Takin' the leap! (credit, new house, buying)

[Sonic_Spork]

Thanks, lalahartma!

And Carrera, I have my theories insofar as why they had such trouble selling it...I believe part of that issue is the old adage, "location, location, location." Many people who want homes over 200K are looking at other parts of town, Security-Widefield doesn't have the best reputation (whether deserved or not) and everyone is buying up north and west, out in Falcon, etc. Plus, nearby, you can build a brand new home and have it built probably for about as much. We have our own reasons for wanting to be in S-W, and within a walking distance of the community center specifically. And I'm betting that they have had offers over the last year, but they weren't close enough to the list price--these folks have no driving need to get out and leave, they want a certain profit out of the home, and they'd rather wait than take a lower offer. They are old, and stubborn with it, and they want to profit enough to go traveling, then settle in a quiet little retirement community somewhere warm. Honestly, I'd be happy to oblige them.

Ultimately, with the terms I'm approved for, my payment on a $239,500 house will be very comfortable for me. I like this house well enough to be happy paying that...IF they catch our closing costs...but again it all depends on what the VA appraiser says. The old fella told us that the house appraised in 2009 for $255K, so I guess we'll see. Right now we are haggling a bit, but my offer is not far from what they want.

[Carrera32]

An appraisal done in 2009 means nothing. Prices have been sinking steadily for the past 3 years and only in the last month or so have they begun to tick upwards. Even so, the margin we're talking here isn't that much, so your 240K asking price is probably about right. If they're happy and you're happy then it's a good deal all the way around. If your offer is pretty close to their asking price, then they should quit quibbling and accept.

[Sonic_Spork]

Update: We finally got things squared away with the old folks, signed a mountain of paperwork, and have a closing date! The house is gonna be ours!

As much of a pain as the sellers were, I'm very tempted to xeriscape their perfectly manicured lawn...and find a way to send them pictures... But then they'd probably have heart attacks and I don't want that on my conscience.

Rates are awesome! We nailed a fixed 3.25% for 30 years...

[allprolab]

Congrats! May you have many happy years in your new abode!

[lalahartma]

Woohooo! Definitely xeriscape!

[ryanek9freak]

Originally Posted by Sonic_Spork

We nailed a fixed 3.25% for 30 years...

Jesus, that's a hell of a rate

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by ryanek9freak

Jesus, that's a hell of a rate

Yes it is. I recall 30 years ago when mortgage rates were 4 or even 5 times that amount.

Meanwhile, I'd bet that the perfectly manicured lawn could be sold as sod and help pay for xeriscaping. Our local utility firm runs a demonstration garden up on Fillmore at Mesa to help people figger out the best way to do xeriscaping, and their help is free, as they want to cut water usage in the area. The local office of the state's extension service also runs classes every so often, IIRC on Union near the big park.

[Carrera32]

Congratulations Sonic. Glad everything turned out for you. That is an amazing rate. As Mike noted, I remember rejoicing that I was able to get a 9% VA loan in '78, an 11% loan in Alaska '80 (partially subsidized by the state; everyone else in the country was paying about 15%) and about '84 getting around 12% (if my memory serves right). Times were different back in the dark ages before the industrial revolution.

Re Mike's comments: I've taken advantage of the seminars that the utility folks put on at their demonstration garden on Mesa. If you weren't joking and you're at all serious about xeriscaping (which I recommend) check out the demonstration garden (any time of the year; now is good). It's a great place for inspiration. I took the plunge this year and xeriscaped my entire "hell strip" (the area between my front sidewalk and the street). It's a large area; I have a corner lot with 120 feet of frontage and the hell strip is 23' deep, so I had quite a large project (the previous owners started the project, but never really finished). It's worth it though. Still had to water quite a bit to get the plants established, but I hope next year my water bill will be more reasonable. I used Stone Path Gardens in OCC for the job; they specialize in xeriscaping.

[Sonic_Spork]

Yeah, this front yard is big, and I've got an artists eye, I'm seeing in my imagination the wonderful things I could do with different kinds of rocks and fewer plants. And we visited another home for sale (our #2 backup plan house) that had some gorgeous xeriscaping, that gave me some ideas. Add to that the fact that I'm fanatical about decorating for Halloween, and my imagination skipped and sparked even more!

Wow, Mike I had no idea you could sell your lawn! I will have to look into that!

I might keep SOME of the grass, but I'd like to have a lot less of it, especially in the front. I'd also consider taking out some of the backyard to install a sunken firepit and seating area.

A big challenge for me is that I'm not good with plants. Just no good at all. I've got the opposite of a green thumb...more like a touch of death. I am nearly certain that I want to hire pros to deal with our vegetative landscaping. Rocks I can handle. Plants, not so much. I would really want to go visit some nurseries and gardens and such and do plenty of research on what plants are the easiest to have and keep here. And I'm not a big fan of cacti...but xeriscaping need not mean cacti necessarily. I actually heard that some species of bamboo do pretty well here, oddly enough...anyone know anything about that? I like bamboo. Some of the taller varieties might look good bordering my back fence...

[Carrera32]

Don't know whether bamboo works here or not, but I've lived in places where it does very well. The problem with it is that it needs to be contained, or it'll spread and take over everything around it. I think you have sink a metal border around it down several inches into the ground to prevent the roots from spreading outward. There may be some ornamental strains that are less aggressive, but you'll need to research it before planting.

Sound like Xeriscaping it the way to go for you if you don't exactly have a green thumb. There are plenty of plants around that require minimal care and water that aren't spiky cactus. One of my conditions for my xeriscaping was no more spiky stuff that'll attack me when work around them; I'm tired of getting stuck. The previous owners put in a small amount of prickly pear and a number of yucca plants, or Spanish Bayonet, both of which will stick you. They're still there, but everything else I added were plants that are drought tolerant, perennials, that just don't take that much effort to keep alive.