Being Connected…
17 Oct 2008 Leave a Comment
in My Striking Life, Random Ramblings of a Striking Diva Tags: friends, real estate, relationships
Today I realized that being the new kid in town can have it’s disadvantages…. I also realized how connected we were in Washington and….I miss it.
This house thing has been a pretty big deal for us. When we got to the point where we were just overwhelmed with all the details I knew who I had to call – Pat & Dave, our mentors and dear friends back in Washington. They were awesome. They didn’t tell us what to do, but reminded us of what was important.
Then last week we went to a local bank to begin the loan process – we have spotless excellent credit – and the loan officer said he’d match rates with our other bank whenever. Nevermind that he kind of insulted us by trying to say we’d have to wait for an approval…when in fact, he put in our information and we were approved instantly…. But I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Now a week later I ask him if he’d match a lower rate at our other bank and he said that he couldn’t. HUH???? So I asked him to look into it and call me back. No call.
So…we called our banker in Washington. He knows us and asked about our move to Laramie, our land, hunting – you know, instant repoire. Then we got to talking rates and on the spot he said “Sure I’ll match the rate.” and in our conversation he matched other fees that will save us big bucks… Oh, did I mention that our banker works for the same bank as the loan officer we met with here in Wyoming? Hmmmm….
So basically what I’m saying is….I’m realizing how connected we were and how important those relationships are. And now, more than ever, we are so grateful for them.
House Search
13 Oct 2008 Leave a Comment
in My Striking Life Tags: God's timing, house, offer, real estate
So…..we decided to look at existing homes in town.
And we found one that is a real gem – hidden potential galore! We knew what neighborhod we wanted to live in – established and close to schools. Those were the two most important parts of the search. The house can be updated and changed to suit our needs. But the neighborhood is what it is. And we like it a lot.
So, after doing a walk through of the home, we decided to make an offer. Our offer is written up – the bank has preapproved us – and we’re waiting for a response, hopefully in the next day or two. Waiting is NOT my favorite thing to do. But I know that God’s timing is better than mine. He is going to take care of it. If the house is not right then we are trusting God to show us something new.
Change in Plans?
13 Oct 2008 Leave a Comment
in Random Ramblings of a Striking Diva Tags: blizzard, building a new home, home building, real estate, snow storms
Well…we moved to Wyoming thinking that we would build our dream house out on our 40 acre lakeside lot. We spent 2 months choosing the site, agonizing over a plan, daydreaming, wondering about builders, what materials would withstand a blizzard or the strong Wyoming winds…
And we realized just how all-encompassing this project would be. Looking at all of the costs, all of the decisions to be made, all of the … EVERYTHING …
Another big consideration has been the children – they are in school and being 12 miles outside of the city would make getting to/from school and their extracurricular activities very time consuming. Nevermind if there is a blizzard or snow. The road to our property does get closed during snow storms – that would not be good, even though we both own 4X4 trucks.
All of this, combined with our desire to move out of this small condominium has lead us to begin looking at buying a home in town. Read on….
House – Sold….
02 Aug 2008 Leave a Comment
in My Striking Life Tags: blessings, FSBO, praise god, real estate
I just got a comment from a real estate agent about my FSBO troubles and I realized that I never posted the status – we sold our home and got a really great price for it, we are very happy and the buyers couldn’t be more excited – they are adorable and so cute – it’s their first house and I have to say….it is a VERY nice starter home!
We closed 2 days ago and the move has begun. I am in Wyoming now and husband is on his way with the Uhaul. We will build our dream house next spring…..GOD IS SOOOOOO GOOD!!!!
Inspection…PERFECT!
02 Jul 2008 Leave a Comment
in My Striking Life Tags: answered prayer, happy, real estate
Today we had our home inspected for the sale. The inspection happened WAAAAY sooner than we thought, apparently the inspector was going away on vacation for the July 4th weekend so he squeezed us in early.
There were a few issues, but nothing that couldn’t be repaired easily and at minimal cost. It was so nice to have an unbiased objective inspector and DH and the buyer, Matt, felt that there was nothing in the report that they couldn’t handle on their own.
I feel happy, relieved, and totally vindicated today. I am so excited to start planning for the closing and also for our move. Me and the girls will probably move to Wyoming early because it seems our closing will happen sooner than we anticipated. So it’s going to be very exciting and crazy around here.
It’s been a good day. God is so good!!!!
Another offer…and a contract!
30 Jun 2008 2 Comments
in My Striking Life Tags: contract, happiness, offer, real estate
OK, so more of this real estate saga….
While we were gone on our trip our neighbors showed our house to a woman that saw our ad in the paper. She told our neighbor that she’d like to come back with her husband the following Saturday or Sunday. We came home early (Friday) and called her to let her know we were home and that we would be here to show the house instead of the neighbor.
Saturday came and went. No call. We had cleaned the house, and waited but after it hit 12:00 we decided to get on with our lives. Sunday afternoon she called and wanted to see the house, but we were in the middle of unloading groceries and she had plans to take her kids to the movies sooooo…..DH asked her to call after the movie and we’d show the house.
So hubby left to help a friend with a home improvement project and shortly after he left I got a call…it was a man named Matt who wanted to see our house. I told him that we had someone coming at 3:30 and we could have him over at 4:30 if that worked out. He said ok and I called my husband to let him know we had another showing. Well….he informed me that the first lady was coming at 4:00 – not 3:30 like I had thought. So I *69′ed Matt to ask if he could move our appointment to 5:00 and he asked if we could do it right then! I have never showed the house on my own and I was a little wigged but I said ok.
So when Matt and his wife pulled up to the house I recognized him! We had taken a class together at the local college. So that took some pressure off of me… I gave them a quick walk through and then let them wander on their own. My husband came home and we chatted some more, always mindful of the other couple coming to see the house. I could tell that Matt was concerned about them, he asked about them and I said they were doing a 2nd visit. Finally I told them to go and think and call us if they had any questions.
They got in their car, drove halfway home and turned around and came back! They wanted to make an offer and couldn’t help themselves! Ha ha ha! It was so cool, we talked turkey and hashed out some numbers. They are paying our asking price minus the realtor fee (because they had no realtor). It was wonderful! And in the meantime the other couple showed up (no call) and DH had to turn them away. It was perfect timing in so many ways….
1. We cut our vacation short and were able to show the house ourselves.
2. The other couple flaked out and didn’t show on Saturday. But we cleaned anyway – and it was easy to show the house on the spot.
3. Matt and his wife found our For Sale sign/flyer on their way to meet with an agent that showed them 4 houses that they didn’t like. At the end of it they decided to see one more – MINE! And it was the perfect home for them.
We signed a contract, they are soooo on top of things and I just know they will follow through. They know they have a great house and we’re so happy for them. And for us!
YAY God!!!!!
Not to be….
17 Jun 2008 Leave a Comment
in Random Ramblings of a Striking Diva Tags: offers, real estate
Our house offer went south – and it was so unexpected and so…..sad.
The couple that made the offer on our house asked a trusted family friend to come and inspect the house. He came and it was apparent from the beginning that he was on a mission to discredit us. He really had no idea about what a house inspection is. He was supposed to look at the house and find things that were working, not working, needed repair. But it turned into an opportunity to give them reallllllllly bad real estate advice.
He wanted to get his “friends” a deal. And not just a deal…a complete STEAL. He told them they should replace the siding (it’s not damaged, rotting or failing in any way – that’s just his personal preference), he told them the footings under the house were not to code (a complete falsehood…but he offered to charge us to retrofit them), said our fireplace should never be used because it was leaking CO2 gas (he never turned it on, we use it daily, and our CO2 detector has never gone off in SEVEN YEARS). There was a handful of other discrepancies that he found which could be argued, and 2-3 things that were legit ($500 repairs, tops).
By the end of his report he had convinced them that they would need to do $18,000 of upgrades to the home, and that homes in our county are going for 12% below the tax assessed value so they should deduct another $28,000.
They came to us and said they were willing to pay $209,000 for our house.
We wished them well in their home search.
It was unreal. I could have had experts come and dispute his “upgrades” but for them to sign an initial offer and then come back 5 days later expecting us to accept a price $40,000 lower – was a complete mess! We kept our composure, told them we could not accept and sent them on their way.
So we start over again… Any takers?
Another Offer???
12 Jun 2008 Leave a Comment
in My Striking Life Tags: backup plan, excited, happy, offer, real estate
We don’t have a written contract yet, we are doing that tomorrow evening. So in the interim, we got a call from a guy that wanted to see the house. Turns out he knew my husband from work so it was all chummy. We decided to show him and his wife the house and I had to leave early so hubby showed it.
After walking through the house they wanted to make an offer! Hubby had to be honest and tell them we had a verbal offer but if anything fell through we’d call him back.
It was totally unexpected, an on the spot offer??? I was happy, but I do think the original deal will go through. But just in case, we have a back up plan. It’s good. This house will be sold and our new life will begin.
Cross Your Fingers
08 Jun 2008 Leave a Comment
in My Striking Life Tags: God is Good, prayer, real estate
We got an offer on our house tonight!!!
We prayed about it before the couple came to make their offer and it was a GREAT offer. They decided not to bring their agent (who didn’t do a single thing for them anyway….) and offered us the full selling price, but asked if we would pay closing costs. And I couldn’t hide my happiness….. I said “I know I’m supposed to think this over and have a poker face about this but….I think this is a great offer and we’re willing to accept it.” They have until Friday to bring us proof of financing and earnest money. They will have the inspection next week. We’re just….thrilled!
We’re praying that everything goes well – and we’re trusting God to take care of the details.
God is so good…..this is a great day!
Realtors Gotta Hustle Too….
29 May 2008 5 Comments
in Random Ramblings of a Striking Diva Tags: hustle, real estate, sale, showings
We’re selling our house “By Owner”. We’re happy and think things are going well. Our house looks great, it’s staged well and we’re proud of the work we’ve done. We’re not selling to break even – we’ll make money. But I think as far as hustles go – we have a pretty good one – it’s legit and sound and I’m liking it.
I guess all the realtors are back from the long Memorial Day weekend and folks saw our ad in the paper or got a flyer from our sign – so now the realtors are calling and letting us know that they have buyers interested in our house.
This is great – we’re excited to get some positive referrals! We even listed on our website, newspaper listing and flyers that we’d give 2% commission to a realtor. I think that’s fair – we’re paying for our own marketing and apparently it’s working well. It’s been less than 2 weeks and we’ve had 4 calls, 2 showings, our website is getting hits daily – it’s encouraging to us and it’s a great feeling, especially in a market that is soooo horribly slow.
BUT….what is up with realtors asking for more money prior to showing? I know people have to get their hustle on – they won’t get more money if they don’t ask. But we’re making it more than clear what we’re willing to offer. The other part that just IRKS me is that these buyers found our ad on their own. The realtor didn’t go out of his way to show them a FSBO listing. Why on God’s Green Earth would they expect me to pay them more for a job they didn’t do?
One realtor used a very shady and borderline unethical use of verbage to try to get us to agree to 3%. He said things like he requires a MINIMUM of 3% and how it was unfortunate we were only giving 2%. Well….husband was not too pleased with his poorly constructed diss. He asked the realtor what he could offer us for the extra 1% because obviously the buyer was interested with or without the realtor. The realtor was stumped and said he’d have to call us back. Dang…if you’re gonna hustle – have a good hustle.
So anyway – we talked long and hard and finally decided if an agent brings us a full price offer we will give them 3%. Anything short of that will get 2%. Point blank-period. We’ll see how that goes….
Realtors…prepare to hustle.
