Inspection,...check. *house update*

So...the inspection went down yesterday without a hitch. Everything in the house checked out great, the inspector was incredibly picky and even had trouble finding a few tiny (read normal spring maintenance) issues that were there, otherwise it passed with flying colors.

We were there for the better part of 3 hours and by the time we left the current owner came back so we actually got a chance to meet him.

While we were there i got roughly 30+ pics, a few of which I will share here in a sec.

The biggest issue at this point is the appraisal. Housing values here in MI are not nearly what they used to be. Because of this homeowners have lost mega amounts of value, leaving them one of a few choices, none of which are in favor of the seller.

In the case of this house, our original offer was 5K under asking price, plus closing. They countered with $100. over asking, plus closing. We accepted quickly because at the time we felt this house was (and still is) a perfect fit for us in so many ways. What I had not thought about, and now wished I had was the prospect that the house might not appraise for what the offer was. When the seller countered, his realtor passed on the info that they knew this might be the case but they would cross that bridge when they came to it. We had honestly considered first off offering exactly what they countered SOOO....that was why we agreed so quickly, not really thinking what this could mean long term.

I say that, not to sound like we no longer want this house, we so want this house!! lol, I say that because this week I realized that there is only a slight chance that this house will still be ours at the end of the month. The reason for that is this...

one of four things *could* potentially happen here.

If the house does appraise for what we offered, fine, no problems. This option while easiest on all parties involved isn't very likely. We have pulled comparables in the area and there either are none, or ones much less in price than what we offered. because of that, if the appraiser is more conservative (which according to our realtor has been the norm more than not lately...) then the chance is very good that it will not appraise for the offer amount.

If it does not, then 1 of 3 things could happen...
1. he could offer the house to us at appraisal plus closing.
2. he could offer it at appraisal value and offer no closing.
3. he could offer it higher than appraisal, asking us to pay or split the difference and he would still pay closing.


sadly...options 2 or 3 will mean we have to walk. Not only walk, but walk away having lost over $700 on this whole ordeal, and still with no house.

This hit me this week and I got really pissed at myself. If you know me you know I don't typically make snap financial decisions. And while in retrospect this wasn't, looking at the situation from this point of view has left me feeling less than positive about the situation I guess you could say and feeling the *if only I had thought about that* feeling all week long. Nothing I hate more than wasting money. Anyway, at this point I figure if it does go according to option #1, I will feel it was meant to be.

I'd like to sit here and think sure...it could happen. But the logical side of me knows that while this guy seemed really nice, it doesn't mean he is willing to come down that much in price either and still pay closing . This house had only been on the market 2 weeks when we made our offer...not long considering today's booming market with 50 bazillion houses for sale. The next door neighbor even mentioned that they had a lot of traffic in that amount of time. So, he could technically hold out waiting for a top $ offer. This would then mean we are out that $. Losing the house...that would suck. But losing my $700 on top of it? That would seriously tick me off to put it mildly.

So, with all that said at this point we are in a waiting period. The appraisal will be ordered this week but it's VA so it may take them a good 2 weeks to come out (hopefully not too much longer). The good news is, we are still at the top of the list for the short sale house, IF this one does fall through we have another option waiting in the wings. (only $700 less off :/ )

I tell you what...whoever said this was a buyer's market right now, failed to mention the obstacles one must jump through right now in order to get one of those many houses out there. I'm so ready to have this over with...