Contract Completed

Welp, today we got our contract offer back from the seller. Our intial offer was $95,000, he countered with $100,000 and today we both agreed on $97,500, with us paying all closing costs.

BACKSTORY: We have been planning on buying this house since July (7 months), but due to me leaving the Air Force, and the subsequent job hunt, we couldn't get the financial backing to make it happen. Now that I am happily employed again, we finally have the means and the house was luckily still available. I say "luckily" because the area we bought the home in is one of San Antonio's new area's of revitalization. Which is funny because it's the neighborhood in which I grew up.

Our mortgage financing with this home is through Wells Fargo, due to the fact that NO ONE else will do FHA 203k loans. The FHA 203k loan is specialized to assist folks who want to purchase homes that need a bit of renovation. The total loan amount given to the homebuyer is not only based on the value price of the home, but also based on the appraisal estimate of the house AFTER renovation! Pretty cool. What's even more cool is that the program seems to take more than just the house itself into account, it takes into account the MARKET VALUE. According to the valuation procedures outlined by HUD, "To determine the estimate of market value after rehabilitation in any neighborhood, the appraiser must give full consideration to neighborhood improvements that are proposed and in progress through government action and/or organized community effort. In areas undergoing rehabilitation or revitalization, either with public or private funds, the value estimate must use market data from similar areas, including those that have been revitalized, as would be done in any other appraisal." 

Excellent! The community has recently been flooded with initial revitalization efforts from public (City of San Antonio, U.S. Dept of HUD, etc) AND private sources (Alamo Ale Microbrewery is being built three blocks away...yum, beer).

So, now that we're done with the contract, we have to deal with the bank and get rolling with the appraisals...which apparently is the prolonged period of this process. :(

In the meantime, why don't we start thinking about the features and improvements we need and want before we sit down with a contractor? :)