Friday morning. One more week to closing. (Maybe)

Last week I was on a cruise to sunny Mexico.  Just a short trip to get my mind off everything that was happening here.

Not really.  Before I left the things on the must happen list was already falling apart.  First, the white shingles for the new roof had not arrived.  The roofer promised that the roof would be done while I was gone.  Trust him (the company that is).  So I left with a promise.  Got back and guess what, the roof was almost on.  They ran out of shingles on the last day and more had to
be ordered. But it's done and looks good.  The white is really light gray and should increase the efficiency of the roof by several degrees.
 One thing done.

Monday was a holiday and I couldn't do anything to confirm status with anyone.  So Tuesday it's pick up the phone and start down the list of things that had to be done before I can close.
  Is the appraisal done?  No.  The original appraiser hired had to bow out because of a 'conflict of interest'.  No idea what that was about.  So the lender hired another appraiser.  The appraisal landed in my email box yesterday.  Better late than never.  It was a huge stack of paperwork.  Once I sorted out what was really needed, 2 pages told me everything and I can check that off the list.
   Moving on:  next item.
  The lender is having an issue with the termite inspection.  Huh?  The inspection happened back in March.  From what I remember of the conversation between the inspector and me there wasn't anything that was a concern that needed fixing right away.  In other words it wouldn't impact financing.  Signs of old activity, some damage to a couple frames.  But the the report submitted to the lender recommended treatment before the loan could go through.  Can I get it done before June 6th?  Huh?  How much is that going to cost?  $700 plus.  I don't have $700 I can pull out of the air for this.  Lots of phone calls and texts back and forth with the realtor, the termite people, the lender.  Finally a plan is worked out and the cost of the treatment is rolled into the closing costs.  Which means more money next week but the loan moves closer to being finished.  Still have to find that extra $700 next week.
   Moving on:  next item
  The lender is questioning the tiny amount of money I made in 2012-13 as an aviation consultant.  My federal income tax documents declared it: can I send backups?  Like all copies of the tax paperwork for those 2 years?  And a letter explaining what the extra money came from? 
  Hindsight is 20/20.  Should have never declared that tiny amount of money to the IRS.  It raised my income bracket from 21 to 25% and I had to pay over 2K in extra taxes.  At the end of the day trying to start and run my own consulting business cost me a lot of money that the federal government got.  Won't happen in 2014.
    Moving on: next item.
  It's Friday morning and closing is scheduled for the next Friday.  I don't have a time yet.  There hasn't been anymore demands for paperwork at least so far this morning.  The emphasis this morning is a house showing this afternoon and another one scheduled tomorrow morning.  I really need the Charlotte property sold, or a solid contract committing the buyer so I can start planning the move.  And that's another item:  moving.  First investigations into the moving costs indicates that moving from Charlotte NC to Madison Heights, VA is going to cost almost as much if not more than moving from Alaska.  I've got to find a company who will take the TVs off the walls, remove the brackets as well, without charging an arm and leg for the service.  So far it's 'we won't be liable' and won't do it.  That is going to take some work.  Never mind the 'extra liability' for the antique striking clocks.  I'd love to just have friends and family do it but that isn't feasible.  I'd need to rent a moving truck and some muscle if I did it all myself.  I don't have the physical strength to move the furniture.
  I need coffee.

Saturday morning - packing and worrying

Weekends are supposed to be peaceful when you spend time doing the things you want to do, don't check email every 10 minutes and enjoy your morning paper.

I wish.  Yesterday I spent the morning trying to confirm things.  Like the appraisal that hasn't been completed.  It's supposedly been ordered and the company is 'behind schedule'.  And the title search;  it's also behind schedule.  I'm seeing the closing date slipping further.  Then the lender wanted more paperwork and I printed, signed and emailed another pile of stuff.  How many different ways can I say I don't have a current mortgage or car payments?  I feel like I've been analyzed to death.  The lender keeps telling me 'you're doing fine, you've been on top of everything.'  But when I ask for their progress on the final items it's 'we're running behind' or 'you're in our que for completion.'  If the seller starts making noises about penalties for not closing on time I'm going to be saying 'talk to the lender.'

Meanwhile things are slipping here.  I'm leaving tomorrow for a week and I'm trying to juggle a bunch of things.  I met with the roofers yesterday and expected to see a pile of shingles stacked in my driveway.  Nope.  Turns out white shingles aren't kept on hand and are on order.  'Don't worry.'  they tell me.  'We'll be done before you get back.'  Huh uh.  I just have to take them at their word.

Don't have any showing so far today which in one way is good so I can do what I need to do.  On the other hand I need to find a buyer.  Hopefully, while I"m gone somebody will fall in love with this place.

I went across the road and got a mani-pedi so at least that is done.  I wanted my hands to look nice for once.  I have really large fingers and nails and usually they look like I've been digging in the dirt.  Now at least I won't object to shaking strange hands.

I've pulled together everything I'm taking and now I just have to pack.  I'm not taking much, a small carry-on and a large purse with my electronics.  Who needs a lot of stuff on a cruise ship?

Life moves on.  I need this break.

Thursday Rvamping kitchen remodel

After spending yesterday at various home stores I submitted all new materials for the flooring and countertops to the contractor.

The contractor came back with thumbs up for the 'Natural Palm' flooring for the entire house and a formica sample that I'd sent him.  So I guess I can say that part is locked down on the remodel.

Reading between the lines on his email I guess there's a list of 'approved' products that the HUD financing program will pay for.  Good thing I'm not looking at granite and marble.

One piece down, a dozen to go.  He sent me the final sample of 'Winter White' for the cabinet selection.  Guess I should just smile and say okay.  At least the cabinets aren't white-white.  The on-line photos show off white that leans closer to grey than cream.  When I get back to VA in a couple weeks I should be able to get my hands on a cabinet door and use it to finalize things like backsplash and paint.

Originally everything in the kitchen was heading toward pale sage greens and light browns.  Now that everything has been thrown out I have to start over on the whole color scheme.  I have a hunch that the backsplash may tend toward dark brown and reds, maybe rose.  I won't know until I get my hands on it. 

Then I have to choose paint.  And it won't be eggshell.  I really don't like eggshell.  I don't want dark colors and the choices are just crazy.

The other thing that has to be fixed in the kitchen/dining/great room area is the ceiling.  It's an old ceiling with textured paint.  It's been water stained, painted over, patched, etc.  The contractor is leaning toward just adding sheetrock to the ceiling, mud and tape all the seams, then paint everything with a flat paint.  That will leave the textured ceiling in the hallways, bedrooms and bathrooms.  I can live with that if I can get it painted without too much drama.

I know the trend right now is to remove all the texture but I like it.  It's my house.  I can leave it if I want to.

Meanwhile the shingles for my current house are supposed to arrive here this afternoon.  Then I sit down with the roofing people to work out a schedule to put the roof on while I'm on my cruise.  Sigh.  One more thing that can go wrong or get delayed or cost more money.  After all this the Charlotte property better sale before the end of July.

Wed. Looking at flooring

 Wednesday was a day to learn about hardwood flooring and try to make a decision on what is going to be bought for the house.  Visits to Lumber Liquidations and Home Depot just made the decision harder.  I had wanted an Apple laminate from Lowe's.  

My contractor really wants me to seriously consider hardwood, not laminate.  It's pricey stuff and I'm not really happy with what will be the total cost.

Hickory and maple are my first two choices.  But they are outside my budget.  Home Depot had a laminate I like that is doable.  But like the laminate from Lowe's, it's a laminate and not hardwood.

I am beginning to really hate making choices.  I had made all the choices weeks ago and now because of budget concerns I'm having to look at everything again.

The closed in carport that is now a screened room.

Tuesday morning and more delays

It's Tuesday morning and more paperwork looms.  The list of things today include documents for the contractor, adding clarifications to previous submittals and documents slipping the closing date from May to June.

The appraisal has been ordered and I hope to see it by the end of the week or the beginning of next week.  I'll be on a cruise ship next week so if there is anything I have to sign I'm going to really have to work the logistics from the ship.  I have been letting everyone know that I will be more or less out of touch next week.  My schedule for the summer is getting more compressed as the weeks go on.

I'm not surprised that the closing date has slipped to June: I was anticipating it.  In some ways that's a good thing because this house hasn't sold yet.  At the same time it's frustrating because I can't plan my move with any surety.  I'm beginning to think that moving is going to happen the last week of July.  I'll probably know that for sure the same week I close on the house.

If I don't move into the house until the end of July that will give the contractor almost 2 months to get the major part of the remodel done.  I really don't want to move into it while flooring is being put down, etc.

Meanwhile this house is getting a new roof.  There was enough wind damage to the roof in April that insurance will cover the roof so I'm not out of pocket for more than the 1K deductible.  I'd figured that the roof would be a negotiating point for the sale.  Now it should be an asset for a new owner.  Hopefully this will be a good thing.  There is a showing tomorrow. Every time there is a showing it's one more chance to find a buyer.

I leave on a cruise on Sunday.  I really want to forget about this for awhile.  Even if it only a week.

Sunday morning and a little more positive

Got the estimate on the major remodel yesterday and I spent the day reading and re-reading it.  While the dollars are pretty close to what I have to work with I have so many 'what ifs' in my head.

All my work at Lowe's to pick out what I'd really love to have was a waste of my time.  About the only thing I get to have is the paint for the kitchen.  The contractor has been very appreciated of my input but he has sources that are cheaper.  As soon as he sends me the links to his suppliers I'm going to try and match up what he has vs what I'd already picked out.

I'm hoping his cabinet source can get close to my 'coconut' color on the cabinets.  After spending lots of hours looking and sampling I really want to keep the color scheme that I put together.

The flooring will be another issue.  I'd picked out an Apple laminate for a couple reasons; it's not all that expensive and it doesn't have to be refinished when it's put down.  Which means it goes down quicker.   The contractor has rejected that, going for hardwood for durability purposes.  I'd originally thought hickory would be the wood of choice but now it's just going to come down to cost per square foot.  Like everything else it all comes down to the money.  If I can keep it close to the apple coloring I'll be content.

The quartz counter top is out.  It'll be formica.  I can live with that if I can keep the backsplash.  The contractor said 'maybe'.  Of course the formica has be chosen to match everything else.

If everything else changes 'Cheyenne green' will probably not be the choice for the paint.  I'm almost tempted to say 'white' and then I'll figure it out later.  Cheyenne green only works if the backsplash stays.

I'll be talking to the contractor and the HUD guy on a conference call later today or in the morning.  The estimate has to go to the money people so they can order the appraisal and I need that to happen tomorrow to stay on schedule.  While the total amount of what will be spent remains the same; it's the breakdown of where and how it will be spent has to be really locked down.  That requires lots of tweaks on my part, and the contractor with his sources rearranging funds to match what needs to be done.

I've never done this before and I have no confidence in the process.  Frank says 'piece of cake' and Clarke tells me 'it'll work, you'll see.'  I keep telling myself these people do it everyday and to trust what they are telling me.  One thing for sure, this is the last house I'm ever buying.

Thursday 5/8 Still waiting

Thursday morning and life continues to be a waiting game.  The contractor has promised an updated estimate by tomorrow.

Until then I keep looking at photos of the house and worrying about selling this one.

The red carpet down the hall disappears as part of the remodel.  While I like red I just can't handle red all over the place.  But it's nice thick carpet that has been taken care of really well.  Too bad I don't have a cabin that I can reuse it in.

My realtor here provided with the comps for houses that have sold in the area January.  There's been several but all of them have sold for less than what I have this one listed.

To stay competitive in a market that is getting soft I've told my realtor to lower the offering price by $5K.  That puts the house back into the market and hopefully I'll have an offer on it relativity soon.

Tuesday. Still waiting

 Tuesday morning.  Nothing happened yesterday.  No contact from the money people, the contractor, the HUD people, nothing.  Another day gone with a deadline one day closer.  Talked to the contractor a little bit ago and he hopes to have an estimate to the money people by the end of the week.  So much for his last Friday deadline.  If that deadline holds then an appraisal can be ordered.  That takes about a week.
I'm leaving on a cruise on the 18th and closing is supposed to happen right after I get back on the 24th.  But Memorial Day is the 26th and I know nothing will happen until after the 27th.  I'm seeing everything slipping into June. 

With the closing date slipping I know the remodel will slip even further.  Right now I don't have any confidence that the core remodel will be done in time for me to move before traveling at the end of June.  I need to wrap my head around the idea that the move won't happen until the end of July.  Of course if this house sells then all bets are off on the move date.  Maybe not having any showing is a blessing in its own way.

The core remodel includes replacing the flooring through out the house.  All the vinyl in the kitchen and entryway gets replaced with wood laminate.  The plan is to keep the flooring the same for the entire house except for the bedrooms.

I've picked out what I want but nothing has been ordered.  Can't order materials until I close.  Hopefully the square footage amount will be something the supplier has on hand.  I learned from my sister that you can't count on that.  Her new floor for her living room has been delayed for weeks because the supplier didn't have the trim wood.  She has a stack of flooring sitting in her dining room.

I really don't want to move in until after the floors are done.  I don't want to deal with moving furniture more than once, or actually being there during most of the remodel.  I will be in the way, the cats will be traumatized from the move and the strangeness of the new house.

While I'm perfectly happy to paint and hang wallpaper, flooring is out of my league.





Gutting the kitchen is something I'm really anticipating.  Hopefully I'll be around to photo it.  Everyone tells me it takes 6 weeks to order cabinets.  I have a hunch that Laura and I will be eating out a lot while the kitchen is being built.  I guess the good thing is that there is enough space in the rest of the house that a microwave, a big cooler and a folding table can make breakfast feasible, hanging out in the screened in porch or the 'man cave'. 

I won't miss the pink.  The final look should be creams, browns and greens.

I have to be patient, patient.  Which is something I don't have.

Monday morning and still hopeful

 While I didn't expect anything to happen over the weekend I'm really hopeful I'll hear something today.  Can't move forward until I get the reworked estimate for the remodel so the bank can order an appraisal.  I'm about 20 days from the forecasted closing date. 

One of the long term projects once I get settled at the Va house will be the backyard.  I've got an acre lot and it's fairly flat.  Unfortunately, the backyard slopes toward the house and the drainage is an issue.  I have high hopes to build a small retaining wall in the backyard that will do 2 things.  First it'll divert the major drainage away from the house and into the driveway and ultimately into the street culverts.  Second, it'll serve as a divider between mowed and maintained yard and not mowed.  The part of the property not maintained as a yard will be a small garden, lots of trees and shrubbery and a playground for the cats.

The major remodel that has to happen before I move in is the demolition and rebuild of the core part of the house.  Several walls are to be demolished, removing doors, relocating the hot water heater and the plumbing that goes with it.  By doing the wall removal about 90% of the awful maroon wallpaper disappears.  Once the walls are gone then the pink carpet can be pulled up, along with the flooring in the kitchen, living room and hallways.  New laminate
flooring goes down through out the core of the
house, only leaving carpet in the bedrooms.

The final result is a series of arches between the rooms that lead into the kitchen and great room.  Other things that have to be worked out includes the location of TVs and coax cable outlets, lighting cans that will illuminate the great room and the installation of extra electrical circuits to power all of my electronics.  This house was built before the age of computers and smart houses.  While the electric meets '74 code it has to be brought into 2013 requirements, adding grounds to all outlets and updating the power capability.

Removing walls does away with the laundry closet, the kitchen pantry and a huge obstruction between the kitchen and great room.  There aren't any structural beams involved so I lucked out there. The wall removal also takes away a lot of vertical space for hanging artwork.  I have to really consider what will be placed on the remaining walls.  I admit that I have lots of artwork, and it's all big.  This won't be the first time I rotated artwork out of closets when I got bored with what was on the walls.

Monday morning.  Still waiting.

Still waiting

 Saturday.  Still waiting for the revised budget for the remodel.  The priorities for the remodel have changed several times,  but requirements haven't.

Thanks to the 203K funding program, I get money to do renovation upfront instead of having to take it out of savings or get a second home improvement loan.  The cost of renovation is included in the original mortgage price.  Uncle Sam did this for a couple reasons: 1) homes that have been foreclosed on usually need a massive amount of work prior to move-in and banks won't finance a home needing lots of maintenance. 2)It gives a future home owner a chance to buy a home not normally considered as possible.  In some cases if all you have is a foundation, the 203K program will rebuild it.  Think tornadoes or hurricane damage.

Priority #1 is now the crawlspace and downspouts. Every inspection has revealed more problems, from standing water under the house to a sewer line that no longer slopes the way it should, jeopardizing the flow of water from the bathrooms.    All of the gutter downspouts once went into an underground drainage system but they have all become disconnected.  Now rain water collects under the house.  The back vents to the crawlspace have been covered over so air can't flow through the crawlspace and dry things.    New gutters and downspouts, uncovering the back vents to the house, and getting rid of the water is the major issue to get fixed as soon as I close on the house.

While the crawlspace and drainage issues are being dealt with I've got to fix this sidewalk.  Originally it was brick and concrete, then a layer of fake concrete was laid over the concrete to create a pattern.  It's actually a roll on product that is glued on.  It's coming off in piece.  I have to remove all of it.  The gutters are leaking the length of the sidewalk and most of this fake concrete has rotted.  A big putty knife and sweat will bring it up.  But I can't do that until the house is legally mine, the gutters are replaced and the water rerouted.

Still waiting.

It's a waiting game

Now that I've submitted my life story to the lender I have to wait.  Wait on the appraisal being ordered; wait for the estimate for the remodel; wait for the lender to decide if they have dissected me enough to allow for a mortgage on this property.

Meanwhile Lowe's reworked the figures on supplying the materials for the remodel, substantially lowering the cost to something I can live with.  I forwarded that information to the contractor and again I have to wait.  Will the contractor use Lowe's as the supplier?  Or does he have his own suppliers that will lower the cost more?

Lowe's has been excellent to work with and I continually learn that I am not aware of all the complexities of a major remodel.  I keep thinking that what I want to do is not that big.

All of this is gutted and walls torn down.

If I'm learning anything by watching remodel shows is that everything hinges on who you or the contractor knows.  Not being from the area or even from the state I'm totally dependent on contractor knowledge of the local availability of materials.  Which is why I went to Lowe's at the beginning of this adventure.  They are a national company and I can do research at the Lowe's in Charlotte, then transfer that information to Madison Heights.  The Madison Heights design staff has been superb and I hope that my contractor agrees with their prices and goes the route I've charted.

The big remodel on the house is the kitchen/living room/dining room.  That will all be gutted, walls torn down, hot water heater moved, All the pink and red disappears and I'm looking at hardwood floors and neutral paints.  Lowe's worked out kitchen cabinets and appliances for me and again I'm waiting.  I can't spend any money, charge anything or take advantage of any major sales until the loan is secured and the house sale is closed.

The kitchen gets gutted and done over.

It takes 6 weeks to get cabinets once they are ordered.  Then the cabinet counter tops have to be cut and fitted.  That adds another week to the process.   And the loan people tell me I can't do a thing until the loan is closed and I take possession.  In a best case scenario I can order cabinets and while I"m waiting on cabinets the floors, wall removal and painting will be finished.  Best case.  Worse case is that I order cabinets, the contractor starts ripping up things and starts finding problems; like sub-flooring rot or mold and everything has to come to a halt while that is fixed.  Which of course adds to the cost of the remodel.

   The other worst case is that contractor gets side tracked to another job and suddenly nothing is being done on the demolition, then the install of flooring. 

The 'man-cave' It will be the den, eventually.

I have to move somewhere in the middle of all this. I had originally planned to be moved by the middle of June and I already know that isn't happening.  The end of June is already committed to a bus tour of the canyons in the Southwest.  I won't get back until the middle of July.

So that makes best case scenario for moving the end of July.  And all of that can change if I get an offer on this house and the new owners want it before I plan to move.  It's still a waiting game.

Learning about 203K funding and HUD loans

 In an ideal world my house in Charlotte would have
all ready sold or I would have a solid offer on it.  If
that had happened I wouldn't even be looking at
financing the Va house.  In a perfect world....a cash offer trumps financing a house any day of the week.

But to make sure I don't lose the house I have to finance it, then pay it off when the Charlotte house sells.  This house needs a major remodel; it hasn't been touched since it was built.  The original red carpet, maroon walls, pink kitchen and linoleum tile has to go. 

Uncle Sam has this wonderful program called 203K funding, provided by HUD.  With that funding source, I can fund a major portion of the remodel and roll it into the 30 year mortgage.  That gives me a chance to remodel the house now, then pay it off when the Charlotte property sales.                           

There are some drawbacks to taking advantage of this program I've never heard of.  It's an education process.  First, just because I made an offer on the house and it's been accepted, I don't own this house.  I won't own this house for at least 60 days after the bank accepts my offer.  During that 60 days I have to provide piece after piece of paperwork to the loan officer.  Second, there are a large list of financial requirements that I have to meet. 

The list of paperwork needed by the loan people is huge.  Tax returns, insurance documents, credit card info, payroll information, pension information.  The frustrating thing is that the list isn't something that the loan people can hand you at the beginning of the process.  The requirements get revealed via phone calls and emails.  If you knew the requirements at the beginning of the loan application you could have all the information at the beginning and save days of time.  Maybe that 60 days to closing would drop to say, 45.

Because the 203K program includes the remodel of the house you have to find a contractor that is approved by the HUD program.  To help with selecting a contractor the loan officer put me in contact with 'the HUDguy'.  He specializes in managing this program, locating a contractor, writing an estimate for a remodel and getting the permits.  All things I know absolutely nothing about.

So I meet with Frank, the HUDguy.  He's a cool guy, been doing this a lot of years and has lots of ideas and knowledge to share.  I'm also meeting with Lowe's to design kitchen, great room, select cabinets, appliances, etc.  At first Lowe's blows my budget completely out the water, designing a kitchen for $35K.  I about cried over that.  Frank assures me that the people he can use will stay within my budget and still accomplish everything I want to do.  But nothing can be done until after I close on the house, which doesn't happen until the end of May.  Before I can close on the house, an appraisal has to be done and an appraisal can't happen until the estimate for the remodel is submitted to the loan officer and approved.  So I'm waiting.  The frustration level grows.

Deciding on a house

 Back in February of this year I made the decision to relocate from Charlotte, NC to Madison Heights, Va.  Charlotte had been home for 3 years and as much as I like it, the cost of living in such a large city and all the amenities of this urban area in NC is exhausting my finances.  I retired in 2011 and along with my long time companion we had moved from the arctic temps of Alaska to the warmer temps of Charlotte.

Unfortunately Ken died of a heart attack in the fall of 2011 and left me alone in this new city with all the expenses having a home in Charlotte generates.  Together Charlotte was a comfortable environment.  Alone property taxes and maintaining a large house was proving a pricey location.

So I made the decision to move back to Va and closer to family and find a cheaper abode.  Hince the home search.  With the help of a realtor and my sister a possible house was found around the end of March.  The saga is just starting, much to my frustration.

 The house I found was a 1974 brick ranch that was foreclosed on.  It had been tied up with banks for the past 6 months or so, abandoned by the owners and reprocessed.  By the time I saw it and decided that this was my soon to be new retirement home, the price had been reduced to an incredible low price of $125,000.  Selling the house in Charlotte will fund
the new house, any remodel that is needed and the move to VA.

Let the fun again.

Step 1.  Make an offer on the house.  Easy thing right?  Wrong.  The offer has to go from my Realtor, to the realtor working for the bank and either be accepted or rejected.  That in itself is not a big issue.  It's a few pages of legal language, an earnest money check and waiting a couple days.

Step 2.  Find out your offer has been accepted.  Now there is the beginning of a timeline or countdown.  In this case it goes something like this:  if I want to finance the house with a mortgage, and because it is a foreclosure, the house is 'as is', I need to have a home inspection done.  I have 10 days to have an inspection done and tell the bank 'yes' or 'no' on the house based on the inspection.  If the inspection finds lots of problems I can walk away from the purchase and only be out the money I spend on the inspection.  Inspections are at my cost, regardless of what I decide on the house.

Step 3.  House inspection.  The day of the inspection
it is raining, has been raining; for several days.  This is an old house, on a crawlspace that's a couple feet tall. And there's a lot of things wrong, like gutters that are not in the downspouts, a missing vapor barrier, several inches of water under the house, the list goes on.

The results of the inspection makes me revise my offer to the bank, dropping it by $5K. The bank wasn't happy and we spent 2 days going back and forth, finally settling on $123K because I was tired of dickering over $2K.

Now it's time to find a mortgage company willing to write a loan.  Time for another lesson in mortgage language.