House Update

So we just heard back from the Credit Union where we are trying to get our loan at and they told us that they could not loan us the money.  Apparently since no homes have sold in the area recently, they do not have any “comps” to estimate the mortgage insurance against.  Comps are comparable estimates based on the value of the homes sold around the area.  We ask why they could not use the values that the appraiser that they hired came up with.  So they went to the appraiser and ask how he came up with the values that he had and he updated his original estimate to $20K less than he appraised the home for the first time.  So the back came back and says, “I am sorry, we cant loan you the money for this home because we can only lend you 80% of the value of the home.”  So we are back to where we were before where we would have to get the owner to drop the price again.  Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have them drop it $20,000.  We initially chose the credit union because they were less likely to sell our loan, but the hassle is not worth it.  We are now trying to get our loan through the conventional means which means another 3 weeks before we can close on the house.  If these guys come back with the value of the home at $160K then either the home owner will have to drop the price or we are done trying to buy it.  It is a little depressing.  Anyway, in all my excitement of fixing up this new house I drew up some more plans of what we want to do if we ever move into the place.  Below is the before and after images.  I will update again when I get more information.