Satellite View of House

This is the satellite view of the house we have placed an Offer on.
It's in a very nice subdivision.

See if you can find your home with Google Map's satellite view

Ernesto's Sinkhole

(Eyewitness 11 News Video)

Beach Traffic Backup Ahead!
The local area got pounded with more than 4 inches of rain last night on top of the 3 inches we already had the day before. This proved to be just too much for several creeks and streams in the area. We didn't feel the full force of Ernesto's winds and heavy rain bands until around 4 or 4:30am yesterday morning. (That was around the time I couldn't stay awake any longer and went to bed) I know I heard the power go off and come back on, and a few minutes later the fire department, which is right across the street, took off with at least three vehicles. (Poor guys to be out in that mess)

The Stoney Creek in town is out of it's banks and doing it's usual thing....flooding a few streets and worrying a few businesses. All in all it was just alot of rain though. If the Neuse River is to cause trouble, that will come in a few days from now. Have to wait and see. It's just an inconvienence for us, not a property issue since we are out of the way.

You'll need a version of Windows Media Player 7 or higher to view the video. If you need to download it, go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/mediaplayer/en/default.asp. The video player is supported by Microsoft IE 5.0 and above. Works just fine with my Firefox too!

Offer to Purchase Accepted - House Pending

Surprise, Surprise!

I thought I was going to have a nice quiet day. We were sure that because of the Labor Day Holiday that nothing would happen with the paperwork we had done late yesterday afternoon. I guess that just shows you how business can be conducted when someone really does want to sell a house. With this house being a foreclosure the paperwork was different, so the Seller came back with "addendums" to our Offer to Purchase. These were added paperwork that the Seller wanted signed. Nothing that surprised us or that we hadn't expected, just basically more of the same "CYA" from the Seller. (Typical and to be expected with an AS IS purchase) They were really making sure that we understood what we were getting into. All of the paperwork was signed and is being overnighted back to the Seller's Agent.

While I was in our agent's office, we went ahead and called to schedule the termite inspection which the bank will require. That is set for Tuesday afternoon. The mortgage banker was also contacted when I got home, the appraisal will be scheduled and our new lower interest rate will be locked in Tuesday. Full speed ahead!

Offer Made on Foreclosure

De Ja Vue !
It was exactly one month ago that we were doing exactly the same thing....submitting an Offer to Purchase on another house. AND today was the date scheduled for the closing of that other house. Hmm....if I were superstitous, I might be concerned with what that meant, but I'm not, so I couldn't care less. :p

We met with our agent and went through all the paperwork earlier this evening as soon as hubby got off work. Due to the Labor Day Holiday Weekend we certainly don't expect much before Tuesday or Wednesday at the earliest. From then on it's just wait and see what happens and what we do next and when.

Ernesto approaches

Rain, rain and more rain
According to the news, Ernesto is to make landfall around 8pm tonight between Wilmington and the NC/SC line. At this particular moment, it is still a tropical storm with winds just below hurricane force. Not to down play the potentials of storms like this, but this area is used to this kind of storms, and everyone is watching closely. The biggest problem will not be wind but flooding. Projected rainfall varies according to exactly where the storm goes of course, but the ground is already saturated due to a cold front that brought rain yesterday. (We have already had 3" here.) The local news is projecting 6-8" of rain which will cause some trouble for sure. Could get interesting.

WOW! What a Selection of Homes!

Three Up, and All Three Winners
Yesterday was really a good day in the "home search" for us. Our agent took both of us to see one house that was was on my list, which turned out to be a foreclosure. Then the agent and I went to see the house that hubby and I had already seen on Sunday, plus one other that I had put on my list of possibilities. All three homes met our "needs" with the latter two being 'move-in ready.' The foreclosure is missing some light fixtures, and since the utilities are off, there of course are some questions as to whether this works and that works, but it appears to be in very good condition just from looking at it. When I returned home after seeing the last home, I went over all the houses and our agent's input on each with my husband. We then discussed the pros and cons of each house and came to a discision to get more info on the foreclosure.

According to my research, foreclosures are on the increase these days due to several factors, one of which is those ARMs over the last few years. Buyer's who jumped in on those low "bait" interest rates are now finding they have mortgages that have 'adjusted'...just as stated... with increases of hundreds per month as the Fed has increased the interest rate. Buying a foreclosure will be different from buying a "regular" house from a seller. There definitely may be delays since the buyer would be dealing with a bank or mortgage company via a Real Estate agent. Our agent was quick to point out that I was breaking my #1 rule about "No more business owners" but if we know what is expected ahead of time and the reason for the delay, it is much different than what appeared to be 'disinterest' and just down right bad manners that we experienced with the Rosewood Valley house. (Something Southerners don't take kindly to!) There are also very specific methods/steps for purchasing a foreclosure depending on what kind of foreclosure it is. HUD, VA and various titleholders will have different methods and restrictions related to everything from how to see a house, how and when to do inspections, making an Offer to Purchase and whom can make the offer and so on. This is where having your own agent to guide and assist you really pays off.

I am not ruling the other two houses out yet since dealing with a foreclosure is "hazardous" by nature in my opinion and requires extra care, but if things should turn out in our favor, we would have a wonderful home. We'll see. I have to admit....when I started this blog, I didn't expect to be "learning first hand" so much about buying various types of property. This always seems to happen to me though. I'll end up knowing much more about this process than I ever thought I would....or really want to! I am just after one house!

Watching Ernesto

If you grew up in this part of the country, you would know that people around here keep an eye (or ear) on the news once a storm starts brewing in the Atlantic during hurricane season. This particular area of North Carolina has had plenty of bad memories from storms in very recent years with names such as Bertha, Floyd, or Fran. (Pictured in 1996 landfall) With several rivers and "creeks" in the area, flooding can become a problem even many days after a storm has past.

The Weather Channel's Hurricane Tracker
HurricaneTrack.com

Market Selection Available

Four Houses To See
Our outting yesterday was very productive with the open house and drive-by of one other house for sale. I ended up giving our agent a list of 4 houses for consideration, and we decided we will visit them Tuesday afternoon. The FSBO open house that we went to yesterday was an extremely nice home, but turned out to be out to be out of our chosen price range. (The price was not listed in the ad so we were not aware of this until we arrived.)

Ironically the first house we went to yesterday, was one that was on the market when I first started looking for a house back in mid June but never got around to seeing. I could really kick myself in the pants for that now because it is a nice house and has a motivated seller. (Divorce) The price for the house back in June was $126,000 and now it is priced at $123,000. One of the things I did when I first started watching the local market was to 'print' all the MLS listing that I was interested in on my computer in PDF format on my computer and file. That gives me at least a reference of what I am watching, have seen, what prices and stats are, and what they may do in the future. After seeing several houses, they can get confusing at times.

When our agent and I actually go to see the properties, I take the listing that he gives me and together we walk through the house. I list everything that both of us find that is 'wrong' and highlight everything of interest. As I mentioned before, I do the preliminary work with the agent and houses, and basically rule out the ones that don't meet our needs.

Sunday - Open Houses!

Get Up and Get Moving!
Typically in the Real Estate Market, Sunday is the day when all the Open Houses are held so it does pay to get a copy of the local newspaper and see what's open for showing. We actually met our agent at an open house. Open Houses are a great way to see potential houses that you may be interested in. Just keep in mind that the agent that is present is a Seller's agent and is there representing the Seller.

In our particular case, there are two homes open today. One is a home that has been on the market since I started watching the local maret in mid June, and the other is a FSBO. We shouldn't have to worry about the FSBO ending up like the last fiasco, but one of my first question at the other home will certainly be "Who owns this house?" (No more businesses!)