3 July 2009
This has been a very eventful week so far. On Sunday, June 28th, we went to an open house and toured a home that was listed by Tom and Karen Jurewicz. Tom and Karen sold my parents' home in Rainier Valley a few years ago, as well as my sister's homes in Queen Anne, Greenwood, Greenlake, and West Seattle, her in-laws' house in Edmonds, and her sister-in-law's in Pinehurst. Needless to say, they've all been really happy with Tom and Karen and it was a pleasant suprise to go to their open house. Right off the bat, I LOVED the house. Sure, there were some things that could have been better - the parking situation (one car garage) and lack of a back yard, but nothing we couldn't learn to live with. Toby wasn't 100% sold on it, of course, and needed a day to think about it. We know there's an offer on the house, also, but of course, they couldn't tell us the specifics.
I know I sometimes complain about this particular characteristic of his, but really I'm grateful for it. He's talked me out of some impulse buys in the past and while I had been grumpy about it at first, I know that he was really looking out for my best interest.
Monday, June 29th, Toby says the house is growing on him and wants to see it again. Tom and Karen show us a couple of other properties with similar square footage, price, and location before going back to the one we saw the day before and it became clear to us that the house was the best one we'd seen in months of searching. T&K mentioned that the offer on the house fell through and to give this house some really deep thought (and not to stress out about it). *Right*
Tuesday, July 30 - more thinking, debating on whether or not we'd see anything better come up in the inventory. Finally, we decided to make an offer on the house.
Wednesday, July 1
1:00pm. We met up with Tom at the ReMax office on Eastlake to write up our offer. We decided to offer what we thought was fair market value, with a closing date of July 27th, and asked the seller to respond by 9:00pm that evening.
3:00pm. Took Toby to Urgent Care to get meds for his sinuses and congestion. Poor guy...physically, he feels really tired and generally miserable with his respiratory condition. The doctor thinks it's allergies and prescribed basically Flo-Nase and Zirtec. He's still not 100% better, but at least he's not feeling like he's dead tired any more.
5:45pm. Noticed a missed call from Tom. I forgot I don't get cell reception in hospitals. Ack!
6:00pm. I'm standing in line at the check-out counter at Safeway when Tom returns my call. He says that the sellers signed the offer outright - no changes to the offer letter and will send me the mutually agreed purchase and sale agreement in the morning! He says that they considered countering the offer, but the timing was too good for them to pass up and the reasons for our asking price were justifiable.
So, now we're under contract to buy a house!!! We have an inspection scheduled for Tuesday, July 7th, at 11:00am, at which point I'll post pictures of the house. I also got an email from our mortgage broker saying that he's sending us our pre-approval letter today.
A friend of mine says that major events happen in 3's and wonders what my 3rd will be. New Band, New House, New ????. Frankly I don't think I need a 3rd event - it's all so overwhelming as it is!!
July 3, 2009
June 24, 2009
Adventures in house hunting and other news
24 June 2009
Toby and I are about to join the ranks of home-owners in America! We started the process last month by meeting with a mortgage lender (Coulombe and Evered) to get our pre-approval letter. We've managed to save a hefty down payment by managing an apartment building for the past 5 years and being able to save our monthly rent. Next week, we're supposed to get our approval letter in hand and then we start some serious house hunting. We're looking just about anywhere north of the ship canal bridge and south of 145th St, but really, we're open to anything... including Shoreline and Lake Forest Park.
In other news, after 13 years with the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band, I joined the Grade 2 New Westminster Police Pipe Band, formerly the Maple Ridge Pipe Band. It was a difficult decision to make, but ultimately, I needed to be in a band whose politics didn't affect me closely. Some friendships were lost in this move, but the ones that were worth keeping remain - for which I am entirely grateful. The picture on the left is my new tartan - the Ancient Weathered MacPherson. It's rather pretty, imho. :) My first competition with the band will be July 11th, at the Skagit Valley Highland Games in Mt. Vernon, WA. A couple more competitions and we're off to Scotland to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships in August!
Toby and I are about to join the ranks of home-owners in America! We started the process last month by meeting with a mortgage lender (Coulombe and Evered) to get our pre-approval letter. We've managed to save a hefty down payment by managing an apartment building for the past 5 years and being able to save our monthly rent. Next week, we're supposed to get our approval letter in hand and then we start some serious house hunting. We're looking just about anywhere north of the ship canal bridge and south of 145th St, but really, we're open to anything... including Shoreline and Lake Forest Park.
In other news, after 13 years with the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band, I joined the Grade 2 New Westminster Police Pipe Band, formerly the Maple Ridge Pipe Band. It was a difficult decision to make, but ultimately, I needed to be in a band whose politics didn't affect me closely. Some friendships were lost in this move, but the ones that were worth keeping remain - for which I am entirely grateful. The picture on the left is my new tartan - the Ancient Weathered MacPherson. It's rather pretty, imho. :) My first competition with the band will be July 11th, at the Skagit Valley Highland Games in Mt. Vernon, WA. A couple more competitions and we're off to Scotland to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships in August!
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