Day 15:
Good news from the weekend! The Buyer has accepted our repair terms post-inspection, so I think that greatly increases the odds of getting to closing now! We are packing more aggressively now and checking out pod rates this week. Repairs will cost us about $1800.00. I can live with that, given the full price offer.
With closing set for about 32-35 days out, if we don't find a new place this week, we'll have to move in with FIL for a bit. Not the end of the world. It will give us more time and more leverage. I was telling my wife last night how crazy it is to make the biggest single $ decision you'll make for years (maybe decades) in a matter of hours.
My wife and I continue to talk things out, but we each are prioritizing different things. Any advice here would be helpful!
How I rank the variables:
Price - I do NOT want to tie up too much money on a house. We need to catch up on retirement $. I would prefer no more than a $100K mortgage, which means new price range around $170kish.
Location - It will better hold the value of our new home and provide a better quality of life
Finishes - I will never be a "handy" type of guy. I'd prefer the home to be close (or entirely) move-in ready.
Total Space - I think we can declutter and sell a lot of crap we've accumulated over the years. The girls sharing a room wouldn't be the end of the world (I shared with my TWO brothers through high school)
How my wife ranks the variables:
Total Space - She feels we need a two-car garage, 4 bedrooms, and (at least an unfinished) basement. She keeps saying, "as the girls get older, they are going to have friends over, and they'll need a space, etc." plus "we need a place for our junk"
Location - same reasons as mine
Finishes - she doesn't need "fancy," but would like at least a slight upgrade kitchen and bathroom wise
Price - she's not going nuts or anything, but she's more willing to creep into the low $200ks than I am.
Last night I told her that honestly, if I had my way entirely, I'd consider renting to allow us to save up more $ and avoid any huge hits on things like HVAC, roof, gutters, etc. Frankly, I wouldn't mind a townhouse rental type of situation where you don't have any neighbors above or below. The idea of never having to cut grass again appeals to me. I don't think I could ever sell her on it though. She likes the idea of decorating, painting, putting out flags in the yard, that sort of "making it your own" type of thing.
So ultimately, it comes down to this: Can we find a house with enough space, an unfinished basement, 3-4BRs, 2BAs, at least a one-car garage, in a nice location, with decent finishes (ie not an "old lady" house), for about $170K?
This is going to be difficult.
@Car Jack, I think we did a good job staging our house for sale! And yes we were never anywhere near it during showings (we were at work).
@MayDay, Yes, here too the houses in the $170K-$199K range disappears within days (or a day)!
@icecreammarsenal, Living beside my buddy is still an option. His next-door neighbors are getting a divorce (I just found that part out) and neither will let the other buy the other one out, so on the market it goes! But it likely won't be for a month or two at the earliest.
@J_Stache, we found out that the leaking was because of a bad chimney cap. It is basically not a "real" chimney cap, and it's too small and it has deteriorated. The previous owners had fashioned their own, and in 14 years, we had never really inspected it. My dad is a brick mason, and he figured this all out in about 5 seconds. We're getting a real one put on. And I'm in the midwest, so yes I know that our home prices probably seem cheap to folks on the coasts.