5 Tips to Buying A Short Sale House

After reading Coco from Our Humble ABode(n) post on buying their first house, I realized I never told you or shared how we bought our house. We did it an unconventional way that in the end I think worked to our benefit. So here it goes, 5 tips to buying your own house!

Of course this is just what WE did in 2009,  who knows what it's like out there now, so you should really consult a professional...aren't I suppose to say that?

We bought a short sale. We knew we wanted to buy a short sale instead of having to go through the normal channels. That being said we could afford to do things a bit different. Mr. was on Redfin daily just looking at different neighborhoods in different cities. For probably a year before we bought he was doing research. While Mr. was a bit over the top, do your research on your neighborhoods. Look at the trends and how the houses in certain neighborhoods are doing. See what they are selling for. Keep an eye out in your favorite neighborhoods and wait for a house to go on the market as a short sale. And the biggest thing, don't be in a  rush to move. Don't say...we have 4 months to move because our lease is up! We had sold our condo and were living in apartments, so when our lease was up we just went month to month and paid a slightly higher rate, which was worth it because getting out of lease was going to be way more than the extra $100 we were spending a month, for us it was just an extra month, so make the best decision for you and your situation. Maybe sign a 6 month lease if possible.

Try to have all of your ducks in a row. Meaning have a really good down payment, know what your budget is. Try and save up a good down payment, more than 20% if you can. Click here for part 1 and here for part 2 of my finances and how we do things around here. Be realistic about what you can afford, not what the bank is willing to give you. Seriously do the math.

Now that you are looking at short sales, a good down payment...ditch your real-estate agent.  You're probably saying WHAT?! I know, I'm not crazy, but seriously I think this had a LOT to do with getting the house we did. Actually every single short sale saw sort of happened like this:

1. We (and when I say we I really mean Mr.) found a short sale that he thought we would like he called the real estate agent on the listing directly
2. He told said real estate agent that we didn't have an agent and that we would like to see the property.
3. The agent...every single time...would bend over backwards to show us the house...why you might ask? Well he sees that we have no real estate agent therefore he's not going to have to share his commission with another agent, he's basically getting both sides of the deal. Score for him.
4. He would always mention that we would probably be considered and at the top of the list if we wanted to put in an offer...reading between the lines, he's going to put us higher up on the stack of offers because we have no agent and he's getting both sides so he wants us to get the house so his commission is bigger, so he's going to push for us to get the deal.

Now that you've looked at several houses...and this one is going to be hard...don't get all emotionally attached to something. Do not make decisions based off of emotions, make a decision based off of facts and nothing else. If you start to put your emotions in, you're going to get in trouble and it's going to lead to a lot of heartache and more emotional stress than necessary. This is a business deal, you want something, they have something, don't let your emotions get the best of  you. I know this is a hard one to swallow. But in the end if you think of it as a business deal, you'll be much better off, instead of thinking of it as...this is the house I'm going to bring my kids home to...or this is the house my kids are going to graduate in...just don't do it. Don't imagine what life is going to be like if you buy THIS house.

Shorts sales are tricky. They are super time consuming. We were lucky in the fact that our house while a short sale, was already in escrow with someone else when they're finances fell through, so everything had already been approved by the bank. We came along and offered the same as what they were going to offer, and they literally just switched our names for their names on all of the documents. So in the end our short sale only took 33 or so days. This is highly unusual, but we were prepared to go longer if necessary. Like I said in point 1, don't be in a rush to buy, this will also affect your emotions, if you are in a rush, you're going to possibly make a decision based off of that emotion of needing to find a place to live, so just don't put yourself in that situation. Mentally prepare for a long road ahead with a lot of waiting for the banks to say yes or no.

Good luck on buying your first home. It's a long, emotionally draining road, so be prepared and don't get emotionally involved! So those are my tips on how to buy a short sale. Have any questions? Just ask below or email me!

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Style Perspectives - Graduation Wear and Hair Challenge Week 20

Today we're styling Sheila's prompt: A graduation outfit, in honor of her son who graduated over the weekend! Perfect right?  But first a recap of last weeks Style Persepctives: A Blazer and Sneakers. Many of us were surprised with how much we loved this prompt, I know it's one of my favorites, and something I NEVER would have put together myself.

I decided to chose my newish (although you've seen it in other posts, but I haven't put it up on a Wednesday, so it doesn't count right?), dress from...I'm not even sure where it's from...

My hair, I love every crown braid that ever was. There's just something so feminine about it, that I love. Perfect for a graduation in my opinion, off the face and you can easily throw it in a low pony tail in case it gets too hot.

I also put together some perfect graduation looks for either the graduate or an attendee. Something about short dresses just screams graduation to me. So most of these looks are very Spring/Summery shorter dresses.

*Linked products are affiliates and I will receive a small commission if you click on it. Thank you for your support!

Green Dress* ($48 - 6 colors) // Tank Dress ($48 - 3 colors) // Orange Floral Dress ($138) // Shift Dress* ($88) // Blue Floral Dress* ($46)

Of course here are my hair styles that I've been doing this week.

Friday for Disneyland I wanted my hair up and out of my face...I forgot to take a picture of the front just by myself...so this is what you get, super cheesy faces.

Classic pull through braid.

Saturday, my MIL was in town and we were just hanging out, so I threw it up in my new favorite top knot.

Sunday I did this style, my cousin saw this on IG and wanted me to try it. While it didn't look exactly like the girls hair, it was pretty darn close. I need to get less fly aways, so when I puff out my fishtail at the end, it does what her hair did. Maybe next time.

Tuesday I did my second favorite go to hair..

How are you doing your hair lately?

Now go check out some of the other ladies to see how they styled their graduation look!

ONCE UPON A TIME & HAPPILY EVER AFTER : Library-Lovin’-Lady

DAILY STYLE FINDS: The Personal Stylist

FOXY’S DOMESTIC SIDE: The Crafty Engineer

SIMPLY SHAUNACEY: Reformed Frumpy Mommy

TWO TEENS AND THEIR MAMA: Stylish Midlife Mama

RSQUARED: The Not So Nerdy Accountant

SHOES TO SHIRAZ: The Shoe Hoarding French Teacher

PUPPIES AND PRETTIES: Cube Dwelling Fashionista

MISHAPS AND MAYHEM OF SOLITARY LIFE: Single Girl, Simple Style

A LOVELY LITTLE WARDROBE: A Casual Petite

MAKING THE MOST OF EVERYDAY Classic Yet Current Over Forty

NICKANDNIK: Mama with Curves

LIVING ON CLOUD NINE: Blissful Fashionista

WHITNEY À LA MODE: A book-loving French Teacher

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway for $100 iTunes GC here and $200 Target GC here!

An InLinkz Link-up

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5 Things I've Learned From My Hair Challenge

Hi Foxy Friends! I'm about 20 weeks into my hair challenge, so I thought I would update you all on the things that I've learned from doing my hair intentionally every week for the past 20 weeks. Maybe it will be something that you'll want to do too, and you'll join me in the next 22 weeks! Wow, only 32 weeks left of the year, seriously, where has the time gone? So here we go:

In no particular order...but first...
*I did buy these with my own money, but linked products are affiliates and I will receive a small commission if you click on it. Thank you for your support!

I actually really do like doing my hair. I was stuck in the I wear my hair down for about half the day and then throw it up in a pony tail. I thought this challenge was going to be so hard, and it was for the first few weeks, but then I just worked it into my everyday routine and now it's turned into something I just do. My go to hair styles at 4am...is a small braid bobby pinned to the back of my head. Super fast and easy to do but makes you look like you actually tried.

A new favorite is the small top knot on top of my head. It might be one that I do at least once a week.

I learned how to use a bobby pin correctly. Have you been using them correctly? And you know what? It does look better and work better, why am I just learning this now?!

Oh and these are the bobby pins I use. They're called Diane's and they're great, they come in black and bronze, I got them on Amazon for $5.89 for 300, deal of the century. They're super thick and not flimsy like the ones at the grocery store.

 

I used to wash my hair every night...sometimes when I was feeling really adventurous I would go every other night once a week...I know daring. But what I've realized doing this challenge, that your hair needs time to just be, use it's natural oils and be a little dirty. Also dirty hair really makes for the best hair styles, the dirtier the better. It took some times, but I can go up to 5 days without washing my hair, it's awesome, amazing, and I don't get the hair oil running down my face like I used to (I know you know what I'm talking about). I'm writing up a post now how I got to this point, so stay tuned. This braided crown works the best with super dirty hair.

You might ask, what products do I use? Well glad you asked. Remember this post when I bought a bunch of stuff? Well I've used it all and have found that my favorite products are the Tame Frizz Taming Crème* (far right) for when I do curls. I try to do curls on second day hair and I rub this stuff in my hands and sort of disperse it throughout my hair and my hair smells fanstastic, but holds a curl really, really well. The second thing I love is the Dry Wax* (second from left), which I use to tame all of my fly aways. You wonder how I can control some of it? It's with dry wax, it's going to be your best friend. It also helps to dirty your hair up a bit, gives it some grit and texture when doing braids.

I also like using the Rockin Gel Pomade*, but not as much as the dry wax. The pomade I really only use when I'm braiding small sections and need to tame the fly aways.

The other products I love is my dry shampoo. My best friend...I've tried four of them...the first 2 were not so great, but felt the obligation to finish it...boo, the third one..Amika Dry Shampoo, seriously folks, it's worth the money!

And the second product that I really love is the Amika Un-done Texture Spray, seriously this stuff is amazing. For those of you with thin hair...you HAVE to get this! It just gives your hair volume. I have no idea how it does it, but it does! You just lift your hair, spray at roots and BAM volume. It also gives your hair some texture and dirtiness to help with hair styles. This is really only for dirtying up your hair and giving you some volume...the dry wax is going to leave somewhat of a sticky residue...so use that for when you're sort of finishing your style and want to tame some fly aways.

One last product that I really love, my shampoo. I do switch between shampoos pretty much every wash, but the one I like the best and has really helped my hair to go the longest between washes is one I picked up at Target because it was on the Cartwheel, and of course you know what? I forgot to use the stupid thing when I checked out...darn! Oh well, it's called Hair Food...seriously that's what it's called. I have the shampoo* and conditioner*, they're each $10 and worth every penny!

I love doing other people's hair. Like I had no idea, but whenever I get the chance I do someone's hair I will. Not joke, we were in line at Disneyland on Friday and I was doing my friends daughters hair while teaching my friend how to French Braid and the two ladies with their kids wanted to learn and then I asked them if they wanted me to do their daughters hair, they jumped at the chance and asked if I could just come meet them every time they wanted to go to Disneyland.

My cousin's daughter before going to LEGOLAND I enticed her with awesome hair photos of kids the night before so when I asked her the next day she would jump at the chance (of course a braided crown)...hehe.

I want to try and teach everyone how to do hair...I had no idea I had this in me...perhaps I missed my calling and should have been a hair dresser instead? Not sure...but in case you wanted to start at the basics...I put together a tutorial on how to French braid. And guess what? Shaunacey tried it...and did a pretty darn good one if you ask me for a first time! Let me know if you try it, I'd love to see the pictures.

My question to you, would you like to see other hair videos? And if so, what do you want me to teach you?

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$10 Target Haul: May Edition

Back linking up with Becky, Beth, Courtney. Elizabeth, Rachel, Stephanie, Tif  and Whitney to show what we got for just $10 at Target.

 

This month seemed a lot harder than other months, it's probably because I never got to Target by myself this month. The one time I did get there I was with Mini Fox and we had a limited amount of time at Target, darn. So I couldn't walk the isles like I normally do. This is what I found.

 

 

Pretty limited this month. I found the glow sticks in the dollar bin, and thought they would be fun for the kids. Cause you doesn't like glow sticks? I might have to bring them next time we go to Disneyland. Or putting them in a bubble bath with the kids...how fun is that?

 

 

So that was $4, and I needed something else but I couldn't find anything. I did however need some more hair spray...so, I got a bottle of my current favorite and called it a day.

 

Of course I was slightly under budget...so I guess that means I get to spend $0.29 extra next month right?

 

 

That's all for this time, hopefully I can find some good stuff next month.

 

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