Good! Bad!
We just got the news that the seller accepted our contract!!!!
Hold the cake and ice cream, though.
Turns out it is not a bank owned property like we’d been led to believe. We’ve now entered short sale hell, a hell we were hoping against hope to avoid.
For those non-real estate buying types, it basically means that the seller of the home can’t pay the mortgage. She is selling it for less than she owes so has to have approval to do that and call her mortgage paid off. That’s my understanding and I might be waaaaaaay off. I am a little confused because she included a letter to the bank at the end about why she needed to get out from under this property. She said she bought the property in 2000, so if that’s the case there is NO WAY IN HELL she paid what we are going to be paying for the property. Our friend bought a really nice, brand new three bedroom home in 2000 for about $25,000 more than we are going to be paying on this place.
The particular hell of a short sale is that the banks don’t give a crap so you have to sit around and wait for someone to get his or her thumb out of his or her ass and make a decision. This could take weeks.
In other news, I was gung-ho about changing my LJ user name today but after thinking about it I think I’ll keep it the same. I’m just cheap ass cheap. I don’t need to spend $15 on something that makes no difference to anyone in any way, shape or form.
We really have to buy a new set of phones. Half the time people can’t hear us when we call them. The other half, we can’t hear them. Now we can’t even hear the main phone ring because Erik silenced the ringer and neither of us are smart enough to figure out how to undo it. Every button on the phone has a second function, but we have no idea how to access the second function.
Did you know that if you cook you don’t have to do it by the book? If the recipe calls for jiggleberry jam but you only have green ham you can use that instead? I’d really LOVE to eat something made from ham that is supposed to have jam, wouldn’t you? I need to stop paying attention to Erik’s shows.
Speaking of Erik. . .
It’s really hot outside so I got him dressed and ready for his favorite activity in the world.
No dice.
The pool looks open.
The pool smells open.
The pool is SUPPOSED to be open.
But no.
The pool is not open. The lifeguards didn’t get their visas so there is no pool and no solution on the horizon. I was complaining about it, loudly, in the apartment building gym (you have to walk through there to get to the pool) with some guy while wearing my bathing suit. The main maintenance guy came out and told us the scoop, then told us to call the office. I did and they totally gave me the run around. Then I complained about the playground having shards of glass, missing boards, a rusted out garbage can. . . and they hung up on me. Mama C is PISSED.
Good thing we are moving, except who knows when the short sale contract will go through. I just looked up short sale on the Internet and I am really hoping that the seller already informed the bank she is trying to do a short sale. The hardship letter attached to the document we just signed better not be the first they knew of it or we are going to be royally screwed.
So, who stayed up late to watch Lost? *raises hand*
Who had to get up at 6 this morning and regrets staying up late? *raises hand*
Who wants to stay up late to watch BSG? *raises hand*
Who is going to resist and go to bed early? *raises hand*
Who wants brownies? *raises hand*
ETA: I just went to the website for my new house and they are having an open house on Sunday. Nooooo! They can’t do that! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
May 30th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
So the seller has accepted your offer as in, she signed the contract & agreed to your terms? If so, it should be a done deal provided the bank agrees. Right? She can’t back out the contract with out some sort of penalty I would think? *crosses fingers again*
May 30th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
What? Open house? How can she DO that? Aren’t you first in line anyhow?
*crossing fingers*
beck’s last blog post..lmno PEE
May 30th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Hey almost-congratulations on the house!
When we bought our house they had an open house after our offer had been accepted – I think they said it was because they had to let other people see it in case we changed our minds. Either way we just went along and had another look so we could plan all the things we were going to do once we moved in.
torrygirl’s last blog post..The Great ANZAC
May 31st, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Sounds like a risky house project, but I do hope (and think!) you’ll succeed – good luck.
A pool (and an open one) would have been lovely right now. We are in our vacation home in Mariestad, Sweden right now and its like a hot summer (28C today) – almost (but only almost) too hot to play golf :-)
Wishing you a great end to your week!
RennyBA’s last blog post..Internet intelligence for teens
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:06 am
Re the short sale – even if you are offering more than she paid for the house originally, she might have taken out a home equity loan on the house. That, together with the mortgage, is why she now has to sell short. Ask your realtor to find out the original selling price, which is a matter of public record. If the bank is smart and the sale isn’t that far off the original price, they’ll take it – however, they may have to answer to some higher-up authority that is slow to approve of such things. Open houses are often scheduled well ahead of time, so while it’s aggravating, there’s not much you can do about it. Generally what the bank wants in a short sale is a clean, fast transaction to get the delinquent property off their hands (and books) ASAP. Is it at all possible to up the amount you can offer up front? Are you at the magic 10% already, and could you raise that to 15%? If they want to negotiate upward on total price, counter with the same price, but a bigger percentage up front. The bank has to look at it as, the more cash they can get out of the sale, the more they can make from reinvesting that same money rather than gambling on the property selling for more at an unspecified later date. There’s a golden rule in real estate: First offer, best offer – if they come back at you with a higher price, remind them of that. Is your agent telling you these things????