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The House Hunters Thread

Tonight doesn''t work for our realtor, so we''re going to wait until tomorrow evening.

I wish we could just give the offer tonight, I don''t like it hanging over my head. I''ve already bitten my nails and am having a hard time concentrating on work...I so want this to work out, but there are so many barriers. Agh. I refuse to get excited at this point, but the excitement sort of creeps in and then you say to yourself "why am I looking up paint colors for a living room in a house which I am very unlikely to get?"

Our RE agent seemed slightly disappointed in our offer--she said we should be prepared for them to not respond. I reminded her that THEIR listing agent told US to "make an offer - whatever is comfortable for you and we will see if something can be worked out". Our offer is low, but it''s not unreasonable based on the comps I''ve pulled. If the owner hasn''t gotten an offer in 9 months and it''s November, she could be perfectly happy with our offer. Who knows. I guess we''ll find out one way or another by the end of this week.

Okay, I promise to stop using this thread as my personal sounding board and will give an update when I have some real news.

Oh, and Diva, I thought about you this weekend!! It seems like the weather was great nearly everywhere, so hopefully you had great moving conditions. Please please post pics when you can. I love all pictures of everybody''s home! A huge congratulations to you!!!!
 
NEL Tell your realtor that it's her job to convince them that it IS a fair offer based on the comps in the area! If you based your offer on comps make sure you explicitly instruct your realtor to convey that to the sellers. Ridiculous how much you have to pay realtors only to do the job yourself.
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And most of all-LOTS of DUST!

Congrats Diva!
 
Realtors have no idea how the seller will react. They are just annoying middleman half the time! (sorry to realtors out there).

We actually backed out of our initial offer b/c of a low appraisal (due to tanking market at the time--has leveled out now in my area). We told them this is our new offer based on appraisal, take it or leave it. The realtor told us we might lose the house, they won't be happy, things don't work this way in this town, blah, blah. Fine we said, take it or leave it. They accepted.

It is a roller coaster, but bottom line is you'll move on if this doesn't work out. The seller has a lot more to lose than you.
 
I agree - put in your offer NEL. In fact, I''m shocked that your agent isn''t pulling comps for you, and if she thinks your offer is low-ball, proving to you why she thinks that''s so, and what she suggests you offer instead. just telling you they''ll be offended when the current owners have made the overtures that they have is just nuts. If she''s chasing after you with no offer, why would she not respond when you submit one? They can decide it''s ok, or make a reasonable counteroffer, and if you can''t come to an agreement, the deal falls through. And you move on. But your agent shouldn''t be so negative, or go in there with an offer that she''ll present in a way that will show the seller''s agent that she''s embarassed, and thinks your offer is ridiculous. She needs to explain how you got the figure, why it''s a reasonable offer, and see what they''ll respond with.

Please, keep using the thread as your personal sounding-board. It''s interesting many of us, and I keep checking in for updates from you!

Good luck tomorrow!
 
You ladies are amazing, thank you so, so much.

NF, thanks for the advice about including the comps that I''m using to construct our offer. I asked her for a lot of neighborhood comps from our realtor weeks ago and have since compiled them into my own spreadsheets. I don''t have any real sense of how nice these homes are on the inside, but it''s the best I can do. And our offer is still on the very low end of the spectrum, but it''s not laughable. I''m just thankful that there is so much data available to consumers today--I don''t feel dependent on my agent (though great insight would be nice...)

Janine, my menatality is very "take it or leave it" as well. I love the house, but I''m not willing to bend on the things that are important to me and if it doesn''t happen, there will be other homes. You are right--the seller does have more to lose. Thanks for sharing your story, it helps me to keep this in perspective. I love that we''re still able to keep in touch through PS--these past few years have been so pivotal for both of us! Sometimes it''s fun to look back and see how far we''ve come!

drk, I have to admit that I was a little taken aback at our agent''s reaction as well. I do like our agent, but she is the one who told us we should put in a low offer based on how desperate the sellers seemed. I think she was assuming we were going to put in our original low offer (15% below asking), but we told her we ultimately thought it was too risky, so I really don''t know why she would assume that. In any case, I do have several comps and will come prepared with them--they are not within 6 months, but it''s all we have. Like you said, the sellers can decide if it''s something they''re interested in or not. If not, we will move on.
 
AHH! NEL!!! Good luck, lady!!! I''ll be keeping all my fingers & toes crossed for you!

Diva, Woo hoo!! Congrats, HOMEOWNER!
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Well, my weekend sucked... DH & I both came down with the flu
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I feel like the past three days somehow just fell off the calender (fever-induced delirium, anyone?). Sunday morning, my temp was 104. DH was worried sick (his temp topped out at 102.8). We were debating whether to go to the hospital, but my temp came down after tylenol and cold rags. I really wonder if we had the Swine Flu, though. It was just three days of absolute hell.
Saturday, my RE agent stopped by with some plants and a Lowe''s gift card. I feel so bad... I was sprawled out on the living room floor (no furniture yet, but the TV is hooked up
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). I couldn''t even muster the strength to get up and thank her.
We''re both just about completely over it. My back''s killing me from laying for three days straight... I really wouldn''t wish that sickness on my worst enemy.

Oh, and can I have an "I hate Comcast" moment?? They came out Tuesday to hook up our internet and TV. Wednesday, I realized I couldn''t get into my comcast e-mail account. Didn''t get around to calling them til Thursday. They tell me that my email is still under the old acct, but they''ll have it fixed within 48 hours. Then we got sick. Sunday night, still no email. I call again, and the guy tells me he''ll have his supervisor call me back (never did). I call again today, because there are some pretty important documents in that email acct that I never saved to the computer. They were all mortgage-related, and I''m sure I could get copies, but geez. So they tell me another 48 hours! WTF?!?! Looks like that e-mail is totally shut down - I had DH test email me - it was ''undeliverable''. Why would they transfer 2 emails but not the main one? grrr..... If they can''t fix this, I''m gonna have a heck of a time re-building my address book. I''ve already opened a gmail email. Stupid comcast.

ok, rant-fest over. (sorry)

DivaD, can''t wait to see pictures!

NEL, this is everyone''s personal sounding board... the trials and tribulations of house hunting, right? DUST!

Sadly, I don''t have any pictures to contribute... Dang, DH & I could''ve gotten so much done if it weren''t for the flu!
 
Oh Lynnie, I am so sorry you are feeling so sick! That sounds absolutely miserable, a temp of 104? You must have been unable to move at that point--and for your husband to be sick at the same time? How awful!

I think it''s so sweet that your agent stopped by with a gift card and plants--very thoughtful.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that your email gets fixed--how frustrating that all of your legal docs were in that account. I hope you got it sorted out today.

We just got back from the realtor''s office. Everything is filled out and ready to go, so she''s going to send it over in the morning. We''ll know by noon on Thursday if they''re going to counter. I''m surprisingly calm. It''s nice to have it out of our hands for the time being.
 
thanks for the update..I can''t wait to hear how it turns out! You might very well hear before then too.
 
NEL! I''m pulling for you!

Lynnie- Not only do I hate when I''m sick like that, but I HATE when it falls on a weekend! I''m sorry you had such a hard few days. I hope you are feeling better.


Update: Our house isn''t being built yet.
 
Bad news. The sellers said our offer was too low to counter, which isn't a surprise. We aren't willing to resubmit a higher offer, so we're going to take a breather for the holidays and then start over next year.

The thing is, after we put in our offer, D and I were really excited. The fact that our reaction was excitement makes me feel great. It's a lot of debt, so I was afraid our first reaction to submitting an offer would be "oh crap, what are we doing" but it wasn't at all. We were sort of giddy, even. I think the next time around we probably won't hem and haw over it so much, so I'm really glad we went through this.

I'm not heartbroken at all. We loved the house, but there will be other houses we love!

Meresal, when was construction supposed to start? I want so much for them to get started on this house for you! I know you were expecting a few delays, but you need this house built!
 
NEL - I''m sorry you didn''t get it, but I''m glad you''re feeling okay about the whole process now! I understand where you''re at - we''ve basically decided to do the same thing. Meh.
 
Sorry to hear NEL, but like you said you've learned a heck of a lot from the process.

Sounds like it's better for both parties, and especially helpful to have had a quick response (I hate when things drag out/games get played).

Also love the fact that it hasn't caused doubt for you--so obviously you did the right thing!

Onto the next dream house!!
 
NEL - sorry they didn''t take it, but at least you have concrete limits that you and DH agree on as to how high you''ll go for a certain property. Who knows, a month from now when they''ve had no further interest and reconsidered, they might see if you''re still interested. It does sound like a good time to take a break until more stuff comes on the market in the new year.
 
Thanks, all!

When the phone rang at lunchtime I sort of knew it was bad news. If they were to consider it, I figured I wouldn''t hear until tomorrow. But as janinegirly said, I was glad to have an answer quickly.

Our RE agent did tell the listing agent that we based our price on comps and that we only submitted the offer because she thought we should. The listing agent understood and said that she expected a low offer, but not 20% under the listing price. Our RE asked what she did expect and the listing agent said she was expecting somethng 10 - 15% below listing.

D and I already agreed that we thought 10% - 15% under list price was too high (for us), so we decided that we are not willing to resubmit an offer at this time.

I''d be lying if I didn''t say I was still slightly holding out hope. Not that I expect for this to magically work out, but who knows. As drk pointed out, maybe in a month our offer will start to sound more appealing and the listing agent will reach back out.
 
NEL-I am so sorry it didn't work out. But you never know. They might come crawling back to you in a month. Do you know their situation? Are they just *wanting* to move or do they need to move?

My guess is that this could be them hoping that you'll immediately come back with a higher offer. And when you don't they might get scared and reconsider. Just a guess of course...but it unless they have decided to take it off the market it seems stupid to not at least consider an offer based on comps.

Smart though to hang tight and only pay what you think it's worth. The right house will come along!
 
I have a good idea of why are the homeowner is selling the house, but I don''t think I have the full story. I was told by the listing agent that she wants to downsize because her daughters are leaving for college soon, but they are still tweens at this time. She and her late husband bought the house 22 years ago, so I don''t see why she wouldn''t just wait for the market to pick up again. The multiple price drops recently coupled with how eager the listing agent is to sell makes me wonder if there is something more urgent happening. I don''t know.

They might be hoping we immediately submit a higher offer. I''m afraid they think we''re just bottom feeders hoping for a desperate seller. I told our agent to make sure they know we love the house and are very interested in buying, we just can''t justify anything within 10% of the asking price based on what we''ve seen in the market. Our agent is surprised that they didn''t counter-offer, so maybe the seller is more eager to get a high price than sell the house.
 
Date: 11/4/2009 6:21:36 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady
I have a good idea of why are the homeowner is selling the house, but I don''t think I have the full story. I was told by the listing agent that she wants to downsize because her daughters are leaving for college soon, but they are still tweens at this time. She and her late husband bought the house 22 years ago, so I don''t see why she wouldn''t just wait for the market to pick up again. The multiple price drops recently coupled with how eager the listing agent is to sell makes me wonder if there is something more urgent happening. I don''t know.


They might be hoping we immediately submit a higher offer. I''m afraid they think we''re just bottom feeders hoping for a desperate seller. I told our agent to make sure they know we love the house and are very interested in buying, we just can''t justify anything within 10% of the asking price based on what we''ve seen in the market. Our agent is surprised that they didn''t counter-offer, so maybe the seller is more eager to get a high price than sell the house.
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Makes sense. I think that was smart to tell your agent that and also smart not to jump right in with a counter offer. Let the seller sweat it out for a while. If there is something else going on besides wanting to downsize (I also wouldn''t buy that if they are tweens AND it''s a down market-something else is going on) she might come around. Considering it''s heading right into winter I don''t think it''s the season for beach properties so that''s a good thing for you!
 
NEL, I''m sorry to hear they rejected your offer. It does sound like there''s something more going on, like NF said.

GOOD NEWS for all you house hunters, though! They extended the credit!!! http://www.comcast.net/articles/finance/20091105/US.Homebuyers.Tax.Credit/
WOO HOO!!!
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Comcast finally fixed my email yesterday. Thanks for all your well-wishes - DH & I are feeling a lot better. We both still have a cough that won''t seem to let up. Oh, well... beats being absolutely immoble!

Update: master BR is primed. Still need to prep & prime the LR & hallway. And paint all the trim. Then we can paint on color! It''s all here, just waiting.
We bought a $500 clunker car. Hopefully, it''ll get us through the winter. Good thing we did, because the bus system here just went on strike.
 
Date: 11/5/2009 3:50:51 PM
Author: Lynnie
NEL, I'm sorry to hear they rejected your offer. It does sound like there's something more going on, like NF said.

GOOD NEWS for all you house hunters, though! They extended the credit!!! http://www.comcast.net/articles/finance/20091105/US.Homebuyers.Tax.Credit/
WOO HOO!!!
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Comcast finally fixed my email yesterday. Thanks for all your well-wishes - DH & I are feeling a lot better. We both still have a cough that won't seem to let up. Oh, well... beats being absolutely immoble!

Update: master BR is primed. Still need to prep & prime the LR & hallway. And paint all the trim. Then we can paint on color! It's all here, just waiting.
We bought a $500 clunker car. Hopefully, it'll get us through the winter. Good thing we did, because the bus system here just went on strike.
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YOU JUST MADE MY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE FREE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Now I'm not feeling so bad about that covered porch that is $45/sq foot for the roofing.
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Lynnie- We want to see pictures when your work is all done! Glad you are feeling better

NEL- I heard from the guy last week, and he said that they could possibly start clearing the lot in the next two weeks. I REALLY want the foundation poured in the next 2 or 3 weeks. Hopefully we'll hear some update the beginning of next week. We need to meet with the builder about the blue prints, but the builder said that they may start on the found. before we can see them. Which is fine with me. The originals have already been signed off on.
 
We have a contract on a new house, and now we are going to try to postpone our closing until Dec. 1 so we can get the $6500 tax credit!!! Yay!!!! The credits will hopefully help us sell our old house, too!
 
Awesome DS! Hope you get it!
 
diamondseeker - that''s great!

Well, I''ve been scanning the morning reports that my realtor sends us, mostly halfassedly, in case something new pops up. A 4 bed, 2.5 bath in the city we really want popped up, and it is NOT a short sale (bank owned) we figure we might as well go take a look, just in case, but we''re not getting too excited about it, LOL.
 
DS, congrats! That''s very exciting!!

Gecko, I''m keeping my fingers crossed for you! In the area you like and not bank-owned sounds good to me! Are you seeing it this weekend?

There are a couple of homes that have caught my eye in the past couple of days. In order to stay on budget and not get hit with high flood insurance rates, I''m thinking of homes that are a bit farther back from the water. There is one on a hill overlooking the water that I like, so the views are still gorgeous even though it''s not oceanfront. We aren''t going to look at it anytime soon because we need a break, but it reminds us that there are other homes out there.

D is still holding out hope for the other house, which I understand. I don''t think he''s going to want to make another offer until he feels like this one is hopeless.
 
Date: 11/6/2009 8:46:57 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
DS, congrats! That''s very exciting!!

Gecko, I''m keeping my fingers crossed for you! In the area you like and not bank-owned sounds good to me! Are you seeing it this weekend?

There are a couple of homes that have caught my eye in the past couple of days. In order to stay on budget and not get hit with high flood insurance rates, I''m thinking of homes that are a bit farther back from the water. There is one on a hill overlooking the water that I like, so the views are still gorgeous even though it''s not oceanfront. We aren''t going to look at it anytime soon because we need a break, but it reminds us that there are other homes out there.

D is still holding out hope for the other house, which I understand. I don''t think he''s going to want to make another offer until he feels like this one is hopeless.
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It is bank owned, but not a short sale, which makes it much less of a pain. Apparantly it needs a bit of work. We''re deciding if we still wanna go see. Hmmm.

Good for you for realizing that there are other beautiful options out there too! D''s attitude makes sense to me; make sure it''s a dead end first etc.
 
So, DH and I visited houses yesterday and found one we really really like. We''re thinking about putting an offer on it, but we''re not sure at what price to set the offer. Our max budget is 4% below asking price. Thing is, the house is definitely worth what the seller is asking for. Compared to the other houses we visited, it''s quite a deal, and our agent was surprised. Our agent told us at what price a similar house was sold at and it''s still a little over our budget... I don''t know what the asking price was, though. My godmother is a seasoned RE agent and she says that according to the info she could get from the listing, it might be difficult to offer something that''s lower than 5% below asking price, but that doesn''t give us much room to negociate. The poor woman really wants to move though (her husband left her and their young daughter for a 25-year-old, apparently
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), so we might get lucky.

Anyway, we still have a few more questions we need answered, and then we''ll see what we''ll do.
 
Hey girls!

I''ve been reading this thread and posting here and there . . . so unfortnately this may be a drive-by post for me.

DH and I put in an offer on an amazing condo in the downtown area where he works (and I''ll be starting next month). The condo has its issues, but it''s a pretty charming place, and the work that needs to be done can be finished pretty quickly IMO (famous last words). I''m thowin'' truckloads of dust for you all!

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Anchor and Kittybean, I''m keeping my fingers crossed for both of you!!

Anchor, even if you feel the house is priced well, I can''t imagine the homeowners would not work with you if you offered 4% below asking. You say your agent pointed out a similar house that sold for more--have her pull that sales comparable so you can see what they were asking. How long has this house been on the market?

Kittybean, congrats on putting in the offer!! When does the offer expire? Will you know by today? Lots of dust for you!!!
 
Anchor and Kittybean - DUST coming your way!

We went to see the house yesterday. It was completely trashed. *sigh*

We''ve got 2 more that just came on the market to go see this week.
 
I was thinking about you this weekend, Gecko, so sorry to hear the house was trashed. Blah!

Glad to hear there are a couple of new houses on the market, though! I''ve noticed that inventory here has slowed to a near-halt. A friend of mine''s realtor told him not to list until after the holidays.

I was thinking about going to an open house yesterday, but was too burnt out to muster the energy. Even if we found something we really liked at this point, I know we wouldn''t love it as much as the one we put the offer and D wants to wait a few weeks to see if the owners might reconsider. I''m fine with that plan--I realize that nothing will probably come onto hte market until early spring and even then the prices don''t usually start to fall for at least a couple of months. Oh well!
 
Virtual hugs to you NEL! I''m still bummed about the one we lost, but we''re trying to be optimistic. We were going to sit tight... but dang I am SO SICK OF APARTMENTS.

One of the houses we''re going to look at is only 2 bedrooms, but it has a finished basement bedroom that might just need a little tweaking (egress) to make it livable. It''s worth checking out. Might be able to convert or add a closet elsewhere too. We shall see.

The other one.... something MUST be wrong with it, because it looks too perfect! Fingers crossed on that...
 
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