Steve N Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Well, after a year-and-a-half long battle with banks, credit bureaus and the FHA, as of about 5:00 pm yesterday Mandie and I are the proud owners of this little shack (we've been renting it for the past three-and-a-half years.) This is the first time in my life that I haven't been living in somebody else's house. I know, right now the bank is the majority owner, but at least we don't have to worry about answering to a landlord anymore. This relieves a huge amount of stress..our lives have been "on hold" until we could get this deal closed. Now we can finally start moving forward again (although it'll take a few months to recover financially..this has pretty much cleaned out every penny we had.) SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sharkey Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Congrats ! Looks like a nice house! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ThatJeffGuy Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Congratulations and Good-Luck Steve! Looks like a great house and I'm sure that with the current state of affairs in Michigan you didn't pay more than it is worth. It's unfortunate that you say you tapped all of your resources though.....there are always unexpected expenses popping up with any new home. You're probably in a better position as you've been in the location for some time though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rick in Maine Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 The first house I owned remains very special even though I haven't lived in it for 30+ years. It was just knowing it was mine. Congratulations. It's a nice looking home. Rick in Maine Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Congrats Steve and Mandie.. Its looks perfect for you both and it is very nice.. HAVE FUN !!!ENJOY !!! Have ONE on ME WHEN YOU TOAST THE NEW HOME ... HOLMES Quote Link to post Share on other sites
majortomski Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Congrats from Oklahoma! Cute place! So where's the man cave going to be, basement or attic? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Nice looking property. Looks to be a nice neighborhood as well. Congrats. Welcome to the dark side. Reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg joke. "I went into Home Depot the other day. Which was unnecessary, I need to go to the Apartment Depot. Which is really just a bunch of people standing around going 'we don't have to fix sh!t'" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Congratulations to you and Mandi. To be honest...this looks like an excellent first home....I envy you.......and it's got a garage which is always a massive bonus to a car nut like myself. I think you two chose very well. There will be repairs......but you'll quickly learn to solder copper pipes etc just as we all did. I recall our first house......worst house on the street......but very sound structurally.....but it needed piles of TLC inside and out. But as I walked around it and the 7000sqft lot for the first time after we got the keys.....I felt like I was walking around a grand castle......the pride of home ownership is something very special and the first house is always very special. And the coolest part is.....in 10 years you will have paid down a fair share of the house and be well on your way to having no debt on it. Plus over time it will go up in value. Steve....how is Mandie doing? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crazydon Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Party's at the Nelsons house Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spruemeister Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 There's no place like home! A very nice looking place you have there. Good for you! Rick L. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) Thanks all, this is whole idea of being "king of the castle" is going to take some getting used to. Fortunately, we shouldn't have any major repairs for awhile. Our former landlord completely remodeled the house just before we moved in (including all new plumbing and wiring.) He's a contractor, and bought it in '06 with the intent of rehabbing and "flipping" it. Unfortunately, he put it on the market right about the time the bottom fell out. After three months with no nibbles, he asked if Mandie and I would like to rent the place for a couple of years until we could save up enough to buy. Of course, none of us expected it would take a year-and-a-half to get a mortgage, but the saga is finally over! After the closing yesterday, we celebrated with a nice dinner, and then went to see "Spamalot" (pure coincidence it was on the same day..Mandie bought the tickets months ago as a gift for my birthday, which is next week. @SBARC: (Good grief..did I really just use a "Twitterism"?) Mandie is fine..she's at work, and I'm enjoying a day off. I'm trying to get up the ambition to cut OUR lawn, or maybe clean OUR kitchen. SN Edited May 12, 2011 by Steve N Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 It's good to hear she is doing fine. Oh man.......cutting the lawn....I keep waiting for a nice day to cut my lawn and it never comes....plus I've got gardens to weed......oh joy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hawkeye's Hobbies Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) Congrats. Looks to be about 700 sqft. My last home was just under 800 and we had to step outside just to change our minds. Since then we moved into a place that is double that and its nice not having to run in and out everytime you need to make a decision! Having your own home is rewarding...it also means you can't call the landlord when there is a problem...its yours and yours alone to deal with. There are some benefits to renting. Edited May 16, 2011 by Hawkeye's Hobbies Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crazydon Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Thanks all, this is whole idea of being "king of the castle" is going to take some getting used to. SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattC Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Looks like a nice place Steve, and even nicer that the keys are yours. I rent myself so I sympathise, it must feel amazing to open your front door. I fear I won't get any chance to own my own place here in the UK, I'd need at least £30K just for a deposit! Cutting the lawn sounds like bliss, considering I have no garden, and I hate that. I used to love pottering in the garden. Congrats Matt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 Looks to be about 700 sqft. According to the appraisal, it's 1103 sq ft. There are two small bedroom upstairs (one of which is the Man Cave, the other is the Lady's Lair) and a full basement. If I'm reading the appraisal right, the actual property is 7401 sq. ft. The only thing I don't really like is the fact that we share the driveway with the neighbors (actually it's simply two driveways butting against each other.) Fortunately, our neighbors are a very nice young couple, with an adorable little three-year-old girl. SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Congratulations. That is defintely a nice house. It is great that you can go from renting a house to owning it and not have to move. Darwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blunce Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Congrats! And the best part is you don't have to MOVE! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TonyT Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) Cool, remember when I bought mine, was renting it at the time (for about 7 years), Landlord gave me notice to quit so they could sell up and retire....... I thought here we go again, so asked about buying if I could get a mortgage. They asked ME to get it valued! which I did and told them straight up what it had been valued at and was shocked when they said it was what they thought it would be that they hasd discussed it and that I could buy it for some £5,000 LESS than the valuations, which at the time was about $8,500+ ish under the value put on it!!! ohh and it came fully furnished too, though have changed a lot since then. The best part is no one to say... sorry you gotta go. :) Enjoy it, will get cheaper, mine now the mortgage costs less than to rent by some £250 a month! Edited May 12, 2011 by TonyT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CorsairMan Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Nice Place! I really like it. The thing I remember about the day we got the keys was that it was only the start to the busiest week ever! You don't have to move so enjoy it. The thing about ownership is that you will never find yourself without something that needs doing! Just think... a little at a time :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooter Man Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 That's great news Steve!!! I am really glad for both you and your wife. Looks like an absolutely LOVELY place to live in....and most importantly...BUILD MODELS IN. Again...CONGRATS!!! tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IrishGreek Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Congratulations and thanks for buying a house in Michigan!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RCAFFAN Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Congrats to both of you and hopefully it will always go up in value so that it will be a great investment as well as a home....We're still in our first house as we really just can't afford to let it go. In the about 24 years we have been here it has gone up over 600% such that we are land rich but cash poor..Most of that is just the lot (inner city Calgary is expensive) but we just really can't afford to move anywhere else and frankly don't want to as it is a good neighbourhood and fairly convieniantly located. Hope you and Mandie are rewarded for your investment too. Cheers Bruce Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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