It is said that every rain cloud has a silver lining. The nation is plagued with economic woes but it is possible to find some who are able to benefit from the current economic downturn.
Bob and Helen, for example, officially became first-time homeowners at 4 p.m. today. Bob was unfortunately unable to attend the closing due to a business trip to Mexico, so Helen and her daughter, Dorothy, shared in the excitement together.
Bob and Helen, for example, officially became first-time homeowners at 4 p.m. today. Bob was unfortunately unable to attend the closing due to a business trip to Mexico, so Helen and her daughter, Dorothy, shared in the excitement together.
After signing, the two enjoyed many treats from the "candy wall" at their settlement office. Helen said having a little chocolate and licorice made her feel better about making such a big committment and recommends such walls to every settlement company.
Helen explains that it is thanks solely to the economic downturn that her and Bob were able to purchase their home.
“If you had asked us six months ago if we were planning on buying a home we would have laughed in your face,” says Helen. “We honestly never thought that we would be able to afford a single-family home in the area where Bob’s job is. But here we are, signing for our first home. I’m still in disbelief that it is happening.”
Though today was an exciting day for all, the road to get to this day was long and emotional.
“I honestly didn’t know we were actually going to get the house until my realtor called this morning and said we were closing,” Helen said. “I was not mentally prepared for how emotionally draining buying a home can be. I had done my research and read all the books I could find, but the intense stress of the process was mentioned almost in passing. It was definitely not explained well enough for anyone to prepare for it.”
The closing of the house was initially set for June 12 but was pushed back several times due to repairs needed in the home and then final documents that were not a priority for all the parties involved.
“The hardest thing to deal with was not being able to control any part of the process,” Helen explains. “It is supposed to be a buyers market right now, and I suppose it is that way, but in reality you are at the mercy of the seller and their realtor. We had to deal with the most awful realtor; he lacked serious communication skills and made it very hard to get the simplest of tasks completed.”
Helen’s two pieces of advice to future first-time homebuyers is to “first and foremost get a great realtor to work with. We had Diane who was honestly a blessing sent from heaven. She would listen calmly as we ranted and raved about the process and worked endlessly to get us into our house. If it wasn’t for Diane we honestly wouldn’t be where we are today. She has become a wonderful friend and we can’t wait to go to dinner with her and chat about something other than useless realtors and the home-buying process.”
Second, get a good lender that will also communicate with you on a regular basis. You will be calling this person constantly and will need their approval (if it is an FHA loan) for everything that you do so be sure it is someone you like. We lucked out with our lender, Jeff. He was a constant source of calm during this process as well and he helped to make our loan application easy to understand and was always willing to sit and answer any questions that we had about the loan process and even the home buying process.”
Bob and Helen admit they are still shocked that they were able to find their silver lining in all the chaos and are very excited to move into their new home. Their three children, Dorothy, Buzz, and Maggie, are also excited about moving now that they have found a live toad living in one of their window wells. Emails to friends will go out soon with the new address and phone number.
