House hunting time! (pause the RC time)

[johnnyluv]

Might have to go without RC time (and even a reduction in RC’s) for awhile, because we’re finally getting around to house hunting, after six years of being back in WA. I got into the hobby just a year after we moved back here from St. Louis, and we were pretty content with our rental, but it’s no longer suiting our needs. It’s an exciting time, but stressful and tiresome as well, because it’ll be all work getting packed up and moved. All nonessentials, RC’s included, will have to go into storage. I might be able to keep handy, perhaps, one basher and one crawler, but space will be limited, especially if we get the place we’re currently interested in. No garage, shed, attic, or basement available! It’ll be worth the sacrifice, though, and hopefully, when things settle down, I’ll be able to start running trucks around my own little piece of land!

[calcagno45]

That’s awesome. Good luck shopping!

[svt923]

Enjoy the fun, we went through buying and selling at the same time back in March. Don't know how the market is in your area but it is a crazy seller's market here, anything nice listed during the week usually doesn't last until the weekend. Our house sold in 4 days (listed Friday, multiple offers Saturday, and our realtor told all buyers final offers due Monday) so finding a new house was a little more urgent than the first time we went through the process.

The absolute worst part was dealing with the mortgage stuff. The lender we chose had a great rate but then actively tried to screw up closing our loan (by requiring us to jump through an increasingly bizarre set of hoops then creating new ones to jump through that even baffled our realtor who has sold hundreds of homes in this area) and told us the day before closing they weren't going to fund it. Did I mention they didn't even know when the closing date was despite a series of conversations taking place over the course of the month leading up to closing to ensure we were on track to close? We had to change lenders on our scheduled closing day and they worked some magic and closed the loan really fast, they said it could have been done sooner but federal law limits them to a 7 day minimum. So avoid Better Mortgage at all costs, despite whatever great rate they promise and what the online reviews say.

Good luck with everything, the end result is definitely worth the trials and tribulations of the home buying process.

[johnnyluv]

Originally Posted by svt923

Enjoy the fun, we went through buying and selling at the same time back in March. Don't know how the market is in your area but it is a crazy seller's market here, anything nice listed during the week usually doesn't last until the weekend. Our house sold in 4 days (listed Friday, multiple offers Saturday, and our realtor told all buyers final offers due Monday) so finding a new house was a little more urgent than the first time we went through the process.

The absolute worst part was dealing with the mortgage stuff. The lender we chose had a great rate but then actively tried to screw up closing our loan (by requiring us to jump through an increasingly bizarre set of hoops then creating new ones to jump through that even baffled our realtor who has sold hundreds of homes in this area) and told us the day before closing they weren't going to fund it. Did I mention they didn't even know when the closing date was despite a series of conversations taking place over the course of the month leading up to closing to ensure we were on track to close? We had to change lenders on our scheduled closing day and they worked some magic and closed the loan really fast, they said it could have been done sooner but federal law limits them to a 7 day minimum. So avoid Better Mortgage at all costs, despite whatever great rate they promise and what the online reviews say.

Good luck with everything, the end result is definitely worth the trials and tribulations of the home buying process.

That sounds like a nightmare to forget! From my understanding, here in Western WA, it's beginning to slow down, with steadily climbing rates.

Yeah, if things go well, it's going to be significantly busy for the rest of the year, but hopefully in a good way.

[skinnyj]

Originally Posted by svt923

Enjoy the fun, we went through buying and selling at the same time back in March. Don't know how the market is in your area but it is a crazy seller's market here, anything nice listed during the week usually doesn't last until the weekend. Our house sold in 4 days (listed Friday, multiple offers Saturday, and our realtor told all buyers final offers due Monday) so finding a new house was a little more urgent than the first time we went through the process.

The absolute worst part was dealing with the mortgage stuff. The lender we chose had a great rate but then actively tried to screw up closing our loan (by requiring us to jump through an increasingly bizarre set of hoops then creating new ones to jump through that even baffled our realtor who has sold hundreds of homes in this area) and told us the day before closing they weren't going to fund it. Did I mention they didn't even know when the closing date was despite a series of conversations taking place over the course of the month leading up to closing to ensure we were on track to close? We had to change lenders on our scheduled closing day and they worked some magic and closed the loan really fast, they said it could have been done sooner but federal law limits them to a 7 day minimum. So avoid Better Mortgage at all costs, despite whatever great rate they promise and what the online reviews say.

Good luck with everything, the end result is definitely worth the trials and tribulations of the home buying process.

When we bought our house 4 years ago, the day before the closing, a contractor put a lien on the house because the seller has stiffed him. We went into the next day not even knowing if we were going to close. Somehow, the seller got something rammed through the court and got it lifted.

[Shinchu]

i wish you better luck than our current market out here in san diego...
we just 10 months ago bought a 2,000 sq/ft home for over half a mill. track home just a front and backyard (not even an acre) built in the 80s so everything is starting to break (slab leaks etc.)
payment is insane at $3k/mo.

BUT!

im closer to work. my kids are both going to school in the same county now. i FINALLY have the 3 car garage i always wanted.
quality of life has increased ten fold. and that, to me, is priceless.
(and with kiddo #3 due any day now, thank GOD we bought with an extra bedroom!)
wife and i do agree though: when i retire from the navy in 2020, we might start looking outside CA because this state is just... ridiculous. even though we are both from here we are tired of the BS.

good luck! just remember home is where you make it.

[johnnyluv]

Originally Posted by skinnyj

When we bought our house 4 years ago, the day before the closing, a contractor put a lien on the house because the seller has stiffed him. We went into the next day not even knowing if we were going to close. Somehow, the seller got something rammed through the court and got it lifted.

Sounds like a serious brake in luck! Kinda neat when stuff like that happens, though.

Originally Posted by Shinchu

i wish you better luck than our current market out here in san diego...
we just 10 months ago bought a 2,000 sq/ft home for over half a mill. track home just a front and backyard (not even an acre) built in the 80s so everything is starting to break (slab leaks etc.)
payment is insane at $3k/mo.

BUT!

im closer to work. my kids are both going to school in the same county now. i FINALLY have the 3 car garage i always wanted.
quality of life has increased ten fold. and that, to me, is priceless.
(and with kiddo #3 due any day now, thank GOD we bought with an extra bedroom!)
wife and i do agree though: when i retire from the navy in 2020, we might start looking outside CA because this state is just... ridiculous. even though we are both from here we are tired of the BS.

good luck! just remember home is where you make it.

Yeah, the market up here is pretty bad, and probably not much better than where you are. Glad that you at least found some sweetness amidst the bitterness of it all.
I think having our 3rd kiddo has had significant impact on our decision to seek a better home. It'll be strange, though, in a few years, because then our oldest will be getting out on her own, and we'll be back to having just two to care for.
Because of my job, I might be able to get permission to move back to St. Louis, where we lived for four years (we moved from WA to MO back in 2008, then back to WA in 2012). I didn't think I'd ever want to go back, because I liked the Northwest so much, but as I get older, I find myself being able to place greater value on things that matter more, like having more space for my kids to run around in, safely, as opposed to giving up everything just to be closer to the ocean and mountains, or to be able to see a coffee shop on every corner (I don't even care for lattes, anymore. Haha).
For what we were going to pay for a small manufactured home on a 1 acre lot, here, we could get a stick/stone house with several acres in St. Louis, and we still know some people back there, so it wouldn't be like moving to a strange place again. Plus, as far as RC goes, there seems to be a stronger community there, and I wouldn't mind seeing what the scale monster truck events are like. JR Holmes lives just a few hours west of St. Louis, and sometimes has events at his place, and that would be neat to experience. There are several other benefits I won't bother mentioning, but you get the gist of it.

[Greatscott]

Up here in North 'ho, when you say your are housing hunting people ask what caliber you use for that...