http://irenakohler.com/blog/archive_201508/sort_entrydatetime-desc/  As you know from previous blog posts, my family is finally under contract. After some negotiating and lots of luck we are able to start the final jog to the closing table. There is so much that happens after your realtor exclaims,  “Congratulations! Your offer has been accepted!”  No two real estate transactions are ever the same, and our situation has to be one of the most unique I have ever been a part of. My family (“the buyers”) are located in a hot market in North Carolina. The Sellers are located overseas...with a 12-hour time difference. This resulted in every required document, every question, and every interaction taking a full day longer to complete. To say that this has been a bit nerve-wracking would be a gross understatement.As soon as we were informed that we were under contract, we began the process to secure our mortgage. Since the decline (or bust, if you will) of the Housing Market (beginning in 2007 and hitting lows in 2012), getting a loan has required more documentation, qualifications and time. We spent no less than one week just searching files, requesting documentation, and combing through bank statements to determine where every dollar had come from, and where it had gone. For the most part, I would say kids. Kids are where all the dollars go!Every time that we thought we had absolutely everything the Underwriter would come back to us, requesting yet another document. Around midnight on a random Wednesday night, we swore (for the 1,000th time) that we would never lose track of a penny again! My advice? Do a quick Google search or contact a mortgage broker before you even intend to apply for a loan, start a list of everything that you may potentially need, and start finding that stuff stat! It will save you so much time and frustration.  Our house was being sold “as is” but we still wanted to have a home inspection completed. I suggest that you ALWAYS have one. We needed to know that the bones of the house were good and that the house was safe for our family. We also didn’t want any $20,000 surprises after we move in.If at all possible, go to the inspection with your Inspector! Our guy was great, and was one of about 4 recommended by our realtor, friends, and family. We spent almost 5 hours looking into every nook and cranny of the house. After finding all of the “issues” we walked away knowing exactly what kind of renovations and repairs we were facing. This allowed for us to determine what we could afford to do before moving in. For us, new windows, kitchen floor, a small plumbing job, and a minor roof repair are the priorities. Not too bad for a home built in the 1960s. In addition to walking through explaining what the issues were, our inspector sent us an extremely detailed report (complete with pictures) of everything that he found and noted as an issue. This will come in handy as we check off the smaller issues over time. Our inspector charged us (The Buyer usually pays for the Inspection) around $1000. I think that this is the most important money that will be spent on our house. As the mortgage documents rolled through the approval process, the Lender scheduled an appraisal. Most common loans will require an appraisal to determine that the house is, in fact, worth the loan amount. Our lender scheduled the appraisal and we were not present for it. An appraiser will pull comparable homes for sale (“comps”) or recently sold homes in the area. He/She will compare all aspects from the condition, square footage, number of rooms, use of space and will adjust the home value accordingly.We were cruising right on to the closing date...until we weren’t. Remember that fun little fact from the beginning of this post that the sellers lived overseas? With flexibility and patience it mattered very little...until now.Find out how our closing has been effected by working with a seller so far away. And, find out if we even make it to the closing table. It will be a surprise for all of us, as we haven’t made it just yet!What are some of the hurdles that you have jumped when closing on a home? Have you ever passed on an inspection? Join the conversation on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/seacoastrealty http://irenakohler.com/blog/1302/what-to-expect-when-buying-a-home-:-you-are-under-contract-now-what?/ Mon, 31 Aug 2015 12:00:00 -0500 Your Kitchen’s Role in Your  HomeOn most afternoons, usually around 4:30pm, you can find me frantically searching the Internet for recipes utilizing the few ingredients that I have in the pantry. I am in this dash because at some point I got too busy--and forgot that I need to stop at the grocery store. Around 5:30pm, I have usually given up on my Internet searches, and given into just cooking everything that I have. By 6:30pm, the family is all sitting around the table--some content and some grumbling-- over the “rice bowls," “big salads," “homemade soup,” or “pasta thingy” that I have concocted.By 7:00pm we are talking and usually laughing about something funny the 2-year-old did or some crazy thing that the 4-year-old has decided to invent. And in those moments all of the food stresses have vanished and we are fully and presently with each each other. The whole family knows that we will do it all again tomorrow.No matter what food is eaten there is a special togetherness that eating with the family fosters. I grew up with a grandfather who farmed almost everything that my grandmother made. A few times a week our family would casually stroll into their house and have dinner, watch PM Magazine, and talk. On the days that we didn’t eat from my grandfather’s garden, my father would cook elaborate versions of soul food that far outweighed even my mother’s most ambitious meals. I can remember every detail of my grandparent’s kitchen. I know what the countertops were made of (a white formica with tiny gold flecks), what was in each of the cabinets, and most certainly where my grandmother hid sweets. My mother still owns the table that my grandmother so extravagantly set night after night (with only white plates, bowls, etc. and Smurf glasses from Hardee’s), and when I enter my mother’s kitchen I am immediately taken back to dinner as a child. My parents grow a lot of the food that they cook, and I can trace some of those smells back to toddlerhood. I also know that a proper tomato sandwich is made of only whole bread, Duke’s Mayonnaise, home grown tomato slices (heirloom), and a sprinkle of black pepper. It is best served with a cold Coke. As many of you who follow the blog know, my family is in the midst of moving. We are under-contract on a house that does not have the greatest kitchen: but I am determined that when we move in, that kitchen will house the memories that my kids will look back on. It is in that kitchen that I will try to replicate (and hopefully one day master) my father’s soul food and my grandmother’s cottage cheese pie. The point is THE KITCHEN IS IMPORTANT!For me to work my kitchen magic I need 3 things; sturdy counters, room for five, and a nice set of pans. The backsplash (I want subway tile), the appliances (stainless would be nice), and the cabinet color (these will one day be refaced) really are just minor details in the story of my kitchen. I am willing to give the minor details up for countertop cupcake making, loud excitement whether it be over a ball game or tears over a broken heart, and the ability to just whip up what I already have in the pantry (granted I made it to the grocery store anytime in near past). Trends in kitchens change. Some are beautiful and some are questionable after a decade. Big is nice, but small can feel just as nice. Let your realtor show you some things that aren’t on your wish list. Let them guide you into a memory maker. Let go of perfect unless it's going to make your tomato sandwiches top notch! What role does your kitchen play in your family? Join the conversation.https://www.facebook.com/seacoastrealtyTo see some of the kitchens packed with loads of potential in our area http://www.seacoastrealty.com/ http://irenakohler.com/blog/1303/your-kitchen’s-role-in-your-home/ Thu, 20 Aug 2015 12:00:00 -0500 If you read last week's blog post, you already know that I have studied, gotten a pre-approval letter, and started the home search. Back in my youth (before time got scarce and kids got plentiful), I loved the search for the perfect house. In all honesty, I still do, but the lazy Saturday mornings of driving to open houses at a whim are gone. Our search has been warp speed. We pack snacks, drinks, coloring books, diapers and plan our route like a trip to Europe.We had three areas that we wanted to zone in on. All of them offered up great schools, walkability to parks, and the most important factor were in our budget...not a penny over! In total we looked at about 10 houses before we found the one. We knew when we walked in that this house would need work, but we also knew that the location and the house layout were perfect for our young family.This is the kind of work I’m talking about here. Anybody know a good tree service?Because the city that we moved to is experiencing  quite a rebound from the housing market crisis in previous years houses were selling fast. In many cases they are selling above the list prices with multiple offers. We had to make a move, and we had to do it fast. As soon as we viewed the house and buckled everyone into their seats, and passed out waters, and found pacifiers we talked. We drove the neighborhood again, we speculated on what kind of neighbors lived on the street, and then we called our real estate agent and told him that we wanted to make an offer to purchase.Acting on our Realtor’s advice, we offered full asking price. We asked for closing costs, and the offer would be contingent on our financing and home inspection. Here is where things slowed down, and the dream felt like it was going to die.As soon as we walked into our rental condo, we started “signing” all of the necessary paperwork. Our realtor was able to prepare and send all documents online. This was extremely helpful. He looked through the documents and informed us that he was submitting the offer. We waited...At 10pm our realtor called. The seller actually lived overseas, so all offers (and there were a few others) would be held until the following morning and submitted to the seller at the same time. Yikes! 2 days passed and we were freaking out! How long was an offer good for? When would we hear back? Would we hear back? Could we make other offers? The number of questions that our Realtor had to answer was downright embarrassing!  By the end of the third day we were informed that the sellers chose another offer. The house was “under contract.” Dreams of the kids coming down these stairs on Christmas...dashed.My family experienced a strange sort of heartbreak knowing that we were still house hunting. In the short time (not even a week) since seeing the house, we had started to picture our life there. We were so in love with the neighborhood that it seemed like every other neighborhood was not as good. We knew that we would continue looking in this neighborhood, but we also knew that most things that came on the market in this area went under contract super fast, and for more money than we had to spend. I actually cried.Two weeks later, our luck changed! Our realtor called us one evening to inform us that the contract had fallen through, and that the seller would be putting “our house” back on the market! We immediately told our realtor to resubmit our offer, to take out the closing cost, and to add an extra $1000 to the offer. This would be the strongest offer that we could make, and we did not want to lose out again.Two nail-biting days later, we were under contract. Our offer to purchase had been in competition with 3 other, but the tweaks to the offer were enough to sway the seller. The kids went to bed talking about their new rooms and my husband and I poured a glass of celebratory wine! The next morning the drive to close on this house kicked into high gear. There were papers to be signed, inspections to be lined up, loans to qualify for. You can read all about those things on the blog next week!How did you know that you found “the one”? Did you have to jump through many hoops to make it your own? Let us know on our Facebook page!https://www.facebook.com/seacoastrealtyIf you haven’t already found your dream home, we can help! http://www.seacoastrealty.com/ http://irenakohler.com/blog/1304/what-to-expect-when-buying-a-home:-you’ve-found-“the-one”/ Fri, 14 Aug 2015 12:00:00 -0500  After selling our home for a move across the state, my husband and I wondered if now was the right time to buy a home? We had to move quickly, due to a job start date as well as a super-quick sale of our home. Upon arriving in our new town we set up camp in a rental with our three children and started researching. The very first thing that we did, upon the advice of various realtors and lenders, was to make sure that our finances were in good order. No matter our choice to buy or rent, we needed to be able to understand where our debts stood and how much we could afford. By ensuring that our credit scores were good and that all open accounts were in good standing we were able to move forward.The decision to buy was made pretty quickly. Our family was going to stay in the same home for the duration of elementary school (at least) for three children, so we knew this will be a 5-10 year move. Mortgage interest rates were at historic lows. And possibly the biggest factor for us was that rent would be just as expensive as mortgage payments and in most cases even more because of the size of our family! Buying was a no-brainer for us.https://youtu.be/lm2NtyM2i2Qhttp://bit.ly/1OC1OaXAfter making the first of what would end up being hundreds of decisions, the first person that we contacted was our long term mortgage broker. We had worked with him on all of our previous loans, and it felt comfortable going back to him for guidance. Our broker was able to speak with us about income, assets, debts, etc. He then gave us a general idea of what we could afford and a loan pre-approval letter in the event that we found something we wanted to put an offer on.With pre-approval in hand we began casually driving around neighborhoods looking for the perfect spot. We scoured the Internet for neighborhood reviews, school reviews, etc. We joined forums for our new town. We reached out to anyone from our past that now lived in our new city. I’m pretty sure that at some college somewhere I have earned a doctorate in all things “new city.” The research could have been a full-time job and without local knowledge of the area we were swimming in a sea of confusion! This is where a relocation specialist came in very handy! A relocation specialist was able to answer some of our questions and then refer us to a local realtor. http://www.seacoastrealty.com/relocate/Our realtor was able to assist us in narrowing our search. The market is hot in our new city, and we needed to focus to be able to play the real estate game! We chose three areas to focus on. I drove those areas in the morning, afternoon, and night to get a feel for the traffic, neighborhood activity, and the kinds of people that would become our neighbors. All of the above steps were imperative in our quest for the perfect home. After completing the steps above we were confident walking into each showing that if we loved the house we could quickly make our offers. The future was coming and coming fast! Check back to see what happened when we found our dream home!How did you make the decision to buy or rent? What were the big factors in choosing where to look? Who was imperative to you starting your search?Join the conversation on our Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/seacoastrealty http://irenakohler.com/blog/1305/what-to-expect-when-buying-a-house:-the-rent-is-too-high-and-the-rates-are-too-good-decisions-decisions/ Thu, 06 Aug 2015 12:00:00 -0500