January 27, 2017: I’m not going to post this blog post until
after everything is said and done. For
the last two weeks Devin and I have been looking at this beautiful little house
in Wellsville, UT. We know the couple
that is selling the house, and they were so great to us. They gave us a couple of weeks to think about
the house and then make our decision. On
January 25, 2017, Devin and I submitted an offer to the home owners. They accepted it that night, and we even
signed the contract.
Today, January 27, 2017, our credit was pulled and we were
approved for a USDA loan through Wasatch Mortgage Solutions. (Wasatch Mortgage is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS:3135) As per WMS’s website, USDA home loans are
tremendously popular. There is no down
payment required with a USDA loan. Often
times, USDA loans are also referred to as a Rural Housing loan. The property must be in a “rural area” to be
considered for this loan. In fact,
according to their website, there are very scarce places in Northern Utah and
Southern Idaho that do not qualify for a USDA home loan. To see more information on what kind of loans
you could qualify for, click here.
I am seriously just so excited. It really is just the perfect home for Devin
and I right now. I am very grateful to
my Heavenly Father for answering our prayers and for the owners of this
house. They have been so patient and
loving to us. We can’t wait to see what
we can do with it.
January 30, 2017:
Ok so plans changed. We’re still buying
the house, but we had to switch the type of loan that we are doing. We want to do a Conventional loan. We’ve chosen to switch to this, because of
the appraisal. An appraisal with a
conventional home loan is not as picky as one being done for a USDA loan. Where our house was built in 1921, we feel
that this is going to be the best option for us. There is a downside for us doing the loan
this way. Rates are a little higher for
this loan. As per my husband’s website,
conventional home loans are one of the most popular mortgage programs that are
available. Once you’ve reached 20% equity in your home, your monthly mortgage
insurance falls off of your mortgage. To
learn more about conventional loans,
click here. (NOTE: just like with all
loans, there are certain criteria’s that need to be met. This is not a guarantee of payment)
Today, D and I met with our mortgage officer (Jedd) and signed a bunch
of papers. It’s been really nice for us
to do our loan through family, because we are kept in the loop constantly!
–well, more like I am annoying and they give me what I want :) haha. HOWEVER—WMS is
REALLY great at keeping their customers in the loop. Devin sends out an email each time your loans
completes a step in the process. It’s
actually really comforting. – Derik is going to submit our loan to wherever he
submits them, and all we have to do now is….wait. I hate waiting. UGH. I
know that Heavenly Father makes me wait for a reason, but man it is tough!
UPDATE: I got an email from STEARNs Lending, LLC – I had to
do some “e-signing” for them. They sent
both Devin and I a link (we’re both on the loan) and were asked to read
through, and fill out the information. I
signed where needed to be signed, and now I am back to waiting! Hopefully
tomorrow they will let us know if they will fund the loan for us. If they decide that they are going to fund
us, they will come back saying they’ll fund us as long as we give them this or
that. EI: An appraisal report. So hopefully by tomorrow afternoon, we can
have our appraisal ordered and ready to go!
January 31, 2017: Not a whole lot is going on with our loan
right now. We did just get notice that
it was sent to underwriting. I asked D
what that means, his response: “Someone is going to review it to let us know
conditions. We should know tomorrow what
we gotta do.” So hopefully it’s assigned
to a nice underwriter and that everything continues to go well!
Dev and I have been talking about things that we want to do
to the house once we have it. Priority
number one is painting. I’m going to
make him paint the entire house. I’m not
quite sure how he feels about that, but it has to be done. It is a smaller house, so I want light,
refreshing colors to make it feel more home like and bigger. I’ve been reading into color therapy as
well. Some people know that I suffer
from anxiety. Blue is a really big
calming color that doctors use with anxiety.
I think we are going to be decorating with blue, maybe have a blue
accent wall in our room – we haven’t quite decided yet. It is really fun though to be able to finally
have a place that we can paint our own, and put nails where we want, have a GARDEN! I am so beyond excited for a garden. It’s nice to be able to share these
similarities with D. We are looking
forward to making this house a home.
UPDATE: We locked our rate in! From my understanding, there is a big meeting
that is supposed to be being held tomorrow.
Apparently, that can affect mortgage rates. We had two options: Lock right now. Lock tomorrow. If we took a gamble, we could be paying less
a month and bring less to closing – or be paying more a month and bring more to
closing. D and I decided that we felt
comfortable with our payment and the rates so we locked it down. :)
February 1,
2017: We got our conditions back!
The underwriters did their thing and sent us back things that we have to do
before they will fund the loan.
Obviously, we need an appraisal.
Other things that they listed were minor things. Current flood insurance, closing papers,
updated VOE, just things that were small.
D and I were really happy with how it came back. Easy fixes for right now. Hopefully later today we will order our
appraisal. That will take a little
longer. I keep saying that I have to
wait, but we’ve been blessed with opportunity of knowing things pretty
quickly. I’m still praying that our
appraisal won’t kill us. I know that we
will be blessed as we continue to do what we are supposed to be doing. :)
UPDATE: We are starting to get the things that the
underwriters need approved! We’re doing the best that we can. Devin called me to let me know that he
ordered our appraisal! OHMYGOSH this is getting so freaking real. I’m still just trying to keep calm as who
knows what could happen. I pray and
plead that everything with this appraisal will turn out good for us. For those that do not know, an appraisal is
“an act of assessing something or someone.
An expert estimate of the value of something.”—Thanks Google! Hopefully
the appraiser will come back saying that we don’t have to fix too much on the
house before we can move in. Also, we
figured out who we are going to go with for our home owners insurance. That’s a relief! I am forever grateful to my
Heavenly Father for how things are turning out.
February 4, 2017: Today
Devin and I went and walked the house again.
We had just gotten home from doing taxes and I just had a feeling that
we needed to go and see the house. We felt
really bad because the seller was at a swim meet for his daughter. He kept reassuring us that it was ok, (they
have an hour break in between swims) so I felt a little better. With the temps being so high and it had
rained over night, I wanted to see what the damage was to the house. We walked through it and everywhere that we
had looked, was dry.. except that addition room. There was a leek. UGH. The owner told us that he would get up
on the roof to see if he could see the problem.
D and I started to worry, but technically it should be the sellers
responsibility to fix the issue, since we don’t own the house yet, but in our
contract, we are buying as is.
So…yeah. I am kind of frustrated
that the appraiser didn’t get in the house before this happened. It’s upsetting our mortgage company that they
haven’t even called to schedule the appointment.
UPDATE: I got a text
from the seller. He thinks that he
solved the issue. He said that he found
where the water was seeping. There was
an inch of ice built up right on the end of the roof. The water was backing up because of the ice,
and leaking down through some screws that were loose. As soon as he pulled the ice away, it appeared
to have stopped. He said he’d replace
the screws on Monday and that he was drying out the sheetrock. (There will still be a stain on the
ceiling) So hopefully that fixed the
issue. There is still the potential that
we will need to replace the roof and have a roof inspection. But it’s looking up a little bit. :)
February 6, 2017: Appraisal update! Our appraiser has called
and left the seller a voicemail. That’s
literally about all I know. Haha! :)
UPDATE: Devin sent me
a text saying that our report delivery date is on 02/09/2017 by 5PM. PEOPLE THAT IS THIS THURSDAY!!! I am just
continuing to pray that the appraisal goes well and that we don’t have to fix
too much. Doy gracias a mi padre
celestial por los bendiciones que nos ha dado.
February 7, 2017: Apparently our appraisal is for today at 4!! I
am excited and so nervous at the same time.
I am literally praying and pleading that everything will be dry in the
house and that everything will go ok. My
anxiety is now through the freaking roof! This is getting so real. Of course, the day that it is raining is the day
the appraiser decides to come..but I know that eventually everything will be
ok.
On a side note, the owners wife texted me and said that they
had 3 bottles of liquid detergent for the washer and asked if we would like
it. They are just being too kind to us!
I can’t even stand it. We are so, so
blessed.
UPDATE: D and I drove by the house on our way home from
work. It was a little wet, but not even
as wet as last Saturday. That made us
pretty happy. To be honest with you, I
was expecting it to be like pools of water in the back yard, and in the drive
way. The owners put sandbags in the
driveway to keep the water from going to the garage. Again, very grateful for that! I’m glad that the appraisal is supposedly
done with. Just have to wait for the
appraiser to write the report. Praying
has been my saving grace with my anxiety.
February 9,
2017: We received the appraisal!
Holy toledo. WMS received a message
during the day yesterday from the appraiser stating that he would have the
appraisal submitted by 5 PM today. It
literally got uploaded at 4:57. I am not
even kidding. Since WMS is a family run business, Devin just forwarded the
message to me, and we just looked at it when we got home. When we looked at it, we surprised to find
out that we do not have to fix a single freaking thing. WHAAAT?! Even with the leak from last
Saturday? Well…when I got looking at pictures, I could tell that something was
off with the room where the leak was at.
The owners had painted it. (I am
not sure whether the leak was patched or what..all I know is that the wall was
painted.) Anyways, the house did come in higher than our offer, which was good
for us. But still a little lower than
what D and I were hoping for. But that’s
ok. :)
Since we have had soooo much rain, D and I decided to drive
by it on our way home from work. It
looked dry. We were really
surprised. The sellers had sandbagged in
front of the drive way, as well as in front of the sidewalk. As long as the water isn’t in the root
cellar, I am a happy camper! We’re thinking of moving our close date to the 24th. That is TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY! I can’t even
stand it. I am so excited. Devin and I are going to look at couches on
Saturday. We have a really nice one, but
I called Fishers and they discontinued the brand we bought. So were going to see if we can find a couch
that would match, if not, then we might buy a new set. Who knows!
I am here to tell you though that God hears and answers prayers. It is not a joke. He will be there when you need him. I have been praying nonstop for peace and
comfort. Especially with all of this
rain that we have been getting. He will
hear you. Just keep having faith.
February 11,
2017: This morning we got a text
from the seller asking if we could come and help them move some things out of
the house. SURE! Devin and I were going to drive by to see if
anyone was there anyways. We wanted to see
the basement and if it had flooded or not.
GULP! I was dang nervous to go down there. Our two neighbors to the east of us both had
water in their basements. So down the
stairs we went – only to find the floor was dry and it was just the sump pump
filled! Woohoo!! We were so nervous! Oh my heavens I couldn’t even explain to you
have nervous I was. We drained the sump
pump and the water was gone in like literally 20 seconds. We are still a little bit worried, but at
least we know that the sump pump works.
Also, I forgot to mention, Derik is going to resubmit everything on
Monday to Stearns. If they approve all of
our conditions, we could close by THURSDAY.
That is in less than one week. I
am so grateful to my Heavenly Father that our house did not flood. I know that he hears and answers your
prayers. I can truly testify of
that.
UPDATE: We went and looked at couches today! Man what a job!
Since we can’t really find a matching set to our leather couch, we are thinking
of getting a fabric loveseat that would accent the leather. We have found one that we like. Pics will come in a later blog post. We also looked at paint. That is a stressful job.. just in case anyone
was wondering..
February 14, 2017:
Happy Valentine’s Day! We have news! We
are closing on THIS THURSDAY. Yes, I said that correctly. THIS THURSDAY. – As in, two days. This is so real—I almost don’t
even believe that it’s happening. Devin
and I have been so blessed. The closing
is at 3 PM – then we will get our keys on Friday. What a blessed life we live in!
February 16,
2017: We signed our papers. HOLY COW! THIS IS REAL! We just met with Kim
Winward at American Secure Title. We
signed A LOT of papers. It was
insane. When we first started, she told
us that we have to include our middle initial.
My “signature” is literally my full, legal name – with lots of loops and
curves and fancy things, so don’t even try to forge it ;) so when she told us we needed to include our
middle initial, I thought I would be ok.
Well I was wrong. We were like ¾
of the way done signing our 3-inch stack paper, everyone noticed (everyone but
me…literally) that I was signing my full middle name – Ashlie. We were having such a good time talking that
nobody caught it! So I had to resign some papers haha. Oh well! :) It was a really cool experience. Devin and I are EXTREMELY grateful for our
loan officer, (Devin’s dad, Jedd – he’s the best. If you want a home, come see him) Devin’s
brother, Derik, (who did all the processing) the title company, and
Stearns. They’ve all been so great to
us! We have been truly blessed with the
best.
The money should fund tomorrow, and we should get our
key! D and I are going to go and get
some paint samples tomorrow to paint on the walls. Another blog post will come I’m sure of the
house and what it looks like – so stay tuned for an update of our new home
sweet home.
February 17,
2017: Devin and I are official home
owners as of about 1:30 today! OUR HOUSE HAS FUNDED!!!
