There are at least three kinds of
loans offered to those who qualify to purchase a house. The VA loan is offered to veterans. The government will loan 100% of the funds
needed for the house. The house has to
be up to code to meet all the approval of the inspector. They are very strict.
An FHA will pay up to 96½%. It is up to the buyer to come up with the
remaining 3½%. The house has to be up to
code and meet the approval of the inspector.
They are not as strict as VA.
A conventional loan will pay up to
80% and the buyer has to come up with the remaining 20%. Cash is also an option to those who actually
have it.
The couple that purchased my mom’s
house had been looking for a house with established and wholesome owner
history. How fortunate they were to be
able to get into a house that had only one order. How great for them that they were able to
have that option. I have not been as
fortunate in my house hunting. It seems
with each house our options have lessened.
Yesterday, I had actually started a
post about the last couple of houses we saw – specifically the one that Roland
was determined to get. I never finished
the post. It doesn’t seem pertinent anymore.
At least not the way it was written.
Before we moved to Oregon, I had decided that I wanted to live in one area for
at least a year before settling on an area we would finally call home.
Our initial plan was to drive to locations between I5 and Highway 1 to get a
feel of the land and decide where it was we wanted to live.
After we moved in, Roland and I were both so exhausted that we didn’t ever want
to move again. But as we are only renting, it does seem apparent that we
will need to move someday, though perhaps sooner than we had anticipated.
We spent two weekends exploring. We first went to Coos Bay and then to
Eugene. We did not look at houses. We toured. It’s just as
well. In the seven months that we’ve been here, I’ve ruled out living
directly on the coast or living in Lane County. I’ve been leaning toward
Polk – though we’ve actually never looked beyond Douglas County for housing –
at least physically.
I have found houses in Polk that I thought
might work for us – but we have not made a physical trip to Polk – perhaps
through Polk the two times we’d gone to McMinnville. I even found a house
in Salem that will be going to Auction in less than two weeks. My cousin
said it’s in a good neighborhood, but we haven’t gone. I think we’re
meant to stay in Douglas County. But in which city?
Before we had come to Oregon, we had known our monthly payment on the house
would be more than our monthly payment in Salt Lake. We had figured that
into expenses. We had not planned on the outrageous water bill – more
than three times the amount of what we’d paid in Salt Lake. Our expenses overall
are more than we had planned and we need to either come up with more money or
spend less.
We have managed to save a bit when we cut
costs from our budget of things that – although they seemed necessary – we
could try to live without. It’s helped some, but would be more comfortable
if we had more wiggle room.
Another option that we had was to purchase a
house that would give us a lower mortgage than what we’re currently paying in
rent. Thus we started looking at houses online and now have a realtor who can take us to houses and allow us to look at them in person. We started looking for houses at
the end of November.
Our journey has definitely been an
interesting one. Fixer-upper stick houses or manufactured houses, which
Roland really doesn’t want – but overall I have liked a lot better than any
stick beast we have looked at.
In the past, Roland has always looked at the
house itself. I look at the neighborhood. I have attended the ward
before we’ve moved in. I have made my decision based upon location.
But I don’t know Oregon well enough. I already have a feel of the
wards. Thus I have been looking at the house itself. I have seen a few
that I liked but wasn’t so fond of the location or else I’ve given myself more
time to reflect Roland’s comments on the flaws of the house and have had time
to weigh it in my mind.
We saw two houses the other night: one in
Sutherlin and one on the outskirts of Roseburg. I like the idea of
Sutherlin – because it is closer to Roseburg and we’re closer to greater
opportunities at finding jobs. But I did not like the house or - more
specifically - the yard.
The house is a short sale. It could
take up to two months for the bank to decide whether we can even buy it or
not. Also a six hundred dollar cost on an inspector who may not pass
it. That is quite a
gamble. Even from the realtors’ point of view, it seems like too huge of a risk.
It is definitely the oldest house that we would ever live in. Also the traffic
on I5 seemed loud – which is weird because I’ve been around heavier traffic all
of my adult life. But I’ve gotten used to the quiet and have really enjoyed it.
Roland is excited by the potential of the
Sutherlin house. He sees what things can be done to make it “ours” but I
do not share in his excitement at all. The roof is flat.
There is only one wall heater. The improvements that Roland would like to
make don’t cost as much as the house, but they still cost. I don’t want
to make payments upon improvements and a payment for the house. We may
end up spending more than we are currently paying – which would defeat the
primary purpose of our move.
Let’s not forget the cost of tree removal
and sprucing up the yard. I didn’t move to Oregon to spend the rest of my
life to fix up a house and yard for someone else to live in (I think I might
actually pass away before the renovation is complete) Also there was something
in the air that seemed to have the same affect on me as the Salt Lake
inversion.
I think Jenna would have liked the started
tree house and just having a tree to climb. But I don’t think it will be
worth the move just for that. Nor do I believe it will compensate for not
being able to finish up sixth grade at Coffenbury. Overall the schools in
Sutherlin do have better ratings than what is offered in Myrtle Creek or
Canyonville.
All four of us eliminated the house in
Roseburg before we had even arrived. Dirt streets trails, railroad
sounds. Each of the neighbors seemed to have unsanitary piles of junk
surrounding their houses. I was fine with the interior of the house –
very spacious, but still on jacks. I can visualize an obnoxious wind
knocking the house to the ground. We’d end up in some neighbor’s yard that
would just add us to the collection already built up in their yard. No
thank you. I’ve already lived next door to a pack rat whose yard looked
like a junkyard. I don’t need to look at that on all four sides.
As I was writing, Roland announced that the
Sutherlin house would be out. We were supposed to look at one more house
tonight and then we’d put in an offer on something. It would be one of
three houses, two that we had already seen or the one in Roseburg that we were
supposed to see tonight. Meanwhile, our realtor called back to tell us why the
house in Roseburg wouldn’t work for us.
Roland and I discussed the two remaining
house options and narrowed it down to the same house we had signed papers for
on Dec 1. One we thought we would get on
a VA loan except for Roland’s ex let her house go into foreclosure and
defaulted on his loan and VA wouldn’t give us the amount that was needed –
though they did offer to pay for a larger loan. A larger loan would defeat the
purpose of our house hunting reasoning in the first place. But then again, when does our government make
sense?
I still wanted to see Jenna finish
out her school year at Coffenbury. She likes school. She enjoys
getting up in the morning and really is excited. I didn’t wish to
jeopardize that. If we moved to Canyonville, the morning sky is beginning
to fill with enough light that I can see to drive her to finish sixth grade at
Coffenbury. If we took a house in Tri-City, she would remain at the same
school until high school. We both want her to continue in band, which is
not offered in Canyonville. My deciding
factor was what the cost of utilities would/will be in each area.
We won’t be going back to Utah to visit in
March as we had planned. Perhaps after
the move, we will be able to save money to return to see our families. We never did make it out of Douglas County.
Perhaps one day before we die, we will be able to visit more of Oregon.
