Signing your life away...
Well, Melissa and I have officially done it. We’ve signed a contract for buying a house. Now, for those out there who haven’t bought a house yet, this doesn’t mean that we have the house quite yet. Signing the contract simply means that we guarantee that we will buy the house assuming we are able to obtain financing (ie: a mortgage).
The process began with me and Melissa discussing that during the entire time of us trying to figure out what we wanted to do to try to get a house, we admitted defeat in trying to get a used house. We’d have to have at lest 3% of the purchase price of the home AND get the seller to pay the closing costs in order for us to close on a home. This was through Wells Fargo. Additionally, we were really concerned about resell value for several of the homes that we were looking at, and we figured out that if we were to buy a new home, we will get quite a bit more resell value in 5-10 years when we move out and are looking for a better home for our family. Additionally, newer homes will more than likely sell quicker than a used home which could potentially be 20 years or older (we were looking at homes that were already 25 years old).
So, Melissa and I agreed to buy a new home built by Main Street Homes in a new subdivison in Wellborn (south end of College Station). The home we were looking at was priced at right about $125K, and Main Street Homes did their own financing which would allow for us to roll the closing costs and down payment into the cost of the mortgage. This means “$0 Down and $0 Due at Closing”. In all actuality, it came out to be about $750 due at application time, but that’s supposedly it.
When our Realtor came out to sign the contract with us, she did a walk-through of the place (1577 Square Foot Plan) with us, and then pointed out some serious damage on the home in the Garage. When we confonted the sales person, she said that she had a 1655 square foot plan that was a corner lot that was still up for sale. When we drove down to check it out, I found out that I had been looking at that lot before, and was quite pleased with it. So, we came back and agreed that we would buy it. From roughly 5PM - 9:30PM that night we were signing contracts, reading paperwork, and talking about the home. But, when it was all said and done, we had a contract signed and a mortgage application in hand.
The stressful period has begun, because Melissa and I are honestly concerned about whether or not we’ll be approved for a mortgage. We’re extremely enthusiastic and excited about getting this new home. So much that we’ve already starting picking out paints for the various rooms. But, the mortgage application process will take approximately 2 weeks, then final verification and approval another 2-4 weeks after that. So, we’re looking at 6 weeks from this past Thursday’s Date (3/1) before we have the final go-ahead. Hopefully everything will run smoothly during this process, but we’re very skiddish. There is so much data that we have to provide them, and they’ll likely be asking for more information that we’ve either forgotten to provide them, or they say they need but didn’t request in the first place. This will only extend the process. As it is, I wasn’t able to send the materials on Friday because of the fact that there are several fields on the Mortgage application that I’m uncertain as to how to fill them out (such as Life Insurance Value and Face Values), fields for the sale cost of the home, etc. I tried calling the sales office for Main Street Homes, but they refused (claiming ignorance) to help us. So, I’m stuck calling the single loan officer for this company. The fact that this mortgage company is rather small makes me kind of fearful, but at the same time, Melissa and I have no real choice because of the fact that we don’t want to be dependent on my parents for down payment assistance.
But, my parents are just as enthusiastic as we are, and I’ll more than likely be updating with details of how things go, as they go. I’m also crossing my fingers that I hear back by Tuesday on the status of this new job in CIS I’m trying to get (a serious bump in pay and responsibilities). Kim in Keystone is nice, but I’ve gotten really tired of the project because it moves so slowly and I can’t exercise a lot of creative freedom with it. I’m not giving my hopes up, but they could have potentially found someone more qualified than me, despite all my qualifications; but, I’m still hopeful.
Anywho, I’ll update when I’m not so busy, or am bored. Hopefully later this week.
