|
|
|
|
Changes can be stressful
|
|
It's been a weird couple of weeks. At the end of January, while driving along the freeway (taking kids to school), my Jetta died. Turns out the timing belt slipped or snapped or some such, and since it's an interference engine, it trashed the engine. The ignition coil and some other electronics are dead, too. Estimated repair: $3200. Value of car: About $1000 if it were running, and I strongly suspect it will have other problems soon. I'm selling it to one of the mechanics at the shop for a few hundred dollars.
So we had to shop for a replacement. Decided to move up to a minivan, found a good one from a private seller, had it inspected. It's in good shape, and the price is reasonable. Made an offer accepted, paid cash. We knew the registration was expired, and we'd have to renew, so I take it to AAA to do the paperwork.
Of course it's not simple.
Here's the situation, which took me a few days to figure out. The person selling was not the owner listed on the title. That person--the titled owner--had sold the car to a woman, and signed the title--but she had not signed it in acceptance. That woman was a member of the family of the man who sold it to me. He gave me the title (signed by the original owner) and a blank bill of sale, signed by the original owner. Basically, the family selling it to me had never officially taken possession of the car.
According to AAA, that wouldn't have been a problem--except that the woman to whom to original owner sold it *had* accepted legal liability. Thus, while she had never signed the title, there was a record of her attached to the car, and the bill of sale signed by the original owner was invalid.
I had to get the man who sold it to me to obtain a bill of sale from the original owner to his relative, and one for his relative to me. Which, to his credit, he did within a day. He wasn't trying to scam me, he just didn't realize that his female relative had taken liability for the car.
In the end, it just cost us a little time and stress, and we had to pay an extra transfer fee ($15). But now it's ours, and we like it.
We're also shopping for a home loan, as we have found a very nice house which we would like to buy. There are foreclosures and homes for sale *everywhere* around here, and most are sitting on the market for 60+ days (the one we like has been out there since September, with no offers). Combine that with low interest rates, and I think things are as good as they're going to get--or almost so--and it's the right time to buy a house if we can get a loan. No adjustables, no weird loans--30-year fixed all the way for us. Now we'll see if anyone is willing to lend us the money.
So things are interesting. The stress of the car is done, which is good--but house shopping and loan shopping are nervewracking. Still, we might end up with a house for a bargain. Then we get to enjoy toilets failing and it being *our* job to fix them. 
|
|
|
|
|
