Now the challenge begins. How do we accomplish a foreclosure online?
Fortunately, everyone else involved in this process knows what they are doing. But, since we have had two unsuccessful attempts at purchasing a house, we are just a tad apprehensive that this purchase will actually succeed. And, we still cannot enter the house. We do not really have any idea what we are buying. For all we know it could be a shell that is ready to fall down.
Kathy Mussi, our realtor, drives by the house and assures me it is empty. She even snaps some pictures through the windows.
The team that works with Hubzu.com is very efficient. David Seward, our attorney, and Brenda Craig, his legal assistant, stay ahead of the whole procedure. They notice the property is missing an additional lot that had been attached to the house previously. I am thrilled. I wanted an area for a vegetable garden. Now I have it. They also notice some of the back taxes have not been cleared up. That too is fixed. Thirty days from our bid, the home is officially ours.
We own a home, but still do not have keys to the house. But, it is ours! We ask both Patrick and Kathy to please see if they can get in and take some pictures. We would like to have an idea what we are facing more than just through windows.
Kathy manages to find a way in and snaps pictures of the main floor, stairway, second floor, and attic. We have an excellent idea that there is work ahead of us, but we will have a lovely home. Then, Patrick, replaces a lock and takes pictures too! He adds pictures of the basement. Years of sitting empty have caused the floors to heave. Some of the walls have been damaged also. The floor will need to be replaced and the walls repaired. They both assure me that though the house needs lots of work, it is solid.
The woodwork, though it needs cleaning and possibly refinishing, is gorgeous.
We are thrilled we have a home to look forward to, but losing Josh looms…
Scott planned to retire July 2017. But, with the knowledge we will be losing Josh sooner rather than later and the fact we have a home to go to, I ask him if it is possible he would consider retiring sooner. We weigh our options. I prefer we leave as soon as feasible if we won’t have Josh. This home is Josh. Without him each moment will be unbearable.
We know we don’t want to walk in during the dead of winter. So I suggest April… the beginning part. March 31, 2017 will be his last day at Assets. We will leave Honolulu April 4, 2017.
We will fly into Chicago because New York State does not allow pets to fly in from Hawaii. The shortest, most direct flight is to Chicago. This will be easiest on our two puppies: Happy and Mr. Ems. Then, we will face the long drive to our new home.
Planning a new life… Wishing, so desperately, the old one wasn’t ending…
