The road to unconditional

I know buying a house is a little different depending on where you are in the world, so I thought I'd write a bit about what I'm going through at the moment and what it all means.

On Tuesday the 13th of November, I put in a conditional offer, which was accepted, and I had 10 working days (ie, until 4pm on the 27th of November) to satisfy all conditions or pull out of the deal.

My conditions were to have satisfied:

• Finance
• Registered valuation
• LIM
• Building report

Finance is mostly sorted- I was pre-approved by the bank, but they needed the registered valuation to finalise it. It takes ages for them to cross all the T's and dot all the lower-case J's so I'm still waiting to have that confirmed. 

I emailed 5 companies to do a valuation, last Wednesday. Three got back to me. I went with the first one, which happened to be the cheapest (which is not at all cheap! I was shocked by the price!) and because they said they could get it done quickest. Well, they went to the house to do the valuation last Thursday, and she phoned to let me know what value she'd put on the property (a little above what I'd offered, which was a relief!) and said that the bank, and I, would get the report possibly on Friday, but Monday at the latest. In the end, the bank received it on Monday, and I received mine on Wednesday. I was not impressed, especially as they'd dated the invoice Monday, and I have until next Monday to pay. Definitely won't use them again, although the valuation appeared to be quite thorough. 

I ordered the LIM online on Friday, and it was ready to be picked up on Wednesday before lunch. It was $300, which is a lot of money to pay for a few pieces of paper, but it cleared up a few questions I had, and I couldn't see any issues with it. 

The building inspection was done this morning, and the guy phoned me this evening to have a quick chat about it ahead of sending the report. Basically, the house is pretty solid, has a few minor things (roof needs repainting which I knew and had budgeted for) and one thing that I'll need to get the vendor to fix (a leaky tap in the basement which is causing the damp and, really, is something they should have fixed a long time ago, but I've already suspected the vendor doesn't really know much about houses nor do they care about anything beyond the superficial). 

By next Tuesday, I need to tell the vendor whether I've satisfied all conditions. So far, it's looking pretty good! Fingers crossed that the building report looks all okay (my dad, who is in the industry, will look over it and let me know what's up with it) and the bank say the final yes to the mortgage!

Hopefully next week, I'll be posting with some really good news! 

The first step

So, that house I've been talking about? I put in an offer on Friday, they rejected it, and I put in a slightly higher offer yesterday verbally but due to various things I was unable to go in to sign the new Sale & Purchase agreement until today. The vendor verbally accepted the new offer, and the agent was taking the agreement to them tonight to sign.

It's a really, really long settlement date, which is annoying but we've managed to work it so it fits in with our lease on our current place. I didn't want to be here for Christmas, but it's better than being out on the street.

Obviously, there's a lot of work to be done in the next two weeks (and a lot of money to be spent) as I get a valuation, builders report and LIM done, but all being well, on the 27th of November it'll go unconditional and come March we'll have a brand new home.

I'm already looking at home and garden magazines to get ideas for decor, while the back of my mind is thinking about the bigger jobs that need doing eventually.

I'm not letting myself get excited. People I've told seem puzzled by my calm reaction to the whole thing, but I don't like to count my chickens before they're hatched (chickens! We'll have enough land we could have chickens if we wanted!) so my excitement will come once the reports come back perfectly fine. Fingers crossed!

It means I have to talk to a lot of different people and get estimates of cost and whatnot. I'm no good with that sort of thing as I'd rather be recommended someone really good and pay what they're asking since I know they'll do good work. So this whole housebuying experience is going to be a brand new thing for me!

I'll update again when I have more news. The next two weeks are going to be nailbiting! 

Being a grown up and making grown up decisions

I've spent a good few days thinking about that house, trying to make up my mind. I spoke to a lawyer today (I've never had a lawyer for anything in my life before, but now I guess I  have one?) and it made me feel better about the whole process (I wish I'd ignored advice and talked to her before I made an offer on the Other House). But still...I wasn't sure.

And then the agent phoned me. Not right away like other places have done. Not constantly until I answered the call. Almost 48 hours from my second viewing. It was so low-pressure. She didn't try and rush me into putting in an offer- in fact she made it clear there wasn't much interest in the house and that no other offers were likely to be put in but if someone did she would let me know straight away. And she said she'd spoken to the vendor and that they wanted to reiterate that the price was negotiable. Which I think is a good sign.

And the lack of pressure, compared to the last guy, made something click. My fear of putting in an offer was gone.

I read somewhere that you should make your first offer 10% below asking price. I think in this case it's a bit insulting so I'm going in with what I think is fair, to both me and the vendor. Which I know isn't how these things are done, but that's the way I am.

So. Tomorrow morning I will phone the agent (I told her I loved the house, was thinking things over, and would let her know by the end of the week) and make the offer. And hopefully they will have a serious think about it and then, all being well, accept.

Of course, now that it's almost time for bed, that relaxed, happy and excited feeling is being replaced by one of pure terror.

My utmost concerns seem to be:

What if they accept, and then something bad happens and I get taken to court and sued for everything I have? (which is ridiculous because a) I don't have that much and b) I'm making a conditional offer)

What if I buy the house and then it falls down? (which is ridiculous because I'll be getting a building inspection done which would make it clear if the house was safe or not, and if not I would end the deal before it becomes unconditional)

Why am I buying a house, this is insane and grown up and crazy! (which is ridiculous because the fear of buying a house and being tied into a mortgage for 20+ years is less than the rage I feel whenever I add up everything I've spent in rent in my lifetime or even this year)

Other horrific, make no sense fears that aren't grounded in reality at all (which are ridiculous because I over prepare rather than under prepare and they might not even accept the offer and there are laws that protect me just as much as there are laws that protect them and also I love the house and think it'll be great)

I'm trying to suck it up and get over these fears. And tomorrow I will be a big girl, will lift my chin and make the offer. And then worry about it for the next however long it takes to be accepted/refused etc. 

Second look, still love it

This morning I went for a second look at the hillside house. That's what I'm calling it in my head now.

I took a friend, who, it turned out, knows the agent's daughter! This is such a small city!

We got there a few minutes before the agent and had a look around the garden. It's got a lot of potential, I think, as there's a mass of untouched land that lambs graze on at the moment, that could definitely be established as a garden a bit more.

We got to look in the basement, which has potential for making a lovely workshop/studio for me, which is something I've always wanted to have. The couple bought the house three years ago, and have done up most of it, except for the bathroom, which is liveable but would definitely need updating within the next couple of years. So there's some work that needs to be done.

I asked my friend what she'd pay for it, and she said RV would be very generous. I went home and got a QV report on it, and found out they bought the place for $23k less than RV, and it's unlikely the value increased much between the time they bought it, and when the RV was done. I spoke to my poor parents, who are in the UK so were talking to me at 1 in the morning, about it- my dad is in the building industry so he estimated they spent no more than $20k on the house. So RV is very generous. Plus, to do up the bathroom and basement, and also a few other bits and pieces, like repainting the roof, would cost more than $14k which is the difference between RV and asking price.

So. Right now I'm thinking I will wait a day or so- I'm not being rushed into anything, like I was at the last place!- and then put in an offer at RV. And then wait and see what they say. And then I'll see what happens from there.

Hopefully the next time I update my blog, I will have news! 

Take two.

Only two houses viewed this weekend.

The first, on Saturday, was very close to where we're living now, next door to a house I'd already looked at (and dismissed, based on how much they wanted which was ridiculously overpriced). The bedrooms were nice, and it was pleasant to walk into a house with even floors! The garden had a lot of potential. But the kitchen was cheap and nasty and the bathroom needed redoing- and possibly had a leak issue.
I spoke to the agent- who is the friend of a friend who stopped me from wasting money on the falling-down-house before- and the vendor wanted $45k over RV! For what I'd consider to be an unfinished house! You'd spend $20k at LEAST to do up the kitchen and bathroom, and that would be on the cheap. So $65k over RV to make it a decent house? No thank you!

So I was feeling quite despondent when we went to look at the second house on Saturday. It had been on the market for a couple of weeks, and I must have dismissed it for some reason, or missed it. It's in my ideal suburb so I'm not sure how I missed it!

Well. It was very quiet. One couple was leaving as we arrived and, 10 minutes later as we left, another couple turned up. Very different from the 15-40 people we've had to contend with at other house. I wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not! The house is a back section, which a lot of people don't like. But I'm not opposed to it. It comes with a ridiculous amount of land, which is laughable for me since I have the opposite of a green thumb! Apparently there's a nearby farmer who grazes his sheep on the land- and it's only 15 minutes to the city! The house itself was wonderfully looked after- well decorated and warm and dry. Not a spot of mould. The bathroom wasn't to my taste, and the kitchen/dining/lounge was probably smaller than at our rental place. Two doubles, and one single bedroom. And considering the size of the land, not the biggest usable garden, since most of it's on the side of the hill.

And yet. I loved it. I walked away thinking about how our furniture would fit into it.

Then I purposely didn't think about it for the rest of the weekend. This morning I woke up and thought "I hope no one else has snapped up that house!". And still, I took it slow. I didn't rush to call the agent. I've just done that, and it's 4pm. I left a message and am waiting for her to get back to me so I can go and have a second look tomorrow with a trusty friend who knows about houses. I'm hoping she gets back to me soon!

The asking price is $14k above RV and, despite not liking the bathroom, the only thing that really needs doing is redecorating to my tastes and the garden!

I'm hoping that it's too small for most people- for me and my bestfriend/flat mate, and my parents to visit, and 6 budgies and whatever other pets we'd accumulate, it's big enough! The usable garden is a little small for people with children, and being a back section is apparently very unpopular! I quite like the way it felt rural, without actually being rural!

So. Here we go again, maybe. Wish me luck!