Long Ago and Far Away

    So, following my post below many things have changed for us.  I am not thrilled with any of them, but I am presently dealing as I wait for things to clear themselves up (before I have to step in with a big stick).   

    Following our make it or break it day on the last house, we never received any word what-so-ever from the bank who was currently holding the property.  As a result, we looked at new houses and actually found a place we really liked.  As a pressure move, we went ahead and put an offer in on the new house and it was accepted.  We went to release our offer on the old house and were then told by the real estate agent that the bank had long ago decided never to move on our offer and were instead always planning to hold on to the property until the market was more favorable.  We waited over two months for them to make a decision and they never said one word about not selling to us.

      We happily moved onto our new house and more trouble.    When filling out our offer, our agents had told us that we could easily close in 10-15 days.  I thought that sounded great!  However, when I told my father about this he hit the roof.   We went immediately the next morning to speak with the loan officer at the bank who had pre-approved us and she told us that my father was correct that it would take between 45-60 days to complete the mortgage process...Grrr #1.   So we begrudgingly agreed against our better judgement to go ahead with this mortgage company and asked the sellers to give us an extension on the closing date, which they did immediately.  With that settled we started the long and seemingly unending process of providing the mortgage company with paperwork.  Well 55 days later and we still do not have our house yet and worse yet our killer rate and 0 points have expired.  We are now looking at a much higher rate and 1.25 points, which is nothing close to what we agreed.  I feel like killing someone, but our bank is acting with a secondary mortgage provider who seems to be causing all the trouble.  We have had to arrange a second extension from the sellers on the closing date and are waiting to hear whether the 2ndary mortgage company is going to allow us to keep our old rate (still making us pay the points and adding on a $1800 fee).  I am most angry about the fact that we have done everything right and have always had paperwork to the mortgage provider on the same day it was requested.  We are not the ones who caused this to take so long...IE They are just pushing this out as long as possible in order that our rate will expire and as of tomorrow it does.  

  This shouldn't be legal, but I can't find anyone anywhere to say that we have any way to prove that they have done anything wrong....I hate this process and may never move again once it is done!

The Big Day!

   I've spent the last few days stuck in writing land, which has been wonderful.  I've started working on a new serial and am coming up with new ideas for an older short story I've been working on for awhile.  So, all and all quite productive. 

   It was certainly better than the four hours I spent job hunting yesterday.  With so many private schools in the DC area you would think that at least one of them would be hiring a new history teacher for the fall.  What I'm finding is that maybe this private school thing is not as easy as I first thought.  Though everyone working at these schools already are less qualified than I am, I guess they have some special avenue through the prep school gates that I don't.  My sister went to private school and it seems that unless you went there or somewhere similar they just won't hire you.  I think that is sad and incestuous, but as an outsider I don't think there is much I can do to change the situation.

    On to some good news....We should have a decision on our house offer by 5:00 today (I was really hoping it would be earlier).  I am very ready to be on my own again (well Chris will be coming too).  I'll keep you updated as things transpire.

Good News (Finally) !!

   I just got off the phone with my real estate agent and things are looking good for our house purchase finally.   The banks will have an agreement to us by Tuesday and assuming that goes well, we should be able to move in twenty days later.  

   We are hedging our bets though and have decided to go ahead with looking at new properties tomorrow.  No doubt we will find something that we like even better for even cheaper and then be stuck with a really hard decision.  

   I can't wait for all of this to be over.

A light at the end of the tunnel?

Started my day with a call to England.  I've decided that there is no way I can bake and decorate my sister-in-laws wedding cake in the day and a half I will have after arrival.  With some quick thinking I called up the little Mill Bakery in Swanton Morley (who created such a wonderful cake for my own wedding) to beg and plead for a special favor.  I want a wedding cake with no icing, and no stacking, and well nothing really but cake (and they talked me into filling as well).     

  After that, I had my first teaching related interview today.  After dressing up in my new interviewin' suit I walked up to the steps of my local community college and offered a very kind and understanding man from the History department my CV.  Though we only spoke for about 15 mins I got a good feeling about how things went. Too bad I won't hear back until July about whether they will need a new History professor or not.  Still, it was nice to finally have someone respond well to my background.  I've vowed to become more aggressive with the search, but I'm not really an aggressive person.  I like to sit back and see where things will take me, steering myself to the right choice as I go.   These tactics are clearly getting me no where.

     The last thing I have to do to day is call my real estate agent, who is taking us to see more houses on Saturday.  After our last offer went into short sale (over three months ago), we are just about giving up on it.  We can't keep living under my parents' roof.  This was only supposed to last for three months and now we are working on seven.  I can't believe the mess the housing market is in.  We are offering almost 50% down on this house and secured a mortgage for the rest long ago.  The seller's bank won't even take our money, they would rather hold onto a house that no one has lived in for over a year.  It is crazy!