Son/LOHL are home owners
#8
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Long story----they finally are real home owners(out of the mobile)!

Great deal, great real estate rep, super VA loan rep, city kicked in incentive money and they are moved in(boxes everywhere).

First thing to go wrong---big move day, neighborhood power is out for several hours. Second was the thermostat. Programmable, but no manual or instructions, company out of business, nothing on the net. So, son buys a new one.

Yep, wires wrong, not enough colors and the hook up by color did not work. Call the Help line for the new stat. Nice lady walks him through their procedure. Finding out the wiring situation, she says best advice is to call a HVAC guy. $135 later, all done.

Welcome to home ownership!!!
Big Grin
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#9
(08-06-2019, 09:11 AM)K. L McReynolds Wrote: Long story----they finally are real home owners(out of the mobile)!

Great deal, great real estate rep, super VA loan rep, city kicked in incentive money and they are moved in(boxes everywhere).

First thing to go wrong---big move day, neighborhood power is out for several hours. Second was the thermostat. Programmable, but no manual or instructions, company out of business, nothing on the net. So, son buys a new one.

Yep, wires wrong, not enough colors and the hook up by color did not work. Call the Help line for the new stat. Nice lady walks him through their procedure. Finding out the wiring situation, she says best advice is to call a HVAC guy. $135 later, all done.

Welcome to home ownership!!!
Big Grin

Sounds about right.  Owning a home comes with repair and maintenance issues, but I can't imagine living in an apartment, condo, etc.  

So tell me more about "city kicked in incentive money".  What was that all about?  

John
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#10
Well, it's still congrats to them. I'm fairly certain there will be adventures to follow.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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#11
(08-06-2019, 09:49 AM)jteneyck Wrote: Sounds about right.  Owning a home comes with repair and maintenance issues, but I can't imagine living in an apartment, condo, etc.  

So tell me more about "city kicked in incentive money".  What was that all about?  

John

They live in Leavenworth, Kansas. Site of Ft. Leavenworth(Army War College, Command and General Staff course) and the Federal penitentiary(along with three other confinement facilities. Two years ago, the Army reduced the number of personnel assigned to the Fort. That meant a lot of rental properties are now unrented with little future in being rented. The overall population is reduced, which means the tax base is also reduced. The city has set up a program where they provide $5K to income qualified folks who buy a house in the city. That is an incentive to attract new residents. In the son's situation, the seller paid closing costs, so the grant went towards paying the VA points and increasing the down payment, which lowered their interest rate. The city retains them as residents and now will get property tax money(keeping it from the previous owner).
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#12
(08-06-2019, 11:34 AM)K. L McReynolds Wrote: They live in Leavenworth, Kansas. Site of Ft. Leavenworth(Army War College, Command and General Staff course) and the Federal penitentiary(along with three other confinement facilities. Two years ago, the Army reduced the number of personnel assigned to the Fort. That meant a lot of rental properties are now unrented with little future in being rented. The overall population is reduced, which means the tax base is also reduced. The city has set up a program where they provide $5K to income qualified folks who buy a house in the city. That is an incentive to attract new residents. In the son's situation, the seller paid closing costs, so the grant went towards paying the VA points and increasing the down payment, which lowered their interest rate. The city retains them as residents and now will get property tax money(keeping it from the previous owner).

Thanks for the follow up info.  Nice to see cities take proactive steps to get people to buy homes.  There is a trail of carnage from cities who haven't done anything when the largest employers closed/cut back.  You still need employment opportunities to get people of commit to a city.  There is only so much local government can do, but doing nothing is a sure recipe for blight.  

John
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#13
(08-06-2019, 11:34 AM)K. L McReynolds Wrote: They live in Leavenworth, Kansas. Site of Ft. Leavenworth(Army War College, Command and General Staff course) and the Federal penitentiary(along with three other confinement facilities. Two years ago, the Army reduced the number of personnel assigned to the Fort. That meant a lot of rental properties are now unrented with little future in being rented. The overall population is reduced, which means the tax base is also reduced. The city has set up a program where they provide $5K to income qualified folks who buy a house in the city. That is an incentive to attract new residents. In the son's situation, the seller paid closing costs, so the grant went towards paying the VA points and increasing the down payment, which lowered their interest rate. The city retains them as residents and now will get property tax money(keeping it from the previous owner).

Sounds like a good plan on the city's part. Nice to have your own home and improve on it.



If it can't kill you it probably ain't no good. Better living through chemicals.

 
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#14
Congratulations! That's all? 

Our first was a modular during the worst interest rates in history. Everything is new! What can go wrong? Except, the first couple (two-month billing) water bills were through the roof. In our case, a swimming pool in the crawl space. Had no idea where the water tank was to replace the blow-off valve. Traced it by sound to behind a false wall in a closet.
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