My home inspection for the house I plan to buy was conducted Friday. It took about 2hours and produced a nice report. Some things I already knew… Original Windows need to be replaced, AC unit is 3 years old; Roof is about the same.

Some things were a surprise. No outlet in upstairs bathroom (I think [...]]]>

My home inspection for the house I plan to buy was conducted Friday. It took about 2hours and produced a nice report. Some things I already knew… Original Windows need to be replaced, AC unit is 3 years old; Roof is about the same.

Some things were a surprise. No outlet in upstairs bathroom (I think in the back of my mind I may have suspected this, because a friend made a comment recently that she didn’t have an outlet in her upstairs bathroom). Dishwasher not hooked up! (it is now… according to listing agent); Furnace 28 years old; House built in 1941, not 1944. and last but not least… the best… in the basement …

Home Inspector (looking at dryer): What’s missing?

Me: No idea.

Home Inspector: Come on… what’s missing? (as he pulls the dryer away
from the wall).

Me (I really have no clue): Wheels??

Home Inspector (Laughing): No, a vent to the outside!

Me (D’oh)!

One can be installed, it will probably my first project.

The home inspection for my condo was done Monday. Not sure how long it took, but it was done by the same guy that did mine, and produced the same nice report. Only one issue found….. the temperture differential between the return and the supply is too low, so the buyer wants it inspected by a real HVAC person. This shoudl be done Thursday.

Pending the results of that, I will cancel my monthly MARC ticket….. and the biggie…resign from the HOA board

I can’t believe its been almost a month since my last post….

Needless, to say the 2nd bank coming out of the woodwork threw a major wrench into the process. They seemed very against the offer …. at one point 2nd bank declared they had an appraisal that was $140K over my offer so [...]]]>

I can’t believe its been almost a month since my last post….

Needless, to say the 2nd bank coming out of the woodwork threw a major wrench into the process. They seemed very against the offer …. at one point 2nd bank declared they had an appraisal that was $140K over my offer so they were very against it (they wanted me to up my offer by 15K)…. luckily my lender had already ordered an appraisal… which came in close to my offer, so after that 2nd couldn’t sign the approval fast enough.

Then the 2nd banks approval went back to the 1st bank to approve. That seemed to drag on forever, Then the PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) team got involved and had to review the whole deal….

Needless to say, my buyer walked yesterday! So my condo is back on the market and open to showing as of Friday. Yay! I get to declutter again!!

And as I expected, I finally got signed off approval on my offer for the house I want to buy, from both banks this morning.

It’s been exactly 3 weeks since I put an offer in on the above house. And it has been a complete roller coaster since. I put my offer together Thursday evening… and since the price had been drastically reduced just the previous Tuesday I strongly suspected that I wouldn’t hear a response until [...]]]>

It’s been exactly 3 weeks since I put an offer in on the above house. And it has been a complete roller coaster since. I put my offer together Thursday evening… and since the price had been drastically reduced just the previous Tuesday I strongly suspected that I wouldn’t hear a response until at least the next Monday (giving a weekend for a caravan of people to see the house).

So Monday came and we did hear that the seller was fine with my offer, but it needed to be approved by the bank ( I knew going in that it was a short sale so I knew this).
Tuesday the listing agent flipped the status to “under contract” even though the seller still hadn’t signed…. but it was good for me because it meant they couldn’t get any other offers. Still waiting for an answer from the bank.

At this point it came out that the bank was on the west coast and the listing agent was in Florida! So even though my day starts at 7am… I would never hear anything from the bank or listing agent until at least 8pm (sometimes later…). A week passed.

Then last Thursday it came out that there was a 2nd mortgage (Home Equity Line of Credit) on the property!!!!

The contract to buy my place is supposed to expire today (but we are trying for a 2 week extension)…because the bank says it will take them 7-10 days to make a decision.

So my fingers are crossed, my mom is lighting Virgin Mary candles… and I continue to look at “back-up” houses.

(Oh… MOM… stop reading…. NOW!!!) WEST COUNTYArmed robbery

Two masked men robbed a man at knife-point near an Odenton apartment (actually it was a condo) complex Thursday night, county police said.

The man told police he was walking in the 2400 block of Chestnut Terrace at about [...]]]>

So yesterday I got this lovely email from my community email group…

(Oh… MOM… stop reading…. NOW!!!)

WEST COUNTY
Armed robbery

Two masked men robbed a man at knife-point near an Odenton apartment (actually it was a condo) complex Thursday night, county police said.

The man told police he was walking in the 2400 block of Chestnut Terrace at about 7:55 p.m. when two men approached him and pulled out a knife.

The robbers ordered the man to empty his pockets. After taking the man’s cash, the men ran behind a nearby apartment building, police said. The victim was not injured.

One robber is described as black, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 140 pounds, and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, white shoes, and a ski mask.

The second man is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 180 pounds, and was wearing a red sweater and dark ski mask

Regular readers and Twitter/Facebook followers know that I am house hunting… and my mother is not happy with at least one of the neighborhoods that I have been looking in. But I will take this blog post to point out that crime happens everywhere (and it is really picking up in Odenton!!..Example 1 and Example 2). You cannot live in fear….but you can be aware of your surroundings (which I usually am…) If I notice a car behind me late at night… and they follow me onto the road before the street my home is located on… I have been known to skip my street and continue on in a round about way and if they are still behind me the plan is to head to the Police station (which I have never had to do ). Know your neighborhood! If something makes you suspicious… take precautions!

Sent from my BlackBerry

So with the accepted offer on my condo it was now time to [...]]]>

When I bought my condo about 7 years ago it was easy… Location… Good, Floorplan… Good, Here’s some money… see you in 9 months! (It was like having a baby! Except the house was ready 2 months early )

So with the accepted offer on my condo it was now time to really start looking for a new house for me and Madison. I had 2 houses in my desired location that I had been itching to see since around Xmas, when I first made the decision to move. One of them went Inactive right before I got my offer, and the other went inactive the day I went out looking… I took this as a bad sign.

Two Saturdays ago I (along with my mother and sister) met up with my realtor. We looked at 5 houses that day that were scattered throughout Hyattsville and Cheverly. (Hyattsville is very big… it has like 4 zip codes!) I saw some cute houses, but nothing really wowed me….

Then last week, I found a foreclosure in Kentland that I wanted to see, so my realtor said find a few more that are close to it and we will see them in the evening. So I did (I found 4 townhomes) … and left work on Wednesday at 3pm. As I was riding the train, I got a message from my realtor stating that she had found one more in Cheverly that we would also see that day.

The foreclosure had holes punched in various walls, and I said I had seen enough after about 60 seconds. The townhomes were smallish (one had no parking…aside from the 2 space driveway). Next up – Colonial in Cheverly. 1 Car Garage, fireplace, just remodeled kitchen, 3 bedrooms, fenced yard…. and dramatic price reduction !!!!!(I wish I had remembered my camera). I said I would sleep on it before deciding to make an offer ( I needed to do my online research).

I did my research, Madison seemed to agree (that’s her in the pic above with the listing… trying to tell me to buy it ) so Thursday I made an offer….

Waiting for the response from the seller … it’s a short sale…so Bank needs to agree … and I think they were waiting to see what other offers came in over the weekend.

Specifically .. Alexandria, and possibly Arlington

Getting ready to officially start the search. First thing to do is make a list of Must Haves and Nice to Haves.

1) Location – Right now I have not settled on a specific location. I would like to be inside the beltway, on the Maryland side. [...]]]>

UPDATES - 3 more items added to list.

Getting ready to officially start the search. First thing to do is make a list of Must Haves and Nice to Haves.

1) Location – Right now I have not settled on a specific location. I would like to be inside the beltway, on the Maryland side. within walking distance to Orange/Blue/Green/Yellow line (but if a bus stop is nearby and can get me there in 15 minutes….I’ll take it!). I am so far considering… Cheverly, Hyattsville, and a big chunk of NE (where I can map out houses on ZipRealty – thanks D!) I have a CityPaper from this summer that focused on DC neighborhoods, that I can use to get more details.

2) Central AC – its a must!

3) Up-to-Date fuse box, plumbing, windows, and roof – these are leaning very heavy on the must have side

3) No Upstairs neighbors – Must have!

4)Do not share property-lines with renters – it’s a must!

5) Gas cooking – Must!

6) Fireplace – Nice to have

7) 1.5 baths – Must

2 bedrooms – Must

9)Garage – Nice to have

10) Pre-assigned parking – Nice to have… but almost Must

11) Lots of closet space – including walk-in master… linen closet, and kitchen pantry.

12) No neighbors that leave dogs out to bark all day (thanks mom!)

13) House is not on a road with a double yellow-line

14) No heat pump – must have

It’s a lot and I know I will have to compromise… but better to aim high!

Trying to set up the meeting with the realtor for next week, since my ceiling should be painted Sunday!

I love my condo. [...]]]>

I have been thinking for a while that if my job was looking stable around May 2009… I would seriously start looking into moving into DC (I work in SW). Job looks very stable…and this event of 2 weeks ago may have finally been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I love my condo. I bought it new about 7 years ago (after a horrific experience with a real estate agent that I am not looking forward to repeating) with NO HELP FROM MY PARENTS! I have painted every room (except the master bedroom) by myself, I picked out the flooring myself. I bought curtains and furniture, and all kinds of other things…I love the location – can’t beat being halfway between DC and Baltimore

My commute is not terrible but I want to live in the city…. (and luckily DC just approved Verizon to bring in FIOS)

I hate that we have a never ending trail of renters rolling through the building that have no respect for anything or anyone.