Sigh...another house hunt update...

There's some things to report, but we're still not moving forward. Our market is so incredibly frustrating, because of all of the short sales. We are STILL waiting for final word from the banks on both of the short sale offers that we have.

Okay, I will confess something. We are pretty picky. That's part of the reason this is as hard as it is. I think there have been several times where our realtor (Tammie, who is awesome, by the way) has wanted to just shake us and say, "It's your first house, it's not going to have absolutely everything!!!", and want us to lower our expectations about something just slightly. But, bless her heart, she has put up with our standards.

But, the reality is that I know too much about the schools in the area (which is good for our future children, but makes it harder to find houses in our price range), so there are some areas I don't want to buy in. There is nothing wrong with any of these schools, but I'm being picky. There's nothing wrong with the Hillsboro School District, but we'd rather be in Beaverton. We want (need) a yard, we want 3, preferably 4 bedrooms. We want a house, not a cookie cutter condo or 'house' with houses 2 feet away on either side. We can't afford/don't know how to work with much of a fixer upper. So, needless to say, this has been a challenge for our realtor. But, again, she has been GREAT!

The Tualatin short sale looks like it is probably not going to happen. The bank will not approve anything below $190K, which is way out of our price range. Actually, we are qualified for that high, but I am not having our mortgage be half our income or more. NO WAY. It's frustrating, because it was short sale listed at $159 and we made an offer lower than that. I honestly don't care (TOO MUCH) that we probably won't get it, but it has made me SO angry that we've been basically been waiting for 3 months, having our hopes up for nothing. This just proof that if something seems too good to be true, it very likely is...... Basically, a short sale owner can list at any price to get offers and then has to wait for the bank in charge of their mortgage to approve the offer. This bank will not approve our offer because every other property in the area is worth much more than that. (which we knew) The listing agent is trying to prove to the bank how much work the house needs and the condition it is in, but they don't care. They are hundreds of miles away, have never seen it and only see the value of the property it is on. SIGH

The second offer we have on the 4 bedroom in Aloha (our 2nd choice, but still a lot to offer) seems to be doing better. The listing agent is much more positive about our offer (which is much lower than the Tualatin offer) being accepted. It is on a very quiet cul-de-sac, has a large family room and living room, HUGE yard, 4 bedrooms, dining room and 1 1/2 baths. It needs a lot of yard work and we would likely paint all of the inside. It also needs to be cleaned BIG TIME. I don't know what the current owners are thinking honestly. I'm so embarrassed for them. It is SO FULL of junk and clutter. Luckily, it doesn't appear that there's any damage, just dust and dirt. I'd be mortified for someone to see my house like this. Here is the listing. It is a LIE. I have no idea when these pictures were taken, the house is full of trash and clutter, as well as the yard. But, we are able to see past it for the house's potential and we really like it. We should hear 'any day now'. FINGERS CROSSED! After our offer is hopefully accepted, we cross our fingers for inspection.....

God bless my parents for letting us stay now for 7 MONTHS, which is so much longer than we ever planned or anticipated. We have saved our down payment and enough for minor work and repairs, as well as paid of any additional debt. (not counting Nelson's under grad student loans) It's time to be back in our OWN house!!