In case you missed it the other day, we are moving to Idaho. Well we need to buy a house to live in and that has been hard and easy. I already mentioned that we found something we liked when we went up there a few weeks ago. And we made an offer on the house recently and it was accepted – Yeah!
But before that it was things like getting a pre-approval letter for a mortgage. That was a challenge in some ways and not in others. After getting the pre-approval we had to actually make a decision on which company we wanted to use for our mortgage. I talked/texted with a few companies as did my wife. “B” asked me to make the final decision and I went with Mutual of Omaha Mortgage. The agent there was honest, easy to work with, and seemed like he wanted to help us. That is big for me. It also helped that they came in the lowest as well without any “funny numbers” being thrown around.
Then there is getting all the paperwork that the lenders needed to make sure we were a legit couple to lend money to. It was constant for a couple days of uploading things and then signing other things. Not fun at all. It has slowed at the moment, but I am sure it will pick up again soon.
Then I needed to think about homeowners insurance. I knew we would need it, but then I realized I would need it before we closed on the house. I decided to call the current company that insures our current house, Amica, and I also called another company that insures my motorcycle and treated me well recently after my bike/car accident, Progressive. Well, Amica was lovely to deal with and the lady I talked to was kind and asked good questions. The quote came in at a reasonable amount I thought. Then I called Progressive, and the person there was less that kind. She asked a million questions and half of them seemed rather useless for insuring a home or things she could have easily gotten online without any trouble at all. Then when giving me the quote she couldn’t do the same deductible as Amica and when I asked her response was simply, “I guess I can’t.” Their quote came in higher and I found out later, after talking to Amica again, that Progressive most likely oversized the house because it has a finished basement. So, the lady that asked me a million questions didn’t think to ask me about the square footage of the house. So, Amica for the win there. I mean the lady at Amica was so thoughtful that she informed me that if we did choose a different company to insure the new house that we should strongly consider moving our cabin to them and our cars to save more money. I mean who does that as a company? Amica may be slightly more expensive than other companies but they make up for it in customer service.
Then there is the inspection. I know their job is to point out all the bad things, but when I read the report I thought, “Wait a second, maybe not.” But after looking it over again and then again, and then talking to our realtor I am a bit better. I even sent the inspection to a HVAC friend to look at and get their 2 cents on one of the issues that was brought up. I got a quick reply from him, and he had some good advice to talk to our realtor about. I don’t like the idea of all the fixes that need to occur, but I know that they all can be fixed. There are little things that are annoying and must be fixed, and there are some big things that must be fixed. I don’t like that I am not there to see those problems and determine if they are things I can fix or if they are things that will require someone else to fix. I don’t want to throw money at an “easy” problem, but we may have to so the house will be ready for the girls and I to get into the house in July when we should be there to move in. Word right now is they are going to have licensed contractors look at the HVAC and roof. They offered us money for a door and window that seemed fair. We took that and now we wait on the HVAC and roof stuff.
Then there is the appraisal. That was a bit pricey in my opinion, but I know it is one of those things you just have to do. It came in at just above what we have negotiated as the offer price so that is good. I was kind of hoping to see it worth a little more, but I can’t complain. At least it didn’t come in under a new round of negotiation then having to occur.
Since I am not in the same state as the house I guess this isn’t going too bad really. The realtor is doing a good job of keeping us up to date on what is going on so far. The lender is staying up on things so we can close on schedule.
This is hard work.
I am excited to venture into a new home. I hope this house works out. I believe it will fit us well. It is bigger than we need, but at the same time it means we will have a space for grandparents / friends to stay. I see potential in the yard to get a garden up a running for my wife and kids (only 1 growing season though).
I’ll keep you up to date as this progresses as well.