I think we saw around eight or nine houses. The first two houses we saw were completely trashed. I am not kidding. I've never seen houses so trashed and torn apart that someone was trying to sell (at least at that listing price). We walked out of those two right away. Then, we went to a third house. A house that looked better, but the highway was just across the street ... the noise would have scared away any potential buyers if we were to sell the house again.
We ended up driving further north and west to see a few more houses. At one point we got to a house and the owner/occupant was still there. Weird. I don't think they were doing anything to try to sell the house either. There was laundry all over the house, a huge dog barking at us from the backyard, the master bedroom was torn apart (we could tell it was the bedroom they gave to the god), there were toys and things cluttered everywhere; we couldn't even go through a door because there were things blocking the way (I kid you not .... we could barely *see* the door because the pile was so high). Again ... WEIRD. And, again, in the house after that one the owner/occupant was home. It was a much cleaner house, but so much clutter it was hard to really see the house. And, the whole time (in both houses) our realtor was walking around saying, "They're asking for x amount of dollars for this? There's no way they're going to get it." Things were not looking good.
We did see one house that we liked amid all the terrible houses we saw and kept referring to it as the 'Roy Rogers' house (that was the name of the street). Finally we pulled up at the house Jon had picked out before the rest of the family got to Arizona. He had taken my mom with him one day when he went house hunting, and this house was the one that they thought would totally work for our family. And, it would have worked for us, but I just didn't get that vibe that said, "This is the house." We went home and had narrowed our list down to the 'Roy Rogers' house and this other house.
Our realtor sent us a message later that day to let us know that the other house already had an offer agreement, and the 'Roy Rogers' house had multiple offers on it. Those multiple offers weren't near what they wanted, so they hadn't accepted any of them yet. It was a short sale, so they were waiting for the best offer. We ended up making an offer on the 'Roy Rogers' house and because it was a short sale, the owner accepted our offer then submitted it to the bank.
13 days went by, still nothing. I was getting really anxious.
15 days went by and I emailed our realtor and asked her to show us some more homes ... we would be vacating corporate housing in 30 days, and I wanted to have a plan before then.
She showed us two houses the following day that were immaculate. They were so gorgeous. And, the builders were top-notch. They'd thought of everything ... granite counter tops everywhere, beautiful pavers all around the house and on the huge patio, big kitchens with double wall ovens, big eat-in-areas, large bedrooms, fantastic tile ... you get the idea. They were in gated communities ... quiet, gated communities, in a great location. They were so enticing, and SO out of our price range.
We went home and ran the numbers, looked at our budget, tried to make it work; but, it just wouldn't
The next few days were frustrating and hard. We knew we would end up renting because there was no way a house would be ready to close before we would need to move out of our current apartment. So, we looked at rental units, thinking we would rent for a few months until we could close on the short sale. We looked at houses on the internet, hoping for a straight sale that we would be able to afford. We looked at houses to rent for a longer period of time than apartments, to give us more time to decide on a house and where to buy.
At one point, we found a rental house that sounded perfect. It was five minutes from Jon's office 2400 square feet, four bedrooms, and all for a price that was right within our monthly living expenses. I took the children during the day to go see it. We walked in and I was instantly impressed with the size of the living/dining and the kitchen areas. Then we walked upstairs and saw that there was a HUGE master bedroom, and a loft. It just got better and better. The children ran around and picked out their bedrooms, then played in the back while I talked to the agent who showed me the house. She gave me the lease application papers and asked that I fax them to her after getting Jon's signatures.
I took the lease application home and called Jon. He still wanted to see the house. So, we went to see the house again after work. Jon liked it well enough, so we signed the papers and sent them in. The next morning the agent called to let us know that the renter had already received an application, but would review ours also. So, the waiting game began ....
... to be continued ...
We ended up driving further north and west to see a few more houses. At one point we got to a house and the owner/occupant was still there. Weird. I don't think they were doing anything to try to sell the house either. There was laundry all over the house, a huge dog barking at us from the backyard, the master bedroom was torn apart (we could tell it was the bedroom they gave to the god), there were toys and things cluttered everywhere; we couldn't even go through a door because there were things blocking the way (I kid you not .... we could barely *see* the door because the pile was so high). Again ... WEIRD. And, again, in the house after that one the owner/occupant was home. It was a much cleaner house, but so much clutter it was hard to really see the house. And, the whole time (in both houses) our realtor was walking around saying, "They're asking for x amount of dollars for this? There's no way they're going to get it." Things were not looking good.
We did see one house that we liked amid all the terrible houses we saw and kept referring to it as the 'Roy Rogers' house (that was the name of the street). Finally we pulled up at the house Jon had picked out before the rest of the family got to Arizona. He had taken my mom with him one day when he went house hunting, and this house was the one that they thought would totally work for our family. And, it would have worked for us, but I just didn't get that vibe that said, "This is the house." We went home and had narrowed our list down to the 'Roy Rogers' house and this other house.
Our realtor sent us a message later that day to let us know that the other house already had an offer agreement, and the 'Roy Rogers' house had multiple offers on it. Those multiple offers weren't near what they wanted, so they hadn't accepted any of them yet. It was a short sale, so they were waiting for the best offer. We ended up making an offer on the 'Roy Rogers' house and because it was a short sale, the owner accepted our offer then submitted it to the bank.
Despite the rigorous house hunted schedule, I took the time to make
Maryanne this cute little flower clip. Isn't she gorgeous?
13 days went by, still nothing. I was getting really anxious.
15 days went by and I emailed our realtor and asked her to show us some more homes ... we would be vacating corporate housing in 30 days, and I wanted to have a plan before then.
She showed us two houses the following day that were immaculate. They were so gorgeous. And, the builders were top-notch. They'd thought of everything ... granite counter tops everywhere, beautiful pavers all around the house and on the huge patio, big kitchens with double wall ovens, big eat-in-areas, large bedrooms, fantastic tile ... you get the idea. They were in gated communities ... quiet, gated communities, in a great location. They were so enticing, and SO out of our price range.
We went home and ran the numbers, looked at our budget, tried to make it work; but, it just wouldn't
The next few days were frustrating and hard. We knew we would end up renting because there was no way a house would be ready to close before we would need to move out of our current apartment. So, we looked at rental units, thinking we would rent for a few months until we could close on the short sale. We looked at houses on the internet, hoping for a straight sale that we would be able to afford. We looked at houses to rent for a longer period of time than apartments, to give us more time to decide on a house and where to buy.
At one point, we found a rental house that sounded perfect. It was five minutes from Jon's office 2400 square feet, four bedrooms, and all for a price that was right within our monthly living expenses. I took the children during the day to go see it. We walked in and I was instantly impressed with the size of the living/dining and the kitchen areas. Then we walked upstairs and saw that there was a HUGE master bedroom, and a loft. It just got better and better. The children ran around and picked out their bedrooms, then played in the back while I talked to the agent who showed me the house. She gave me the lease application papers and asked that I fax them to her after getting Jon's signatures.
I took the lease application home and called Jon. He still wanted to see the house. So, we went to see the house again after work. Jon liked it well enough, so we signed the papers and sent them in. The next morning the agent called to let us know that the renter had already received an application, but would review ours also. So, the waiting game began ....
... to be continued ...
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