Not good

The only reason we decided to start this blog is because we felt fairly certain we'd get the house.

Oh, how quickly things can change.

The appraiser did his thing today. We got a call from the mortgage broker, saying that the house appraised for the value of the loan. No worries there. However, he wouldn't pass the house. It isn't habitable, apparently. This means there's the possibility of no house for us. It's a very real possibility.

We have two options. Option number one is to do all the things on the the appraiser's laundry list, like fixing the holes in the walls, painting, putting on gutters, getting the trash out of the yard, fix the baseboard heaters, and any number of other things. It's a rough list. And we can get a pretty long, detailed list from him. We can fix it ourselves before we own the house, but 1) the appraiser says that almost never flies, because people don't fix things up to snuff, and 2) there's the possibility that the seller could then yank the property out from underneath us.

Needless to say, we've put in a call to our real estate agent and intend to find out what we can do legally. Even if everything flies, there's still the issue of oh, say, actually having the money to do the repairs, not to mention the time to do them. We're still figuring out the ramifications of this option.

Option number two is to go with what's called a rehab loan. It's a loan for the amount of the future value of the house. We have to get our architectural drawings, permits, contractors, etc. lined up, and we get a loan for one year at a fixed percentage rate, interest only. We need 3% down. Then the bank's appraiser/inspector person checks up on us to make sure all the repairs go as necessary. I think after the year's over it converts to a 30-year fixed, which we've already determined we can't afford. This would be a lot of hassle and very expensive, since we use all our money for the down payment and don't have it for repairs.

I know it could be worse, since we actually do have a place to live right now, and a nice one at that, but I really had my heart set on this little house. I still really want it, and it's hard not to get frustrated and despair. However, we'll sit down tonight and talk about it, and hopefully we'll be able to talk to our agent. We just need to figure this out. We'll get through it, one way or another, and even if we don't get what we want, we'll certainly be wiser for it. That won't keep it from hurting.

And everyone who reads this will find out what happens next. ^_^