Well, it seems she has put her unit on the market.  And has been unable to sell it.  And now the price has dropped even below what mine sold for (and they replaced all the carpet….Hahahahahahaha!)

This picture doesn’t really tell the true story of the state of my condo. There are a ton more boxes, walls are bare, and I think my cat hates me

Luckily there haven’t been any disasters … (Like back in 2002 when I was getting ready to move to my condo [...]]]>

This picture doesn’t really tell the true story of the state of my condo. There are a ton more boxes, walls are bare, and I think my cat hates me

Luckily there haven’t been any disasters … (Like back in 2002 when I was getting ready to move to my condo from my apartment… I was out on my second floor balcony cleaning the sliding glass doors… and lets just say I locked myself outside. On the balcony. By myself. Not fun…. I climbed over the railing a few times but couldn’t convince myself to jump! I eventually shouted to someone in their backyard to please call my parents (who had the spare key)…. YIKES!)

I will miss the checkerboard floors in my kitchen, my plantation shutters in my bedroom, the drapes in my sunroom when they blow in the breeze, and my Deep Aubergine dining room

I will not miss noisy people that live above me, renters, HOA Drama (aka the Parking Lot Nazi), people that cannot park between 2 lines (really people it is NOT that hard!)

Settlement is tomorrow..and then the big move is Thursday! YAY!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Flashback to 2 years ago… A friend and I planned to take part in a Cherry Blossom bike ride (viewing only … not a race ). [...]]]>

It has been a while since I had any update to any of the items on my 101 in 1001 list. But today I finally have one…

Flashback to 2 years ago… A friend and I planned to take part in a Cherry Blossom bike ride (viewing only … not a race ). So I dug my bike out of the storage closest, threw it in the backseat of my car… with the top down.. in early April and drove west on RT 50. It was cold.

Took the bike on Metro and arrived downtown… met up with tour guide… and set off, except when I pedaled, the wheel didn’t turn

So my friend and I had to bail.

But when I started the great de-clutter prior to listing my condo for sale, I relegated my bike (and a few other things) to my parents house and then asked that it be taken to a bike doctor, which it was, they had it for a few weeks, and today it was returned in working condition (to my parents house…. I will have it in my possession once my move to a new house is done!)

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

The status on my condo has officially been flipped to Under Contract. YAY!

Packing resumes!!!

(Curious about the 19? the time that my condo was under contract does not count towards Days on Market….YAY)

Thursday I came home from work and was a decluttering/cleaning machine. The house was not in horrible shape, but since I am a pile person I had some piles (of mail, laundry, and [...]]]>

(Curious about the 19? the time that my condo was under contract does not count towards Days on Market….YAY)

Thursday I came home from work and was a decluttering/cleaning machine. The house was not in horrible shape, but since I am a pile person I had some piles (of mail, laundry, and randomness) to put away. The other big thing I had to deal with was all the boxes I had been bringing home and starting to pack. Basically I just stacked them all up in the 2nd bedroom. I figured better to have the Living Room/Sunroom/Dining Room clutter free so as to make a good first impression.

Friday…1 showing was scheduled during the day, while I was at work. As I was riding the train home I checked my phone, and there was a message from my realtor. She thought we had an offer coming! The potential buyer had two questions…

Saturday morning… TXT message from realtor… “What’s your schedule like for Saturday? We have an offer to review!” w00t!!!!

So I met with realtor…. Offer was … not that great…. Low ball on price and wanted 10K closing help. So I countered back at full price and with the closing help.

I go about my Saturday….. That evening I get a message from realtor…. Potential Buyer, feels that he is pushing his payment comfort level @ 5K below my asking price…I responded that perhaps he shouldn’t be looking at houses out of his price range

Sunday morning…realtor and I discuss this buyer walking because he wants a lower price and mucho closing help. I state I am fine with it because it sounds like this buyer can’t afford my condo and wants me to give it to him (which is not happening!!).

Around 11am… I start getting calls from the showing service! 3 showing set up! (I go out to run errands). Feedback from the first showing rolls in …. they are interested in the property!

My realtor has told potential buyer’s agent that we have showings scheduled throughout the day… apparently buyer’s agent goes off to talk to the buyer.

My realtor says I basically have 2 options… 1) tell potential buyer from Friday that my counter of full price + closing is still on the table until Monday OR 2) Say its off the table and see what else rolls in.

Proving that I am not a horrible person (no mater what Potluck Bitch thinks ) I say that the counter offer is on the table until Monday.

Buyer’s Agent comes back and says he talked buyer into the full price! So Basically I am back under contract again! (Just waiting for some signed paperwork I think….)

Woohoo! Home Inspections later this week

Total showings – 10
Total movies seen – 1
Total meals eaten out – 2
Total shopping trips – 3
Total offers – 2

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.

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.

Monday I met with my listing agent to review the offer. It was not a horrible offer, but there was one big problem that I had with it. They buyer wanted to settle at the end of March. Ha! Two problems. 1) I haven’t been inside any potential “new to [...]]]>

Monday I met with my listing agent to review the offer. It was not a horrible offer, but there was one big problem that I had with it. They buyer wanted to settle at the end of March. Ha! Two problems. 1) I haven’t been inside any potential “new to me” houses & 2) My lender has told me they usually ask for 45 days to process the loan.

So I countered on $$$$ and moved settlement to end of April. Then we started putting together a list of houses to look at this weekend.

I got a call on Tuesday evening. Counter offer accepted!!! YAY!

So now I get to look for a house. Start to pack (I am not looking forward to this! Have you seen my shoe collection ). No shopping until after settlement

Madison will be happy though… no one disturbing her naps (except when they come for the home inspection)… and I do not have to make sure the house is spotless and all put away whenever I leave!

I am still a bit nervous. This is moving very fast…but the prospect of no more upstairs neighbors or HOA drama makes me beyond happy!!!

I had 4 showings scheduled for Saturday. First 2 from 10am – 11am. Last one from 1pm – 3pm. So I made plans to shop (what else!?!?!?)… and planned to meet my mother in Columbia around 10am. As I was getting ready to go out I noticed one of the bulbs [...]]]>

I had 4 showings scheduled for Saturday. First 2 from 10am – 11am. Last one from 1pm – 3pm. So I made plans to shop (what else!?!?!?)… and planned to meet my mother in Columbia around 10am. As I was getting ready to go out I noticed one of the bulbs in the light fixture in my Master Bath was out! So I raced to Bloom to pick up a new one (actually I got a 3 pack, in case of future burn-outs). Crisis averted!

My listing agent uses a “showing service” to schedule the showings, and once they are finished the buyer’s agent has the opportunity to provide feedback (via a survey).

The majority of feedback says the unit shows well, is priced right, is clean and tidy. 2 mentioned the interior needs to be updated. One said Too Purple (at which I tweeted), along with being too feminine… well guess what … a female lives there

This was also how I first suspected I was getting an offer. One Agent filled out the server and said “offer submitted”.

YAY! So yes, I have an offer. I meet with my realtor this evening to review… stay tuned!

Wrap-up. Showings, and what I’ve left the house to do while they are going on …

Total showings – 7
Total movies seen – 1
Total meals eaten out – 2
Total shopping trips – 2
Total offers – 1