Ahh yes. We did it. We found a place, successfully navigated and multiple bid offer and came out on top. Can you believe it? Sometimes I can't either. I will say, the whole process was not quite what I thought it would be. It's pretty crazy. Let me tell ya how it went down...
First off, we went to Dave Ramsey's website to use his ELP's that he has listed on his site. He recommended three of them that were in our general area and then they all contacted us. Literally, almost as soon as I clicked "submit" I had 5 different phone calls. It was a tad bit overwhelming and I didn't answer any of them. Then, when I got home I listened to my 5 voicemails and read my e-mails and figured out who was who.
Then, Rob and I downloaded a Real Estate Agent Interview Questionnaire form from this book that I bought called "Buying Your First Home." We conducted our phone interviews with this questionnaire... I did two and Robert did one. Then, we compared notes. Can I just say that Robert was a WAY better note taker than me?? I kind of just write like "keywords" and write all over the page.... not necessarily by the question I'm asking. The one thing about these "keywords" are... I can't actually remember what they are supposed to mean. They all sounded very friendly though and we kind of went with our "gut feeling" based on their answers and our conversations.
We slept on it for three nights before ultimately deciding, but we decided on Creston from IndyQuest. We set up a personal meeting with him at a coffee shop we really discussed our needs and wants. He gave us tips on some of the developments and areas we were looking at and what a "reasonable" price range was for what we were looking for. Basically, he verified everything we already knew based on just driving around every weekend. Additionally, the Houston Heights has been the number one selling area in Houston since like 2007. With the market crash. So, we knew buying there would be a relatively smart choice.
He set up a list for us to choose our houses from and then we selected 14 for our first round through. But let me stop here for a sec... here's is my one and only beef about this realtor thing. And I think its like this when working with realtors in our budget.. but I could be wrong. But, my realtor didn't really suggest any particular houses for me. I guess from watching HGTV, I expected him to call me up and say, "hey... this house just came on the market" or "I think this house fits your needs, let's schedule a meeting." But, I did all of the real searching for a house. Ironically, the house we ended up putting an offer on wasn't even on his list for me even thought it was in the criteria. So, that's my only beef. But, from talking to other people this seems to be rather normal. What do you think?
So.. our very first house we went to see was 783 Waverly. I pretty much fell in love right away with the area and the fact that it was close to the bike trail. Really, from all the driving Rob and I had done, I felt like this area was AMAZING. No industrial in the direct vicinity and the surrounding area had, for the most part, been completely developed. The house we were looking at was still under construction.
I knew after seeing it that this would likely be "the house," but we made it through all of the others with our agent and then went to see my grandparents and such for Easter. On the following Tuesday we met up with our realtor to look at a few more and then ultimately decide to go with Waverly. Well, on Tuesday... Waverly went off the market. It had been on the market for 7 days. Also, on Tuesday.. we went to see another one (been on the market for three days) and decided we really liked it and wanted to sleep on it. That night it went off the market. So, we missed out on two that we really liked.
Then came 708 8th Street. It was like a sign. It was in the same neighborhood as 783 Waverly, just on the other side. Pretty much the same floor plan, too. Oh yeah.. I forgot to mention... these have rooftop decks!!! AMAZING!! We knew getting one with a rooftop deck would be lucky b/c those are usually outside of our price range. We kept waiting on it though until my parents could come down on that Friday to take a peek.
So, we peeked at 708 8th Street with parents and also took them to another house with the agent. Before we met up with the agent, I took my parents to the areas we were looking in to get them "accustomed" to what a house costs in the city and where we can afford to buy. They were a little taken aback at first. You really got to see it to believe it. It's just not the same as back home, and that's not an over exaggeration either.
That very Friday my parents came down Rob and I decided to put in an offer. By Friday night around 5 our offer had been submitted... and so had one other offer. Rob and I didn't have high hopes. In fact, on Saturday we spent the entire day with parents in the car driving around and looking at houses. We drove all over the place and went into an open houses. Late Saturday afternoon we found out they hadn't accepted anyone's offer and countered back to both of us asking for a full-price offer. We gave it to them but left in our condition that they contribute $5,500 to closing costs..... but there was still doubt in my mind. We were competing against an all-cash offer. Nothing I could do that. Our realtor had also told us that the seller wanted a late closing date and they liked that about us. Well, that we can help with it! We don't have to be out of our apartment until July and we made sure our sellers knew that.
Amazingly, come Monday morning.. the seller had accepted our offer!! Pretty amazing. There were definitely a lot of people out there praying for us, because I just really didn't think it was going to happen. So, yeah!!! That was quite the feeling!!!!
And then, we scheduled our home inspection. I didn't get to go to the inspection because the inspection was on a filing day for me, so no way out of that one. But, Rob took care of things. No major issues other than there had been some leaking on the rooftop deck that had been repaired but the roof still had some sloping issues, but the seller had just replaced the roof and it was under warranty... so that isn't going to cost anyone any money. The rest of things were rather minor... but we asked for the seller to either fix these things or contribute an additional $2,000. They are going to give us an additional $2,000.
And so now... we're mostly set. Our closing date is set for Wednesday, June 13. And my family is coming down that weekend to help us move. Plus, the Meier's are going to be driving in to town to go on a cruise so they will get to see our new digs, too. Including Rob's grandma!! I wouldn't allow a closing date any later than that because I figure it's pretty priceless that Rob's grandma gets a chance to see where we live.
I do want to say one thing though. My husband has been AMAZING. I have been working until 9-10 o'clock at night for the past two weeks. He has stood strong and done all of the phone calls to the realtor and to the mortgage lenders. While we were pre-approved, we wanted to still shop around for the best rate and lowest fees once we had an address. Rob took care of all of that for me. It well paid off. We ended up with the best interest rate we knew were capable of getting and fees that would keep us around our $5,500 that we want the sellers to pay. He took care of everything. I love him. He didn't complain either. He just got things done and kept me well-informed. Everyone needs a Rob. I'm just sayin'.
So, now we're just out finalizing some of the things we need to still get (homeowners insurance) and working with the bank for anything they need. We also have to get a washer/dryer for the house and a fridge. The seller doesn't want to part for those and I'm not willing to pay very much for their used appliances. I also want to get new carpet...but after talking to some carpet people this weekend, I don't think I can afford to pay cash for all my appliances and carpet (and you know me and debt... that's a no-no!) so the carpet is likely going to have to wait until later. Such is life. We have been to three different scratch & dent appliance places as well as all of your major big box stores. Haven't decided where to buy our appliances yet.. but on the look out for a good deal.
There are a lot of things we want to do to the house too to make it our own. For example, it really needs a fireplace mantle. Badly. So, I'm pretty sure I've found a way to build one on our own on pinterest. That's likely going to be Rob and I's first project. Not to mention the house will need drapes, etc ... and I've found some cool things on pinterest for those, too. Ever heard of painted drapes? Me either... but now I have and I'm pretty sure I'm going to try it out. Never been much of a DIYer, but I'm determined to become one! There's also this painted rug thing I want to try, too.
So, anyways, we did it. We're on our way to buying our first home. I'm sure you'll keep hearing about. :-)
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