<p>Thanks, CD. I am hopeful something will happen.</p>
<p>good luck jym. Always nice to have a backup offer.</p>
<p>The contingencies on the house we’re considering have not been removed, and in fact it seems the loan will take much longer to process than the seller can wait. We’re going to go in with a lowball offer, all cash, and see what happens :)</p>
<p>good luck for jym and vball…</p>
<p>Good luck vballmom!</p>
<p>Fingers crossed for vballmom and jym! Let us know as soon as you can.</p>
<p>The seller countered at full price with a backup addendum which just acknowledges that there’s an existing primary contract and we’re the backup. We’re mulling over our next step.</p>
<p>Hmmm… does that mean they still expect the first deal to go through?</p>
<p>I think it means the seller is more confident that she’ll sell quickly on the MLS if she has to go that route. Since most houses in this area are selling quickly and above list price, I think this is a reasonable assumption. </p>
<p>We’re getting different stories about the seller’s motivations from our Realtor, but that’s not too surprising because the seller is somewhat whacky. She’s also a Realtor in the same office, so there’s a lot of inside information floating around. We thought she wanted a quick, quiet sale, but apparently she’s got a price in mind and is going to stick to it.</p>
<p>There’s a koi pond in the back yard with lots of healthy fish in it. Good Feng Shui, I’m told.</p>
<p>Wel, vballmom, is the price she asking reasonable?</p>
<p>According to my husband’s extensive analysis (spreadsheets, plots, square footage and year built data, historical sales for this zip code, etc), the answer is yes, it’s a reasonable asking price.</p>
<p>Then just buy the place. ;)</p>
<p>Tell the seller you are paying full price…and let the seller ditch the other buyer…</p>
<p>Am I missing something?</p>
<p>Haha no you’re not, but coming up with the full price in cash is a bit tricker than our lowball offer. We’re crunching numbers ;)</p>
<p>Ok…good…I was getting worried I was losing it. I am middle-aged. :)</p>
<p>
You only need the cash until you own it and can refinance it.</p>
<p>Do you have an IRA? Take some money out of that. You have 60 days to put it back with no tax consequences.</p>
<p>Sure all sorts of possibilities, including margin. We’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Maybe someone here will have an answer to a mortgage interest deduction question in the case of paying cash, then getting a mortgage. My Realtor said he heard of a ruling that said it’s possible to lose the mortgage interest deduction in this scenario. My mortgage broker said he can’t give tax advice, but as long as it’s done within 60 days of purchase we’ll get the full interest deduction. My accountant said we have 2-3 weeks to get a mortgage, otherwise it’s considered a home equity loan and limited to interest on the first $100K in principle. The IRS seems to allow any loan taken out for the purpose of acquiring a home to count for deducting interest.</p>
<p>I’m not too concerned as we have everything set to go for a loan based on the fire drill of making an offer on a house last month with a 15-day close, and my mortgage broker says he can close very quickly on this one. But out of curiosity, is there a definitive answer? Any opinions?</p>
<p>edited to add: I think I found the answer, it’s 90 days. </p>
<p><a href=“Publication 936 (2022), Home Mortgage Interest Deduction | Internal Revenue Service”>Publication 936 (2022), Home Mortgage Interest Deduction | Internal Revenue Service;
<p>There are hard money lenders who can help, but the interest rate and points are high</p>
<p>
Yes, as you found, the answer is 90 days, the interest is fully deductible up to the purchase price + improvements.</p>
<p>I would maybe be worried a little that my accountant doesn’t know the rules…</p>
<p>He deals more with businesses than individuals, so he’s not always up on the details. I’m going to give him a pass since he did say he’d look into it if I was concerned. </p>
<p>artloversplus - no need for hard money lenders, but thanks for the point.</p>
<p>10-4, good luck and invitation for the house warming party?..:)</p>
<p>vball, any chance your girl played in Peninsula Jr. Club or the like?</p>
<p>Housewarming party will be quite a while since the house needs extensive renovations. </p>
<p>I don’t have any girls, but if I had they probably would have been volleyball players too!</p>