So, you're probably wondering what's happened up to this point in our first time home buyers experience! Last Wednesday, we finally heard back from the bank that we had been approved for an FHA loan totaling $160,000. Our next step after that was to schedule an appointment with a mortgage broker to see if there were any other loans we could apply for. One of the things we've been hearing over and over is that we should shop around our mortgage as much as the house we purchase. We met with a lady (Alyce) that everyone had been recommending to us, and let me tell you, that experience made me feel so much better about the whole buying process. When we got our pre-approval letter back from Wauna, they quoted us about $11,000 out of pocket that included the 3% down and closing costs. That scared the hell out of me because that would be every penny we had to our name. I was starting to have second thoughts about us being ready to buy. I was thinking maybe we needed to wait a year and save as much as we could to have a greater down payment and to work on getting Ryan's credit up to qualify for a Conventional loan. Fortunately though, we were presented with some other options. Apparently, when you're applying for a loan, most times your median credit score is used, meaning that Ryan's 642 put us over the required number for a USDA loan. After crunching some numbers, Alyce was able to estimate that on a $139k house, we would be out of pocket only $900 with monthly payments of about $950 (assuming we can put in a full price offer on a house and ask for all closing costs to be covered). Boom. Totally do-able. We need to go in this week to turn in our W-2s, tax returns, pay stubs and letters of good standing to start the process of being approved for the new loan.
What we were able to do from that point is start looking for a realtor to start looking at houses! We had many friends recommend realtors that they know or have used. My parents have been lucky enough to have the same realtor through all of their home purchases, and even can consider them as friends. I know that I've heard people interview realtors, but for us, word of mouth was best. We ended up choosing a woman (Cheryl) that has been referred to as "the animal" who seems very client driven and who knows the market backwards and forwards. She's dogged in getting the best deal and best house for her clients, and we bonded over our love of vampire novels and she and Ryan both bonded over their shared loved of Harley's.
We met with Cheryl Friday afternoon to show her which houses we were interested in seeing and what we were basically looking for. We put together a list of "wants" and "must haves". The must have section was what we decided was going to break the house for us. If the house didn't have these things, it was off the list.
Wants:
- Livable basement
- Garage
- 1.5+ bathrooms
- Hardwood floors (or the ability to put them in ASAP-carpet literally makes my skin crawl)
- Curb appeal
- Minimal yard
Must Haves:
- At least 2 bedrooms
- Good natural lighting
- 1200+ Sq. Ft.
- High ceilings
- Nothing built after 1950
- Upgrade-ability
Our "must have" list isn't all that extensive, so we were able to pick out about 6 different houses we were wanting to see right away. There are only about 16 homes in our preferred area in our price range, so pickings are slim.
So on Saturday, the search began!
Year Built: 1949
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 1
Square Footage: 1,184
Comments: This was the first house EVER that we looked at and for that, it will always hold a special place for me. That being said, it was a very compartmentalized house that I'm not sure would be able to have an open concept plan, ever. The basement wasn't useable and there was a really creepy old doll in one of the bedrooms (it scared the bejesus out of me). The basement wasn't livable, it would only be used as storage space or a small shop space, and the upstairs would not be comfortable for any type of living. It did have a cool outdoor space, but it wasn't enough to redeem the rest of the property. This was an instant pass.
MLS Number: 13-661
Year Built: 1948
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 2
Square Footage: 1,580
Comments: This house had the most potential for maximizing space of any that we saw on Saturday. It had a decent sized main floor and a HUGE unfinished basement as well as some interesting attic space. The concerning piece was that the windows were leaking and molding the wood floors. When I see mold in a house, new or old, I am concerned. There was no yard space to speak of (which was fine by me) but the house was on a corner lot which wasn't in a good location. There are scummy apartments across the street and on the lot right next door which is a huge turn off for me because I would be nervous any night that Ryan isn't home, and I don't want to be creeped out in my own home. It's off the list.
MLS Number: 13-356
Year Built: 1935
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 1
Square Footage: 1,343
Comments: This house is really cute. It had a closed in porch, wonderful natural lighting, a cool upstairs loft area for the master, and some recent upgrades. There were wood floors throughout that were in decent condition and two bedrooms on the main floor that were workable. The down side was that it was on a pretty busy street with no neighborhood feel, and the river view was obscured by a HUGE power plant and signs to the local pizza joint. There was a basement, but it was a pretty short ceiling with majorly sloping floors that rendered it basically unusable. There was also a porch off the back of the house that didn't have a door from the house out to it. The previous owners had definitely put some work into this house, but you could tell it lacked the professional touch. This house was also at the top of our price range, so it was put in the maybe column.
MLS Number: 13-176
Year Built: 1900
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 2
Square Footage: 1,642
Comments: Oh boy, where to start on this one. First I will start off by saying Ryan and I were really excited to view this house. It's in a different neighborhood than we've looked before, with hardwoods and a considerable amount of room. The second we stepped in though, we noticed some MAJOR problems. For those who have never been to Astoria, OR, I will tell you it's a hilly beast. Think Seattle or San Francisco. One of the main concerns when buying a house is that it's in a slide zone. Yes, this is as bad as it sounds. A slide zone is where your house has the potential to wash down a hill into whatever might be in it's way. Our realtor said her best guess is that this house is in a slide zone. What we found when we entered was an uneven mess of a house that I literally felt drunk walking in. The kitchen cabinets wouldn't even stay closed, and it was like a fun house. I don't even need to continue with this review.
This was the end of our house hunting for Saturday. There were two other houses that were top on our list to see that needed 24 hour notice to the tenants that currently live there. We were able to schedule appointments for Sunday.
MLS Number: 13-859
Year Built: 1885
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 2
Square Footage: 2,237
Comments: This house was everything I wanted it to be and so, so much more. It is so gorgeous and timeless and fabulous, but it needs work. It's been a rental and has had some funny things done to it, but the bones make my heart race. I am so in love with everything about this house, but it scares the crap out of me. A house that was built in the 1800's could be a money pit for sure. The area is also known as a slide zone, but only the inspection will tell us if it's at risk. There is so much curb appeal and room for it to be so amazing some day at such a great bargain. It's so bright with views of the river from all over the house, original hardwoods and 12 foot ceilings, I just die. It's the only house that has inspired me and got my mind racing with all the possibilities, but like I said, I'm still nervous about it.
MLS Number: 13-802
Year Built: 1917
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 1.5
Square Footage: 1,200
Comments: Ryan really had high hopes for this house. It is cute and does have a lot of Craftsman charm. The view is also pretty cool from this house, it overlooks the port. There were some problems with it though. It was seemed pretty tiny to me, and the upstairs space was literally made for oompa loompas. Every step further into the house, you could see Ryan's little heart crush a little bit more. He was so sad that it wasn't going to be the house for us. Nixed.
So where does that leave us? We're doing a second walk through the beautiful Victorian tonight, and we're thinking about putting in an offer (!!!!!!!!!!!). I will know more tonight and will update with more pictures of the house and more knowledge about the whole signing process.
I will end with:
HOLY SHIT WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE!!!!
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