We got the house!!!!!!!!

This post is a little late, but things have been NUTS for the last month!

We got the house, but not without effort and headaches along the way. There were some very tough negotiations and I wasn't sure at any point that we would get the house....I'm still not (we have to make it through the loan process). After nearly a month of negotiations, we've finally settled on a price with the bank! We had agreed on a price, but then the home inspection revealed some things that would cause the house not to qualify for the loan we were approved for. The bank didn't want to fix anything because it was a foreclosure and tried to terminate our contract. I refused to sign the termination and, thank goodness, the realtor representing the bank was patient and willing to work with us. We got preapproved for a different type of loan that will allow us the money to fix the house before moving in. However, that extra money for repairs was going to put us over our budget. So, even though we had agreed on a price and were under contract, I asked them to reduce the price. We still wanted the house, but weren't willing to pay more than the budget we set at the beginning of the process. They tried to terminate the contract again and I refused to sign it again. The agent explained to them that we were really trying to make the deal happen. We switched loan types and were willing to take on all the repairs ourselves and still give them a quick closing. If they terminated the contract, the house would likely sit on the market a while, they may have to lower the price anyway, and they would have to wait for another buyer. And even if they got another buyer, they would have the same issues unless it was a cash buyer. It's a buyer's market. Basically, lower the price now and sell the house or play the market again. They finally decided to go ahead and lower the price so we could buy it!!

Now we're trying to line up contractors and get estimates to fix everything. Because of the type loan we're getting (FHA 203K, if you were wondering) all of these things have to be settled on and in writing before the loan process can close. We're super stressed, but really excited  :)