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The House Hunters Thread

Date: 11/18/2009 4:46:00 PM
Author: trillionaire
So we finally tracked down the selling agent, and it turns out that they guy owed more on the house than previously thought, so she spent all day filing bankruptcy for him in order to stop the foreclosure. We get screwed because we had the strongest offer, but they didn''t have to accept any, and it would have made it a short sale anyway. So, she relisted today for 55K more than it was listed before!
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(told you it was a steal!) and it''s still undervalued at that price. So we''re crunching the numbers again...
Click to expand...

Yeah short sales are often priced WAY under market value in order to attempt to get a bidding war going. With SS''s you need to expect to pay a somewhat fair price-the bank isn''t going to accept an offer just because it was "at asking" because asking price with a SS doesn''t often mean anything.
 
Date: 11/18/2009 10:59:43 AM
Author: Lynnie

ETA: Mer, we were posting at the same time. So now you''re in the waiting stage? When do they break ground? (Sorry if you already posted that)
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Sorry, I didn''t see this earlier.

We''ve been waiting about a month to meet with the actual contractor/builder to okay the blue prints. I got the call this afternoon and we are meeting with him on Monday, so hopefully they will break ground a week or two after Thanksgiving (my hopes)! We will see... maybe he''ll be able to give me an exact date at our meeting. Doubting that though.
 
Meresal, woohoo for the final blueprint sign-off on Monday!! Wait a minute, your builder isn''t a PS member, is he?
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He must have somehow sensed you were starting to get frustrated. If they can break ground in a couple of weeks, I think you''ll be in good shape!

Drove by the farm houses yesterday. One looks like it needs more work that we''re willing to take on. The other one was very lovely, but it was dark and I couldn''t get a good sense of the views. From what I could tell, the views aren''t what I expected, but who knows. We''ll get a better idea this weekend when we go back.

The contemporary house was already taken off the market, which is fine since it was my least favorite.

While I really do love the feeling of these old farmhouses and we''re still just a couple of hundred feet from the water, it feels very different from the beach houses we''ve seen. I''m not sure which I might like more--on one hand I can see use raising a family in an old farmhouse. I love the huge porch and the multiple fireplaces and original wood floors that give the home a warm feeling. I also love how laid-back a farmhouse feels, like being a little bit messy is just part of the life. I also really love this town--it''s a very typical seaside town where the town center sits on the water and has a little theater, a yummy ice-cream shop, several little bakeries, a locally-owned hardware shop and grocery store. The town is small and the schoools are very good. On the other hand, I am really pulled toward the beach house--I can definitely see the kids and dogs playing on the beach and then running into the mud room to grab an popsicle from the freezer. Even in the middle of a winter nor''easter it''s fun to sit in front of the fireplace and watch the waves. But the town isn''t as quaint...I don''t know, I''m just typing this out for myself more than anything. I have a feeling we won''t make any offers until after Thanksgiving.
 
I got the info I needed from the agent last night and did my spreadsheet this morning for the comps. I still want to offer 5% below. A very similar house I compared with (same number of rooms, bedrooms and bathroom, same construction year, etc.) had the same asking price and sold at 3% below, BUT it has a garage, a pool and a wood stove for alternate heating, none of which the house we''re looking at has. We''re planning on having a gas stove put in.

meresal - Yay on the progress!

NEL - I''m sure you''ll find something.
 
Date: 11/19/2009 10:24:44 AM
Author: anchor31
I got the info I needed from the agent last night and did my spreadsheet this morning for the comps. I still want to offer 5% below. A very similar house I compared with (same number of rooms, bedrooms and bathroom, same construction year, etc.) had the same asking price and sold at 3% below, BUT it has a garage, a pool and a wood stove for alternate heating, none of which the house we''re looking at has. We''re planning on having a gas stove put in.

meresal - Yay on the progress!

NEL - I''m sure you''ll find something.
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Thanks!

Anchor, maybe my source is bad, but I''ve heard that a garage alone can add up to $20k in value. Is that accurate?
 
Sounds like your price is very fair, Anchor!!

When do you think you guys will put in the offer? Such an exciting time! Keep us updated!
 
Date: 11/19/2009 9:37:59 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Meresal, woohoo for the final blueprint sign-off on Monday!! Wait a minute, your builder isn''t a PS member, is he?
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He must have somehow sensed you were starting to get frustrated. If they can break ground in a couple of weeks, I think you''ll be in good shape!

Drove by the farm houses yesterday. One looks like it needs more work that we''re willing to take on. The other one was very lovely, but it was dark and I couldn''t get a good sense of the views. From what I could tell, the views aren''t what I expected, but who knows. We''ll get a better idea this weekend when we go back.

The contemporary house was already taken off the market, which is fine since it was my least favorite.

While I really do love the feeling of these old farmhouses and we''re still just a couple of hundred feet from the water, it feels very different from the beach houses we''ve seen. I''m not sure which I might like more--on one hand I can see use raising a family in an old farmhouse. I love the huge porch and the multiple fireplaces and original wood floors that give the home a warm feeling. I also love how laid-back a farmhouse feels, like being a little bit messy is just part of the life. I also really love this town--it''s a very typical seaside town where the town center sits on the water and has a little theater, a yummy ice-cream shop, several little bakeries, a locally-owned hardware shop and grocery store. The town is small and the schoools are very good. On the other hand, I am really pulled toward the beach house--I can definitely see the kids and dogs playing on the beach and then running into the mud room to grab an popsicle from the freezer. Even in the middle of a winter nor''easter it''s fun to sit in front of the fireplace and watch the waves. But the town isn''t as quaint...I don''t know, I''m just typing this out for myself more than anything. I have a feeling we won''t make any offers until after Thanksgiving.
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NEL - Both visions of life sound equally fantastic!!!
 
Date: 11/19/2009 9:37:59 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Meresal, woohoo for the final blueprint sign-off on Monday!! Wait a minute, your builder isn''t a PS member, is he?
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He must have somehow sensed you were starting to get frustrated. If they can break ground in a couple of weeks, I think you''ll be in good shape!

Drove by the farm houses yesterday. One looks like it needs more work that we''re willing to take on. The other one was very lovely, but it was dark and I couldn''t get a good sense of the views. From what I could tell, the views aren''t what I expected, but who knows. We''ll get a better idea this weekend when we go back.

The contemporary house was already taken off the market, which is fine since it was my least favorite.

While I really do love the feeling of these old farmhouses and we''re still just a couple of hundred feet from the water, it feels very different from the beach houses we''ve seen. I''m not sure which I might like more--on one hand I can see use raising a family in an old farmhouse. I love the huge porch and the multiple fireplaces and original wood floors that give the home a warm feeling. I also love how laid-back a farmhouse feels, like being a little bit messy is just part of the life. I also really love this town--it''s a very typical seaside town where the town center sits on the water and has a little theater, a yummy ice-cream shop, several little bakeries, a locally-owned hardware shop and grocery store. The town is small and the schoools are very good. On the other hand, I am really pulled toward the beach house--I can definitely see the kids and dogs playing on the beach and then running into the mud room to grab an popsicle from the freezer. Even in the middle of a winter nor''easter it''s fun to sit in front of the fireplace and watch the waves. But the town isn''t as quaint...I don''t know, I''m just typing this out for myself more than anything. I have a feeling we won''t make any offers until after Thanksgiving.
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NEL- Your post brought tears to my eyes. I know it must be extremely difficult. I have no doubt that you and your husband will know exactly the situation that is right for you, when the time presents itself. You''ll find a house that is perfect!

They both sound lovely, and I couldn''t imagine making that decision either.
 
NEL - I agree with Gecko & Meresal... such a tough decision you have on your hands! You sound like you have the fortitude and patience to wait for something you truly love & can imagine raising your family in. I just wish the ''right'' house was available for you!

Anchor - good luck on your offer!

Mer - Exciting news! Yay for blueprints!!


I''m so frustrated right now.... I was gonna take pictures for you guys, and my camera said ''low battery'', and promptly shut off. Fine. So I change the batteries out (brand new package), and it does the same thing!! Ugh. I guess I know what I''m getting Black Friday now! My camera''s about 4 or 5 years old... I wonder if it got dust in it. I think DH had it out on the table in the LR while he was painting/spackling/sanding
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Date: 11/18/2009 7:03:15 PM
Author: neatfreak

Date: 11/18/2009 4:46:00 PM
Author: trillionaire
So we finally tracked down the selling agent, and it turns out that they guy owed more on the house than previously thought, so she spent all day filing bankruptcy for him in order to stop the foreclosure. We get screwed because we had the strongest offer, but they didn''t have to accept any, and it would have made it a short sale anyway. So, she relisted today for 55K more than it was listed before!
23.gif
(told you it was a steal!) and it''s still undervalued at that price. So we''re crunching the numbers again...
Click to expand...

Yeah short sales are often priced WAY under market value in order to attempt to get a bidding war going. With SS''s you need to expect to pay a somewhat fair price-the bank isn''t going to accept an offer just because it was ''at asking'' because asking price with a SS doesn''t often mean anything.
Click to expand...
Yep, I understood that about short sales, but this house is not a short sale, it was supposed to be a regular ''close in 30 days'' sale. *sigh* Oh well. At 55K more, I don''t think we can swing it. We stretched out budget to make the offer, and this is now 30K higher than we offered. Pretty disappointing. On to the next one...
 
Date: 11/19/2009 1:32:43 PM
Author: trillionaire

Date: 11/18/2009 7:03:15 PM
Author: neatfreak


Date: 11/18/2009 4:46:00 PM
Author: trillionaire
So we finally tracked down the selling agent, and it turns out that they guy owed more on the house than previously thought, so she spent all day filing bankruptcy for him in order to stop the foreclosure. We get screwed because we had the strongest offer, but they didn''t have to accept any, and it would have made it a short sale anyway. So, she relisted today for 55K more than it was listed before!
23.gif
(told you it was a steal!) and it''s still undervalued at that price. So we''re crunching the numbers again...
Click to expand...

Yeah short sales are often priced WAY under market value in order to attempt to get a bidding war going. With SS''s you need to expect to pay a somewhat fair price-the bank isn''t going to accept an offer just because it was ''at asking'' because asking price with a SS doesn''t often mean anything.
Click to expand...
Yep, I understood that about short sales, but this house is not a short sale, it was supposed to be a regular ''close in 30 days'' sale. *sigh* Oh well. At 55K more, I don''t think we can swing it. We stretched out budget to make the offer, and this is now 30K higher than we offered. Pretty disappointing. On to the next one...
Click to expand...
I''m so sorry that it didn''t work out--I think the first one that slips through your fingers is the toughest, it seems to get easier after that. I haven''t dealt with any SS, but there are a few on the market and to be completely honest, I am finding better discounts from owners who already have a lot of equity in their house and need to sell. My realtor was just working with a couple who got an amazing deal because an older couple who owned their home outright wanted to sell it so they could buy a house down in FL before the winter.

I know you''ll find something you love!!
 
Hoping for some advice...

So the last house that we offered on is still available... and still stretches our budget if we were to make another offer. Here's the thing... the bottom line is more than we want to pay overall, but because we could rent the basement, it would cost us FAR less in the long run to go with this house than pretty much anything else, even a fantastic price point. (Imagine, mortgage - $1,000+ each month). So, I'm not really sure how to feel. Do we stretch our budget, rent the basement and come out WAY ahead, or do we just wait for something else to come along? Not that renting doesn't come with costs and responsibilities, but on the whole, we'd be paying less per month if we had a renter than we do now in a 450sq ft tiny one bedroom apt, thus enabling us to save aggressively and have a lot of financial flexibility. Has anyone else rent to someone before? Any advice? Even at the higher price, we'd still walk into the house with equity, but there is a decent amount of work to be done (carpets, paint, bathrooms). The basement, however, is in great shape and ready to rent (it was a recent addition to the home), we'd just have to change a few locks and shampoo the carpet.
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To explain the bottom line, the mortgage difference at the top and bottom of our budget is about $250/month, compared to $1000+/mo in rental income, which easily defrays the difference. Okay, I'm going to stop rambling... hopefully someone will chime in with advice.



ETA: FWIW, I should mention that our budget is conservative and 25K lower than the low end of our pre-approved amount from the lender, 75K lower than the high end. When I say the top of our budget, I mean we would be 5K under what we said was OUR personal max. Also, our budget is based on one salary, since I am just moving to the area and don't have a job yet, so our finances should be VERY comfortable once I'm working.
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Trill-I would make sure you understand the full responsibilities and codes involved with renting before thinking about doing it. Your city should have an inspector for rentals-have him/her come out and see if it's up to code. You may find yourself needing to do costly additions to the basement in order to make it rentable (like installing a second exit, etc.)

Obviously disregard this if you know it's already up to rental code-but rental code is different than simply new build code, KWIM?

But if you understand all that is involved with being a landlord and are willing to take it on for the long term-go for it! Personally I wouldn't do it-after having volunteered at a tenant resource center for years I have learned that being a landlord can be an absolute nightmare. Not worth it for my mental health. But other people love it!
 
We signed the papers for the offer this afternoon!
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We went for an even number at 5,41% below asking... Our agent says that it''s a great offer based on the houses sold in the same neighbourhood (same street, even) and she will do her best to convince the seller to take it. The seller''s agent doesn''t take any offers on Sundays (boo
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), so she''ll present the offer on Monday and the seller will have until Thursday to respond. We probably won''t accept a counter offer... If we spend more money than this, it might as well be on the bigger house we first liked.

So... dust please? This strangely feels like when I was a LIW...
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I''m not house hunting, but I just wanted to wish anchor and hubby HEAPS of luck and dust!! And to everyone else who''s house hunting, wishing you all the best!
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Anchor!!! Good luck!! Sounds like a strong offer! We'll be here to commiserate with you til Thursday!! It's a tough time to keep your head on straight... all that hurry up and wait stuff! ***********DUST************

Trill... I don't really have any advice for you. I would also be really tempted to do the rental thing. One of my friends owns a duplex and lives downstairs. She was having a tough time finding a good tennant for a while. She had a lot of dead-beats that seemed great at first, but turned out to be either troublemakers or non-payers. Finally she found a good tennant, and now she absolutely loves the extra money.


Last night, one of my patients and I got to talking. Turns out she's an appraiser (the kind the mortgage co's hire). So I asked her why a lot of appraisals are coincidentally the same as the offer price. She really didn't have a great answer (she was kinda flighty). She said something like, "A lot of appraisers just look at the comps, and if the house is in the *ballpark*, they figure it's a good investment for the mortgage co, and will just appraise it at the offer amt. If they think your house is worth *more* than the offer amt, they'll still appraise it at the offer amt." I asked her why that was, and she didn't really have an answer
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. Just kinda like 'that's the way it is'. Supposedly, she has seen properties that appraise above and below offer amts (even to the tune of $100K), but it's usually commercial properties. She asked me how much I paid for the appraisal... I told her $460, and she said I got ripped off! Shouldn't have cost more than $325, according to her. She also said that the prospective home-owners didn't always have to pay for the mortgage co's appraisal. The codes and laws were changed a few years ago, to where now we do have to pay. She was really adamant that it's an unfair law. If she's still there tonight, I'll talk with her some more. She's supposed to be discharged today, though, so we'll see. I hope for her sake, she's been discharged... but for my sake, I hope otherwise
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Inquiring minds want to know!
 
Trill, I have no good advice...what does your FI think? I can definitely understand the appeal of having the extra income. I think my main concerns would be a.) privacy b.) maintenance costs for any extra repairs and c.) stretching yourself too thin/depending on the rental income. How separated is the apartment? I''m assuming it has its own entrance? Is it completely soundproof? Since it''s a new renovation, it sounds like you probably wouldn''t have to worry about maintenance costs as much, but does it need any work at all? Even something like making sure it has its own laundry room, separate electric meter, etc. Stretching yourself too thin is probably what would concern me the most. We''re buying based on DH''s income as well and the formula we''re using is that we don''t want the mortgage payment to be more than 25% of take-home pay after health insurance and retirement investments for both of us--this is based on no debt including vehicles. If it were me, I''d say over 35% is too risky, even with the rental income, but I recognize I''m pretty conservative, so maybe 40% or something is more feasible for you. I''d say anything over 50% is a very bad idea. Let us know what you guys decide!

Anchor, I''m super excited for you!! It sounds like you put in a very fair offer, which is encouraging!!! Keep us updated!

We only saw a few houses today including the two farmhouses. For some reason (most likely because I''m sick of looking at homes), neither really bowled me over. One needed way too much work. The other was very charming and had great views, but still needed more work than I''d like to take on. And I wasn''t loving the floorplan. Blah, back to square one. Maybe we should seriously consider making a second offer on the beach house...I think we''ll see a few more in that town and then go from there.
 
And the 72 hours countdown begins...
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Anchor - good luck!

I had my first "disappointed in our house" moment today. We met up with one contractor to look at what we''d want to do to have him come up with an estimate, and I started asking about HVAC stuff. We''d need to run ducts to the new room we need to create. And then I asked about air return. Turns out in the entire place (3 floors + basement), we think there''s only one air return duct located on the stairs between the basement and main floor. No ductwork up to the third floor at all (don''t know why the heck not! but it has its own AC and heating). But the 2nd floor bedrooms have heating vents, no air return. The contractor thinks we might be able to make some via using the space within a wall within each room, but I have no idea how that would connect in to the ductwork in the basement - or where that ductwork goes. Grr. Hoping to get mechanical drawings from the current owner - they''d better exist! And neither of the two house inspection reports mentioned this problem - I''m not impressed!
 
Anchor, I've been thinking of you this week!! Keeping my fingers crossed for you!!

DRK, ugh, so sory to hear about the HVAC problems. So the basement, first and second stories are on one system and the third story has its own system, but they are all connected to one air return duct? I'm surprised that this wasn't pointed out in the home inspection--I thought the whole point of the home inspection is to let you know about issues like this. We're going to see a house that doesn't have duct work on the 4th floor (I think it was a converted attic), so I've been looking into the costs of adding ducts. It's lower than I thought it would be--I was looking in a forum where people were discussing costs and it ranged from a couple of thousand (to add a floor), to around $10K for a whole new system and all duct work/vents. Hopefully this works out without it costing you guys too much. The last thing you want when you buy a house is to have a bunch of unexpected work to do.

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We have 6 houses we want to view, though I'm not sure if we are going to go this weekend. I need to get away for a weekend, so we might take a little break. Four homes are close to the beach, one is a typical suburban house in a snooty neighborhood (but great schools) and one is in our favorite town, but not that close to the water. It's by far my favorite--on a private lot (trade off for not being near the water), a shipbuilder's home from the early 1800's, has stables--but it's a bit over our budget, so I'm trying not to love it too much.
 
Our agent just called - the seller made a counter-offer last night and she''s coming to present it to us. Hm. I''m kind of bummed, not sure if this house is really worth spending more money on. I dunno.
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Well, the seller''s counter offer was really unreasonable, at 2% below asking. We refused and didn''t make a counter-offer. The house has been on the market since June and ours was the first offer... so it seems like he''s not willing to sell just yet.
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We''re visiting three houses on Sunday and if we don''t like any of them, we''ll make an offer on the first house we liked.
 
Anchor, I''m sorry to hear about the seller. it sounds odd that he would be so closed off, when yours was the first offer. Very odd.

I hope that you all have better luck ths weekend!
 
Ugh, so sorry, Anchor. I hate that feeling when you realize it''s not going to happen. Usually the first offer a seller gets is the highest, so it''s very possible he might reconsider your offer after another couple of weeks. That seems to happen more than I thought--heck, it''s how our realtor got her house.

Hopefully you''ll find something you love this weekend!!
 
Anchor - that sucks! Some of the TV shows the buyer counteroffering that they''ll pay that price, but the seller will cover the closing costs. No idea why that should make a difference to them mentally, since it usually meant not much more money than the intial buyer''s offer. Hope he changes his mind when he realizes you made your best offer and aren''t willing to negotiate. Maybe you''ll get it yet!
 
Thanks for the support, ladies! I''m not really disappointed, more like surprised... The counter-offer was just too ridiculous. Apparently, the seller told our agent we were going to be "really happy"... He raised us 3,2%, justifying it by "giving us" his gazebo, spa and gardening tools he will have to leave there anyway because he''s moving into a condo... I actually laughed. The guy clearly hasn''t done the same homework I have. We''re not going to pay more than a similar house on the same street that had a garage, a pool and a wood stove sold for, spa or no spa...
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Date: 11/25/2009 2:01:15 PM
Author: anchor31
Thanks for the support, ladies! I''m not really disappointed, more like surprised... The counter-offer was just too ridiculous. Apparently, the seller told our agent we were going to be ''really happy''... He raised us 3,2%, justifying it by ''giving us'' his gazebo, spa and gardening tools he will have to leave there anyway because he''s moving into a condo... I actually laughed. The guy clearly hasn''t done the same homework I have. We''re not going to pay more than a similar house on the same street that had a garage, a pool and a wood stove sold for, spa or no spa...
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I know you already said you weren''t countering, but I would find it funny if you countered by keeping your price as is and telling him he can keep his gazebo, spa and gardening tools :) If they''re such great "gifts", then he should be happy to keep them and give you a fair price instead!
 
Anchor - I''m sorry it didn''t work out for you.
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We.... need to take a break or something. Because we''re starting to fight about it, and that''s not good. I think I need to prescreen the houses before Adam comes in, since I''m the picky one. He keeps getting excited about houses that I proceed to shoot down.
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Blah, Gecko, sorry to hear that the house hunting has become so stressful. I feel like it''s fun for the first couple of weeks after you get all the pre-approval stuff done. At some point after that I went into crazy analytical mode...which I think is a first-time buyer phenomenon. Logically I know that the perfect house doesn''t exist, but it seems I''ll try to exhaust my options making sure.

I think the pre-screening idea is a very good one. I''ve done that a few times when D can''t make it and I actually kind of prefer it. If I can weed out all the not-so-great ones he can concentrate better on the ones we like (and I get to see them a second time). I''m sure you''re ready for a break, too! I keep telling myself that I''ll take a break, but in the back of my mind I know that Nov. and Dec. are the slowest months of the year and I''m trying to use it as our opportunity to negotiate better prices. I''ve seen many houses come off the market (I''m sure they''ll be back in the Spring), but many that were listed over the summer are still on the market and the prices are dropping. I figure that if sellers are dropping prices and keeping their homes on the market through the holidays, they really want to sell their house.

I hope you feel better soon, Gecko--now I understand why everybody says it''s such a roller coaster ride!
 
Thanks NEL! I''m gonna enjoy the Turkey and hanging with my nephew and take a fresh look at it all next week. Have a great Thanksgiving all!!
 
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