I’m almost afraid to write the words so I’ll just say that I found a place I’m excited about. It ticks all of the “to buy” list and most of the “to build” list. Now I’m just waiting for a realtor to contact me. The one I was using hasn’t contacted me back in over 24 hours, so if noon comes by tomorrow (Friday), then I’ll call a different one that my mom recommends. If this house is as good as it looks, I’m going to put an offer in. So I’m holding my breath. This could be it!

But I did contact the bank about the questions on my to-do list.

To build, I would need a land loan and then a building loan which they would roll into a conventional mortgage when the build is complete. This requires 35% down and money is issued in 3 payments. One for the land and two for the building. So a $400,000 mortgage would require a $140,000 down payment. That’s a BIG yikes. The government does have some help available for building down payments where they will help with the down payment up to 10%. That would leave me needing $100,000. I do not have that sort of money. So building is pretty much out of the question for now unless I can get land for DIRT cheap.

I asked about a regular mortgage and if I were to buy a house that needed renovations, if the renovation could be included in the mortgage. He said that they offered up to $40,000 for renovations at time of purchase. So that helps a lot. I can get a house for $310,000 and put $40,000 into it immediately and stay in budget. Anyway, buying seems more likely now.

Either way, I have a pretty specific list of things I’m looking for and this one that I’m super excited about (for now), seems to check a LOT of it. I really need to see it soon!! Ok I’m going to write about it regardless. Let’s call this manifestation or something! It is 12 acres. Seven acres are pasture land while the rest is wooded. It’s within the range needed for my mom. It’s an actual log cabin. There’s a barn, a shed, and a little shelter thingie. There’s a wood stove. It’s on grid. There are two bedrooms and one bathroom. I’d like to add a bedroom and bathroom on the main floor as an addition for when my mom comes to live with me. Plus, it’s being sold with the appliances so I wouldn’t need to worry about a fridge and stove for a little while.

Hopefully I can see it soon and either say it’s not good or get an offer in on it!