because I bought a new (to me) house Friday.
After my wife passed I wanted to wait a year to decide if i wanted to stay in our home. 4 years ago we had downsized from the "Big house" to our vacation house. About February this year i was feeling like I wanted to move back & be closer to long time friends. By May (1 year) I felt more certain.
So I had picked out 2 55 & better communities & 1 large all ages community. In June I toured a few homes & nothing really moved me. Then I happened to see an area in the all ages community that was fantastic. I loved it. The homes faced each other with sidewalks & a greenway in between. Alley load garages. No street facing homes. So I made a spreadsheet of each home there & came up with 30 homes. Nothing for sale now. The realtor sent out a letter & I sent out a letter to find any interest. I chatted up some people that lived in the area & put them to work.
Meanwhile I had Redfin alerts on anything in the development. Last Wednesday one popped up. I looked at my spreadsheet & this home was 2 numbers off my desired area. Did I miss one on my spreadsheet? I quick ran down & looked. No I didn't miss. This home is very close to my desired street but is facing a small park around a square. It was a desired plan with a [-]Master[/-] really big bedroom with an en suite bathroom on the main floor.
I made an appointment for 9:00 am the next morning. I told the Realtor I really don't think this is the right one but I'd like to take a look. Housing is hot now & if you don't get in early you are skrewed. We got there & the home was immaculate. Really good shape. Cons: not my 100% location, no grass in yard for puppy. Pros: the right floor plan, good shape & not street facing
I went home to think about it. Deciding that the odds of the right plan (10 of the 30) coming up in my desired area might be a year or 2 versus this house available now & put in a full price cash offer about 3:00 pm. Offer expires about 9:00 am Friday morning. And waited. There was 4 other showings that day. By Friday am we get notice that there is a "substantially higher" offer in hand. My guess is $25k higher. Seller is waffling. Asks for proof of funds. I send over the MM statement. And wait. Seller wants a rent back for 60 days as she has not secured a home yet. Ironically in the resort area that I am moving from. Housing in Bend is hotter than the area I am moving to. So that might be difficult. I say sure & btw I can do that at no charge. I'll also waive inspections. Last & final. I had authorized the Realtor to go $10k higher but she did not need to go there
About 10 or 11:00 am I have an accepted offer. Close in 3 weeks. About 36 hours from hitting the market to an accepted offer. I transferred the money from Vanguard to my checking account this morning. And watched my total funds go way down. Poor me
After my wife passed I wanted to wait a year to decide if i wanted to stay in our home. 4 years ago we had downsized from the "Big house" to our vacation house. About February this year i was feeling like I wanted to move back & be closer to long time friends. By May (1 year) I felt more certain.
So I had picked out 2 55 & better communities & 1 large all ages community. In June I toured a few homes & nothing really moved me. Then I happened to see an area in the all ages community that was fantastic. I loved it. The homes faced each other with sidewalks & a greenway in between. Alley load garages. No street facing homes. So I made a spreadsheet of each home there & came up with 30 homes. Nothing for sale now. The realtor sent out a letter & I sent out a letter to find any interest. I chatted up some people that lived in the area & put them to work.
Meanwhile I had Redfin alerts on anything in the development. Last Wednesday one popped up. I looked at my spreadsheet & this home was 2 numbers off my desired area. Did I miss one on my spreadsheet? I quick ran down & looked. No I didn't miss. This home is very close to my desired street but is facing a small park around a square. It was a desired plan with a [-]Master[/-] really big bedroom with an en suite bathroom on the main floor.
I made an appointment for 9:00 am the next morning. I told the Realtor I really don't think this is the right one but I'd like to take a look. Housing is hot now & if you don't get in early you are skrewed. We got there & the home was immaculate. Really good shape. Cons: not my 100% location, no grass in yard for puppy. Pros: the right floor plan, good shape & not street facing
I went home to think about it. Deciding that the odds of the right plan (10 of the 30) coming up in my desired area might be a year or 2 versus this house available now & put in a full price cash offer about 3:00 pm. Offer expires about 9:00 am Friday morning. And waited. There was 4 other showings that day. By Friday am we get notice that there is a "substantially higher" offer in hand. My guess is $25k higher. Seller is waffling. Asks for proof of funds. I send over the MM statement. And wait. Seller wants a rent back for 60 days as she has not secured a home yet. Ironically in the resort area that I am moving from. Housing in Bend is hotter than the area I am moving to. So that might be difficult. I say sure & btw I can do that at no charge. I'll also waive inspections. Last & final. I had authorized the Realtor to go $10k higher but she did not need to go there
About 10 or 11:00 am I have an accepted offer. Close in 3 weeks. About 36 hours from hitting the market to an accepted offer. I transferred the money from Vanguard to my checking account this morning. And watched my total funds go way down. Poor me
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