Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The day it all came down
Wow. Yesterday was a busy busy day in my little world.
Let us start with the good news. I found out that my sister is both engaged and having a baby. Now this one came out of left field. I knew she was dating someone, but I didn't think for that long, apparently it was much more serious than I realized. I'm both in a state of shock and awe. Most of my family figured I'd be the first kid to take the plunge as it were, but looks like I proved all of them wrong. Looks like I'll take of on the role of Uncle Tommy here in December.
Now for the not so good news. I put in an offer on a house yesterday, which at first sounds like a good thing. I put in the offer at 4k less than the asking price as well as asking them to pay closing and a 3% down payment. They came back last night with an offer of 4k over the asking price and only 5k in closing and down payment. Their counteroffer has now put it over what I can borrow. So it is a little disheartening, them coming back so quickly and saying no.
This idea of waiting a year has been lurking in the back of my head for quite some time now but I think it will be the best thing for me to do. Save as much as I can for the next year and then start looking again. I am thinking that maybe I jumped into this too quickly. I'm still mulling it over, but I think that I may cancel the house hunt for now...
Labels: house search
posted by Tom Becker at
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Friday, April 11, 2008
House search disappointment
In my last post I had mentioned that I found a home that I really liked. Huge backyard, garage and the like. Much to my dismay and slight disappointment, I will not be buying that house. Not because someone snaked me or that there was something wrong with this house. Nope, it was because of the location.
I tried to delude myself a little bit by saying that the neighborhood isn't bad, it is just the area's around it that are kinda bad. That's just how a lot of Richmond is. You have some of the nicest areas downtown butted up next to some pretty shady areas of town. But upon some further investigation, and looking up the crime reports in the area....wow. There were something along the lines of of 1100 crimes in the neighborhood in the past calendar year, including one at the property that I was looking at.
So needless to say I am moving on to other houses. My dreams of that home were quickly dashed against the harsh rocks of reality even before they really began. But I think it was a good move in the long run. I have now expanded my search to places on the other side of the river too. Give me a few more options on house and stuff.
So, THE SEARCH CONTINUES!
Labels: house search
posted by Tom Becker at
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Friday, April 4, 2008
Homes
Yesterday I went around to look at houses with my realtor. It was an interesting experience. I saw a total of 6 houses and I think that out of those 6 I can really only see myself living in two of them.
The first one we saw was the largest square footage wise, but it was right on Forrest Hill, and getting out of that driveway was a chore. So that kinda jaded that whole house for me. It was decent inside though.
The second house was on a much quieter street on a corner lot. Apparently a little old lady used to live the and the house just got to big for her. So as my girlfriend aptly put it. "It smelled like old lady in there." But it wasn't a bad house, could really use some landscaping work, and a little bit of work on the inside, but overall not to bad.
The third was my favorite, and I'm tempted to go ahead and put in contract on this one. It was a smaller house, 3 bed 1 bath but it was cozy. But the big seller for me was the yard and the garage. A huge lot with a garden and plenty of room for a dog. And the garage was great too. Two car and very deep. Could easily fit the bike as well as my boxing stuff in there with plenty of room to spare. Loved it.
The fourth was pretty good too, very nice inside, but no yard. It would take me 10 minutes to mow both the front and the back. But very well maintained inside.
The fifth and sixth were in the same neighborhood, and both were very similar construction. But I wasn't really a fan of either one for a variety of aesthetic reasons, so I won't even bother with describing the others. I'd be even more surprised if anyone is actually reading this far in.
Well I suppose that is it right now. Maybe I will talk to my realtor today and ask if we can sit and start talking about a contract for that house. I'm not gonna post pics yet, gonna wait till the house is under contract just to make sure someone doesn't steal it away.
Labels: house search
posted by Tom Becker at
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Friday, March 21, 2008
House Search update
So heard back from one mortgage lender about a home loan. And everything is looking good.
It is for a decent amount, so I should be able to get something pretty nice. I'm hoping for a at least a 2 bedroom 2 bath, and a garage or shed for my motorcycle some where in Chesterfield County. And thats pretty much it. I mean I'd like a 3 bedroom but not really necessary. So I guess in the next week or so I'll go talk to a realtor, and start the search for a house.
Just thought I'd make an update...
Labels: house search
posted by Tom Becker at
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Mild Rant on Housing
Ok, so yesterday I get a letter from my apartment complex stating my renewal is coming up in June and since they need at least 60 days notice if I'm going to be moving out that the need to know by the middle of next month. Ok cool, no problem. So i go to the second page of this letter and they proceed to tell me that they are planning on jacking my rent up a good $100 a month.
Well I was planning on staying in that apt for a while, if the rent was still reasonable. But that was just crazy. Its not like they added anything to the services they are providing me. Shouldn't I be grandfathered in to my current rate or something? Its nuts.
So now instead of re-newing my lease I am starting to look at buying a house. A big big step, but well at least I'd be actually putting money toward something instead of essentially throwing it away. I'll keep ya'll posted on my house buying process. Going to talk to some loan officers this weekend I think.
I'm also planning on tuning up the bike and start riding again this weekend. Take that high gas prices. WHOOHOO
Labels: house search, rant
posted by Tom Becker at
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