The House Hunters Thread

[drk]

NEL - hope it''s the one!

I was going to join in this thread, but we''ve found and bought our house already! We started casually going to the occasional open house over the spring/summer to get a better idea what''s out there and what we like. Found a real estate agent the beginning of Sept, I started looking 2 weeks ago with her, we took DH to see a few things on Sat, and we purchased our first house on Tuesday evening, 1 week after I started looking!

It''s totally awesome, though we want to add a door and closet to one of the basement offices, and we want to add a shower to the basement bathroom. It''ll be the guest room initially, and later on a teen''s bedroom. The guests will have to stay in the 3rd floor den at that point. It''s in a fantastic area of the city, right on the subway, right near parks. It was the upper end of our budget, but what the hell, we weren''t going to find anything that we liked that much in the location we really wanted anytime soon. Next step will be sorting out our future changes and trying to book contractors to get it done at the end of Jan, after we take possession and before we actually move in. We''ll keep our apartment till Jan 31st, so that shouldn''t be a problem, and if the changes take a little longer, they''re just in the basement and that''s not too tragic.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Oh my gosh, DRK! Congratulations!!

I can''t believe you found the house so fast--your DH literally only had to look for a day! Oh, how I envy you! We''ve been casually looking for a year and only got serious this summer, but are still figuring out exactly what we want. I''d loooove to only have to look for a week!!

So do you have a closing date yet? It sounds like you guys are taking a few months in order to get the renovations done...it would be great if they could get everything done by December/early January so you can start to move stuff in without feeling rushed. It sounds like the renovations aren''t too extensive, which is good. Will you have to reroute any plumbing for the downstairs shower?

Just curious: since you bought the house knowing you''d be renovating, how did you go about it? Did you have any contractors come in and price out the projects before putting in your offer? Or did you just put in the offer with a budget for the renovations in mind...

Again, big congratulations to you and I''d love to see pictures if you have any!

 

[geckodani]

drk! Congratulations! That''s fantastic!!!

 

[Lynnie]

Hi guys!

Drk... Congratulations!! Wow, you found your house fast!

Gecko... you''re not interested in that house? It''s very ''roomy''

haha Interior repairs, ya think??! Welcome back to house hunting!

NEL... continued dust!

The appraisals came back, and everything''s a go!!! The house appraised at exactly our offer price... kinda a weird coinicidence, but whatever!!! We get the keys Oct 15th! Just gotta shop for homeowners insurance

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Oh my gosh, Lynnie, congrats! Oct. 15th?? That''s right around the corner!! I thought Diva mentioned that she might close around mid-October, too! Excitement all around!

So Lynnie, I have a quick question for you, too. Apparently I just have a lot of questions today. Did the appraisal come back above or below the assessed value? The last two houses D and I have seen seem to have an assessed value that I think is really high and I wonder if the appraisal would come back lower. Also, do they adjust the tax rate based on the new appraisal? I should have asked my realtor about this, but I forgot to last weekend.

Gecko, are you still planning to look at the houses in the not-so-great school district this week?

Tonight I think I''m going to drive by the house that we''re scheduled to see tomorrow evening. I have no idea why.

 

[drk]

We thought about whether the house could be reno''d to the layout that we''d need after a couple kids before buying. The house is basically move-in perfect right now, so we could wait another 5-10 years before adding in the shower in the basement or adding a door to the room down there. But our close date is Jan 15th, and we''ll keep our apartment till Jan 31st, so we''re hoping to get the couple minor changes down there done before we move in. The bathroom downstairs has a toilet and sink along the outside wall already, so I''m thinking that we''ll be able to take a couple short lines off those water lines for the shower directly next to the sink. The other stuff should be easy framing work, I think.

Here are the semi-decent photos DH took during the inspection. He forgot to snap the living room or the master bedroom. Oh well!

 

[drk]

Here's the floor plan. I think we're going to cut into the open-plan office in the basement (too bad, the bulit-in desk and shelves are nice!) from the top end for the shower stall, and from the bottom end for a big closet for the front office/future bedroom/guest room. And the rest of that space will turn into another storage room.
DH doesn't really like the bath being in the master bedroom with no wall in between, though it has grown on me. He wants to put a wall in there, but luckily there's a window in the wall across from the bath that the wall would run into. Plus a heating register right on the joint between bathroom and bedroom. I just want to install hanging panels that can get pushed back past the light switches, or pulled out to cut the light coming in to the bedroom from the bathroom. At least the toilet is in its own separate room with lighting, so no worries there.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Oh, that is sooo beautiful, drk! The master bath made me gasp. I'd live in there if the rest of the house weren't so beautiful, too!

 

[drk]

Thanks! So many things to think about now. At least it can help take my mind off these are-they-or-are-they-not-contractions at 17.5 weeks! Now I just need to figure out some other window covering stuff. We have an oval window in the master bedroom. I love it as an architectural feature and would hate to put blinds or curtains around it somehow. I don''t mind some light in a room when I''m sleeping, but DH does. I''m wondering if I can come up with some sort of manually-inserted window covering. One we can hide in the bay window built-in and take out and put in at night. I was thinking some oval shape in room darkening fabric, with a rubber or plastic ring that would form to the fabric and window shape. I have no idea if such a thing exists, but I think it''d be the only decent option. Might have to get handy with a sewing machine!

Same thing for the den upstairs - I know it''ll eventually be a guest room, and my mother can''t stand light in a room when she sleeps. I think I''m going to make a triangular panel for the triangular window that attaches by elastics and hooks at each of the 3 corners. I can''t bear the thought of installing bulky blinds or curtains in there.

Then I''ll have to figure out the skylight issue. The current owner drops on plywood covers up on the roof during the summer to keep the heat and light down. Leaves them open during the winter. I like the thought of having the option to darken them at any time. Might have to see if you can install exterior darkening shades, since I''d rather keep them looking good from the inside. We''ll see.

I wonder how troublesome it''ll be to install a shower drain and shower down in the basement? I''ve never done anything like that before. I know the water supply is in place down there, but not sure what the drainage situation is.

 

[drk]

Here''s the living room - will also need coverings for these, I think. The bedrooms have wooden blinds in them, but since the living room is west-facing, I think we''ll need a little light-blocking/UV-blocking over most of the windows when it''s really sunny. The real estate agent was telling me about phantom blinds (?) we could install outside that can act as a screen door if we want to have the sliding doors open.
Any ideas?

 

[drk]

NEL - apparently we''re not too picky? We''re also really sick of living in student-style apartment digs, and with baby on the way, we really wanted to get into a house. Family rarely visits us because they don''t want to stay in DH''s office on the twin bed or in the living room on our futon. I also really want to live closer to the hospital I work at - right now I have a 1h commute by public transit, and we don''t have a car. If I only live 15-20min away, I could even consider doing home call if things were really quiet. I just have to be able to get there quickly in case an epidural, C/S, or stat surgery comes up. Otherwise there are no real emergencies I need to be around for.

I loved the cute sidesplit we looked at in a more suburban area of town, but there wasn''t a lot of room to change things around. There was a great office for DH, a darkish guest bedroom, and the two kid rooms were really small. The ceilings in the basement were lower, which DH didn''t like. And we were way far away from the subway line and lots of restaurants. It also had a big back yard we''d have had to maintain. DH wasn''t too keen on that, and really wanted to live closer to the subway line. He also is really into music, and wanted to be closer to his favourite clubs downtown. He''s now within biking distance of most of them.

Although we said we wanted 3-4 bedrooms and this house didn''t have them, we loved it so much otherwise, and realized we''d be able to convert it in the future to be what we want it to be. Decent schools. We like modern, wanted something already done up (so we wouldn''t have the hassle, even if we had to pay more for it), and realized that if we passed on this one, we''d likely wait forever before something else we loved would come up in the neighbourhood we wanted at a price we could afford.

I hope we love it as much after we move in as we do now! Oh yeah, the other thing we love: the countertops in the kitchen are extra high, since the seller had it custom done and is 6''5". Wahoo! No more backache prepping veggies for dinner or washing dishes (though it''s got a dishwasher too, which we''re really really excited about after never having had one before!).

Hope you see what you''re looking for tomorrow night (that''s when you''re viewing the new place, right?)!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Hey gals! We should get our appraisal results sometime tomorrow so send some dust my way! As long as it comes in at or above the purchase price we''ll be in the home stretch. We are also slated to close mid-October. I''m trying to keep the excitement at bay since it''s not totally official yet, but it''s so hard since it''s our first place.

Will update with news!

 

[drk]

Good luck Diva! What happens if it appraises for less? We''ll be going through the same thing soon...

 

[NewEnglandLady]

drk, I think this is a fantastic case of the perfect property being on the market at the right time--I''m so excited for you! These pictures are just gorgeous.

I think some sort of custom manually-inserted shade would be a great solution for the oval window. I''m like you--I like a little light in the mornings, but my hubby loves complete darkness. That oval window is so pretty I''d hate to cover it up, so I''d want something I could easily take out

Diva, good luck with the appraisal! I''m sure it will be just fine!!!

 

[drk]

Maybe I''ll get lucky enough to find a really gorgeously patterned piece of silk or something that could be a little oval work of art in its own right when put in there as a window cover.

So many things to think about. Now I''m wondering where we''ll have to dig up the bathroom floor to connect a shower drain to the main drain in the bathroom, and where that might be, and if it might not be better to put the shower backing out into the furnace room (if there''s even enough room in there beside the boiler etc to punch into it for the bathroom). I think we need to get back in there with an architect or a contractor who can tell us what the possibilities are! And I need the real floor plans from the owner, who''s now unfortunately out of the country for a good 4 weeks or so. Darn it!

 

[meresal]

Date: 9/29/2009 5:25:14 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Oh, that is sooo beautiful, drk! The master bath made me gasp. I'd live in there if the rest of the house weren't so beautiful, too!

Ditto, drk, the house is absolutley gorgeous!!! Congratulations!!!

Good luck Diva. LOTS of DUST!!!

 

[Lynnie]

DRK!! THat house is gorgeous!!! I LOVE all that wood detail!

Nel, I''m taking a stab at your question here. Now, forgive me for this, but I''m still trying to figure out how this works, because 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
and So Jersey.
Of all the forms and stuff I''ve looked at, I really found the appraisals most interesting. They comped 4 similar properties, ranging in sale price of 189K-209K. It said what type of mortgages got taken out on them, all their specs, etc. Graphs & maps, fun stuff to look at. And it puts my mind at ease, knowing we''re not overpaying. Our mortgage amount is actually less than our offer amount, because we''re getting full seller''s assist.
Oh, and good luck tomorrow, NEL!!

Drk, my RE agent told me that if the appraisal value was less than the offer amt, we''d have to go back to the drawing board. The mortgage co won''t approve a loan amt larger than the appraisal value. We were told that the sellers were well aware of this, and supposedly willing to work with us on bringing down the offer to the appraisal value. I just find it weird that our appraisal value was EXACTLY -to the penny of- our offer amount.

Diva - dussssttttt!!!!!!!!! You''re right, once the appraisal''s done, it''s the home stretch, baby!!

 

[Lynnie]

OMG, drk... can I come and take a bath at your house??? That bathroom is phenominal!!

 

[geckodani]

Lynnie - Congratulations! What a cool coincidence - I''m so excited for you!

NEL - We''re going tonight to look at 3 houses. One of them is just down the road from us, and the other 2 are a little to the north. I have concerns about the location on the north houses, since they both are just off a really busy road next to a mall - it could be interesting traffic wise, so we''ll have to see! But all 3 are newer houses, which is a HUGE plus for me. Cross your fingers for me!

House stalking drive bys are fun.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 9/30/2009 3:22:48 AM
Author: Lynnie

OMG, drk... can I come and take a bath at your house??? That bathroom is phenominal!!

Seriously!!! That bathroom is phenominal! May I please transplant it to my future house?

ETA: I really like the kitchen too! And the wood ceiling, while not normally my thing, is pretty cool.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Thanks so much, Lynnie, for explaining that. I''m sure it''s slightly different in every city, but what you said definitely makes sense based on what I see here. Thanks again!

Gecko, what did you think of the houses last night?

 

[meresal]

Lynnie! Congratualtions! That''s a crazy coinsidence.

Well, after our u/s appt to see the kiddo, I drove directly to a design center a picked out all of the interiors for the house.

Here''s a copy of the floorplan, and then I''ll explain what we are doing It stressed me out so much! But after seeing what we picked, I am so excited to see it all come together!

 

[meresal]

Ok, the yellow is where we will be doing the 18x18" tiles. And we will be using the same tile on the backsplash, but it the 12x12". With Pewter decorative tiles. The 12x12" tiles will also be in the master shower and surrounding the master bath, and also surrounding the Bath 2 shower.

The blue is where the dark granite countertops are going. It's black with forest green and gold coloring. I

it. And the pewter accents have a golden tint and they really bring out the gold in the granite.

We are putting white marble put on the countertops in Bathrooms, along with the cherry cabinets thruout. There will be carpet in all of the bedrooms.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 9/30/2009 9:40:17 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Thanks so much, Lynnie, for explaining that. I'm sure it's slightly different in every city, but what you said definitely makes sense based on what I see here. Thanks again!

Gecko, what did you think of the houses last night?

I'll let you know tomorrow - we're going tonight. I had 6 total, and 3 of them went pending this morning. *sigh* We've still got 3 to see though!

ETA: Meresal - all your choices look great!

 

[meresal]

Thanks gecko.

Here is the granite, cabinet color, and tile color and sizes for the 12x12" and the 18x18".
Let me know what you think. I still have 2 weeks to make final decisions!
The color of the 12x12" tile shows more like the correct color. The 18x18" looks very pink and light in the picture, but it is more of a light yellow/light brown travertine.
(The 12x12" in the top right corner is not being used. It was way too dark to use for the entire house, and very dirty.)

 

[geckodani]

Love the granite color!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Date: 9/30/2009 11:20:12 AM
Author: geckodani

Date: 9/30/2009 9:40:17 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Thanks so much, Lynnie, for explaining that. I''m sure it''s slightly different in every city, but what you said definitely makes sense based on what I see here. Thanks again!

Gecko, what did you think of the houses last night?

I''ll let you know tomorrow - we''re going tonight. I had 6 total, and 3 of them went pending this morning. *sigh* We''ve still got 3 to see though!

ETA: Meresal - all your choices look great!

Oops, I''m sorry, I got ahead of myself! I can''t believe 3 of the 6 homes you were interested went pending this morning--that''s nuts! Good luck tonight!

Meresal--those choices look gorgeous!

 

[geckodani]

Date: 9/30/2009 1:07:40 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady

Date: 9/30/2009 11:20:12 AM
Author: geckodani

Date: 9/30/2009 9:40:17 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Thanks so much, Lynnie, for explaining that. I''m sure it''s slightly different in every city, but what you said definitely makes sense based on what I see here. Thanks again!

Gecko, what did you think of the houses last night?

I''ll let you know tomorrow - we''re going tonight. I had 6 total, and 3 of them went pending this morning. *sigh* We''ve still got 3 to see though!

ETA: Meresal - all your choices look great!

Oops, I''m sorry, I got ahead of myself! I can''t believe 3 of the 6 homes you were interested went pending this morning--that''s nuts! Good luck tonight!

Meresal--those choices look gorgeous!

Yeah... NEL... I was not amused, LOL.

I''m beginning to wonder how much we are going to have to compromise if we want a house now.

 

[drk]

gecko - hope one of the 3 is just what you''re looking for (and at the right price)!

Meresal - I LOVE the floor plan of your house. Looks like a great size, with lots of bedrooms for kids/visitors/office. All your picks look great too. Can''t wait to see photos when it''s all done!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Date: 9/30/2009 2:08:26 PM
Author: geckodani

Yeah... NEL... I was not amused, LOL.

I''m beginning to wonder how much we are going to have to compromise if we want a house now.

Oh, Gecko, I SO understand! I had a teensy tiny bit of a depressing moment last night when I did the stalking-house-drive-by. The house is not in great shape and we''d have to do at least $80K in renovations to the inside (based on the photos), possibly another $20K or more to the exterior. But it''s one of the few houses that is comfortably in our budget. We''ve migrated to the farthest town we''re willing to go (with the inferior school district)--I keep re-addressing our priorities because I feel like we''re compromising so much. Then I feel annoyed at myself for not being more grateful. I feel like it''s the internal struggle of trying to figure out what to do, what to prioritize, etc. that drives me the most bonkers.