Journey to...OUR NEW HOME!

This is a stock photo of the house!

So, most people go out and find a house that they like and buy it. Our process was so long, but well worth it in the end. We started looking at houses in Temecula in December. There were a ton of homes for sale, but what we learned very quickly is that most of what is on the market are short sales. A short sale is when you negotiate with the bank to sell your house for less than what you owe on it, and sell it before it goes into foreclosure. Because the bank has to approve the price, short sales can take anywhere from 30 days (for an approved short sale) to 9 months. We figured that we had time to wait, so if we found a short sale we loved, we would go for it.

We found a home that we really liked and put our offer in at the beginning of January. It was about 1700 s.f. and had 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The master bathroom was AWESOME! There were definitely things that needed work, but at the time, we thought the house was perfect and the price was definitely right. The sellers accepted the offer, and since it was supposedly a bank-approved short sale, we figured we'd wait about 30 days to hear from the bank. Come to find out, the house wasn't a bank approved short sale, and the owners had a first and second mortgage, as well as Private Mortgage Insurance that all had to be approved for the sale. So, we waited, and waited, and signed extension after extension. After waiting so long, there is bound to be another home that comes along the way.

Since we felt like we were being lead through this hole and that, we continued to look at homes. I still loved the neighborhood A LOT, so I really hoped that the bigger home down the street would drop in price. A drop in price meant it was still $20,000 higher than the price we were going to pay for the original short sale home, but with an office and a seperate dining room, plus a huge kitchen, it was well worth it. While we waited for the short sale house, we started to fall out of love with it, and on a Wednesday night I told Carlos that I wished the bigger house would have a price drop. Sure enough, about 12 hours later, I got an email from the MLS that the price had been reduced. This was a definite sign that we had to look at it!

We got a call from our realtor on Friday that the agent of the smaller house had written approval from the bank. All along, he was in agreement that the sellers realtor had lied about so many things, so if we found something better, we would move along with the new house. We went and saw the bigger house on Saturday morning, and while we LOVED the layout (the dining room was a HUGE Surprise), there were a lot of really bad patch jobs from nail holes and furniture hitting doorways and corners of walls, and the bathrooms weren't as great. I had a hard time seeing past that, and although there were so many things great about it, we decided to walk back down to the short sale house. Something told me that since it had been vacant for so long, I'm sure someone had gone into it. It's common with vacant homes. Sure enough, someone had been burning something in the fireplace since there were ashes in front of it. The house did not feel the same. While there were still things that I liked about it, I felt like I was completely over it. Unfortunately, I thought the bigger house needed too much work.

I called my parents and when my dad heard about it, he insisted on seeing it. Luckily, my dad can fix ANYTHING, so we can get a house that needs some work, without having to hire everyone to do it for us. At this point I was sooooo embarrassed to call our realtor because I know I frustrate him 75% of the time, but I called him anyway, and warned him that he would probably kill me because we wanted to see the bigger house the next day. Of course I'm sure he was not happy (you can just tell). Well, we went to the house and my dad said that the work was time-consuming but nothing drastic, and of course everyone liked the house since it was so much bigger than the other one.

Well, the day after we decided we were going to put our offer in, as our offer was waiting to be signed and forwarded on to the sellers agent, we got a call on the short sale house that it was going into escrow that day. Of course, we knew this might happen, so we had to rescind our offer. While the smaller house was still cute, it was 300 s.f. smaller and the backyard needed A LOT of work, as well as a new fence. Of course, trying to save his butt since the house would now go into foreclosure, the sellers agent said that he found someone who would put up a new fence for free (shady?!), and they would fix some of the repairs that needed to be done. At this point, the bigger house was just a better option for us. Statistically, new homebuyers buy their first homes to fit their needs at the present time, and most end up moving within 5 years. I could see this happening with the smaller house, but can see us in the bigger house forever.

We put our offer in on a Monday, and by Thursday, and a few counter offers later, we got the house. We were supposed to go for an inspection the following Monday, but since the sellers were being lame, they refused to turn on the utilities for an inspection. At that point, I told them that we weren't responsible for that since we are not living in the home and for all we know, vagrants could be staying in the house leaving the a.c. on and what not, we decided to cancel escrow. I was so upset. Furious. Confused. Mad. Every emotion you could think of! The next morning I texted our realtor (yes I said texted because he is that cool!) and told him I regretted it. Since he has seen how I am, he was holding off on sending the cancellation until that afternoon. He called the realtor and told them that we would be cancelling. Low and behold, they decided to turn on the utilities. Apparently the owner had properties and had died, leaving them to trustees. One was reasonable, the other was not. Their realtor talked to the reasonable one and they decided to turn on the utilities. Woohoo, we were officially back in the game!

The escrow process was pretty easy. Aside from the sellers not signing things in a timely manner and probably delaying the close of escrow by a week, everything was simple. We signed our loan docs while we were at my parents house, and since I love to shop, went to Lowes and then Home Depot in search of lights. I was dying to buy an address plaque but since it is so close to the lights, I figured we'd better find lights first. How exciting and nervewracking the next month will be! Addison's room looks like a storage unit.

About 1/4 of Addison's room is now storage!

Even though we have a lot of work to do before actually moving in, and about a month's worth of weekends to do it, I am ready to pack up whatever can be packed so it can go into the garage in the new house and out of my way! Did I mention, I am also ready to shop??? All new appliances, downstairs flooring, bathroom fixtures, light fixtures, doors, living room furniture, a new t.v. for the built-in shelves in the family room, washer and dryer, and plants and flowers for outside. Yay!!!

Overall, I am really happy with the process. Most people have their parents' help funding their new homes, or marry someone that already owns a home, but I am happy to say that Carlos and I have been able to save our money to purchase this new home on our own! I am so excited that our first home, is one that we picked out together!