From my attorney this morning

I was just informed that the bank has pulled the file for re-review of the appraisal. Apparently the area in which the house is located is deemed a “declining market area” and the bank has asked the appraiser to provide 2 recent comparables to which he must conduct a field review, site inspection and photo inspection, all of which is being conducted today. The appraisal was conducted well over 6 weeks ago. The bank has had the file for too long and is now re-reviewing as a direct result of the numerous delays in getting the fully executed contract…and the scheduling of a closing. We are fortunate that they have not asked for an entire new appraisal and are just requesting updated comparables.

The market has caused banks to be overcautious of their files and this is one of the many results.

The should hopefully be cleared up by Monday and we could still be able to close next week if things fall right.

I’ve already extended my lease into February. Assuming we close soon, that will give us time to get the floors refinished, clean and paint before we move in.

I’ve been a little busy of late, but I  also lost a bit of my enthusiasm for the housing game.  I’m sure that a lot of you out there have experience some similar type of “house hunting fatigue”.

However, I’ve notice a bit of movement in pricing of late. I think we may actually be seeing the ice start to break. Time will tell, but I’m feeling mildly optimistic.

Anyway, I’ve got three open houses to write up that I was over the past weeks. I hope to have that up by tomorrow or Tuesday the latest. I also have a guest post penned by HIB’s resident bubble head.  So I should have some good stuff for you this week, then I’ll be back on the treadmill.

In the mean time, check out this great post by my friend and Mortgage consigliere, Trevor Curran. It’s a quick overview of the FHA 203k Rehabilitation Loan, a program wherein the Lender provides you with the money to purchase the home (acquisition) combined with the money to improve the home (construction) in one closing and with a single 30year fixed mortgage payment. There are at least a few houses around the Village that would be perfect for this sort of loan.