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holy heck... we just bought a house...

January 15th, 2009 at 09:58 am

After looking at a place several times, in different stages fo the day, week and weekend, and having BF's dad (a builder) look over the entire house - we decided we felt confident to put in an offer on a house.

(4 bedroom house in the Town N I mentioned on a previous entry)

I organised a solicitor early this week (one recommended by a friend)

I called the real estate this morning, said we would like to make an offer. The guy put the details in the contract over the phone and I asked him to fax it to my solicitor. We made an appointment to sign it later in the day. Our initial offer was $312k. The asking price was $325k.

We signed all the documents at 5pm at the real estates office, went again to have a look at the property and on our way home got a call from the agent.
There had been another offer (pfft) He said to be ahead we woul need to offer over $320k. I was driving so BF called him back and said that we would like to offer $319k. The real estate agent said that the owner was willing to give it to us for $322500. BF told the real estate that our finance was only approved up to $320k and that we couldn't offer any more than that. (which is a lie - we are approved up to $350k with the deposit we have currently).The real estate agent called us back and said that at $320k, the offer had been accepted.

The thing is, we KNOW that it's 99% likely that there was NO other offer - however, $320 is $5k under the asking price, and was the bottom of our budget for a house. We will have approx $9000 left over after settlement, plus whatever it is that we earn up to then and can save.

I've come to terms with the fact that we could have gotten it for less, and the real estate played us - its expected - but i have to think about it like this: if i were in the sellers shoes, i would want whats fair too. I think knocking 5k off the price is fair.

I've specified 21 days for finance, and 45 days for full settlement.

On the way home after finding out our offer was accepted, we got a call from our bank manager. I had been in a few hours previously to tell her what was going on, and I suggested she base her calculations on $320k. She told us she had just put our pre approval through and that had also been succesful. So now all thats left is initialling the changed amount on the contracts, faxing it to our solicitors, taking it to the bank, organising a pest inspection, getting the conveyancing out of the way...


I have not eaten all day and it's 8pm, so we're about to go and watch tv and eat some soup. I feel about ten years older and like I could sleep for a three days straight. I can't believe how nervous and stressed and frantic I have been these past couple of days.

15 Responses to “holy heck... we just bought a house...”

  1. shiela Says:
    1232023707

    Hey congrats on new house!!! When is the housewarming? Smile

  2. gamecock43 Says:
    1232027115

    Congrats!! I too played out in my mind the negotiations for our house thinking of how we could have gotten a better deal. Heck, everybody asks us what kind of a deal we got! But then I justify it as "Would I mind if someone else moved into my house because of 5k? yes." I might have been able to shave a couple grand off the price if I wanted to risk the house, but I really wanted that house and was prepared to pay a bit more to secure that I get it. So good for you and sticking within your budget!!

  3. mooshocker Says:
    1232028292

    Congrats! One thing though: you can NEVER be played if you truly wanted the house and it fell within your budget. In fact, you played them. You got the one you wanted and didn't pay full price or even close to what you were able to pay. God bless.

  4. mom-sense Says:
    1232029385


    Congratulations! Post pics when you can! We enjoyed seeing Gamecock's find!

  5. monkeymama Says:
    1232031053

    Congrats!!

  6. Koppur Says:
    1232034127

    Yay!!! Congrats!!!

  7. lizajane Says:
    1232035590

    Happy homeownership! Definitely post some pics!!

  8. scfr Says:
    1232038482

    I am very happy for you; I am going to hold off on congratulations until closing is done.

    Just as I advised gamecock when she bought her house, get rest when you can; you are in for some busy times. Glad to hear you have 45 days until full settlement; hopefully that will be a bit less stressful than the typical 30 days.

  9. dmontngrey Says:
    1232041718

    Wow, wonderful news!! I can't wait til we buy a house someday. We own now, but it's a condo. A large condo, but still not the same as a house! I'm really happy for you!

  10. Loyd Ford Says:
    1232057019

    Congratulations!

    The right plan makes all the difference. It is very exciting to purchase a new home.

    The good news is that you probably got a great deal. You will see benefit from the low interest rates, too.

    And here is a tip that can save you many thousands of dollars over the course of the loan. Make little principle payments in addition to your mortgage. You can do this with smaller amounts and it adds up SO FAST!

    Many people want to pay down debt, and if you start early and make small payments (even $50 here and $157.31 there) to principle on your mortgage you can actually BIG TIME boost your payoff earlier!

    Congratulations again!

    Loyd Ford
    More tips on saving, and tricks to get ahead?
    www.STICKYASSET.com/blog

  11. Analise Says:
    1232070574

    That is great news! Congratulations. So happy it all worked out even though there was some haggling involved... all very typical of the house-buying process. Can't wait to hear more and then to see some pictures.

  12. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1232079103

    I'm so happy for you! I hope everything goes smoothly.

  13. whitestripe Says:
    1232080927

    thanks everyone Big Grin

  14. Amber Says:
    1232081162

    Wow, good for you and BF...I'm so happy for you Big Grin

  15. Broken Arrow Says:
    1232120766

    Congrats!

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