It's finally MINE!!!

After a lot of stops and starts and more paperwork then I ever want to see again 200 Oakland is mine.  I spent last Thursday back in Madison Hgts resigning everything.  Now that all the feds are happy and I have the keys I can breathe easier.

Of course the next step is a major remodel and then move.  There will still be lots of going back and forth until the final move which will probably be sometime in August. 

The core remodel will have to be almost done before I move in for the simple reason I only want to move furniture once and I don't want to be in the way while the contractor is ripping things apart and rebuilding.

Advice to anyone else purchasing a foreclosed home.  Patience, patience, patience.  If a realtor tells you 30 days for something, automatically double it.  Same goes for contractors, closing, everything.  Above all, pick the house for location because you're going to be living there for awhile.  Everything else can be fixed.

The '203K' funding program is a decent thing to use if you have to finance the remodel/rebuild.  Make sure that the lender you're using, the closer, the realtor and anyone else you're working with understands the ins and outs of the program.  There are lots of really particular rules that apply that will throw you if you've never used it and don't have someone working with you that understands the program and it's legal restrictions.

Final suggestion, don't get your hopes to hi when you start the remodel.  A good contractor makes it easier but contractors have their own supply lines and if you're in love with a particular store or product there are bound to be conflicts.  I'm an alpha personality and sometimes I'm my own worse enemy.  Patience, Patience, Patience.

I still have a house to sale and that in itself is adding to the long term problems.  But it'll get there.