house hunting week 2

ok, so last friday kalen's aunt who is our acting "agent" picked us up since our car was still in the shop and we went to see a few houses.

well, let me backtrack and say that we've been advised to use a local lender and for one of our state's down payment assistance programs we have to use one of their certified lenders. so it's between pulaski and us bank. us bank offers a program called the american dream mtg which doesn't include mtg ins so it's supposed to save you money on your mtg payment every month....tara if you have any insight on that i'd appreciate it cuz not having mtg ins just doesn't sound very smart to me. there are income and credit limitations/restrictions so if we don't qualify for that we know we're good on a fha. we have a homebuying class from 9a-4p on the 21st. anyhow, we're waiting on kalen's tax transcripts since i can't find some of the tax info for the life of me.

anyhow, we went looking and it hit me that this is not gonna be as easy as i thought it'd be. it's one thing to sit here and scour the internet and look at pics and read descriptions but actually stepping across some of these thresholds is like stepping into the twilight zone.

the first house we saw was listed at 89900 down from 99500. 3 bedroom/2 bath, large backyard, large rec room in the basement. yes, we need 4 bedrooms but if there is enough space in the basement we're willing to go that route. so we walk in and there's a "cozy"...real estate talk for TINY...living room...it was like a livingroom/kitchen combo! we won't even go there on the outdated cabinets and appliances. three very COZY bedrooms, the "MASTER" BATH was hilarious...i had to turn sideways to get in there and i'm like 5ft 135lbs! the basement, well, when we went down there the carpet was pulled back from the wall and there was literally a pond of rocks....like they put in a sump pump but didn't pour the concrete. ok, it was quickly crossed off the list, but the backyard WAS HUGE.

the second house would be great if we didn't need something more move-in ready. the copper had been stolen off the water heater. the vent duct was damaged and hanging from the basement ceiling. both of the plumbing stacks were all copper, kalen said that's a rarity, but one of them, had been sawed thru. the sliding door was secured w/ a wooden stick angled against the jam to deny entry, but the door wouldn't even slide shut completely. other than that that basement was huge. the hardwood floors were shot. but the layout was pretty cool. nice size livingroom/dining room combo...the kitchen....WOW. i swear the cabinets were the handi-work of keebler elves drunk off whiskey trying out for the team in front of big poppa elf, and NOT making the team. off the kitchen, so back to back w/ the livingroom was a family room. there was built in shelving thru-out. on the other side of the first floor were two bedrooms. one that accessed the main floor full bath. a nice double coat closet and two linen closets. upstairs were 3 more bedrooms and another full bath. the bedrooms were pretty good sizes, too! and there was water damage everywhere...it was clear it needed a new roof. ugh.

on to house #3, we walked in, sped thru it and walked back out...the house had been broken into...the back door was boarded up...the floors were sinking around the toilets (thank you, syndi!)...one of the bedrooms i swear, was really a walk in closet.

moving on....house #4....i actually liked house #4....kalen hated house #4. it had no basement. there was an add on room that was not cooled by the central air. and the other bedrooms were "cozy". you could be on one side of the house and look clear thru to the other. ok, fine it was super cozy. and it had no gutter.

house #5....again, no basement. the "family room" was about as big as the closet i call a bathroom in our current apt. it had the best looking bathrooms we'd seen. a floor to ceiling fp in the livingroom. the kitchen was soooo tiny. i mean you could stand on one tile and reach everything, stove, sink, microwave, pantry, etc. and there was standing water in the backyard.

yaaaawn, i'm exhausted just thinking about it! we're taking a week off and we're supposed to go back out on monday and tuesday of next week. right now, a cardboard box is looking pretty inviting and a lot less stressful!