property. want.

[mellowtigger]

On a fluke, I checked some local listings for properties in northwest Minneapolis, near where I work.  I happened to find something that looks "very interesting".  It doesn't look awful, it's only a mile from work (as the crow flies, anyway), and at least one of the two immediate neighbors keeps a tightly manicured yard.

Best of all?  The price dropped recently to only $34,900.  Yeah, that's right.  It seems to be a beneficiary of dual blights: foreclosures and tornado path.  Here are the Edina Realty listing and the Minneapolis city reports for the property.

I bicycled over to the house this morning to look around outside it.  I saw no major damage to the house itself.  The fences are destroyed, the phone/television lines are on the ground because a tree limb fell on them, and there is some foundation cracking on the alley garage (which is still in better condition than where I live now).  The house itself looks great from the outside, though.

You can see photos of the house inside and out at the realty listing above.  Here are photos of the yard I took this morning from the East (with my bicycle), North (nicely grown over with ferns), West (sunlight for good garden), and South sides of the property.



I took one photo that turned out okay of the kitchen from the south window.  And here's what's left of a house just 1 block away.  Even a month after the tornado, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done along its path.  There were lots of constructions crews working today on roof and wall damage at houses throughout that area.



So.  Now what?  I want to see in the attic at the roof, and I want to see in the basement at the foundation.  I have 20% cash down available, but that would exhaust every penny I have.  I have nothing more than that to do the minor repairs indicated on the city reports for the house.  I already contacted a realtor, and they referred me to someone who can work with first time buyers for arranging financing.  I have emailed her to ask what step(s) I should take next.

Comments

[loganbeary]

It's a cute little house, a lot of the items on the inspection list are typical of houses of that age and price range. The uneven basement stairs below the 6'8" headroom and missing handrails being the most common complaint.

It's amazing how spotty the tornado damage is in some areas, and wide spread in others further north.

I do think that part of North Mpls, bordering the golf course is a fairly good section.

[mellowtigger]

Yeah, it's even closer to the Grand Rounds (the "bicycle highway loop") than where I live now. It's less than 1.5 miles to drive to work by the usual roads.

The back yard has plenty of sunlight for a garden (although I wish it were bigger). I think it might even have a grape vine growing wildly on the fence between it and the southern neighbor.

I think it'd be a great place for a little old man and his 2 cats. :) I hope I can figure out financing with only 20% down rather than 25% + repairs. :( We'll see what comes out of asking, though. Because of the holiday weekend, I don't expect an immediate reply from the financing specialist.

[loganbeary]

Have you heard back from anyone yet on this?

[mellowtigger]

Yes, but none of it sounds promising so far. I have simplified my life to the point that banks don't like me. :)

I have no "history" (translation: current as-of-this-week activity) of payment schedules. The only recurring bill that I pay is my rent. I don't have car insurance because my account is in inactive status at the moment. I don't have phone payments because I prepay for a year. I don't have credit cards because I paid everything off when the economy tanked. And so on...

The first lender couldn't do anything, so she referred me to someone at Wells Fargo. He's taking a look at possibilities for "alternative credit lines", except that still I only have rent as my proof of payment history. It doesn't sound promising.

I don't understand the point of having credit agencies if my decade-long history of paying my bills has no impact whatsoever. I have to be currently indebted in order to get more debt. How boneheaded is that?

[loganbeary]

Totally bone-headed. Banks should embrace people who are frugal. But no, they are more interested in how much money they can make in interest instead of whether or not people will actually pay back their debt. Have you tried any credit unions?

[mellowtigger]

My credit union doesn't do home loans. When I checked last year, they referred me to someplace (I forget which small bank) that was one of the places that said on the phone that they "don't do loans for properties under $100,000". *shrug* I could check again. Maybe desperation in these strange economic times has changed their policy.

I think I'll call the loan guy in the morning and leave a message asking if maybe there are any special national rules that apply to people "with disabilities". I can provide my diagnosis paperwork if maybe certain programs accept that some people live simple lives and don't adopt the complexities that they usually expect.

[loganbeary]

Now that's a thought, did a search on google for "Home loans for disabled" and found this: http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/finance/american-home-loans.php