house under water

About two and a half years ago I sold my house. As that was happening, the real estate market was beginning its collapse, and I was aware of this fact and very nervous. After reading this piece, I just checked zillow.com for an estimate of the current value of my old house. It is probably worth $80,000 to $100,000 less than I sold it for, if not less. I wonder what life would be like for me right now if that sale hadn't gone through. I continue to feel very lucky about how it all worked out. I feel bad for the woman who bought my house, and everyone else whose home is now worth less than they paid for it. What a terrible situation to be in.

Ohio

I don't even know where to start writing; I feel like so much has happened. The bottom line is that I am now in Ohio. I loaded up the Penske truck last Wednesday and Thursday, closed on the house Friday afternoon, and arrived here very late Friday night. By Sunday we had dumped everything from the truck into the house, and here I am now, amidst the boxes and clutter.

Our new place is kind of a dump, but I kind of love it. We don't have air conditioning or a dishwasher. We have one small bathroom that smells a little funny no matter how much we clean it. It is a 10 minute walk from campus and we look out our front door to the local high school. I have some pictures I can post if I find my camera sometime soon. Our cats seem to like it here. Our rent is $325/month.

I'm glad to be here. I'm glad that my house sold, that the long drive went smoothly, and that my wife will be starting school again next Tuesday. We've found a farmers market for fresh locally-grown produce, and a family farm that raises grass-fed beef and pork, and free range poultry and eggs. We stocked up on good beer and wine. Life is good.

well...

This might kill it for us:

McLean, Va., (August 20, 2007) - Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) today announced that it will cease residential mortgage origination operations at its wholesale mortgage banking unit, GreenPoint Mortgage, effective immediately. Current conditions in the secondary mortgage markets create significant near-term profitability challenges, given the company's "originate and sell" business model. Further, recent and continuing developments in the mortgage markets reduce the long-term outlook for profitability in the business, as the company expects markets for prime, non-conforming mortgage products are likely to remain challenged for the foreseeable future.

This might save it for us. Let's hope:

GreenPoint Mortgage will cease making new loan commitments immediately, however, it will continue to meet its contractual obligations to customers for loan commitments that are in the pipeline with rates locked.

Hold on for a week

The events of the next week will have a huge effect on the next several years of my life. If my house sells next Friday, then I'm off on a new path with some reasonable financial buffering to ease the transition. If the deal falls apart, I have no idea what I'll do, but I'll be in a terrible financial situation with a few unattractive options.

I have no idea how to tell what will happen. We have a contract in place, and if everything goes as planned, I'll be moving on Friday and quite happy. But the mortgage and real estate markets are descending into chaos, so things could easily go bad in the next 7 days. My buyer is selling property to pay for mine, so that means there are twice as many lenders who could go bankrupt overnight, and twice as many buyers who could panic and walk away. That would leave me hanging in a painful way.

I assume that everyone involved in both transactions wants to see the deals happen. The two buyers get nice new houses, the two sellers get the sale they wanted, the three realtors get their commissions, the two settlement companies get their fees, the two mortgage brokers get their commissions, and the two lenders get their loan assets. Hopefully it all works for everyone.

I'm nervous as hell, and I've got another week before I know what will happen.

Always something

Just when I thought I could breathe easy, the Washington Post runs this article:

Approved Home Loans No Longer Done Deals

Ugh.

Letters from lenders approving loans "used to be a reason to exhale, a reason to believe that a deal is done," said Leisa Hart, an agent with Long & Foster Real Estate. "We no longer have reason to exhale until we've gotten to the settlement table and until that loan has been fully funded."

Yup.

the real estate blues

A few weeks ago I accepted an offer on my house. If everything goes as planned, we'll close in 2 weeks. I'm extremely nervous about it though, because my buyer is selling a condo before moving here. That buyer is 100% financed, and we haven't heard a final loan approval from that lender. The mortgage market is a disaster right now, and those kinds of loans are particularly suspect. I'm concerned that the deal is going to fall apart and severely mess up our plans.

There's nothing I can do, and there's nothing you can say. I'm just nervous and can't sleep and need to vent.

House for Sale

My house is for sale.

8714 Drexel Hill Place
Montgomery Village, Maryland 20886

Take the online tour!

Come by and visit, and then make me an offer and buy it.

Here's how my Realtor describes it:

SPECTACULAR SIDE ENTRY END UNIT, BRICK, RESERVED PARKING, NEW BERBER CARPET, FRESH PAINT, RECENT HEATING AND COOLING, 2 STORY FOYER, CERAMIC COUNTERS, BREAKFAST BAR AND NATURAL LIGHT, SEPARATE DINING ROOM, COZY FIREPLACE, TONS OF WINDOWS AND , FANTASTIC LOCATION OVERLOOKS OPEN SPACE, AMPLE PARKING, FENCED PATIO, SUPER PRISTINE CONDITION, MINUTES TO SHOPPING AND METRO, SELLERS HATE TO LEAVE !!!!

Note the caps and exclamation points. That means it's good.