FSA Appraisal is Back With a Good Report!

On Thursday the FSA’s appraisal of the Hive-House went to the FSA and on Friday I received news of the property’s good report.

The appraisal is a critical step in the FSA’s loan process because they need to be able to validate the loan, as they are funded by tax-payer’s money─they can’t pay more for the property than what it’s valued at. I had agreed to pay $179.9K for the house and 53 acres, so I needed the appraisal to come in at-or-above that figure for this whole thing to work out.

My realtor, Leah Watkins, reminded me that the house and the 3 acres it sits on was appraised at $139K when the seller first put it on the market; we were fairly confident that with another 50 acres on top of that the Hive-House would appraise where we needed it to. Still, it was a huge relief to have it confirmed and to know for certain that we could move on to the final stages of buying a farm: Closing.

The appraiser valued the property at $195K and sited the house as being is average-to-good condition. I am so stoked!

The final stage of the FSA’s interminable loan process involves some legal research and the drawing up of legal documents necessary in the sale and conveyance of real estate. My lawyer needs to research the Deed associated with the property at 344 School Street to ensure it has a clean title so that no one else could possible lay a claim to it, title insurance will be purchased by the FSA, and the Mortgage Contract will be put together. Once all those things are in place the FSA will schedule a Closing Date.

As far as what that date might be, I have absolutely no idea. I know that once the Appraisal comes back things generally happen fairly quickly, and I’d like to think we’ll Close by June 1st (a week and a half away at this point), but I also know we are now well into the FSA’s busiest season and my poor agent, Nathan Persinger is right out straight. The FSA is very tight-lipped on the subject of a Closing Date, and I suspect I won’t learn exactly when Closing will occur until practically the last minute.

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