Well, as far as our house goes, we are still in a holding pattern.  Now there is an issue with the septic.  But with that said I would still like to outline a few things to keep in mind when house hunting.
Last time I said make your wish list and then go for it.  And with a great agent like the one we used — Wayne Perras of Coldwell Banker — they will do what they can to fulfill your wish list and stay realistic to your budget.  Also an agent like Wayne who has been in the real estate market for over 20 years will have contacts in other areas —  like inspectors or a reputable finance company.  Your agent will work for you as a buyer’s agent, and that’s what you want.  You want to be able to take advantage of all their knowledge of the area and the market and all the connections you need to make the purchase of your dream home go smoothly.
After you find your dream house and you have an offer accepted (which is a thrill in and of itself), and you are ready to go get your loan I have one tip that I think is VERY IMPORTANT: Have your financial house in order.  In other words, know where all your bank statements are, know where your tax information is,  be sure that you have all your financial records where you can find them.  Even if you think you aren’t going to need, you probably will.
Once you get your loan secured then the inspections start.  Our property is considered a rural property so we had to have a well inspection along with the house itself being inspected.  We also had to have the septic inspected and it had to be made clear that the well, septic and leech field were all 100 feet away from each other.  When you have an inspection you will learn lots of things about the house you are buying so its probably a good idea to be present for the inspection.  You can actually be present for any of the times that either the house, the well, the septic or the plumbing  (well basically anything) in the house needs to be looked at again.  Like I said for us it was the well, the septic and leech field placement.  If anything comes of the inspections that needs to be fixed then it will be up to the seller to make sure that it is fixed. If its something really major in our case the septic, and they don’t want to pay for it, you can bail.  Which makes it a little more comforting if something is found.  But more than likely the sellers will fix the problems and everything will be fine.
The most fun part of buying a new house for me is the house hunting itself, looking at different properties.  The financial stuff — not so much.  But it has to be done and its very important to know what you can afford, what you want and what you are will to give up.
We are going to have a septic inspection later this week, fingers crossed that nothing needs to be done.  Buying a house in winter is not ideal and we might have to wait until spring to have the septic fixed if we need to.  So right now its just another unknown…..
But I’m confident that it will get it taken care of one way or another so I better start packing!

Next time:
Playing the Coupon Game