Housing Updates

This update is on selling of our house in Utah...and starting the process to attempt to buy a house in Virginia. There's no point in separating these two topics, as they are becoming increasingly intertwined.

On the selling side...the saga continues with our buyers. They got their money back from the IRS but then ran into a credit score snag with their lender. So at the last minute, they had to find a new lender. They have now found one, but they asked for a 2 week extension to get their new financing in place. Now we are out to April 29th for financing & appraisal (they need a new appraisal with their new lender) and May 13th for closing. Our hope here is that everything is in place by April 29th and then we could try and close earlier than May 13th. I'm so anxious to get this deal done, and just be renting this home. It actually saves us money the less we rent, but I'd rather have the peace of mind.

In the meantime, we were very focused on renting in Virginia. However, when we figured out what mortgage we could afford for the rent we are paying...coupled with the fact that after a year of renting, the home prices will most likely be higher...we decided to try and purchase a home. It's sort of in the 11th hour because it will take 30-45 days to close on a home. And that's just what we have from now until we move to Virginia.

Of course, here is where the intertwining of the selling and buying come into play. We need our house to sell in order to buy. We need the money out of it to put as a down payment on a new house. So if this deal falls through and we go back on the market, we will have no choice but to rent. And be faced with paying a mortgage while paying rent in Virginia. That is a scary thought, and one we didn't think we would have to face. Nothing seems certain anymore in the real estate world.

So for now, we keep our fingers crossed that the buyers new lending situation works out. And in the meantime, we fly to Virginia on Friday to house hunt. We have some pretty good choices and I feel confident we can find one to put an offer in on. But the offer will have to be (somewhat) contingent upon this house selling.

I'm excited to go to Virginia to look at houses, plus get the kids excited about their new adventure. I think this trip is just what they need to make this move feel "real" and see some of the benefits of the place they will be living - with any free time, we will explore DC and its attractions (mostly free!). I'm glad that James and the kids will be with me this time, and we can all experience it together.

More to come after the house hunting trip...