House 2: Sold (follow-up)

As mention in my last blog entry, we finally closed on House #2. After all the dust had settled, the closing costs and check at closing were almost what I figured. I still need to go through all my receipts and get them up-to-date to figure out what my final loss was on this property. I'm also going to have to wait until I get my refund back from the water company, sewer company, and electric company. Also, when we closed, the escrow officer said they would still have to wait until everything was funded until we got our check. We closed in the morning and the Buyer closed in the early afternoon. I got a call at around 4:30pm saying we could pick our check up, so I swung by, picked it up, and deposited it in our bank. When I got back home and looked at the HUD-1, I noticed we were short-changed by exactly $25, so I called the title company back, but they had already closed. I left a VM with the escrow officer detailing the problem and to have her call me first thing Monday. I figure all the refunds will only reduce our negative profits by a couple hundred, so we'll still be seeing red on this property. I've scribbled a lot of notes down on some of the lessons learned and things to avoid (and consider) next go around. I'll post it here once I get everything straightened out.

On a side note, I went to House #1 after we closed and mowed the grass again. The carpet cleaning company that jilted me the week before promised to come out again and gave us a 25% discount for their screw-up. A little after I arrived, the carpet cleaning "crew" (it was only one person) arrived and starte cleaning. I went to work mowing and weed eating. About halfway through doing the backyard, I noticed a 6yr-old-or-so kid looking inside the house in the back door, so I went to investigate. Turns out an agent was showing the property. All I said was "Hi" and went on mowing. The carpet cleaner had to stop until they left, though.

I went back to House #1 on Sunday to finish weed-eating the tall grass along the rear fence line. If you recall, the original owner had a make-shift garden back there, and the existing chicken wire he used for a fence was almost permanently attached due to the thick grass and shrubs that have grown there since. Needless to say, it was a exhausting job getting all the chicken wire torn down and rolled up, and to weed eat the tall grass. but it looks 100x better now. I'll post a before-n-after picture soon.

Update: On my to-do list was an item to call the insurance company to cancel the policy for House #2. When I talked to the agent's assistant, she said she'd submit the order for cancellation and I should get a refund soon. I totally forgot about getting a refund for the portion I paid. Seeing as how it will almost half the year, the refund will definately help the bottom line.