Home Shopping with J.

J.  was referred to me through my sister's client, B.  My sister wrote B and her husband's will and the subject of real estate came up.  B.'s son, J., lives has been living & renting in Olympia for four years.  He decided it was a smart time to buy his first home and is getting in right under the wire for the tax rebate offered for houses closing by 11-30-2009!

Now J. interviewed me quite extensively and I went through the home-buying process with him from A-Z.  I gave him three names of lenders I trust and he interviewed Nona.  After 3 hours of questions and answers he is now working with her.

We have been looking for homes with the following criteria:

• two bedrooms minimum
• a garage with a man "door"
• kitchen doesn't matter so much (go figure)
• minimal yard work
• location within biking distance to his job with the state of WA
• good, secure neighborhood for him and his daughter who visits regularly
• price of 215,00 or less with some closing costs thrown in

No problem.  We looked alot and wrote up two houses before we got an offer accepted on a home he really likes in a location that is ideal.  He met me there this morning for the all important "home inspection".  It went well I think.  The roof is our biggest issue.  A new one may be in order.

Why pay someone almost $400.00 to inspect your brand new home?  In this case, it may well mean a new roof for the home.  Four skylights have "blown seals", and the wood stove needs to be inspected for safety.  Plus, the education a new home-buyer gets is priceless when he or she accompanies the inspector around the potential new home!

So, I will keep you posted as the listing agent works with the seller to write up a response to us.  we are in another negotiation process until we "sign-off" on the proper form!