Closing In

After much screaming, wailing, and gnashing of teeth (by me), the bank sent over my loan documents to the escrow co. this afternoon. I'll get them tomorrow morning and hopefully sign them. Then it's on to San Diego for my parents' signatures and God-willing on Tuesday, I'll be a happy home owner again.

Final News about the Koi Pond House

You may remember that my first bid was on the house I nicknamed "the Koi Pond House." The asking price was $417,000 and I bid $410,000. The counter offer came back with $415,000 and a series of conditions. I agree to all the conditions but stuck to my $410,000 offer. I was led to believe that I had the high offer and that my chances of getting the house were good. The next day, I learned the sellers had gone with the other bid.

So all this time I've been wondering if I was outbid. Turns out I wasn't (at least not based on the official sales price). The Koi Pond has now closed and the final sales price was $407,000 ($3000 less than I bid). I'm still not sure why my bid was rejected.

I suppose I should just let it go. The house I'm buying is larger (about 50 sq feet or so). It doesn't have a koi pond in the back yard. It has central air and heat and a larger kitchen. While it will cost me money to pull up the tile floors in the house I'm buying it will still cost less than taking out the floor heater and replacing it with a central system would have cost. Still, there's something irrational at work here.

Update and Waiting

Well, I pushed back closing by six days to take advantage of the new California first-time home buyers tax credit (or at least as much of the credit as I may be eligible for given its limited applicability - only 2010 CA income tax above the tentative minimum tax).

The sellers have made all repairs; the only thing outstanding is the termite tenting.

All that's left is tracking down the last little bit of documentation for the underwriters, doing the final walk through, and signing the loan papers.

In the meantime, I'm crossing my fingers hoping the hardwood under the tile might still be repairable. And waiting.