House Hunting

With all of my legal identity and financial information in order and a W-2 for 2008 in hand, I began my search for a house.

The apartment that I have been staying in was fine for what it was and I will remember it fondly for all of the major events that occurred in my life over the last year and a few months.

But it was too small and I will be the first to admit that I was ashamed to invite friends over because it was full of the possessions that I had collected over the years and had to squeeze in after moving out of the home that I owned with my ex.

I had been watching the market and had a good idea of where I wanted to live and what features I wanted.

With my major surgery behind me, healing well on it's way, the real estate market at a low, mortgage rates at very favorable levels and cash in the bank for a down payment, I was a buyer with a mission.

Walking into a real estate office as a woman alone and requesting available properties to be shown was more than a little intimidating. This wasn't just some retail store purchase, this was a BIG DEAL.

The realtor was very professional throughout the entire process. At no time did she ever indicate that I was anything other than a woman looking for a home.

All of the properties that we looked at happened to be foreclosures with lenders willing to make special deals to make the sale. I was shocked at just how badly some of the homes had been treated. While I can understand the pain and anger the previous owners felt at losing their home and their investment, the amount of damage and theft that I witnessed still boggles my mind.

Fortunately, there were a couple of properties that were in excelent condition. I made an offer on one property and put down a deposit.

The waiting is agony. But I've learned to be patient as I have had to do a lot of waiting for things that I really wanted like going full time and SRS.

After waiting a couple of days, I was informed that the seller had received a higher offer and accepted it. Oh well, plan B.

The next day I went back to the realtor and went house hunting again.

We went back to one of the properties that I had passed over the first time because of some crazy interior painting but was otherwise in move in condition. A few dollars for paint and some labor by my daughter and it would be in great shape! So another offer was made. This time I had to wait for four days because of the weekend but come Tuesday, I was told that my offer had been accepted!

I knew that my credit reports, 2008 tax return, W2 and earnings statements all listed the correct name but one thing that I hadn't counted on was the lendor requested that I sign an authorization for the IRS to release my last THREE years of tax returns. You know, the ones that had my previous name on them! After a phone call to the lendor explaining that my name would be different on the previous returns but not telling her what the name was, I was reassurred that it was a release "just in case" and more than likely would not be sent to the IRS if everything else was in order.

With the inspections scheduled, the loan application accepted and escrow opened, it was back to waiting again...