On my way to close out of Genesee St.  Thanks to everyone who made it such a fun place for 8 years!

Inspections are done and we’ve signed the final amendment to the offer on my house.  We close on September 3!  I didn’t blog about it as it was happening because I thought it might be bad luck.  Plus, if someone involved in the deal randomly found the blog, it would have been bad.  So, here’s the story.

About a week and a half ago, I started back and forth on an offer.  The negotiations were weird because they put in a low price AND asked me to pay $6K in closing costs.  Apparently, this is common with first time buyers so that they don’t have to bring lots of money to closing.  Anyhoo, the negotiations were weird because I agreed to that, but then I kind of had to start by dropping the price by that $6K, or I would have been returning to them with a price HIGHER than what we started at.

I can’t even remember the exact back and forth, but we ended up at $241,500.  I was ok with this as originally I thought I wanted to end up with something around $240K.  However, right around the time that we put my place on the market the comps started to go up so I was hoping for more like $245K.  After we started back and forth with the first offer negotiation, we heard that another guy wanted to give a second offer.  He was out of town for work and wanted to go back one more time to see the property.  We stalled as long as we could with the first offer, but Buyer #2 didn’t even book a second showing, so I had to sign the first when I couldn’t stall any longer.  Sure enough, an hour later Buyer #2 booked his appointment.

The next day we got feedback that the second guy was going to give an offer, but he heard we had one so didn’t.  At the same time, Buyers #1 tried to change their type and amount of financing.  The type of loan and amount are outlined in the offer, so changing it actually requires an amendment to the offer.  They wanted to switch to putting 3% down, instead of 10%.  On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a problem, but it was and this is why…

Because I was paying $6K in closing costs, the contract is actually for $247,500.  The Appraisal has to come in at more than the loan amount, so for me to accept an offer with 10% down, I am pretty much guaranteed that the property would appraise and the deal would go through.  Because they wanted to increase the amount of the loan AND we had adjusted the price, the 3% down deal presented much more risk for me that the property wouldn’t appraise and the deal go through.  What we learned in buying our new house is that some of the appraisers aren’t even located in the city where they are appraising houses.  This means that if you get someone outside of Houston, they don’t realize that we aren’t having the same housing slump as the majority of the nation and use the wrong model.

So, we had hope that we might get a better offer and legitimately get out of the first.  We encouraged Buyer #2 to give a backup offer and he did - for $245K.  Hmmm…an extra $3,500 sure would pay for a nice camera.  BUT I had a signed offer and if Buyers #1 abided by the original terms I had to go with it.  During this time, there was a lot of legal mumbo jumbo back and forth between the realtors.  Buyers #1 were being represented by a representative who usually handles commercial transactions and he didn’t get the implications of the changes they were proposing until my realtor and her lawyer explained it to him.

At some point, Buyers #1 agreed to go back to the original terms, so then our only hope was that they would ask for a whole bunch of things based on the inspection, and we would say NO and they’d get pissed off and terminate the contract.

NO LUCK.  They asked for ONE thing - a fix to the Pressure Relief Valve on the Hot Water Heater.  I said NO which likely pissed them off, but two days later (I think they were trying to make me tense) they came back with signatures.   That was this afternoon.  So, no extra $3,500 for me.  A bit sad about that, but we acted ethically and it just gets chalked up to timing really.  My next door neighbour is coincidentally putting his place on the market this week, so he could end up with a fast deal with a qualified buyer!

And that’s the story of selling the Genesee Townhome.  I pack up my stuff this weekend, we move it to the new place over Labour Day and close on the 3rd.  It was the start of May when we started painting and fixing up Patruck’s house - so in 4 months we have sold two houses and purchased another and moved two homes into one.  Everyone seems to comment that this is exceptionally fast - but it seems like it’s been forever!  I’ll be very glad to get everything here in a few weeks and to set up the House of BS (our last names, but very appropriate)!

As of today, my old phone number is disconnected.  If you want the new one, leave a comment and I’ll e-mail it to you!  No longer are the days of my number spelling something fun (?) like x-harlot.  The new one doesn’t spell anything.  Sad.

  

wired

Originally uploaded by seejanebe

This picture made me laugh so hard - I just had to post it.

Last night, Patruck had Part Two of a sleep study. The first part of the study was at the end of June while I was up in Michigan. The conclusion of the first study was that although he didn’t have apnea, he had respiratory issues which kept him from entering deep sleep. That night, he only went into deep sleep for 9% of the night.

Part Two was the actual CPAP test and tuning. This morning he was so excited that it was contagious. He slept so well with the CPAP that the Sleep Clinic Crew let him sleep in and when he woke up, he was the only patient left! He apparently went into deep sleep 6 times in the night and says he can’t remember the last time he slept that well.

The Sleep Clinic Crew are also a very clever bunch, as they set up a visit by the CPAP vendor first thing in the morning. So, he stuck around and now owns his very own CPAP. Apparently it’s the size of a box of tissue and makes less noise than the ceiling fan (or, at least that’s what I’ve been told).  Not sure how much insurance is going to cover, but if he sleeps well I’m not sure it matters.

So, now I’m shacked up with Darth-Patruck.

Heather and I

Originally uploaded by seejanebe

Ok, this shot is three years old - but still fun!
Happy Birthday Heather! I have no phone to call you, so this is my phone call. Now, just sit still and imagine me singing happy birthday to you…or maybe skip that because it’ll be more pleasant.

Love you! Couldn’t ask for a better big sis. xo.

Last night, for fun we shone a flashlight into the drum of our new front loading washer and watched the first load.  Yup, we just plunked down on the floor in front of it and watched for a while.  After a lot of pre-buy research, we settled on the Kenmore 3t Washer and Kenmore 3t Steam Dryer and, if you haven’t guessed already, we’re both slightly obsessed with them.  For that matter, we have a bit of a crush on all of our new appliances.

We had NO IDEA that you have to use special detergent in High Efficiency machines.  I read that it’s a touch more expensive, but Patruck did the run to the store so at this point I can’t confirm/refute.  I also read that you can actually try to use regular detergent in lower quantities, but we’re not going to risk it.

Secondly, THE DRYER HAS STEAM.  (And it’s own drum light, so no need for the flashlight).  We tested out the Refresh cycle on a few of Patrick’s dress shirts that were packed away in a suitcase.  It definitely got rid of the wrinkles, but a cotton shirt doesn’t come out with that crisp, freshly-ironed look.  It will definitely be passable for my work shirts though.

  

white linen

Originally uploaded by seejanebe

I’ve really lost count on the showings on the townhome. Unfortunately, the original offer was a bust! They said, “Where are your comps crazy lady?” and we said, “Here are two of the exact same units that sold in the past 3 months and here are the extra amenities.”. Then they said, “We reviewed the info and our offer stands.” and we said “Goodbye.”.

This weekend, we had a guy come by for a 3rd showing, but haven’t heard anything since. We also dropped the price a little on Friday. Man, I am ready to sell, but I’m not ready to lose my shirt on the deal! I’m just mostly ready to be in the new house. Look how cute the new house and my boyfriend are!

p.s. We don’t usually dress in matching white outfits all the time, it was a special event in our new ‘hood.

Plus two more showings, which aren’t reshows.  I’m thinking that it’s time to play hardball with the low-offer.  There’s still plenty of interest out there.

So, after a showing the realtors have an opportunity to give feedback via the web.  Last week, only a couple of people made the effort.  My realtor got back from vacation on Saturday and has been soliciting others for feedback so that we can decide if the house is over-priced, or needs work, etc.  I thought I’d share the feedback here - it’s all good when it comes to the house.  But some of it is “interesting”.

Hello. My buyer thought this home looked good and was ready for move in.  However, she has not made her short list yet and should this one make the list, I will be sure to let her see it again. Thanks.

really cute place.  well decorated and shows beautifully.  furniture choices maximize the limited space in the living room.  clients not sure about commercial across the street.  this unit is to the high end of their price range.  we are still looking.  all the best.

She liked this unit but is leaning towards a new construction in the Heights – I will let you know which she decides on. Take care

HI Cathy,  These buyers are not very focused.  They generally did not like the area location and surroundings.  It’s a nice property and I wish you well with it.

Client decided against any & all Perry homes on the fact that Bob Perry owns the company. Who knew?!?!?

So, we had one showing per day last Wednesday through Saturday and an open house + 3 showings yesterday.  That takes us up to a total of 15 over 12 days.  I fully did not expect anyone to come on Sunday outside of the scheduled open house hours, so we were lounging around watching the end of Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest (Lots of action, disappointed with the cliff-hanger ending! This is a movie, not a TV show!) when we got the first call.  I don’t think we’ve ever moved that quickly!  Thirty minutes for us both to shower and get ready and to tidy the house.  We left 5 minutes early (at 10:55 am) and STILL ran into the potential buyer on the way out.

Then we got a call whilst at the grocery of someone wanting to come from 12:30 to 2:30, even with the 2:00 - 4:00 open house.  I explained that we really wanted to do some vacuuming and cookie baking prior to the open house and that 12:30 was not good…so we comprimised with 1:15.

We raced back to the house and hoped the 11:00 - 12:00 people would be gone (and they were) and then vacuumed and dusted and baked cookies.  Twenty-four cookies to be exact.  Well, ok, really 22 because I ate 2 raw.  We left a nice note and headed to the pub at 1:05 or so.  We were going to have lunch and then invade Pat and Sara’s as they were out of town, but the pints just kept on flowing so we stayed.  We were finally about to leave at 4:10 and got a call that someone else wanted a showing from 4:30 to 5:30!  Wha?  Ok, we’ll have another pint if you insist.

When we finally did get back into the house, 14 cookies were remaining (after I ate 2 more).  So based on the inventories, 6 cookies were eaten.  And we’re guessing the open house lady had one.  In the words of Megan, “You either had one really hungry dude, or a few people come through.”.  We should find out soon which scenario it was.

Early this morning, we got an extremely low ball of an offer from the “10:55 buyer” who we ran into when we were leaving yesterday morning.  She was 15% lower than list.  I mean, I guessed that some people might start at $230K as a very lowball offer (it’s listed at $255K), but $225K?  My realtor agrees that it is almost insulting, especially considering the amount of interest.

The potential buyer didn’t put a time limit on when I need to respond to the offer and we had another second showing at the open house (a guy brought his gf by after seeing it himself), so I’m going to wait a day or so before we even respond to the first offer.  But “yay” finally an offer!

Interesting days to follow!  We close on the new house on Wednesday and move Patruck’s stuff in on Saturday.  I think we’ll start living there this weekend, but without all my stuff.  It’ll be like camping.