Time To Fish or Cut Bait...

Our heads were whirling. Thoughts of down payments and mortgages were intruding on the Coastal Living Cottage Dream! I had met with my financial advisor/friend John and he did not think we were crazy for considering buying real estate In the current economy even at the beach. My thought was that property values had dropped and that thirty year mortgages were still at and all time low. We were fortunate to have excellent credit which is a big deal after the mortgage debacle. Rates were less than 4.50 and would likely only go up. We had purchased property back in the eighties and were lucky to get a 12.00 mortgage...so under 4.50 sounded great. Plus we really were going to need a tax deduction...and we could deduct the interest...so that was a big factor in favor of going cottage crazy! We could swing 20 percent down which was required to get that rate for thirty years! Yikes thirty YEARS...that was scary. We were concerned about the additional closing costs and Sandy had mentioned that might be a bargaining chip. The owner was a serious man who just wanted to close out this chapter of his life. He was estranged From his wife who was living in the cottage and a divorce was likely. Fate stepped in and his Elizabeth had a serious accident and later passed away. He did not trust realtors and had priced the property to sell to someone he knew. But it was not to be. They were unable to get financing. So he was now having to decide what to do next. Along comes Sandy and she just rings him up and convinces him to let her show the cottage. No contract just her word and his on what he wanted for the cottage. Sandy realized he really did need to move on and that Was good to know. After more hand wringing and stomachs knotting up we both said you know if not now when. After some of my health issues I recognize that it is important to make the most of today...so we called Sandy and agreed to meet at her place so we could ink a contract. We discussed our offer and truly felt like his price was reasonable and had he agreed to pay Sandy a commission so that was lowering his net proceeds. We decided to ask him to pay our closing costs...but offer him full price and a closing in thirty days! Sandy hooked us up with Tonya and with our down payment and excellent credit she assured us she could meet a thirty day closing! We felt strongly that we wanted a home inspection and we were all three worried that the seller would balk since he had said that was the price as is...but we really didn't expect any serious issues but we were not prepared to take a chance and this was coastal property so we included the inspection, inked the deal and decided we needed some food...Sundae Cafe next stop and let the waiting begin! Stay tuned for the rest of the story!