Full Circle

It's funny because I originally started writing in this space to vent my complete and utter frustration with our condo and our housing situation.  While we're in a better place (A MUCH BETTER PLACE MENTALLY FOR ME THANK GOD) on so many levels, I have yet to go back and read those archives.  I probably sound whiney but this has been the longest, most frustrating and arduous process ever.  We're lucky, it could have been so much worse, we've never been homeless but GAH.  Foreclosing on property sucks so so so so so so so so hard X 1 billion.

(without getting into all the details the back story is such:  Adam bought a condo in Spring 2008.  We met in September 2008.  He bought at what he was told was the bottom of the market because no one had any idea how crappy the Chicago market would get.  It was a three ring circus from the start of his ownership until the very last second with everything, especially the financing.  His (terrible) loan was purchased probably 5-10 times over three years and re-financing that he had been promised wasn't an option when the prices dropped.  When we got married and decided to move back to TX, we put it on the market in Spring of 2011.  By that summer, we had relocation from his company, which provided us with a new realtor, one of the best in town.  At one point, we had it on the market at a place where we would have brought 60K to the closing table just to get out of the place, provided we had gotten an offer at asking price.  We were way above all the comps in the neighborhood.  Our awesome realtors worked with us to the bitter end.  We tried short sale and got two really strong offers, both slightly above neighborhood comps.  The bank rejected both of them.  We started on the road to foreclosure sometime in 2012.  After missed court dates, recused judges and basically every other snafu you could think of, the bank took possession in May 2013.  For the record, this was after basically begging the bank to just foreclose on the property so we could move on with the years of bad credit.  Let's just say that I get extremely pissed when people cry on TV about getting kicked out of their house by the banks, it takes years to go through a foreclosure and in our case, it was a hellish nightmare.)

SO!  Back to present-ish day.  We found the house we are renting currently after living here in Dallas for a year.  It was never intended to be even remotely permanent but we were reasonably happy about it and could make the things we didn't like work for now.  We just figured we'd start getting serious about moving into our "forever home"* when Owen was about a year away from kindergarten.  That would be 4-5 years post foreclosure and would also give us ample time to save 20% or more for the down payment on a conventional loan.  The only kink in the plan is that it's looking more and more likely that we'll be forced to move in July when our lease is up.  I spent so many years loving renting but I just feel like I'm ready to put down our roots.  I don't want to move again now and move again later.  I don't really want to move because I do feel some emotional ties to this house.  It was the home we brought our baby home to!

I have been scouring the rental market and I basically hate everything.

I enrolled Owen in a Mother's Day Out near here without even thinking about the possibility that we'd have to move.

I don't want to pay more than what we currently pay because that is less to save toward forever home.

With two dogs and a toddler, we have to have a yard.  I don't think there is any way I could wrangle both dogs and Owen in an apartment complex every time the dogs need to go out.

Again, I hate everything on the rental market.  I don't want to pay more to live in a crappier house.

Our old property manager here is a realtor so we've enlisted his help.  Obviously, as a realtor, he's much more interested in selling us a house.  Which AWESOME! I'm down!  But what bank is going to loan a stay-at-home-mom a mortgage?  And Adam can't get a loan until next May (2015) (I hate our old bank, burn in hell for taking so long).

Our options boil down to:
1. Find a crap place to rent for a year.  Try to get an FHA loan next year and hope to refinance to conventional in 2 more years.
2. Find a decent place and rent for 3+ years and continue to save for a conventional loan in 2017.
3. Be homeless. (kidding)
4. Find owner financing (?)

Option 4 is the wild card here.  It's extremely unlikely, except for a listing that I've been following for months just got changed to owner financing available.  It's a scary option on so many levels (like if they stop paying the mortgage and just pocket our money!) but it's a great house in a great neighborhood.  They just can't sell it because it's on a busy corner and they have it priced way too high (both as a rental and as a home sale).  I've already moved in to this place in my head.  Our realtor might take me to see it today.  I hate that I'm even entertaining these thoughts!  I just hate all our other options with a fiery passion.  Housing in Dallas is ridiculous right now because more people move into the area every day and there just isn't enough housing available.

So, I just felt like maybe getting all of that out there in total word vomit form.  I just want to have my house!  My home that I can do work on!  My yard, my flowers, my floors, my walls.  UG. I'm sad.

*forever home meaning 15-20 year home because we'll probably go back to being city mice after Owen graduates high school