The estimations of estimates.

So the bank has sent me an estimate of the final closing costs, my mortgage broker also sent me one, they're about 10% off from one another. They are just estimations, but it's still interesting to see how they differ. The rate I seem to be locked in at is 4.325. I see on some web sites that they are advertising as low as 2.5, but there are always special conditions that are involved with those rates. Usually things like you can only get into a house with a special city census zoning, along with you need to be in a low income bracket like under 75k for the household. and the property has to cost less than 225k or something specific like that. Otherwise you'll be paying a more regular rate like I am. Otherwise you're special...

I've managed to get all of the funds I need in a liquid form, i.e. in my checking account so I can wire the money to the bank before the deadline. My meeting with the bank agent is in the morning on Friday, so I'll have to get to a bank and fill out my wire form by 3pm which I think was the cut off for the same day transfer. I've also scheduled a full service mover to pick up my stuff and move it into the new place.

I get my keys on the 7th and the movers come on the 8th at 9am, so I'll be moving some of my electronics and fragile things myself on the evening of the 7th. I'll leave the big stuff and the boxes for the movers. Tonight I'm going to go over to the container store to get some boxes and other things to prep for the move.

Also, since i'm ending my lease at the apartment complex early, i'll have to pay an extra month of rent. Ouch.  All of these costs are starting to add up, but I'm still feeling good about the money going into the house though. With Facebook, Zynga, Twitter, Sales Force, and others in the area getting money, and IPOs are on the way, there's going to be a lot more millionaires in the area, and I'm hoping to get into real estate before they decide to go on house shopping sprees and make it impossible for me to afford something nice.

Appraised and approved!

So the appraisal was spot on, thanks for not going through the same appraiser as last time. Seems like a crap shoot sometimes, but it worked out this once. The bank contacted my apartment management firm and they told them I haven't missed any payments in the last year. Something you should remember if you're planning on getting a house loan. This was something new that the previous bank didn't do before approving the loan.

There was an importance that the apartment's landlord was a company and not a person. I'm not sure what the difference means, but the banks prefer to deal with a company not an individual. I'm guessing that they might want to confirm that the landlord is trust worthy.

So I'll be going to the loan agent's office next week to sign a bunch of papers. After that i'll have a week or so to gather up all of my funds into one place so I can write a big check for the down payment. I'm going to have to assume they'll accept a wire, so I'll be able to go to my bank and send a wire transfer, being that I've gone digital money transfers for the last several years and I haven't even seen my physical check book for years. (So far that's worked out fine.)

So if all goes well, I'll be handed a set of keys on the 7th. Sooo, I've told my apartment management that I'll be leaving. I'll still have to pay an additional month of rent + the rent for next month as per the terms of my lease agreement on the apartment. And I've scheduled a full service mover to box up all my stuff and drag it to the new loft on the 8th. Yay!

Also, I'll be a lot further away from work than I am compared to my apartment. So I'll be getting an electric bike to help ease my commute. The Stromer! from electricwheelswest is going to be where I go. They're cool. Really really cool.

Almost time to party!

So sounds like the appraisal went well! I haven't gotten the paper work yet, but it sounds like the appraisal price was the same as the purchase price! I'll be getting the papers soon. From the sounds of it the purchase and the appraisal price usually differ, with the appraisal usually coming slightly under the purchase. The case usually ends up with a few percent difference.

So in my case I could have expected about 3 to 6k difference. But with the two coming out to the same number the number I'm going to have to put in for a down payment on the condo will come out to what was planned from the beginning!

Woo! next comes a bunch of simple paper work, and then soon after that a big fat check going to the mortgage bank.

The waiting is killing me.

After watching "Inside Job" the movie about the collapse of the banks in 2008 I'm a bit worried about the appraisal. Considering how loose the banks were and how they gave out predatory mortgages so often I'm wondering if they're more strict these days.

Or, maybe they're even worse, who knows.

Anyway, I have to wait for the the bank's appraiser person to finish writing his report and I'll get it via email sometime today, so I'm told.

Hope everything works out, otherwise it looks like I'll have to wait for a while to find a house. The end of the season is coming and I'll have to wait till more houses are available on the market. And on top of that, it's starting to feel like a lot of the places I was looking at earlier were in the low 500s, now everything seems to be in the low 600s. The market is feeling like it's getting hot.

If this keeps up I'll be out of luck and I'll have to get a house that's really not that great for the money.

more papers signed.

So, you have to prove a lot about your self. You have to prove you have money coming in each month by showing pay stubs. You have to prove it again with tax returns. You have to prove it again by witness, the bank wants to call my land lord to ask if I actually pay my rent. I have to prove where the money comes from, not lotto winnings or one time payments etc.

Things that made this easier are lots of on-line documentation provided by banks and other people who have web sites and manage money. Statements are easily printed from a web page and that's more than enough to satisfy any of the loaning agent's requirements.

Anyway, at the end of the day I was able to fill in all of the requirements, so the loan is so far approved. The bank wants to give me the money, but the under writer wants more proof that I have the money to pay the bank. By the end of the week I should have a report, about a page long, from the appraiser who is evaluating the property.

Depending on how that goes I should be meeting with the loan agent, and real estate agent and we'll go over the remaining costs and I'll be told how much money I'll need to hand over to the mortgage bank to get the rest of the money for the house.

I'll have a few days to gather up the money for the check and that should be that!

I have to remind myself that the money isn't going to completely disappear once it's handed over to the mortgage bank. It's going into a fund that's supporting my house's loan which is something that i'll be building equity in. So if the market value of the house goes up so too does the worth of the money that I put in.

Here's to all of the companies in the area and the new buildings popping up all around the house doing well!

Bank papers need signing.

Today I have to wait for the appraisal, and also I have to go sign some bank papers that allow the bank to pull a copy of my previous years tax returns. I guess banks don't like Docusign, sort of understandable. But that means that I have to either fax a signed paper, or go to the agent's office and sign papers there.

Quick update

So the appraiser from the bank will be going to the property tomorrow and he'll be meeting with the selling agent. My loan application has been submitted to the bank, but has yet to be underwritten. So, I'm left to more waiting and wondering.

Papers signed, on to the next step.

So the visual inspection papers are all signed via docu-sign. Looks like there are a few minor things that need to be fixed. The kitchen faucet sorta leaks, one of the windows is a bit sticky and hard to open and close. Oh, and there's a funny little dog door for the screen door out into the patio.

After this is the appraisal by the bank. Depending on what they say I might not be able to afford the place, if it appraises too low I'll have to come up with the difference between what the bank says it's worth and the money I need to buy the place. Crappy part of the process. There weren't any short sales or foreclosures in the area and there were two other sales in the building at or above the same price, so hopefully we can work with that.

House Inspection day!

Presents!

So today was the house inspection. I took about two hours off from work to go look at the house with the house inspection guy, my agent, and the selling agent. The process basically involves following the inspector as he turns on and off faucets, looks for leaks, holes, wobbly things, and stuff that's broken, or might in the near future be broken.

All in all the loft was in great shape, yay!

Something that the seller was telling me was that there are zoning restrictions that limit the amount of space that a loft can cover over the lower floor before it's no longer a loft, something like 33% or so. The other buyers in the same building have often ignored this and will not get a permit but still hire a contractor to build some extra loft space.

The building had this in mind and left open areas which would be easy to add a floor over and extend the closet and room over the entrance. The small bridge has been done away with in a couple units and the floor extended on the loft to meet the stairs. Something I might consider since that seems to add to the value of the unit.

The dryer seemed too big to fit in the closet. That's fine, I'm considering getting a super cool LG all-in-one washer dryer unit, very cool and super easy to use.

Other goodies include the fact that the sellers are going to leave me with their TV, since they went through all of the trouble to shove in RCA cables into the wall and mount the TV I guess I'll have to figure out how to string an HDMI cable through the holes they left, but that's no biggie.

Last but not least, they're also leaving the super cool grill in the patio space. Woot! It's like xmas! yay. The sellers aren't interested in keeping this thing. I guess they don't need it, great for me!

Also the building behind this unit was just sold. A gigantic warehouse, the selling agent tells me that in the next five or so years it's going to be developed into something, either living or retail. The nice part is that it will be pushed away from the back wall and I'll have a bit more air between my view and the back of the next building.

The open lot across the street from the property used to be an old glidden paint company factory. It's taken many years but it's been slated for construction in the next five years as well with commercial space on the ground and living space up above.

Now everything hinges on the appraisal. I really hope that goes well. :-S

DocuSign, a bit creepy.

It's almost too easy to sign in 40 different places in a gigantic contract. DocuSign is pretty neat, and it allows for nearly immediate contract agreement. But it seems odd that something like that can be binding. But in any case, I've got the contract from the sellers and now everyone is fully committed to the deal, I just have to get the bank to give me money at a decent rate and not want to rake me over the coals.

Signed mortgage papers this morning.

I went to the mortgage brokers office to sign papers.
Mostly just papers that talked about what the bank needs from me and that I give them the permission to look at my personal information and get my credit score. Credit scores seem like one of the bigger bank schemes, but I digress.

The process took about 10 minutes as the broker explained each page I needed to sign, no biggie. After this the loaning bank has a group of randomly selected appraisers to pick from. Then said random person will go out and look at the property and suggest the foreclosure price that the bank would sell it for if I fail on paying the bank. (or what they like to call an "appraised" price)

language hides the intent behind things all too often.

Officially official.

So now the 999 16th street seller has accepted our offer and we're in contract.
I've sent out my escrow this morning from my bank to the mortgage bank.
The mortgage broker needs new bank statements for this month, since it's been a month since the last time I went through this. And that's about it.

I've been scheduled to go on a business trip this week too, going to leave out of town from Friday, and arrive back home on Saturday. Then on Monday I have to go out to the property again with a property inspector to take a look at the condition of the house.

If we find something that looks horrible, then we can back out of the sale and I can get my escrow back. If not then we can proceed with the sale of the house. After this comes the evil appraisal process where the bank can feel free to either extort more money, or just not allow me the money for a loan.

hopefully the banks decide not to be evil, but we know how that might go.

Verbal acceptance!

Horray!
So the seller said that there are three other people that are thinking about making an offer, but I'm the first one to pull the trigger on 999 16th Street. So I've gotten word from my agent that we're going to move ahead and start up with the contracts and the rest of the process.

I have to wire some money to the bank for escrow tomorrow morning before getting to work, then next monday at noon I have to go to the property with an inspector and look at the house. At that time I can decide to back out if I find gigantic cracks in the foundation or the place doesn't look fit to live in. I'm guessing that won't be the case.

fingers crossed!

Put in the bid on 999 16th st. Now I have to wait.

So after putting in a bid, I have to wait to see if the seller will accept my offer. If they accept then we go into a contract. Then I have to wire escrow then go through house inspection and the rest of that.

Jitters! hope they accept the offer! :S

Hit 5 different houses today, bidding on one.

On the bottom of our list was 851 Indiana. At the top of the price range this one felt more like an apartment. Not my favorite.

Then there is 701 Minnesota.
This was a super nice unit in a super nice setting. The gardens in the common area is really nicely kept. But it was more of a regular house.

Then there was 468 Tehama.
Nice over all but a bit uninteresting. It faced a street, and felt a bit small.

250 Clara was nice. Super up to date build. Nice quality parts, but no patio.

Last is 999 16th st.
This was today's winner. Patio, check. Gas range, check. Dog patch, check. Super quiet, at a corner and in a nice building. No elevator, but I guess I'll survive since the garage was so nice, and parking in the area was easy.

Lots of space, the laundry machines need to be upgraded, but they are at least usable.  The layout was cool and allowed for a lot of creative use of the space.

I'm putting in a bid on this place. So hopefully this one will work out.

This post will be updated with pics soon.

Another property I should look at

128 morris st #6 came down to $560.

I like these lofts, I saw this on the market before, but it was just out of my range. Looks like it's coming down and I should take a look this weekend!

There's also 520 6th St #8 at $599 which I should also take a look at as well.

going to be a busy Sunday...

Price Reduced, and in my range.

999 16th St at $599 has come down in price, going to go take a look at this place on Sunday. Hope not too many people are interested in this one. There's a big empty lot across the street, but it's got a cool isolated patio space!

I'll post some pics of the unit on Sunday. Here's a shot from the MLS listing. I should look up what MLS means... Seems like people take acronyms for granted sometimes.

Selling agent is being dumb, oh, and lies.

We were told they'd let us make counter offers. But after 7 bids on the property they just picked the highest one and told everyone else to fuck off.

Bitch!

That's pretty lame. 5th and Townsend is a cool location, but whatever! I've got a deeper pocket than I had thought, I'd like to play this game a bit damnit!

The house was pretty big, had some issues with the grout in the bathrooms, but it's not really been lived in. It was used as an office since it's first sale in '99.

And it's all of a block away from a Safeway. I just know it's some jackass buyer who just wants to rent out the place at like 3600 a month screwing up the rent prices in the area even more. There are too many high priced rentals in that area already, let someone who actually wants to *own* in San Francisco buy a damn house.

Welp, At the moment there's not a whole lot in the area that's on sale. Well, there's a cool place for 1.5million, but that's a bit out of my price range :( Angry today...

Evil villains, if only I were one...

Architecturally Impressive Lairs of Movie Villains: Inspired by the one-off pub Evil...

Yep, I wish I had endless funds extorted from oppressive governments. But then I guess I'd have to employ henchmen...

Waiting.

So the sales rep for the 655 property is going to start looking at bids on Thursday. My real estate agent said that if there are a lot of bids, about 5 we're going to have to put in our best and last offer. This way we can hope that we're on top of the list and most likely to get into a contract with the place. Otherwise if there are only a couple other bids we're going to put in something that will give us more room to negotiate.

I don't wanna wait! :S

oh well.