Musical Houses

Lately I've felt like my family is playing a game of musical houses. My brother left for basic training in November, my dad moved in with me after his lease was up, my mom bought a new house and moved and my dad moved into the house I grew up in.

I had almost forgotten what a huge ordeal moving is--especially when it involves sifting through 18 years worth of accumulation. Helping my dad pack his apartment was a job, and he had only lived there for a year. Helping my mom pack for her move was unreal. We had to unload drawers and cabinets full of china, pictures, clothes. There were boxes from the attic that were never unpacked after we moved in. We were only packing what Mom was actually taking since Dad was moving in, but the amount of stuff designated as trash or giveaway defies description.

I suppose that is one benefit to moving regularly, it forces you to save only what is truly important.

When the movers came my sister kept saying how empty the house looked, but I'm old enough to remember when we first moved in. Even after the movers were finished the house looked far from empty.

Luckily the moving is done, but the whole experience reminded me of how stressful househunting and moving can be. I'm glad no one has any intention of moving again in the next couple of years. Now the fun part can begin. Setting up Mom's new house, fixing up Dad's house and continuing the list of projects for my house! Check out the pictures from our house hunting adventures with Mom.

House Hunting Again
Mom's new place!

Dining room

Dining room, blue shutters were one of the first things to go.

Kitchen, fake greenery was taken down.

Living room

Living room

Awesome sunroom

Screened in porch

It's been two years since I've looked at houses, but I'd forgotten how exhausting it can be. The sheer number of possibilities can make the process overwhelming. And of course, we saw several other houses before Mom found the one she bought. Check out some of the highlights.

The Good...

Italian tile in entry.

There were several houses we really liked. But some of my favorites included this beautiful Italian tile in the entry way. The front of the house is set up just like my grandmother's with the long front porch and the big front windows in the living room.

Front of house is set up almost
exactly like my grandmother's.

Other highlights of this house were the beautiful backyard, a great size kitchen, a shed with electric and plumbing and new carpeting throughout the house. Plus it was the only house we looked at that had a shower and a bathtub in the master bathroom.

My grandparents came to visit to help my mom look at houses. She didn't end up buying any of the houses we looked at while they were in town, but it was nice to have their opinions.

Really nice covered back patio.

Now for a look at a few of the less ideal places.

The Odd...
This master bedroom had the oddest layout. The door to the bedroom led onto this short hallway, with the bathroom on one side and the closet on the other, all within the room.

Standing at bedroom door, bathroom
on right and closet on the left.

Big pantry, trash compacter
in the pantry.

Another house my mom looked at had this enormous pantry. But the trash compacter was in the pantry. I found this strange.

But both of those houses were great overall. The main downside of the house with the pantry was that all the rooms were small and my mom wouldn't have been able to fit a lot of her furniture (bought to fit in a larger house).

The next house didn't have any truly redeeming characteristics. The entryway had this vintage wallpaper. I kind of liked the wallpaper, but it is definitely an acquired taste, and my mom hated it.

Wallpaper...

Then in the garage there was this storage loft, but it blocked the door to the backyard. So whoever built it came up with the solution of cutting a big hole in the loft so you can still open the door. Creative, but weird.

The loft had a cutout
so you can open the door.

Overall, the house was dated and would have needed some work. But most of those things were just quirks. The truly awful aspect of that house falls under our next heading.







The Ugly...
Check out this living space. They enclosed a breezeway between the house and the garage which means the space was already awkward. But then they decorated it to look like a dated funeral home. I teased my mom that she could put her piano in that room and start a business hosting wakes.

Built in funeral parlor?

Double-decker?

This house Mom actually put an offer in on. The home was beautiful, but the double decks were only the beginning of the issues I foresaw.

The backyard was terraced, which would make yardwork a nightmare. The house was two stories with a steep curving staircase. The spacious garage enters on the bottom floor and the front entryway is on the second floor. The kitchen, dining and all except one bedroom are on the second floor. The laundry and casual living room are on the first floor. Not a huge problem, but it does mean all the groceries, etc. would have to be carried upstairs and laundry would always have to be taken down and back up. Rather inconvenient in the long run.

Exposed hot water heater off the kitchen.

This last house was fairly nice overall, the kitchen was spacious and you can see that there's a good size laundry room. However, that hot water heater is sitting right in the laundry room doorway off the kitchen. Because of it's location there would be no way to build a screen to conceal it. Not cool.

What were some of the worst things you found while house hunting? Did you look at any "dream" homes that were way out of your price range?

Finding Home

OK, so you know how to buy a house with no money for closing. You know how to make sure house payments will fit into your budget. Now, I'll talk about the process of finding your home and making it yours!

First things first, you must get pre-qualified! Don't be afraid to talk with several mortgage companies, but wait until you're ready to buy to request an estimate because the companies will pull your credit history. Too many credit checks can actually hurt your credit score. It's also a good idea to check your score yourself before going to a mortgage broker. 

The estimate they give you is called a Good Faith Estimate (GFE). Be sure that is what you ask the mortgage broker for. Different brokers will give you different loan amounts and interest rates, but you don't have to choose a company right away. Interest rates change daily so a GFE will be inaccurate after a couple weeks.  Once you find the house you want contact all the brokers again for an updated estimate. Remember, you don't have to lock in your rate right away. If the interest rate they offer isn't very good you can wait a few days to see if it gets better.

Backing up a bit though...once you get a GFE, call your realtor. Most realtors want clients to get pre-qualified before showing them houses because the GFE lets them know what price range to look at. Once you're pre-qualified they also know you're serious about buying. Realtors get paid as part of the closing costs once you decide to purchase a home, which means that unless you decide to buy a home they don't get paid. 

DO get your own realtor. While you may not take him or her along to look at every house, you want someone experienced advocating for you once you make an offer.

Once I decided to buy it was less than a month before I found my house. I was lucky, I heard several stories of people who fell in love with a house only to have it snatched out from under them by another buyer who acted first or made a better offer. Don't get discouraged if that happens, there are hundreds of houses out there, you will find another one to make home.

Something that surprised me is how quickly everything moves once the seller accepts your offer. The rounds of inspections begin. I had a general inspection, pest inspection, lead base paint inspection and my insurance company inspected the house (this was important, see why below). I used Pillar to Post for the general inspection and Sure Shot Exterminating for the pest inspection and was impressed by their knowledge. The inspections let you know if the house has any major (or minor) problems and they gave me an idea what improvements I wanted completed before I bought the house.
 

Less than a week went by before the previous owner and I came to a tentative agreement on a price and the repairs/improvements he would make. That was about the time my insurance agency said they couldn't cover the house unless the roof was replaced. I definitely recommend choosing your insurance agency early in the process, if I had waited until later and then found out that the company wouldn't insure the house it would have been an unpleasant surprise.

As it turned out, we hadn't signed a contract yet. I adjusted my offer to include a new roof. I suggest following your instincts when offering for a house. My initial offer was much lower than the asking price and included several improvements. We made several counter-offers, but when I added a new roof to the mix my realtor told me the owner probably wouldn't agree. But you know what? He did. I had to give up a few other improvements and pay a little more, but it was much better than paying for a new roof myself.

The insurance agency I chose is State Farm. I went with State Farm partially because my family has used them for years, but mainly they gave me the best rate. Once the new roof was completed I had no problems insuring my house and the insurance was included in my monthly mortgage payments. And since I insure my car through them too I was able to get a better rate.

I ended up choosing the Bank of Oklahoma for my mortgage because they gave me the best rate. There were a couple of added bonuses for me when I decided on BOK. I work very close to one of their branches, so I'm able to save postage by just taking the payment by the bank. Also, after I added my mortgage they upgraded the checking account I have with them!

You also need to choose a company to prepare your property title and closing documents. I used Buffalo Land Abstract and Title Company because I knew they were a good company. OK, so I chose the company because my dad has worked there 15 years, but it's because he works there that I know the company is awesome. They did a great job preparing everything and making sure I knew what was happening. 

Once you settle on a price, improvements and give the information to all the people helping you complete this crazy process, buying a home becomes a waiting game. Half the time I felt like I had no idea what was going on and I found that very frustrating. I needed to let my current landlords know when I was moving out, but I didn't know. My original closing date was postponed because the roof wasn't done. Meanwhile, the owner wasn't living in this house, so there it was--empty. If you find yourself in a similar situation contact the owner about an early residency agreement. Our final closing date was at the end of August, nearly two months after I began looking for houses. But I moved in at the beginning of August. 

Closing will likely be the only time you meet the previous owner and most of the other people involved in your home purchase. My representative from the Tulsa Housing Authority, both my realtor and the previous owner's realtor (Elizabeth Craddock and Tonya Bell), the title company staff and of course myself and the previous owner were all present. There were piles of paper to sign, but I walked out of that meeting with my own home. Because my closing date was at the end of the month my first mortgage payment wasn't due until the first of October. I got to live in my house rent- and mortgage-free for two months.

While confusing at times, the process of buying a home was fairly smooth for me. Is anyone currently buying a home? Any homeowners out there have stories or thoughts to share from their process?