The final word

The lawyer called me yesterday with the news that the Bank's attorneys approved the loan with a condition that we close the permits in 90 days. Our lawyer said that it was unlikely we would be able to do that but as long as we started the the ball rolling, it would be easy to get an extension.

It was a relief and I have to tell you, it's really been nerve wracking to say the least. Mike's dad will close before us, even though they put the house up for sale just a scant month ago...isn't that crazy?

Anyway, our interest rates look terrible. We locked in at 6.875% - but what can we do? Our target closing date is July 23! That's less than a month away!!

I wrap this job July 10 and then I give us 2 weeks to pack. We will close and then leave for a wedding during that weekend while the Grays move in and we rush our move on the Monday after. It's not ideal but I don't really care.

Everyone at work is very happy for me, the teamsters especially, have given me advice on home ownership and DIY stuff. It's a nice feeling to be part of the "homeowner club". Mike and I really can't wait to start doing stuff around the house. Since the permits seem to be for the bathroom, we have shifted priorities. The semi-attached wall will have to wait (whew! I was wondering where I was going to find $15,000 for it) and we can concentrate on the bathroom. It would be cheaper to do, more fun and would close out these permits. That gives me a year to save the money for the wall and get used to the mortgage.

The timing couldn't be better. In the past year while we were trying (and failing) to own a place, I managed to save more and up the deposit by another 15k. With the forecast of a slow summer for movie production, it promises to be a very busy (and profitable) Fall for us. It seems like every step of the way, God has held our hand even when it seemed like everything was going to collapse I always knew if we were meant to have this house, it would happen.

I'm glad I started this blog for everyone to keep updated on the process. It was originally for my family back in Malaysia (as you can tell by the excruciating detail especially on the money side) but even Mike's family & our friends from far have started reading it and sending me encouraging emails. It was a fun process and extremely cathartic. As we convert this to a DIY/renovation blog, I hope you guys can continue sharing with us your opinions and thoughts!

Seems ok...

Spoke to our mortgage broker yesterday. Mostly to discuss rates which are now 6.8%. It's frustrating to know a few weeks ago we were looking at 6.1 and now it's crept up so high. He believes the trend is going upwards till the end of the year.

It seems like the bank will be ok with the violations. Our lawyer recommends we get some money from the seller because it will cost us time & money to close these permits and I have asked the realtor for $3,000 from them.

The tenants have said they will move out July 1 so we are looking to lock down rates for 30 days. The seller has also promised that if they take longer than a month, he will pay to extend whatever rates we are getting.

Our target date to close is July 24, with July 10 being an outside chance. I won't let myself get excited after the roller coaster ride this whole process has been. The interest rates rising has been somewhat disappointing but I won't let that get us down. After all, if we do end up in this house, it would have been something of a minor miracle!

Tenterhooks

Oli spoke to our mortgage broker who told us that Gutleber (our lawyer)
did not submit the "title violations" to our bank. More importantly,
our bank has already completed their own title search and found
everything to be fine!! Apparently, Gutleber only sent the
paperwork to the seller's attorney and assumed in his negative way that
they would have to do something about these open permits.

Oli will hear back from Chase today to confirm that everything is ready
to rock on their end. This means that once again all we need is a
closing date and we are good to go.

We will know at the end of the day if this house is ours or not.
Meanwhile interest ratea are 7% and climbing...

Potential Devastating News

Sometimes I wonder if this is just not meant to be. During the course of
a title search, my lawyer has discovered several DOB violations and
housing violations on the house. The lender is now considering whether
we can close with these violations
We are a little puzzled though. Sarah called the DOB early on and they
had assured us there was nothing but landmark violations. And if these
violations are that bad, how did the owner buy this last year? (Well I
guess I can answer that question cos this was pre-crisis when they gave
anyone a loan)
I was very dejected when the lawyer first called. His bedside manner is
terrible too. He opened the conversation with "so I don't think we can
close" not unlike the doctor saying "hi there. You're gonna be dead in 2
weeks"
Oli spoke to the lawyer and summarised thus:

" Issues
1) Housing Violations from tenant complaints;

2) Planning Permission not closed from 2001 for renovation of
bathrooms;
- This was filed to remove a 'stop work order'. My feeling is that the
housing dept. probably don't care now, if they do, worst case scenario
(as I see it) is that we have to open up the bathroom walls to show
them the plumbing.

3) Liens on the house vis a vis real estate tax and separate issue of
mortgage satisfaction at close for seller "

Interest Rates

are slowly edging upwards and it's worrisome. But there's nothing we can do about it until we have word from the tenants that they are leaving. Anyway, it's not like we can close today either. We just have to let it be.

Told our landlord we were leaving either end of the month or mid July. He was very sad. It's been a great stay here, his daughter was a newborn when we first moved in and now she's 4! To see a physical manifestation of one's time spent somewhere is rare and I too, felt a pang when I spoke to him.

He was unconcerned about a potential mid month move, I think he wants to re-do the floors in our unit so he doesn't really care when in the month we leave because he's not going to fill the spot immediately. That relieves me greatly as we think a mid July move is more realistic.

Mike and I have started a house book where we keep clippings of interesting things we would like in the house - fixtures, yard stuff etc. We have fun talking about it and planning. I am curious to see if there will be a sea change in my husband as he predicts. I used to have to harangue him to put up paintings and fix things during the weekend but now that we own the place, he might feel more possessive about it.