For anyone that has tried to buy a foreclosure - I feel your pain! We should have closed by today, but the bank is just dragging along... We are all just so very impatient at this point. Sooooo I decided to edit my little video of our property and share it with you! It's not very good so please don't laugh too much at my amateurish video skills! I hope you find it entertaining. And please try to ignore my finger on the lens...
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Hurry up and wait....!
We just heard from the realtor today (finally)! She let us know that our offer has been accepted! Yay! We will close before June 1st on our little farm! I can hardly wait to start on my garden and get our chickens and ducks. I will be super busy right away.
The biggest priority will be to rip out the old carpet, remove the popcorn ceiling, and then paint from ceiling to floor with the very best odor sealer out there. Any suggestions? I have heard about Kilz and BIN and so I will be looking into both products to see which has the better reviews because our house will need the help for sure. Seems that the previous owner had some big dogs (?) that NEVER got potty trained! The carpet is ruined and after sitting empty for about 6 months the odor is still incredibly strong. Just opening the door is enough to knock you off your feet!
Also we will need to find a fridge with icemaker, a gas stove and eventually a dryer (when it starts getting too cool to dry clothes on the line). Once that is done and we are moved in and have my plants transplanted over there I can start getting the farm put together. Priority 1 will be to get gates installed and start doing any repairs to the fence that will be needed.
I have been contemplating getting a survey done of the property and although it will be pricey I do think it is a good idea simply because we don't want to be building on someone else's land and vice versus. That way I can make sure the fences are in the appropriate place and it won't be something to wonder about in the future.
As soon as the fences are good and the gates are up I want to start renting out some pasture to help with the mortgage cost. And I have had my eye on a few different ways to produce some income. I saw a few ads on craigslist for people who need a little space for an outfitting business and also for a permaculturalist wanting to rent some space to live off the land and off the grid. Both need/want some land and are willing to pay rent! This will definitely help with the cost of the mortgage. More investigating of these options will be done before making a decision though.
If I can get enough side income going for stuff like that I should be able to pay the mortgage easily plus add a little to it to get it paid off earlier. Is it too much to shoot for paying it off in 10 years instead of 30? I don't think so!!
The biggest priority will be to rip out the old carpet, remove the popcorn ceiling, and then paint from ceiling to floor with the very best odor sealer out there. Any suggestions? I have heard about Kilz and BIN and so I will be looking into both products to see which has the better reviews because our house will need the help for sure. Seems that the previous owner had some big dogs (?) that NEVER got potty trained! The carpet is ruined and after sitting empty for about 6 months the odor is still incredibly strong. Just opening the door is enough to knock you off your feet!
Also we will need to find a fridge with icemaker, a gas stove and eventually a dryer (when it starts getting too cool to dry clothes on the line). Once that is done and we are moved in and have my plants transplanted over there I can start getting the farm put together. Priority 1 will be to get gates installed and start doing any repairs to the fence that will be needed.
I have been contemplating getting a survey done of the property and although it will be pricey I do think it is a good idea simply because we don't want to be building on someone else's land and vice versus. That way I can make sure the fences are in the appropriate place and it won't be something to wonder about in the future.
As soon as the fences are good and the gates are up I want to start renting out some pasture to help with the mortgage cost. And I have had my eye on a few different ways to produce some income. I saw a few ads on craigslist for people who need a little space for an outfitting business and also for a permaculturalist wanting to rent some space to live off the land and off the grid. Both need/want some land and are willing to pay rent! This will definitely help with the cost of the mortgage. More investigating of these options will be done before making a decision though.
If I can get enough side income going for stuff like that I should be able to pay the mortgage easily plus add a little to it to get it paid off earlier. Is it too much to shoot for paying it off in 10 years instead of 30? I don't think so!!
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Cross your fingers!!
So... it has been a long busy 2 weeks searching for a new property to call home. Just when we thought it wasn't gonna happen a brand new listing popped up yesterday! A bank owned foreclosure with 9.6 acres and right at our price range! Went to see it tonight and got lost (thanks to my GPS)!
Found it but the agent had already left. Peered through all the windows like a bandit trying to break in, thankfully it is vacant! Other than carpeting needing to be torn out, a paint job and some work on the fencing it is perfect!
There were purple iris' blooming and wild blackberry brambles that I hear goats think are scrumptious and even a little creek!!
So, on the drive back (once I was in cell phone range again) I called the agent and told her we want it! Shortly after we got home she had the paperwork all done and emailed it to me. I was able to use a nifty thing called docu-sign and within minutes it was back to her and being forwarded to the listing agent!! Yay!!
Cross your fingers, she thinks we could be in escrow by MONDAY!! I guess I better start finding boxes and go buy a shovel to dig up all my flowers to take with us this weekend!
Oh wait, I can't do that this weekend, I have a bunch of family coming to town to visit us! Well if we are in escrow I guess we can take a little drive to the property so I can show it off!
Found it but the agent had already left. Peered through all the windows like a bandit trying to break in, thankfully it is vacant! Other than carpeting needing to be torn out, a paint job and some work on the fencing it is perfect!
There were purple iris' blooming and wild blackberry brambles that I hear goats think are scrumptious and even a little creek!!
So, on the drive back (once I was in cell phone range again) I called the agent and told her we want it! Shortly after we got home she had the paperwork all done and emailed it to me. I was able to use a nifty thing called docu-sign and within minutes it was back to her and being forwarded to the listing agent!! Yay!!
Cross your fingers, she thinks we could be in escrow by MONDAY!! I guess I better start finding boxes and go buy a shovel to dig up all my flowers to take with us this weekend!
Oh wait, I can't do that this weekend, I have a bunch of family coming to town to visit us! Well if we are in escrow I guess we can take a little drive to the property so I can show it off!
Thursday, April 9, 2015
My heart is in my throat!
Today we received some distressing news...
the other buyer has accepted the sellers counter offer for our farm. We are not too thrilled about this at all. So, I spoke with my realtor extensively as well as my lender and upped our bid for the farm to $155,000 with the potential to increase to $160,000. Not what we wanted to happen but it is a small difference for us to get our dream farm. I also wrote another letter to the seller regarding our hopes and dreams and her farm... I have again poured out my heart to a total stranger hoping to sway her in our direction. Cross your fingers that the seller decides to change their mind and go with us instead.
Oh, did I mention that there is a ZEBRA RANCH down the road from our farm? No? Well I just discovered it while searching out what neighbours we would have if we lived there. Are you kidding me? A ZEBRA RANCH?!? Now we have to have this place! And my kids think I am crazy for wanting a peacock! Ha! How wonderful would that be? I bet my kids would be willing to go ask the neighbour to borrow a cup of flour if that was where we lived! We would be in heaven!!
So we continue the saga with another day in limbo...!
...ugh
the other buyer has accepted the sellers counter offer for our farm. We are not too thrilled about this at all. So, I spoke with my realtor extensively as well as my lender and upped our bid for the farm to $155,000 with the potential to increase to $160,000. Not what we wanted to happen but it is a small difference for us to get our dream farm. I also wrote another letter to the seller regarding our hopes and dreams and her farm... I have again poured out my heart to a total stranger hoping to sway her in our direction. Cross your fingers that the seller decides to change their mind and go with us instead.
Oh, did I mention that there is a ZEBRA RANCH down the road from our farm? No? Well I just discovered it while searching out what neighbours we would have if we lived there. Are you kidding me? A ZEBRA RANCH?!? Now we have to have this place! And my kids think I am crazy for wanting a peacock! Ha! How wonderful would that be? I bet my kids would be willing to go ask the neighbour to borrow a cup of flour if that was where we lived! We would be in heaven!!
So we continue the saga with another day in limbo...!
...ugh
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Just the beginning....
We are in our 4th month of looking for the perfect place to call home. Who knew that this would be so stressful? Initially we were looking into doing a self help home or buying some raw land and putting a modular on it. After finding out how exorbitant both of those options were we started looking into homes for sale in our area.
Our plans were not clear to us initially so we were pretty flexible with what we were looking for. We knew we wanted a minimum of 1 acre because our dogs needed room to play and we also wanted to have a vegetable garden, some chickens and a few fruit trees.
Now that we are into the fourth month we have begun to consolidate our wants and our needs list. We know that 1 acre will barely be enough so we have been looking for something bigger. But we also want to stay in our budget. This is causing us to spread our search out further than we were initially comfortable with.
Finally about a week ago I stumbled across a property that was listed for sale on Zillow. It looked to be a bit further from town than we had hoped for but it had 10 acres and a 3 bedroom house so we asked for a showing. On our way there we didn't have high hopes. Three miles down a dirt road and 24 miles from the college seemed a bit too rural for us.
As we came over the hilltop and saw the farm I knew in that instant we had found where we were meant to be! Gently rolling hills, old growth oak trees around the perimeter of the property, a small orchard in bloom and a seasonal creek and pond awaited us.
That night after returning home we decided to put in an offer! Because of things outside our control we had to switch lenders mid stream before putting in a full price offer (plus a little extra for repair work that would need to be done to get the loan approved). Of course, this was going into Easter weekend and the seller was out of town.
We had a very impatient wait over the next three days. By the deadline of the offer we still had not received an answer. Unsure of what was happening we pestered our Realtor for details. We were told that there was another offer on the table and even though it was lower than ours the seller was considering it because of the issue of having to do the repairs. That night I could not sleep a wink. About 3 a.m. I sat down and poured my heart out into a letter that I sent to my Realtor to pass on to the seller.
You see, ours is a unique situation. I am a disabled veteran and single mom with several kids in college and one still in high school. Being unable to work and on a fixed income I did not think that I would be able to buy a house for our family in northern California. Especially not a small farm like the one we have our eye on! I praised the seller on her hard work and dedication to the farm that she had created and let her know that I hoped to be able to follow in her footsteps.
The next day I continued pestering my Realtor hoping to hear that the seller had accepted our offer. Instead I was told the seller had sent a counter offer to the other buyer, leaving us in limbo for the next few days. We were told that if the other buyer did not agree to the counter offer then the seller would accept ours.
Keep your fingers crossed and send all the positive energy you can in our direction. It's a bumpy ride that we have ahead of us and we will need all the help we can get!
Until next time.... r.
Our plans were not clear to us initially so we were pretty flexible with what we were looking for. We knew we wanted a minimum of 1 acre because our dogs needed room to play and we also wanted to have a vegetable garden, some chickens and a few fruit trees.
Now that we are into the fourth month we have begun to consolidate our wants and our needs list. We know that 1 acre will barely be enough so we have been looking for something bigger. But we also want to stay in our budget. This is causing us to spread our search out further than we were initially comfortable with.
Finally about a week ago I stumbled across a property that was listed for sale on Zillow. It looked to be a bit further from town than we had hoped for but it had 10 acres and a 3 bedroom house so we asked for a showing. On our way there we didn't have high hopes. Three miles down a dirt road and 24 miles from the college seemed a bit too rural for us.
As we came over the hilltop and saw the farm I knew in that instant we had found where we were meant to be! Gently rolling hills, old growth oak trees around the perimeter of the property, a small orchard in bloom and a seasonal creek and pond awaited us.
That night after returning home we decided to put in an offer! Because of things outside our control we had to switch lenders mid stream before putting in a full price offer (plus a little extra for repair work that would need to be done to get the loan approved). Of course, this was going into Easter weekend and the seller was out of town.
We had a very impatient wait over the next three days. By the deadline of the offer we still had not received an answer. Unsure of what was happening we pestered our Realtor for details. We were told that there was another offer on the table and even though it was lower than ours the seller was considering it because of the issue of having to do the repairs. That night I could not sleep a wink. About 3 a.m. I sat down and poured my heart out into a letter that I sent to my Realtor to pass on to the seller.
You see, ours is a unique situation. I am a disabled veteran and single mom with several kids in college and one still in high school. Being unable to work and on a fixed income I did not think that I would be able to buy a house for our family in northern California. Especially not a small farm like the one we have our eye on! I praised the seller on her hard work and dedication to the farm that she had created and let her know that I hoped to be able to follow in her footsteps.
The next day I continued pestering my Realtor hoping to hear that the seller had accepted our offer. Instead I was told the seller had sent a counter offer to the other buyer, leaving us in limbo for the next few days. We were told that if the other buyer did not agree to the counter offer then the seller would accept ours.
Keep your fingers crossed and send all the positive energy you can in our direction. It's a bumpy ride that we have ahead of us and we will need all the help we can get!
Until next time.... r.
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