Three days after walking on the property we decided to make an offer. Chris and I had excellent credit and I had some money from my grandmother who had recently passed away. This was our "forever" property. We could one day build a house and retire here.
I sent the realtor an email with the intention of making an offer and also sent a short background about who we were and why we were interested in the property. Annette said she would pass our letter along to the seller. She wrote up on official purchase and sale contract, we sent a $1000 deposit and made an offer. I had watched a lot of Selling New York and Selling L.A. and thought I knew what I was doing. Bahahahahaha! Meanwhile. Annette asked us to begin researching financing. That was where the real education began. The first bank required 30% down and had a very high interest rate if 6.75%, despite our excellent credit rating (high 700's and above 800). The second bank required 25% down but it was an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). The reason for such a large down payment was due to the vacant land status. The land had never been soil tested, did not have a water permit, construction building permit, etc. The loan was seen as "high risk". We scrambled to put together money needed for the down payment and closing costs. Community National Bank provided us with a land loan. The loan officer, David, was extremely helpful in explaining the process and we qualified for the loan. A friend from high school, Brad, is an actuary in Vermont. He offered to look into the property records and view the property to determine if it was worth the purchase price. Brad let us know everything with the property checked out and it seemed to be a solid investment. It was a huge relief. On February 21, 2018, the seller countered our offer. He would reduce the purchase price by $2k but he thought it was a fair price. We scrambled to get more money for the down payment and agreed to the final purchase price. David had assured us we would be able to get approval for the loan.
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