My road to homeownership
So it looks like my first shot at homeownership is done. While I feel the house would have been great for me, as things progressed, it felt like my realtor didn't have my best interests in mind. First, when I decided what my initial offer was going to be, she questioned it as being too low, which I knew it was but I was looking for bargaining room. Next, she said it would probably take some time before word would come back in regards to a counter offer as well as court acceptance. See, the house is under a guardianship because the little old lady that used to live there is in a home now. In any case, I was ready to wait about a week or so before any word would come back and that the process would take some time. I was ready for this, it's what she prepared me for. Yesterday, I get one urgent email after another leading up to a text message saying I have to call her back as soon as possible. There was a counter offer made as well as another offer on the table from another party and boy, oh, boy if I didn't move now I might miss out on the house.
The emails contained cost sheets to show what I was looking at in regards to money needed and what my payments would be. Compared to stuff I'd reviewed from the bank, the total she came up with and the monthly payments were more than what I wanted to spend. The cost would have left me what my friend Beth called "House Poor" which I defined as eating ramen every night without a chair to sit on. Not my ideal situation.
When I finally called my realtor up during my lunch break, I mentioned that it all seemed a little high and she basically told me that's just how it was. I mentioned some stuff I'd pulled from my book on VA loans about certain costs they won't let me pay for which she had no idea what I was talking about. In the end, I didn't feel comfortable with the house and I don't feel comfortable with my realtor. Now, I'm on the search for a realtor who has at least closed on a property that involved a VA loan. It'd be really specially if they closed on multiple VA loans. Anyway, I'm seeing this as a lesson learned and an opportunity to find something better.
Next step: contact the bank and see if they have any realtors they like to deal with and contact the VA to see if there's a list of realtors they keep on hand...
...till the next...
~M
The emails contained cost sheets to show what I was looking at in regards to money needed and what my payments would be. Compared to stuff I'd reviewed from the bank, the total she came up with and the monthly payments were more than what I wanted to spend. The cost would have left me what my friend Beth called "House Poor" which I defined as eating ramen every night without a chair to sit on. Not my ideal situation.
When I finally called my realtor up during my lunch break, I mentioned that it all seemed a little high and she basically told me that's just how it was. I mentioned some stuff I'd pulled from my book on VA loans about certain costs they won't let me pay for which she had no idea what I was talking about. In the end, I didn't feel comfortable with the house and I don't feel comfortable with my realtor. Now, I'm on the search for a realtor who has at least closed on a property that involved a VA loan. It'd be really specially if they closed on multiple VA loans. Anyway, I'm seeing this as a lesson learned and an opportunity to find something better.
Next step: contact the bank and see if they have any realtors they like to deal with and contact the VA to see if there's a list of realtors they keep on hand...
...till the next...
~M