The House Hunters Thread

[NewEnglandLady]

Part Gypsy, your remodel looks fantastic!

Harleigh! Congrats on signing the initial offer! I think it's smart to go ahead and get that signed--even if you see it today and don't feel as strongly about it, you can still back out (might be out a little bit of $$ if you put an initial deposit down, but it's very minor). If there is another interested buyer the upside of having the signed offer is definitely worth it. That's one of the reasons I wanted to get our offer signed before tomorrow's open house!

In terms of what to look out for, I wish I could help more. When we had the inspection done on the last home I followed the guy around and took notes. Now I know some things to look for, but I know very little. Our inspector said the most important room is the basement. If I were you, I would look for any sign of water damage--water marks on the walls, posts, etc. Water damage is an indication of a huge future headache, especially if it's reached any of the systems (water heater, furnace). Our inspector was also very weary of temporary posts in the basement and was very careful about any wood damage. The thing is that we've only been interested in antiques (1850 or older), so these are issues with older homes. I don't know if these would be as much of an issue in newer homes.

Other than that, I would probably just walk through and focus on the details. When you have the inspection done, he will go over it with a fine-tooth comb. He'll make sure all of the outlets work, the faucets work, the toilets flush correctly, the appliances work, the windows open and shut correctly. He'll give an estimation of how old the roof and systems are, he'll check all of the outside structures to make sure trees aren't planted too closely to the house and make sure the fireplaces are in good shape, etc. For now, you can just focus on the things that are most critical to you and then see how the inspection goes.

By the way, our appt. with the ophthalmologist went well yesterday. Unfortunately his eye is still inflamed, so we need to come back next week. If his eye still isn't clear next week, we'll likely be making the 10-hour trip to VA to have surgery. The good news is that we planned for that with the house, which is one of the reasons we scheduled the signing of the purchase and sales agreement in late April. We figured it would give us plenty of time to have the inspection done and consult our own real estate attorney.

I'm hoping we hear something today--the deadline isn't until tomorrow, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't take that long. I'm really hoping the counter offer is close to our offer!

ETA: just heard from my realtor and they countered at something reasonably close. We'll probably go through one more round, but I do think this we'll have the offer signed before tomorrow's open house. Hopefully! YAY!

 

[Lynnie]

Part Gypsy... The remodel looks beautiful!! So much nicer than the before shot. So was the entire room wallpapered in that at one time? It''s funny about old wallpaper... How could people have had such bad taste? I think I''d get dizzy in a whole room covered in that stuff! I really like the hotel vibe! It''s very calming!

Harleigh... Woo! Tons of dust for your offer!!! When will you hear by? As far as questions to ask - NEL pointed out some good things. Also, make sure you look BEHIND stuff. On our final walkthrough, there was a stack of boxes in the basement piled up to the ceiling. They were hiding a hole in the ceiling! It''s just those cheap thin ceiling tiles, and it looks like they had removed a couple to do a repair of pipes or something in the past.
I also second having your REA approach the sellers about furniture. He can just call the seller''s agent and see if those things would be an option. I remember on our 2nd walkthrough (after our contract was signed), we made a list of things they could leave. Then, the day before moving day, I got a phone call from my REA. The sellers were asking if it was okay to leave some extra stuff (the sellers were in their 60''s, and it was their father''s house, who had died). We said, ''sure, leave whatever''. And they ended up leaving a LOT of crap. The stuff I mentioned in the last post was just stuff we kept! It was kind of annoying having to clean out on moving week, but a lot of stuff they left we wouldn''t even have thought to have written into the contract, but it came in good use anyway.

NEL - I''m glad your appointment went well! Poor pup! Continued dust for your offer!! I hope you hear something today!!!

 

[gardengloves]

I just love this thread, and having bought and sold two houses in the last four years, I'm so interested in house threads. We are not flippers, but we do love to remodel and renovate, and my husband just loves a big construction project, what can I say, it's just our hobby- it took us two homes to find the right place.. We put a bid and got accepted on our new home, and then had to put the old house on the market in 2007. It was a hire wire act, just as the market was crashing, not recommended, but fortunately the old house sold in one day, and we were clear to move on.. We listened to our REA listed price at her recommendation, not our emotions, and sold very fast.

On closing day in our new house when we did the walk through there was tons of stuff that was supposed to be removed, rolled up ripped carpet, paint cans, construction debris, a child's playhouse in the yard, which we let a neighbor take - we wanted the place empty, it's very costly to to remove stuff like that if we had to clean up ourselves - our REA was with us and frantically on the phone with the seller's agent to get it removed, they sent crews over to remove everything, dismantle playhouse and deliver to neighbor- and a landscaping crew to mow and clean up the yard - by the time we got through the closing everything was gone. Our seller's were a relocation company, they had zero emotion- the perfect seller's- just wanted to move the deal forward, and happy to be free of the house. This house needed lots of work, it was 15 years old, very dated, but had 2 X 6 construction, great bones, very solid which made my husband swoon, and we've since torn everything up and remodeled.

 

[Harleigh]

You ladies are the BEST! I ran through the post real quick and took some notes, but I have to head out to meet DH and our REA at 5 PM, so I''ve got to get a move on!

Thanks for all of the great ideas...luckily the house was built in 1983 and was remodeled in 2009, and since we''re in Northern California, we don''t have to worry about basements!

I''ll report back later!!!!!!!! (Not excited over here or anything!)

 

[Amandine]

Sorry I''ve been so absent, so much going on!

Well, we are well under contract on the house by now. Had a few things come up at inspection, namely polybutelene (sp?) pipes throughout the house, gutters near the end of their lifespan, and a rotted floor joist in the crawl space. Seller dropped the price, so we are replacing the plumbing in the house before we move in.

All of it! No leaks for us. We found a plumber that specializes in doing this, and he was already familiar with our builder, gave us a very reasonable quote. We will patch the gutters to extend their life a little, so we aren''t swallowing that cost right away. Upon investigating the floor joist (when they put in a hardwood floor, they just built over existing floor, instead of ripping that up--odd, but got the feeling that the flooring people pulled one over on the seller, a widow who probably didn''t know better). Its in the dining area in the kitchen, and very solid feeling--inspector jumped on it repeatedly (not a small guy, either!)and there was no give. Can''t figure why it had rotted, but seemed like older rot, and wasn''t spreading at all.

So we are hoping to move the closing date up to April 26th...hopefully the loan comes out of underwriting soon! My DH''s self employment, taxes, etc. has made the loan a real pain. I know we will be approved, but we had to jump through way more hoops then normal, and DH is stressing about it. Found out today that they needed some more confirmation of tax stuff, and in order to fax it to us we have to be standing at the fax machine due to the sensitive information. Of course, I have off today, so we can''t get to my work fax machine, so that has to wait till Monday. Stressful, and we just want the loan portion to be DONE already.

We have been researching fence companies, and are going to have them come out for quotes once we take possession. DH and my Dad are still debating whether they will build the fence, or have it done. Guess it depends on the quotes. The plumber will be out right after we take possession, we want to get that done before we move any stuff in. My parents will be down the week after Mother''s Day to help us with the big portion of the move, and will be bringing a washer & dryer, hand carved family heirloom table from DH''s family, and an oak desk that my Dad had made for himself and no longer uses (gorgeous!). We have started packing, bit by bit, but I keep dragging my feet. I know I shouldn''t, but geez, its just no fun! I have to remember that (hopefully) its the last time we will move for a long time.

Anyway, here is the front of the house:

 

[Amandine]

The back (the room with lots of windows is the sun room):

 

[Amandine]

Sunroom (we bought some of this furniture from the seller)

 

[Amandine]

And an okay (but not great) picture of the kitchen

 

[Amandine]

Forgot this...

Any thoughts on fencing materials? Cedar vs pressure treated pine? We are in Atlanta, so quite a bit of humidity.

And, rugs...is wool best? Its what I would like, just not sure if we can afford a nice wool rug for the living room when we move in.

 

[Harleigh]

Congrats, Amandine...your new house is gorgeous! How big is it? I love the look of it!

Well, ladies...I think we have bought a house! The wife was there while we were there and even though she tried to stay out of the way, we ended up chatting and when she heard how much I loved the house she started to cry and hugged me, so I''m hoping that means there are good vibes with us getting the house. She was thrilled at the idea that we might love the home as much as they did. Turns out that they bought the house in 1994 and the house was built in 1983, so only two owners doesn''t seem too bad to me...custom built with love and bought by a family who loves it as much as we wiill. Turns out they had an aunt who passed away unexpectedly and left them a small house on a 3-acre parcel nearby, so they decided to sell. She mentioned not having room for all their stuff in the new place, so I threw it out there that we might be interested in some of it and she seemed to like that idea, so hopefully we can work something out! She seemed to like the idea that we also have a wine and western theme going in our house and that all of our stuff would fit right in with theirs, so I''m again keeping my fingers crossed for a positive outcome!

The west-setting sun looks like it could be a bit bothersome in the master bedroom, but she said she has drapes to put up outside that help to block it more until the trees are fully in bloom. Seeing it in the bright sun definitely showed some wear and tear, but mostly easy fixes, we hope. DH invited some childhood friends of his over who live nearby, so I didn''t get to map things out like I had initially planned on and get all the pictures I wanted, but it sounded like the sellers were willing to let us back in if we felt the need. They also asked to rent back for at least a week which was put into the contract, so if we close on May 7th, we said they could probably rent back until June 7th because I won''t be out of work until the 5th, so hopefully it will work out. We may change that a bit if they won''t let us in to get work done, but they seem really friendly and easy to work with...she''s a teacher, too, so we at least had that in common.

Thanks for all of the well wishes and good thoughts...please keep them coming that all of this gets worked out smoothly!

I''ll be gone at a rodeo all day tomorrow, but I''ll check back in tomorrow night. I''m the DD for the day, so once I get all of the drunkies home and they all pass out I''ll try to get on.

Have a great night!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Wow, everyone has such amazing houses! Congrats to all of you who found your dream homes and DUST DUST to everyone still in the process!

DH and I started hunting 2 months ago in the Philly surburbias. We must have visited about 30-50 homes. Many were underwhelming.

We have a pretty modest budget, so we were ideally looking for a solidly built but older home that we could put some work into. DH's siblings are electricians, home appraisers, and contractors, so they gave us good advice on what "old stuff" was ok and fixable, and what would be likely a huge money drain. And what things would make resale easy.

And then finally, last week, we saw a house that we both just fell in love with. It's a 2500 sq ft, 3bd 1.5bth brick colonial in a nice, older neighborhood, with a big beautiful magnolia tree in the front yard. Hardwood floors throughout, great use of space, and on .8 acres. Basement and 2 car detached garage. The house just has so much vintage class and soul. I love all the chandelier and the vintage light fixtures.

The house is owned by some siblings who inherited it last year from their parents, so they were eager to sell since they all had their own homes and didn't want to keep paying taxes on it. So even though the listing price wasn't even in our search range, they accepted our offer.

It came out to about 100$/sq ft which DH thought was a steal.

The house needs some rewiring work first and foremost, which is probably what scared most potential buyers away since it's otherwise a gorgeous house. But DH's brother is heading over on a free weekend to help us rewire it. Thank goodness for family!

Anyways, I'm super excited as this is our first home! It's small and cozy compared to some of the stunning homes on this thread. But it's just perfect for us! Inspections are this week, so fingers crossed that all goes well!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Lots of great news on this thread recently!

Amandine! Congrats on the house, it''s beautiful! Keeping my fingers crossed that you can bump up the closing to the 26th! I wish I could help out with fencing, we''re starting to look into that as well...

Harleigh, I''m so glad you loved the house after seeing it again last night! It sounds like the timing would work out well since you''ll be able to wrap up the school year before officially moving. I hope you enjoyed the rodeo today!

MTG, congrats on finding a house you love!! It sounds very charming! It''s fantastic that you have a network of people around you who can help with the rewiring and other updates! I''m hoping your inspection goes well--at least it sounds like you already know the vast majority of the issues with the house!

I''m getting a little nervous. We haven''t heard anything since we countered their counter offer yesterday. Legally, they only had until noon today to sign the contract, so that has expired, but I''m still hoping they respond to our counteroffer. I think they are hoping to get a bite after the open house today, so if our agent hasn''t heard anything by this evening, she''s going to call. I really thought we''d have it wrapped up by now, though I should have known better.

 

[janinegirly]

amandine: congrats and gorgeous house! I missed the backstory, how many rooms? It looks huge!

nel: hope you hear back soon!At least your realtor will make the call so not much longer either way!

 

[Steel]

Amandine, I want the eyes hanging out on stalks icon but this will have to do

.

Your new home (to be) is simply beautiful. It looks picture perfect.

My vote is for pressure treated pine every time.

 

[zoebartlett]

We're not house-hunting right now, but I just wanted to pop in to tell Meresal and Amandine how much I love their houses! They're BEAUTIFUL! Congratulations!

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Sorry I''ve been so MIA! I had a huge brief due at school the beginning of the week and then by the end I was trying to wrap up what I could house-wise. We''re almost done with underwriting/the final loan process, thank GOD. So annoying to provide all the paperwork! We''re still on track to close May 5. Just waiting on the appraisal come back. I''m not particularly worried about it, but I do have some crazy fears that it''ll be unreasonable or something. So any dust on that would be great.

Snooper - Love your home!

Part Gypsy - I LOVE your remodel, great job!

Amandine - OMG.

That is like my dream home, gorgeous! Congratulations!!!!

Harleigh - Sending you ton of dust that is so exciting that y''all might have finally found a place that is the right place. That is so important!

Makingthegrade - I am so excited for you!! Congratulations!

NEL - Sending you dust for good news!

I tried to hit the big updates, didn''t ignore anyone intentionally.

 

[PumpkinPie]

gorgeous house Amandine - it looks like exactly what I would love to have

 

[Harleigh]

Ladies,

I am sick to report that maybe this is NOT the house for us...

Once we came down from our initial high of DH signing the contract and my meeting the seller, the cons started to set in. It''s a west-facing home...in Northern CA, that means HOT. It''s only April and the heat in the master bedroom alone was stifling...I can''t imagine what it would be like in the strong, full sun of August. DH has already decided this is the house for us, but for such a large home, I''m just not sure how we''d fit in to it. We don''t have a lot of furniture in the house we''re in now, and sadly, what we have, just wouldn''t fit in...we''d have to sell it all and hope to be able to buy new.

When we were there on Friday DH had invited some childhood friends that lived around the corner, and they were just so excited at the prospect of living nearby that they continued to seal the deal for DH. I still think the priceis high for the area in this economy, but I''m soooo happy that DH is willing to look at a bigger place that I''m willing to move just about anywhere!

Which leads us to today...before the rodeo yesterday I saw that the initial home we thought we had in January was back on the market, with a price lower than we have ever seen. It has a full apartment over a separate garage and is down to $159/SF for the same area we''ve been looking in, but this includes a gated community with a full-time guard...

I''m just sick...I really like the other house, but with all of the bay windows there is little room for all of our furniture, and with the west-setting sun, we''ll be frying!

We initially liked the house we THOUGHT we had in January because it had a separate guest quarters. We are trying to plan ahead for our parents who might not always be able to get around, and short of an elevator shaft, this other house is our dream home. It has a beautiful view of the Sacramento Valley and Downtown Sacramento and is $40+ less/sf. Are we nuts???

We thought we had this house in Dec/Jan as the bank had countered our offer and we had accepted it. It is a very exclusive neighborhood with local news anchors, Sacramento Kings players and several other well-known names...that we could even get close to living in a community like that, well, heck, we were in hog heaven. Unfortunately, the bank president of the bank carrying the loan said he wouldn''t accept less than a certain amount for ANY home in the development simply because he lives there. There appeared to be an offer on the home that seemed to be solid, so that''s why we started to look elsewhere, and then, all of a sudden, it shows up yesterday at a much lower price... We have seen a few other homes in the development listed for less than the bank president insisted on, so we''re hoping to use that as leverage, but I just feel sick.

I am happy that the sellers of the home DH initially signed the papers on have a backup offer of $15K more than we were able to offer, but I just feel terrible. Do we just suck up the sun beating the crap on the back of the house and put the brightly colored sails up the owner says she puts up to block the sun or do we hold out for our dream home?

I didn''t get on PS because I''ve been near tears all day, and I''m not sure if it''s because I would be settling to take the house DH signed a contract on or because I know the house we REALLY want is probably well out of our reach? This has been such an emotional process that I feel completely out of sorts...I just don''t know what to do anymore. On the one hand I really want a bigger house, but I don''t want to settle for something that I don''t completely love...can anyone relate to this???

Sorry to be such a downer, but I am SO confused right now that I need some sound PS advice...thanks, ladies!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

SarahlovesJS, it''s great to hear an update from you!! May 5th is just around the corner, it will feel SO GREAT to finally get those keys!! WOOHOO!!!

Harleigh, I realize that your DH has already signed the contract on the sun-filled house, but this is one of the BIGGEST decisions you will make in your life and you do not want to settle simply because you feel obligated due to a contract. We backed out of our last house literally in the final hour. We''d had multiple inspectors come in, we''d drilled our lawyer to get the purchase and sales agreement absolutely perfect and when a legal issue came up, instead of battling it, we just said "not for us". We felt SO GUILTY for having spent so much time and money getting to that point, but that didn''t matter...we didn''t want the house anymore.

If this other home is truly your dream home and has suddenly popped up well within your budget, it is a no-brainer to me, but I would first do some investigating as to why the other offer fell through. My fear would be that something BIG popped up in the inspections. There must be a reason why it''s priced so low, you know? For me, that would be the biggest priority.

If you don''t uncover any red flags with the house you love, then I would back out of your current offer and put an offer on the new house. You haven''t even had the inspection on this house yet, so it''s still VERY early in the process. You might be out the initial deposit (I''m guessing it''s no more than $1K), but they might even give it back to you since there is a backup offer.

Don''t cry--you have done absolutely nothing wrong!! Today is a day for some investigative work and figuring out what is going on with the house you love. I''m hoping everything checks out for you and that you can put an offer in on the dream home this week! I am keeping my fingers crossed for you--remember that this is about you and your DH, you guys need to make the best decision for yourselves!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I agree with NEL. This is your HOME we''re talking about, so unless you''re buying it with a plan of only staying there a few years or as an investment, I would not settle! Especially when you know your dream home is available!

::Hugs:: I hope you and hubby figure it out and there is a happy ending!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Hey Lynnie,

Some quick questions I was hoping you could help me out with since you bought in the Philly area too.

Is it weird that the assessed value is so much lower than the sale value? Like...almost 100k lower? I had read that assessments were supposedly based on recent comp sales, but we ran comps as did our REA, and the assessment is definitely not in line. Is philly weird about how they calculate that?

Also, did you use any contractors you would recommend? We''re thinking about doing some pipe and roof work, and would love any recommendations!

Haha, of course, I''m planning WAY ahead it seems. We still have to get through the appraisals and inspections. Our REA doesn''t think there will be a hitch, but still, fingers crossed!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Hey Lynnie,

Some quick questions I was hoping you could help me out with since you bought in the Philly area too.

Is it weird that the assessed value is so much lower than the sale value? Like...almost 100k lower? I had read that assessments were supposedly based on recent comp sales, but we ran comps as did our REA, and the assessment is definitely not in line. Is philly weird about how they calculate that?

Also, did you use any contractors you would recommend? We''re thinking about doing some pipe and roof work, and would love any recommendations!

Haha, of course, I''m planning WAY ahead it seems. We still have to get through the appraisals and inspections. Our REA doesn''t think there will be a hitch, but still, fingers crossed!

 

[Lynnie]

MTG... Congrats on the house!!! Regarding the assessment question, NEL asked the same thing way back in the beginning of the thread. Here''s the explanation- just copied and pasted. Philly really does things a$$ backwards!:
Nel, I''m taking a stab at your question here. Whatever they do here in Philly seems wonky. They base their assessment value on what they term "actual value"... it''s all rather confusing. They determine this ''actual value'' by multiplying the market value of the home by 32%. Then they base the property tax off of that number. I''m pretty sure that different cities/counties determine property taxes differently.
The ''actual value'' of our home is listed on Philly''s tax board website is 71K... so this is really 32% of the market value, which means the city thinks our house''s market value is about 220K.
The appraisal (both FHA & the mortgage company''s) came back at 200K, which is dead on what we offered.
So I guess, technically speaking, the assessment value is actually higher than the appraisal, by about 10%.
About the tax adjustment... Philly reassesses for property taxes every 3 years. Because we are starting the mortgage in 2009, we will pay the taxes based on that 2009 figure. This year the city reassessed for the start of 2010, so in January our mortgage will go up a little (only like $10/month). So no, the appraisal has nothing to do with the city''s determination of property taxes. I kinda wish it did, though... the city''s basing my property taxes on 220K, when it''s appraised at 200K. You can appeal to the city, but I don''t know that it''s worth it. Philly property taxes are very low, compared to the ''burbs

Are you in the city or the burbs? Either way, it''s a beautiful house!!!
About recommendations... I haven''t had to hire any kind of contractor or roofer for anything. My DH and his stepdad are doing all the major stuff themselves. We haven''t had to get into anything to do with pipes or the roof. One thing I do know is DO NOT hire Union Roofing. I''ve heard horrible things about them. I wish I could be of better help to you! I know a good waterproofer, if you need one.


Harleigh... huge (((((HUGS)))))). You are obviously crazy disappointed because your dream house is available. I agree with NEL... do some investigating. If you pass up this opportunity, you may be asking yourself "What if..." for the rest of your life!!! Keep us informed, and make the best decision for you and your DH. We''ll be here for support either way!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

So we heard back from our agent this morning (finally) and the sellers countered us again. There was still a $9K difference after this counter, so we asked them to split the difference in half--we would go up $4,500 and they''d come down $4,500. I just heard back a few minutes ago and they didn''t agree, but offered to come down another $2K and that was their final offer. To be fair, they''ve already come down $32K from the reduced price ($52K from the original price) while we would only be coming up $17K. I think it''s a fair price and I think we''re just going to agree and sign the offer tonight! YAY!

I''m just waiting to get the final "okay" from D. I''m so excited!! I''m going to schedule the inspection for this weekend--I''m keeping my fingers crossed that it goes well!!

Harleigh, any updates on your situation?

 

[janinegirly]

yipee NEL! That''s definitely fair and 4500 is nothing in the big scheme of things.

Congrats!!!!!

 

[Lynnie]

NEL!!!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!

You must be over the moon! Here''s hoping for a smooth, UNCOMPLICATED process... you deserve it, after all you''ve been through!!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I really think it will be smoother this time around--first, we know exactly what to expect since we've gone through most of this process already and second, I really just don't see anything in this house that is a potential red flag.

To celebrate, I'm attaching a couple of photos--they aren't the best photos because I took screenshots from the virtual tour, but they'll do for now:

The first photo is the front of the house--I don't love the exterior as much as I loved the exterior of the last house (back on page 15, I think), but the maintenance will be SO MUCH easier. The part on the right is the original house built in 1775. It contains three bedrooms (they will be kids' bedrooms and a guest room), the living room, the family room, the dining room, the office and most of the kitchen. The part in white and the area to the left is all new (added 10 years ago). The room over the garage is a huge master suite. I actually don't mind that this part of the house is new. D and I each have our own walk-in closet and the master bath is huge with a fabulous soaking tub and double sinks. A mud room was also added on the ground floor.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

The second photo is probably my favorite room in the house. It''s part of the kitchen which leads into the open dining area. The fireplace and mantle are original to the house (as are all of the floors). The kitchen is a bit too modern for my tastes (granite countertops, stainless steel appliances), but I still really like it. The layout on this floor is ideal for me--the office, living room, family room (which will eventually be a play room) all branch out from this room, which I think is very family friendly.

I''m so eager to have this house hunt over, but it''s still a long road since we don''t close until the end of June!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Gorgeous NEL, congrats! Best wishes for the inspection, etc!

 

[MakingTheGrade]

It looks BEAUTIFUL NEL!!! Hope the rest goes smoothly!

Lynnie, thanks for the info. Although that seems weird too because that would mean the house is assessing for over 500k, which is WAY more than market price or what we''re paying. It''s in a township north of Philly though, so maybe they do it differently that the city...who knows. Oh well, will just wait for the appraisal I guess.