3 Weeks

If all goes as planned, that is when my husband and I will close on our first house. Crazy. Absolutely crazy.

I'm still afraid to assume anything, even though I have no reason to assume the mortgage application won't be approved. The worst that can happen is a delay on the closing date, which would be a pain in the butt, but not a deal-breaker.

Of course, this is where it pays to know people with connections. It turns out our realtor used to be an appraiser for one of the banks our mortgage company works with, plus she's good friends with a branch manager at the bank we're going through for the mortgage application. Something tells me she may have exploited these connections to get everyone to move quickly. I would love to know if we're approved for sure by next week, but I'm not holding my breath, since it seems like every time I assume things will start to go smoothly something manages to go wrong!

At this point I don't know what else could possibly go wrong, unless the appraiser decides the property is worth less than what we're paying (unlikely, since homes in that neighborhood typically sell for $20k - $100k more than our purchase prices), or credit freezes up entirely (my income and credit score alone are both good enough to get approved as things stand now, or so says everyone I've dealt with so far).

So, barring any major issues, in three weeks this will be ours:
Certainly not extravagant, but pretty darn cute, and it'll be even better once we're through with it!

Welcome

Things are looking good as far as the house situation goes.

Our offer was formally accepted by the seller's bank.

All the documentation we need to apply for a mortgage has been sent to our bank.

All that remains is to be approved for said mortgage. The lady at our bank said she'd be "shocked" if the application is not approved.

We have already chosen our doormat:

ThinkGeek is pretty much the best website ever.

Up Way Too Early

I wouldn't feel like I was up too early if I'd been able to fall asleep earlier than midnight and actually stayed asleep. But as it turns out, I am wide awake after only 5 1/2 hours of very interrupted sleep.

Why?

Well, it's looking like the husband and I are finally going to be getting that house! (Yes, the one I was talking about MONTHS ago. Don't let the term "short sale" fool you. There is nothing short about it.)

We got word last Friday, after giving the seller's bank an ultimatum, that our offer had been accepted. After calling our lender and much distress over we would actually qualify for the loan, the woman at the bank said she would be shocked if the mortgage wasn't approved. Glen just started subbing (like, two weeks ago) and is hoping to get a full-time teaching job next year, and since he just started there was doubt over whether we could count his income since he hasn't been doing the subbing thing long at all and is no longer working at the restaurant. But when she ran the numbers, I was told that even if we just used my income, we should be approved. I nearly fell off my chair when she told me that.

So now it comes down to the inspection, which is scheduled for this afternoon. We know there are a couple of problems, most obviously a leak on the roof over the laundry room. Desperately hoping the solution will be a less-expensive patching of the direct location of the leak, but we are prepared to replace that section of roof. (The laundry room is this weird little addition in the back with an old roof, while the rest of the roof looks brand new and we were told it was replaced within the past few years. I have no idea why the laundry room was neglected.)

Everything else is relatively minor, like taking down wallpaper and painting, replacing cabinet hardware, putting in a couple of new windows, etc. We already have nearly all the furniture we need (and yes, most of it is crammed into our current one-bedroom apartment), so the need for new furniture is minimal (and there is a good chance that a lot of it will come from thrift stores!).

If it all works out, we will pretty much feel like we've died and gone to heaven. Two extra bedrooms, a big back yard where we can grow vegetables, a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, and room for most, if not all of, my books!! (Oh yes, and there is a giant shed in the back yard that has electricity, Glen refers to it as the "clubhouse.")

So hopefully nothing too bad will turn up at the inspection today, and hopefully the bank was right when they said there should be no problem getting approved for a mortgage, and hopefully interest rates will stay low for a bit, and... well, hopefully a lot of things.

But regardless, I consider myself lucky to be in a position to hope for these things.