If a Table is Bought Before You Own a House...

does it cease to be useful? This is a minor dilemma in my ongoing struggle between being productive at work and searching craigslist for furniture that represents our vision for the house. Most recently I ran across what looks to be a beautiful wood table (ignore the crack running the length of one side) and 6 chairs that accompany it (still debating whether these would remain in the house at the dinner table). Out of sheer curiousity I contacted the poster only to discover that they're asking a very reasonable $250 (likely even less given the nature of her response).

The catch is, the owner and her family are moving out of the country first thing Monday morning. Considering we will not close on the house until Monday afternoon, I wonder whether Laura and I could check out, buy, and stash said table at the house without anyone knowing other than Chris the Realtor (who would have to let us in of course).

Stay tuned for scenes from next week's episode...

I Was Never a Critical Reader

or so the SATs told me.

I received an assortment of documents from FirstSavings Bank the other day in preparation for our Monday closing. In reading through, and subsequently signing, them I realize that my comprehension of words has dropped off the face of the Earth. The saving grace here is that I have no shame in emailing Loan Processor Megan about anything and everything. Sure it might frustrate her, but she doesn't let on and will only have to deal with my inane questions for another 30 years.

On a related note, we have homeowners insurance. Contrary to what I may have told some people, it is NOT only $310 a year. In my quote application, I had requested only $50,000 in dwelling coverage. Simply put, that's not enough. Somewhere along the line I must've entered that amount as a placeholder. The real dwelling coverage bumps our insurance coverage to $877, which is still in line with our anticipated monthly expenses.

All is still right with the world.

Maturity Begins...

at 1:00 this Monday, August 3rd. The stage has been set and I will be there. I will now be able to wear my adult onesy pajamas with pride.

A preliminary walk-through of the house will take place at 11:30 AM that same day. I am keeping my fingers crossed that no new damages have been inflicted upon the house since the inspection.

The Luck of the British Isles

Chris the Realtor called me in the wee hours yesterday morning to say that our lender appraisal is in. According to Chris, a lender simply tries to appraise a house up to the purchase price (unlike the city, who has the tendency to inflate the appraised value for taxing purposes). The appraisal came back about 20% over the purchase price. This means that the appaiser couldn't stop at the purchase price because there were too many amenities in the house, forcing its worth well above the purchase price. From what I gather, this is a good thing. To put this into perspective, Chris said that he has only ever seen an appraisal come back at 10% above the purchase price, and even that was abnormal. It would be nice to say that Laura and I planned this, but in reality we just loved the house and bid at a price that we could afford.

I also learned from Chris the Realtor that property taxes will be reassessed at the purchase price of the house. I was under the impression that they would be assessed against the lender appraisal figure. I'm still not certain that he or I are correct and envision future battles with the city over the property taxes. Either way, it's nice to see the ludicrous 2008 appraisal of $680,000 come back down to Earth. I'm not sure that I could ever be comfortable living in a house that was really worth that much.

Termites?

More like ternots. See, I replaced the word mite (think 'might') with the word not (think 'not') and made it plural. Why did I do this you might ask? Because the termite inspection report came back today and there is no evidence of wood destroying insects.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

So today has been an abnormal day at work. I came in around 11 PM last night in order to prepare for the work that needed to be done today. A dinner combination of coffee and fast food left me antsy and in need of distraction, so instead of diving into work I spent the first half hour following up with Chris the Realtor. I emailed him about the status of our appraisal, an updated inspection report from Ed the Inspector, general preparatory steps that I could be taking, and the like. For a little context: 1) Chris has been a realtor for the past ten years in the DC area; 2) he worked on the lending side of the business before switching over; 3) he has a wife and daughter so real estate isn't his entire life; and, 4) I see the number of lists that I'm generating in these posts as a disturbing trend that hopefully won't translate into real life conversation.

With that in mind, I must have sent Chris this email around 11:30 or 12:00 in the evening expecting to hear back the following afternoon. Low and behold, about 5 seconds later I had a response from him in my inbox. It felt as if he stays up late at night just on the off chance that I might need something. Really what I'm saying is that this is emblematic of how Chris operates. As I assume many realtors do, he works between eight and twelve hour days, 7 days a week, all year round. But more than anything, he is very good at making himself accessible and instilling confidence in an uncertain buyer. Ultimately, I won't have my opinions of him validated until after the settlement and I've had a chance to reflect on the whole process. It may be that the house isn't all it's cracked up to be and the level of comfort was him looking to close the deal, but, as things stand now, I honestly believe that he's the least risky part of the entire process. In an Internet happy era when one is inundated with horror stories about first time home ownership, realtors constantly pushing a sale on their client, the fear of losing your job and not making the mortgage payment, it is good to have some sort of footing.

This post is just to say thanks and to recommend Chris the Realtor to anyone looking for a place in DC that happens to stumble across this blog. His information:

Chris Sanders
ZipRealty
703-447-0440 (cell)
866-500-4590 (fax)

Pictures

I'm trying to figure out how to link you all to the pre-closing pictures that I took during our home inspection. Hopefully this works, although most of you have seen these already: House pre-closing pictures.

A New Word Order?

Like verbs before subjects or something? Rather, something or subjects verbs before like?

You Have Been Forewarned…

Forewarn is a funny word. Forewarn – to warn in advance.

Warn – to give notice, advice, or intimation to (a person, group, etc.) of danger, impending evil, possible harm, or anything else unfavorable: Sally was warned that her life was in danger.

Aren’t all warnings (not just forewarnings) given in advance? If you warn Sally that her life is in danger once she’s dead, it wouldn’t be a very effective warning would it?

This reminds me of the George Carlin bit on the prefix ‘pre.’ “That's another complaint of mine, too much use of this prefix pre…it's all over the language now. Pre this, pre that. Place the turkey in a preheated oven...it's ridiculous. There are only two states an oven can possibly exist in, heated or unheated.”

The Inspection Results Are In

I would like to make something perfectly clear up front: in no way did I expect this house to be perfect. 1) It is a foreclosed property. 2) It is on the market below market value. Scratch that, it's below what seems to be the market value. Given the volatile nature of our economy, who knows what the real value of a house is. Either way, barring any major structural or internal problems, I'm happy.

With that in mind, this past Friday a home inspector came by to look through the house. This was strictly a home inspection for the benefit of Laura and I. He made that very clear up front. The gist is, I follow him (and his son) around the house as they test or evaluate every aspect of the house. I ask him questions as we go along and he does his best to construct an answer that will make sense to the layperson. At the end, he provides me a detailed report on the house including any issues (both minor and major) to keep my eye on. That's how it's supposed to work. The reality is, I spent the first half hour of the inspection having my realtor explain property tax modification to me (another process that I didn't quite understand) and the second half hour being talked 'at' because I had no significant questions. For me, it was more or a less a tutorial on the make-up of a house. The answer: brick and wood. Who knew?

Overall, the inspection went well and Ed the Inspector was incredibly helpful. The problems he identified include (from most to least expensive): 1) cracked window, 2) rusting deck that is ugly to boot, 3) a closet door off its hinges, 4) a few shingles have fallen off the peaked roof, 5) some door knobs are loose, 6) protective covers on one outlet and one light switch are cracked, 7) the carpet in the basement needs to be replaced (already knew), 8) the basement smells, 9) I'm ugly. Basically, all of the problems were minor.

Due to complications arising from an unpaid water bill (The last owner prior to foreclosure had a $219 balance left unpaid. As water follows the house, the water couldn't be turned on until the bill was paid. I went ahead and paid the bill with the understanding that I would be reimbursed by Bank of America at settlement) Ed came back to the house yesterday to finish up the inspection. I haven't yet received an updated report but did talk with Chris the Realtor last night. I'm not sure if he left anything out, but water/sink/tub/washer dryer problems include: 1) minor leak from one of the pipes at the water main valve (sounds like a $200-$300 repair), 2) garbage disposal in the basement is seized (not sure if this can be repaired or must be replaced), 3) garbage disposal upstairs is slightly clogged but works, 4) toilet on the second floor is clogged and pipes may need to be flushed (minor expense?). Everything else worked fine, or so it sounds. These problems were larger than what we found during the Friday inspection, but none of them are deal breakers.

All in all, repairing the house after settlement will mean small checks here and there but all of these costs can add up quickly. The good news: 20% of the commission that Chris the Realtor receives will go towards my closing costs. I believe this comes to around $1900 and should cover all of these minor repairs (and then some). Or else the repairs cost much more than I anticipate and I sell every square inch of the house like stock.

And it was good...

or so it has yet to be determined.

The purchase of 1842 North Capitol Street NW in our pseudo-hometown of Washington, DC is well underway. With it comes a lot of nervous anxiety, excitement, and...yes...money. This blog will hopefully capture our progress, plans, activities, [insert nouns here] as we move forward.

Please remember, this is a personal blog kept by two people. One of us is eloquent, pensive, and likeable. The other one is a student of technology that can't stand the stuff. Neither of us has blogged before nor used the word blog in a sentence, but everyone must bite the bullet at some point. We will write about anything and everything and hopefully keep all of our loved ones digitally attached to us in the process.

You have been forewarned...