Homeless

As the title of this blog implies, the Austin 5 is now on the verge of being homeless. Gotta love real estate! The buyers of our current home are insisting on closing on Friday. They are not budging. So, Chris and I have no choice but to move. But move to where? 

First some updates. Our real estate agent, Michael Jenkins, called Don Fuller, the real estate agent and builder of the home we thought we were moving into on Friday, and asked permission to call Mr. and Mrs. Seller. Don gave permission, so Michael called each of them. Mrs. Seller had not been able to get a hold of Mr. Fuller for 3 weeks (since the home sold) and did not know about the liens now on the home. She was just waiting for Mr. Seller to sign some paper saying she could have the money from the sale of the house (which comes out to like $400). After that paper is signed, she agreed to sign the deed. Whew, one less thing to worry about here. Mr. Seller was very angry (as he should be) about these liens being placed on the home. He agreed to allow us to early possession of the home since he would be out of the home Wednesday. Both parties are motivated to move forward and get this taken care of. They are both victims here, too, we have to remember.

So, being homeless come Friday, Chris and I are stuck in a very sticky spot. Do we take early possession of the home locking us into that home and any future mess that it may include, or do we shop for storage units and find some crazy family to allow us to bunk there indefinitely.
After some discussion, Chris and I have decided on a couple of further contengencies on the Home we are to buy..

1. We will not close on the Ponderosa home until the liens are actually free and clear.

We got the impression (and I could be wrong) that the Seller's lawyer wrote a letter stating that they are getting the liens cleared. That letter is going to help close the home sooner, perhaps as soon as Friday, if NP Dodge Title is okay with everything. However, the liens are not actually going to be cleared...it is just in the process of getting cleared. If that is the case, we are not sure how motivated Mr. Seller would be to get the liens cleared if WE now have the liens on OUR home. So, WE will not be closing on the home until the liens are actually cleared, and the title is actually clean and clear - not just some letter from some attorney saying they are going to be cleared. 

 

2. We will be willing to take early possession, but it would be contingent upon:
* Rent free and/or other fees free (considering we are homeless because of this mess and we can find someplace else to stay. A mortgage is a payment towards your loan. Rent, in this circumstance, would be money going towards nothing.

* The early possession is in writing, legally binding

* With a timeline to close eventually (within 30 days for example). We want to know that they are going to be motivated to get this house closed, too, in a timely fashion. Afterall, we can not make any changes to the home until it is ACTUALLY ours. We have people lined up to come and install a closet, put in shutters, etc.

 

3. Time is important here as we are loan locked for only a short period of time, then we will be out another $500 for the loan lock we have now. We are leaning more towards giving them less time than more time on everything to get cleared up because we have an awesome rate that we do not want to lose that will add up to big $ for years  if we have to go with a higher rate.

 

We are pondering the early possession because we have no place to go, obviously. Our buyers are so kindly kicking us to the curb - physically. However, if we move into the home, we feel more committed to tolerate whatever may be thrown into this mix. With that said, if Mr. and Mrs. Ponderosa Seller do not agree to the above, we will obtain a storage unit and stay with family. If in a timeline (10-14 days or something) this mess is not cleared up - we have the option to back out of the Ponderosa home and purchase another home, hopefully keeping our $2000 good faith deposit since this is not our fault here. We, of course, DO NOT want to do this. But, we also do not want to live with family since we are not even sure any family wants us living with them for however long. We can not get an apartment for such a short period of time, so we are trapped. With this said, we are leaning towards this route at this point only so we are not trapped in this possible legal trap.

Chris and I are quite concerned about this property and the possibility of any future liens, lawsuits or the like. We just want to live in a home peacefully without any house stress for once! This home on Ponderosa is now looking like a scary investment unless things quickly change. Considering our condition, that of homeless come Friday, we think 10-14 days from Friday is more than enough time to get this cleaned up or we walk and find ourselves a no stressful, lien less home to move into (do they exist?). 

Michael, our real estate agent, has done a lot to try to keep things moving toward closing on Friday. Today he went to the Floor Store (on of the places with a large lien on the home) to see about having them clear the lien. They, of course, just want to be paid and are not removing the lien. They think, probably, that Mr. Seller will just pay the lien to get out of this mess. However, I wouldn't if I were Mr. Seller. He already paid for the floors once! Michael also called and talked to both Mr. and Mrs. Seller (more or less doing Don Fullers job as a real estate agent) finding out what was going on from their end. Guess they are not speaking to one another at all, so that makes this all the more difficult. And, Michael has been on the phone with Chris and I a few times trying to ensure us that he is trying to get this fixed.

 

I have a feeling this is not going to be over until its over. So profound!

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