and Brigitta will have friends just a few doors away. The outside neighborhood is a bit suspect (that Mom told me beforehand..so not just my view) but it's in front of a church which according to her helps to protect the area - coz the gang members usually respect that. She used to be a high school teacher of high risk kids and was telling me all sorts of interesting stories.

All in all though, we really like the house and the community, furthermore it's near freeways. There's a few things we have to fix but the bones are good, and it's not that old, it's a young teenager still. :) But, I'm so, so afraid that we won't get it. Our lease is coming up next February, it's coming up fast coz we have been looking since September. This is grating on my nerves and my head coz I like to have things in control especially regarding where I live. So, as long as we're unsure, I feel like I have an ongoing migraine and tummy ache. Kevin doesn't seem to have the same problems as I do, he's more relaxed about this. Guess who nags him about this all the time.

Anyway, will post up any info as soon as we hear of anything. Could you do us a favor though? Please pray that we get a good house in a good area and within our budget ...before Feb ends. :)

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Posted By Haniza Schlosser to Foreign object in muddy water at 11/11/2009 11:24:00 PM