Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[misfitmorgan]

Misfitmorgan...kudos to you for farming!

Land -- and more land -- I did "farm" with livestock. Did quite well and positive cash flow. Now, that I'm 70, I want to slow down, so I "hobby" farm. It is because I did more that I keep thinking I still CAN. We have limits, I've learned. Sometimes I overwhelm myself.

That's why I caution those about grand ideas and to be realistic about how, when, cost, time, etc. come into play. Sold my larger, previous farms. I bought smaller and built another house, barn, etc.. Even had to plant trees as it was a peanut farm before, always tilled. It's all good!!

I am thrilled to see a younger generation who WANTS to farm for a living -- be it livestock, crops or all. Hey, I just bought a new tractor last year for my hobby. FAR smaller than ones needed for a working farm but expensive and worth it. Love to ride it to mow, disk, fence, whatever! Even a blood transfusion didn't get rid of the "farming blood"

Thank you Mini. From what most younger people have told me they dont wanna farm cause its to much work. Honestly i would rather be out working on the farm doing fencing, or gardening, or making hay then i would sitting in the office for 9hrs a day like i have to atm. The office is super easy sit in front of a computer but i hate it esp when there is so much that needs to be done on the farm.

We are hopefully getting a tractor added onto our farm loan, the tractor we own is an old ford and there is something wrong with the 3 point, the hydraulics, and the steering isnt working right. The tractor never acted right but we got it for free except gas money to haul it home so instead of trying to mess around and fix it in our limited time we are gonna send it downstate to be overhauled and get a slightly larger tractor for some of the heavier work.

 

[Latestarter]

And the wheel of life continues to spin... Which door shall we pick today? I want door number.... FIVE!

The buyer's home inspector was here yesterday. Supposed to arrive at 1, then it was 4, finally got here and got started after 5 & left around 6:30. Found one shingle cap missing at the very end of the roof peak cap, and another shingle tab that was buckled a little and therefore needs to be tarred back down. said the roof has at least 3 years life left, one good hail storm and she can get it replaced with insurance. Other than that he found nothing that needed repair/replaced and no reason to prevent the sale from going through. He was talking to the buyer on the phone before leaving and informed me that she just sold her place so a huge relief for her as well. So, next I have to wait and see what the appraiser is going to say. Maybe I should meet him/her at the door armed and looking dangerous? or wait... maybe I should do the armed and dangerous thing when he/she is leaving? decisons...

Heard from my REA down in TX and the sellers down there haven't liked anything that he's shown them and say they will not sell until they find something. So I have no signed contract at this point. Completely understandable from their perspective, however, I'm getting desperately short of time here when a close typically takes 45-60 days and I'm approaching the 30 days to go mark. Was informed that TX title companies are notoriously slow and drag feet at every opportunity... My lender had to swap me to a TX loan officer (original LO was a KY LO) so I still haven't heard anything from them either, which is making me nervous as they too request 45 days minimum...

So, spent the last hour+ online trying to find alternatives... I have three nice properties picked out that will work for me and linked them to my realtor for his review and ability to set up viewings this coming weekend. Called my favorite oldest daughter and she will house sit for me this coming weekend so looks like I'm going to be a road warrior again very soon. Advantages to these three is they are all VA financing eligible where the present offer is not. In addition, several are well set up with fencing and out buildings. They are smaller homes and older, but as I said, they should work. For your viewing pleasure:

#1: Mount-Pleasant-TX-75455
#2: Mount-Pleasant-TX-75455
#3: Pittsburg-TX-75686

So, just got off the phone with my new TX loan officer. She informed me that they "require" 8 days between closing here and closing there. I informed her as a 10 year mortgage loan officer that 8 days are NOT required as a closer can complete a file for closing in an hour or less depending on the final stipulation being cleared. She then tried to tell me that they "required" 45 days to complete the loan. I informed her that a loan could be done in under 10 days. She then changed it to they "recommend" 45 days. I said I could accept recommend, I could not accept require. If they hold fast to their fracking ridiculous 8 day "requirement", then that means I'll be in a hotel with a full moving truck for almost 2 weeks due to 2 weekends and a holiday to boot: Labor day. Fracking ridiculous!

This loan is so simple and straight forward it's literally like a gift to the lender. And this lender doesn't sell their loans, they hold them, so it's not like that's the issue.

Heard from my REA in TX, he will have the properties scheduled for viewing when I get there. I asked him to contact the listing agents and get verification that if I write a contract, they will be able to be out by 9/26.

 

[AClark]

Those are really nice, I'm not finding anything like that where we're moving. They act like a $200,000 max price is so "low ball" but ya know, I need affordable, and I'm not looking at anything over 5 acres. It's not a high cost of living area either, especially compared to here!
The whole "required" crap is just that. We lost out on a house here in TX because we couldn't close as fast as they wanted, we needed 30 days notice where we live now since we're month-to-month after our original 1 year lease - I wasn't about to lose $1200 in deposits because they're in a hurry. They wanted it closed on in 15 days because they were moving out of state so they declined our offer for a lower offer that could close faster - 7 months later and that house is still up on the market and $10k cheaper, so something must not have gone right.
Anyway, none of those houses looked really small to me, we're in 1900 sq ft with 6 of us (4 BR 2 BA) and the only real complaint I have is that my kitchen is really small, especially for a 4 BR which would usually indicate a larger family.

 

[Mike CHS]

It looks like any of those will fit your criteria.

 

[Mini Horses]

#2....it's set up for immediate use. I like the look of the land. No pond, I know ! (You can get one dug, I've done that before) But, far more pleasant than #1 land pics (of course, could be pictures taken by uncaring eye.) #2 has something -- storm shelter? In pic with swing.....use to store winter veggies.

#3 I really don't like the house. Decorated very dark. NO pictures of the land -- so, what's with that??? Bad REA? I mean, that's what you are looking for, right? Land? Barn? Fences?

Any of them vacant? Of course not. Maybe UC for another place & really ready to move? Dream on.

I agree with all you say about the LO & processing. Just keep kicking butt and it can get done. AS YOU KNOW.


Hopefully one of these will work for you -- I know there's stress
because we are all on this journey with you & geeesh, it's time one of these sellers took your money!! Round 'em up & move 'em out, one more time

 

[AClark]

Oh, by the way, the 2nd house you posted, the inside is gorgeous! That would be my top pick with all the wood and a decent kitchen. Idk if you cook a lot, but I've found that a good sized kitchen makes my life a LOT easier, especially with canning and processing with the meat grinder.

 

[Latestarter]

I like the wood floors as well... But it's priced quite a bit high per square foot... It's been listed for 133 days, which gives an idea of how over-priced it is... Priced right, it would have sold almost immediately (IMHO). When I said "smaller" homes, that was compared to the one I tried to buy already that was over 2100 square feet, 4 br...

 

[babsbag]

Looks like they all have something different to offer. #1 is gorgeous outside, but that kitchen... #3 is really an unknown land wise. #2 has a lot of wood, which isn't me but may be you. I would like the hardwood floors though. Carpet and country don't go together. Good luck and your next adventure.

 

[AClark]

^ Darn right country and carpet don't mix, lol. I have wall to wall linoleum and it's easy to clean, if I had carpet, it would be wrecked. That and shampooing carpet sucks!
#1 or 3 had a galley kitchen and lime green paint...it was pretty scary. Of course paint can be fixed, but you can't fix small without tearing out walls, if you even can. Personally I would skip it just on the kitchen, but I probably have different needs than you do with 5 children at home, and an additional 3 that will come visit. House hunting sure is an adventure, isn't it?

 

[NH homesteader]

Totally vote for number 2. You just need to replace those kitchen cabinets! But seriously land looks good, house seems more open and welcoming and the outbuildings and fencing are there. That would be my choice.