Offer time

Well, it was a busy weekend. We made a quick trip over to the area we want to move to meet with a builder (same one's our friends over there used to build their beautiful new home). We both liked him and he said he can work up the details within our budget, based on what we had already given him. We spent some more time at the piece of property, taking measurements, so DH could make sure his house and shop plans will work.

Today is a big day for us! We are putting on offer in on the land! We decided to offer $10,000 less than the asking price. If the owners had listed with a realtor they would have had to pay the 6% realtor fees, plus the other 2 lots for sale have been for sale for a year or two. Nothing much is selling in that county. One of the (7) lots has a house built on it (the only lot in the 10 years since they were subdivided)  On one side of them is the lot we were first considering (before they told us the owners of the lot on the other side of them wanted to sell) and really, the best spot to put a house on that lot would make their view out the back be partially blocked by a house. We didn't really want to do that to them and so that's why we talked to them. Glad we did because that's how we found out about the other lot, and it's a much better lot in the sense that you can put the house back even with their house and not block their view, plus still have a view of the river. Nothing much else is around the 7 lots. State forest land on 3 sides, the river and across the river is state and railroad land. It's all very quiet and peaceful. The main road that runs past the property is a back road, not used much.

These folks got to thinking, after talking with us, that someone might eventually come in and buy that first lot and not be so considerate as we are. So, they have put an offer in for the other lot - at $18,000 less than asking price.  That also kind of made us decide to make our offer for less than asking.  Let's hope they accept it.  To be honest, I'd pay their asking price (that's what we've worked into out total budget) but if we can get it for less, we might as well try. Even if we get it for $5k less than asking price, that pays for the well or septic we have to put in.

We pretty much have our home plan figured out, just making a few tweaks here and there. DH has done the drawings himself, based on a floor plan he found online. The builder has a guy who will do up the drawings for $500. We don't need to spend thousands of dollars for a set of plans. (our friend drew his own and that's all the builder used) The builder suggested contacting a local mortgage lender he works with a lot - especially after I told him our lender, from here, takes 45 days to close, once the specs and budget is done. He said over there it takes less than a week, usually. With building and all that entails, an extra month would make a big difference to us. So, I'll have to go through that application process again, but will probably be worth it. They are local and familiar with him, so most likely it would all go smoother, than using a lender from out of state.

Next up (while we wait to see if our offer is accepted!) - getting the final things done so we can list our place for sale in a couple of weeks. DD painted our master bedroom for me while she was here watching the house and taking care of the animals. One more thing off the list to do! Spring has sprung, leaves are back and some of the flowering plants are blooming. It's all starting to look good again.