The House Hunters Thread

[rhbgirl24]

Thanks for the dust everyone. I''m not really sure what is going to happen if we do not get this house. More than likely we will give up the hunt for now.

vent now.....

This, for some reason, is causing quite a lot of tension between DH and I. I believe he has an unrealistic view of what houses cost and therefore doesn''t think anything is worth the money. I''ve been in the business 11+ years and KNOW that houses are severely under priced right now - which means they are worth MORE. He just doesn''t see that. It causes a lot of fights, a lot of broken dreams, and many sleepless nights. I really can''t believe what all the stress of this is doing to us. Anyone been there?

The house we put an offer on is grossly under priced, its a foreclosure and its like 80K under what it would sell if an owner were selling it, even in this market. We''re also in a fairly expensive market - price and tax wise. This is the ONLY house out of 30+ that we''ve seen that DH even thinks is worth the money. I think this is because this house is only 5 years old, and needs no work. He is very good with his hands, can do pretty much anything needed in a house, but as soon as he sees even the littlest bit of work he thinks it isn''t worth it. I, on the other hand, really don''t care if we have to remodel a bathroom for example. I see a house as an investment. He sees it as something to be perfect when you move in (besides paint colors and whatnot), or he won''t go for it if it isn''t.

I''m not saying I don''t see what he is saying, I''m just saying that for our price point, even in this market, that really isn''t going to happen. I wish it was the way he hopes, but that just isn''t the way it is. I think maybe I just need to come to terms that right now, if this house doesn''t come through, that maybe it isn''t the time for us to buy a home.....

Sorry for the vent everyone. I''m just lost at this moment and working on less than 2 hours sleep. DH and I dont fight like this often, and in this he is just shutting down, really doesn''t listen to what I''m saying. And even after 13 years together, I guess I dont know how to handle that. But thank you for listening.... and if anyone has been there, please please chime in.

 

[meresal]

Rhb- I am so sorry to hear about this crap. I''m sure it is very stressful and only fitting that it would run into your personal life. I hope that you and your DH are able to figure out a way to discuss this without coming off the wrong way to eachother.

Audball- Welcome and good luck!!

We just received an email update:

Closing date is no longer the last week of March... big freaking suprise. Nothing was done on the house last week, so a weeks delay would go right along with that... except that the builder is blaming it on the cabinet company. They pushed it to April 9, which now messes up our plans for moving out of our apartment at the end of this month.

They still haven''t finished the brick and stone on the entry, which is why I don''t have any new pics to share. I sent our foreman an email yesterday morning about why it hasn''t been finished in over a week, eventhough he told me it would be 2 days last Monday when I saw him, but he has yet to respond to me.
They were supposed to put tile and cabinets in this week (this was an update sent on Friday night), so I am also waiting on a reply email about when the cabinets will actually go in, now that the *company* has delayed the shipment.

This isn''t looking good for getting in and set up before the baby arrives.
On a brighter note... less time in the house, means that we are wasting less money when we break our lease at our apartment. I went into the front office yesterday and found out that we can either pay out or last 3 months of rent (April, May, June) or we can possibly pay almost $6000 in remaining rent/reletting fee/and repayment of concessions from when we moved in.

 

[rhbgirl24]

Mere: First thank you. I''m sure it will work out, we probably just need to take a step back.

As for whats going on with you - oh come on!!! I know its tedious and things very seldom go the way they are supposed to in building, but it must be so frustrating. I hope they pick up time somewhere. Best of luck! Just think - this is your home, its going to be OUTSTANDING, and maybe a few more days might be worth it.

 

[Snooper]

rhbgirl24, I''m sorry how things have changed since your last post! I don''t think you''re alone as when I''ve managed to catch previous posts when the ladies had put an offer on a house, it can cause some fights that normally don''t happen. You''re right, houses are priced under and I''m in total agreement with you in that the value will rise once the economy gets stronger. Hang in there!

Meresal, sorry to hear of your news. What a pitty that the cabinet company slacked and didn''t have the shipment arrive on time, but that shouldn''t stop the brick process. Hopefully you''ll hear from the contractor with some answers!

The only news I have is that they''re finishing the wiring/plumbing, and in a week or two, we''re set to meet with the contractor before they add insulation and finish the dry walls. I''m realizing there''s similar pros/cons when one either builds or buys. Frustrating!!

 

[meresal]

Rhb- Thanks for the pep talk!

Snoop- I had an irrational fear that our house was going to be closed up without insulations, so I requested for my meeting to be, after they put insulataion up but before they closed it in with the sheet rock! lol!

My friend, who will soon be our neighbor, went by the houses today and said that they are finishing the front of my house (brick and stone). Surprised... not in the least! I send an email and things get done... is anyone else seeing a trend here? Ohh, and they still haven''t replied to my email from yesterday or the one I sent this morning asking for clarification on when the cabinets would go up, since they were supposed to go up this week, but have apparently been *delayed*.

I would think that would be a no brainer if they weren''t lying.

Now that all of these other houses are being worked on, I can see where my frustration is going to come from. It''s one thing for workers to not be at our lot and nothing else is getting done to other places, but it is a whole other situation when you see other houses going up on the exact same street while your house sits vacant of any labor for days at a time.

 

[rhbgirl24]

Mere: You''re welcome. I guess there are these frustrations in anything - buying, building, selling. I am so glad the brick front is up.... if you have to email for anything to be accomplished, I''d be emailing twice a week!! Yay for persistence.

I see how you could be frustrated with no work being done on your home while others in the area are being worked on. Is in the same builder? That would annoy me even more.

Best of luck!

Snooper: thanks for that! Nice to know you aren''t alone. Congrats on progress! At least its moving along right, albeit slowly.....

 

[meresal]

Date: 3/2/2010 4:16:31 PM
Author: rhbgirl24
Mere: You''re welcome. I guess there are these frustrations in anything - buying, building, selling. I am so glad the brick front is up.... if you have to email for anything to be accomplished, I''d be emailing twice a week!! Yay for persistence.

I see how you could be frustrated with no work being done on your home while others in the area are being worked on. Is in the same builder? That would annoy me even more.

Best of luck!

Snooper: thanks for that! Nice to know you aren''t alone. Congrats on progress! At least its moving along right, albeit slowly.....

Ya, it is actually about 6 other houses going up on our same street... same builder.

I will take a picture of the street, today when I go by, so that you can see the *amount* of construction going on right now. It''s insane.

 

[rhbgirl24]

Wow, yeah, that would annoy me! They need to keep with the deadline on your house BEFORE they move on construction of others that are RIGHT NEXT STORE!

Fuming for you.....

 

[meresal]

Here are a few pics of our street...

This is from the right edge of my lot. (All of the new construction is to the left of our house) The lot across the street from us and the two that you can see in this pic, on the right, have the framing boards up for the foundation... and then a fourth where you can see pipes sticking up.

Then where you can see the houses in the far back, are two houses whose framing are going up. (Better picture in next post.)

 

[meresal]

I moved down the street a bit to take this pic... it is the cul de'sac at the end of our street. 4 more houses. One is a HUGE 2 story that I am soooooo glad we are not next to.

(I'm not sure if you can tell, but there are 6 houses are currently being built here, with 2 vacant lots that have't been started.)

1- Closest house, you can see bit of garage, is almost complete. About a week ahead of us.
3- Have framing going up. (1 huge 2-story, and two smaller ones in the two lots before it... they kind of blend together in this pic, but we aren't sure if they will be 2 story or 1 story yet)
2- have framing boards for foundation to be poured. (One next to almost complete house and one on other side of huge 2 story)

We are going to have LOTS of new neighbors.

ETA: I missed a house in my first post, so I update the info.

 

[meresal]

Ok, Update... so you can Imagine my surprise when I arrive and the cabinets are sitting in the garage...

Predictable to say the least. Obviously I still haven't received a reply to email asking how late the cabinets were going to go in, due to the "delay". I can confirm that they will be going in today, as originally planned. Hooray. Tomorrw: Tile starts going in and they will measure the countertops for the granite.

Apparently there are a few disconnects between our construction manager and the builder. I ran into the manager again at the lot and asked him about the new close date. His reply... "Ya, I saw that email. My boss is still planning on the end of March, so I'm not sure why R sent that." He isn't sure why the date would change, so he told us to still plan for the end of March, and if there are delays from here on out, we will go from there.

Here is the updated pic of the front of the house:

 

[audball]

Thanks guys! We got the house!!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Congrats!

Now, pics or it didn''t happen!

 

[meresal]

Congratulations Audball!

 

[rhbgirl24]

Congrats Audball!! Woo hoo.

Mere: The front of your house looks FANTASTIC. OMG I love it. And I can see how it is easy to compare progress where there is SO much new construction going on.... wow.... must be quite a site during work hours! Also glad your cabs are in, and then things are progressing. Wooo hooo!

Still no news from us. Apparently a 2 week wait time is very uncommon - normally within a weeks time. Damn this stupid bank!

Sorry.... lol

 

[Amandine]

Congrats, Audball!

Rhb--sorry to hear that the process has been difficult! I always thought that DH and I had similar tastes in homes, and we still do, but we have discovered along the way that we do differ in some ways, sometimes important ways. There are things that I could see past, or be happy with for now until we had the money to change it, but they were completely unacceptable to DH. We''ve had a few frustrated moments.

Well, we decided against the one home we liked, due to the fact it has a storm drain emptying into the lower part of the backyard. It may be fine now, but the house was built in 1990, and its not as if storm drains improve with age, ya know? So, we are currently pursuing another home in the same neighborhood. We''ve got some mortgage applications out, and just want one at least confirmed before we actually make an offer. Its nail biting waiting for approval! I just want it to come in, and to be be able to make an offer before someone else does. DH went to an open house for this home, and there was another couple there that looked very interested. Cross your fingers for us!

 

[rhbgirl24]

Amandine - fingers crossed for you! Big time! And thanks, its good to know that not everyone just agrees.....

 

[jcrow]

so, we put an offer on a house today......
and it got accepted!!!!!

need to do an inspection, but i think everything will be in order. it's a 3 bedroom + an office. newer home in a newer neighborhood. we sacrificed space a tiny bit in order to get a nicer house, but that's how it goes. it's still a larger home than our last house. and hopefully if all goes well, we'll be in before the baby arrives

 

[audball]

Date: 3/3/2010 10:26:09 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Congrats!

Now, pics or it didn't happen!

You got it! It's a cute starter house for us. 3/2/1, 1218 sq feet, remodeled kitchen, bathrooms, and floors (all the expensive stuff! and lucky for us, they have nearly the same taste we have because we loved everything they did!). It's not old or new (1977), but has a new roof, new AC, and fully remodeled. We just got through all the paperwork last night, and will move on to the appraisal and inspection. Then we're pretty clear until closing which is a convienent 6 weeks before our lease is up. Plenty of time for a throrough cleaning, paint all the rooms to go with our decor, add some moldings, and move in!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Congrats audball and jcrow!!!! Fabulous news!

I''m still keeping my fingers crossed for you, rhb!

Mer, the house is looking fantastic! Now they just need to get those cabinets out of the garage and in the kitchen!

 

[audball]

Backyard, the lot is about a 1/5 an acre, nobody right on top of each other.

 

[audball]

And the adorable new rescue to give us a use for a fenced yard....
His name is Otis, he's a 20 lb mini schnauzer rescue. ~1 year old, and best of all, housebroken!
(We don't have him yet, we're working with rescue to be his adoptive family)

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Audball, that pup is adorable!!

I am timidly looking into a short sale right now. I normally wouldn''t consider touching a short sale with a 10-foot pole, however since D and I are not as gung-ho about buying as we were a few months ago and didn''t plan to start seriously looking again for a few months, anyway, then we don''t have much to lose in terms of time. The house is wonderful and I''m interested to see if it shows as well as it looks in pictures. We probably won''t look this weekend because we''ll be out of town, but maybe next weekend...

 

[audball]

Thanks, NEL! Good luck with the short-sale. S and I found a few we liked, but decided against pursuing them since we''re a bit time restricted because our lease ends 6/30 and we need to be in a house by then or we''d be homeless...

Good luck! I hope it works out!

 

[jcrow]

congrats audball!

--

can''t believe how fast everything is moving! we put in an offer yesterday. it got accepted. this morning we locked in our [low!] rate with the bank. and tomorrow is our house inspection. yowza!

 

[audball]

Date: 3/4/2010 2:40:41 PM
Author: jcrow
congrats audball!

--

can''t believe how fast everything is moving! we put in an offer yesterday. it got accepted. this morning we locked in our [low!] rate with the bank. and tomorrow is our house inspection. yowza!

Thanks!

 

[Snooper]

meresal, looking great! And wow, that''s a lot of homes being built at the same time!

Audball and jcrow, congrats!!!

 

[jcrow]

just getting back from the house inspection. and it went well

there are only a few very minor things that we''re going to negotiate. all of them have to do with the builder coming out and doing them. since it''s still under warranty, they should... hopefully.

whew. one more thing done. next up, the appraisal.

 

[Lynnie]

Audball and jcrow... Huge congrats!!! Very exciting news!

Mer... It''s so cool how your house is going up right before our eyes. I hope that they finish before schedule!

Rhb... continued dust! I hope you get an acceptance sooner rather than later!

Good luck, NEL! Are you noticing more houses going up yet? A house up the street from me just went up. It''s the same as mine, layout-wise, "needs updating", but has a deck. And they''re asking 20K more than we paid. I wish I wasn''t working tomorrow, I''d like to go to the open house!

 

[meresal]

The cabinets have gone in, and look incrededible! The tile should be done today. And I''m pretty sure they are pouring the driveway, back patio, and sidewalk today!

I am going to go by this afternoon to see the tile. That is the weirdest thing to look at... and entire room of tile, it''s just kind of odd.

Rhb- Thanks! We are soooo happy with how it has come out. I can''t wait to see some grass in the front yard as well!
Audball- Your house is really cute! I love the feel it has. Reminds me of tropical and relaxing for some reason. (I hope you are able to adopt that adorble puppy! He is too sweet!)
NEL- Thank you! We are so ready to be moving in! Let us know how the house looks in person, I''m really pulling for you guys!
Snooper- Thanks! All of those other houses are flying up! Theones at the end of the street, are almost done with all of their framing! These work crews are out there every single day from sun up to sun down.

Thanks Lynnie! We are hoping they finish by the end of the month as well! We have so much to do!