The House Hunters Thread

[meresal]

Date: 10/21/2009 10:16:59 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Diva, I forgot to reply to you--I''m so glad you had a great time with your mom this weekend!! I''m glad she found something she liked, but agree with Decko that she''s a smart lady for waiting for her house to go under contract first. I know that for me and D, it took a long while for us to find something we really loved. I think it''s completely normal for it to take some time before you find something you can really see yourself in. I can''t wait to hear how the open houses go this weekeend!

Gecko, will your agent know where the offer is in the process at all times? She''ll know if the owners accepted, right, and then when it goes to the bank? I just don''t want for you to be in the dark...

NEL, from what I undersand it all depends on if the bank wants to disclose the offers. That show that I was watching said that most banks will keep you and the agents in the dark until they have decided which offer to accept. That way people will always come in with their best offer up front.

It is a crazy system. Gecko, you are a strong woman!

 

[geckodani]

Date: 10/21/2009 10:26:52 AM
Author: meresal
NEL, from what I undersand it all depends on if the bank wants to disclose the offers. That show that I was watching said that most banks will keep you and the agents in the dark until they have decided which offer to accept. That way people will always come in with their best offer up front.

It is a crazy system. Gecko, you are a strong woman!

Insane is more like it!!!

As I understand it we WILL know:

1. If/when the sellers accept the offer.
2. When the offer goes to the bank.

We will NOT know:

1. Where it is in the process at the bank. My realtor can and will badger them, but they don''t really have to tell us much.
2. If there are any other offers, or for how much.

So basically, the sellers could accept our offer, send it to the bank, and the bank can just sit on it and wait for more offers if they want. Which is why we offered full asking price, in the hopes that that doesn''t happen!!

In my head, it makes no sense for them to sit on it, since it''s a damned strong offer. But they can if they want.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 10/21/2009 10:36:12 AM
Author: geckodani

Date: 10/21/2009 10:26:52 AM

Author: meresal

NEL, from what I undersand it all depends on if the bank wants to disclose the offers. That show that I was watching said that most banks will keep you and the agents in the dark until they have decided which offer to accept. That way people will always come in with their best offer up front.


It is a crazy system. Gecko, you are a strong woman!

Insane is more like it!!!

As I understand it we WILL know:


1. If/when the sellers accept the offer.

2. When the offer goes to the bank.


We will NOT know:


1. Where it is in the process at the bank. My realtor can and will badger them, but they don't really have to tell us much.

2. If there are any other offers, or for how much.


So basically, the sellers could accept our offer, send it to the bank, and the bank can just sit on it and wait for more offers if they want. Which is why we offered full asking price, in the hopes that that doesn't happen!!


In my head, it makes no sense for them to sit on it, since it's a damned strong offer. But they can if they want.

Unfortunately it just isn't a logical system. We offered over asking on a few places and *never* heard back at all. And they are still "on the market" in some cases and in others the banks let them go into foreclosure. It is so so infuriating but there was nothing we could do.

Were you ever able to find out if the previous owners had mortgage insurance? In our experience if they did, and assuming the owners owe more on the house than your offer is for, there is almost a 0 chance that they will allow a SS offer to go through. So something important to know.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 10/21/2009 11:20:41 AM
Author: neatfreak

Unfortunately it just isn't a logical system. We offered over asking on a few places and *never* heard back at all. And they are still 'on the market' in some cases and in others the banks let them go into foreclosure. It is so so infuriating but there was nothing we could do.

Were you ever able to find out if the previous owners had mortgage insurance? In our experience if they did, and assuming the owners owe more on the house than your offer is for, there is almost a 0 chance that they will allow a SS offer to go through. So something important to know.

Don't know if they had insurance or not. They are currently living in a mansion in a nearby city.

This sucks.

ETA: By mansion I mean ginormous house. They were leasing out the one we are offering on.

 

[Lynnie]

Gecko, that house is pretty!! I like the fireplace, and the kitchen is nice and big!! I hope the process goes smoothly for you. I wonder why the sellers would do a short sale, anyway, as opposed to a regular one... does it get them more money or something? It really does seem like a wonky system

Diva04, good luck this weekend! haha, who puts plastic on all the carpets? People are funny, aren''t they?

DivaDiamond, have fun packing!! I''m up to my eyeballs in boxes. We basically have everything packed but a few essentials. My poor kitty doesn''t know what to think! That''s good that you don''t need much, but you''ll see stuff that you want! I could easily spend thousands at the home improvement stores! Even our little trip get the stuff to prep the walls turned into a $200 trip!

We''ve found funny things under the wallpaper... a date from 1968, and a note from John to Bob saying he still has to finish the ceiling first... lol

So we put the car back in the shop yesterday... it''s still bucking, but hasn''t stalled. Still idleing low, and now the gas gauge is going up and down... below E even with a full tank! It''s gotta be something with the fuel delivery system. Ugh. We just had the fuel pump replaced in May, too, so it shouldn''t be that. Good thing my brother is helping prep and paint the house... we''d be really screwed otherwise.

WOO! Just got a call from the shop (literally). He took apart the Mass Air flow sensor, but couldn''t find anything wrong with it. Then he investigated past the sensor, and found a plastic fitting had a hole in it, and a hose was rotted through, so he replaced them. Apparantly, the sensor tells how much air to mix with fuel, so if air escapes, the car thinks it''s losing fuel? He just explained it, but I''m not sure I understand completely. I guess I''m off to pick it up from the shop. I hope that did the trick. Our mechanic is a half mile from our apartment, and after Saturday, we won''t be here!

My poor kitty is very unhappy, now that his home is pretty much in shambles. We had a futon we were using for our couch, and that''s been taken apart. Saturday, we''re gonna imprison him in the bathroom while we move our stuff out. Then we''ll imprison him in a room in the new house while we move in - I feel bad already! I''ve bought his favorite treats, and am saving them for the move. I''m afraid he''s gonna pee in a drawer or something! If DH & I go away for a few days, he''ll pee in a corner or in the laundry basket

. He KNOWS how to tell us he''s unhappy!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Gecko, I can''t believe they''re living in a massive house nearby, that''s befuddling. I admittedly know very little about short sales, but I thought that very few properties could be listed as "short sales" because the seller has to prove that their is no way they can pay the mortgage and the bank has to agree? It seems that if the seller has multiple properties, it would be hard for them to prove they are in a dire financial situation. Maybe I''m completely wrong.

Lynnie, thank goodness your mechanic found the hole in the hose! That is almost exactly what happened with our car (except our hose was just loose). I hope that''s it and you don''t have to worry about it anymore!

Good luck with the rest of your packing and the move. I hope the kitty is okay--I''m sure he''ll be fine, even if he''s stressed for a couple of days. It''s funny how they know something''s up. We''ve moved a few times with our dog and when rooms start getting full of boxes you can tell he''s confused. He sort of paces around. It''s all temporary, though, and the pets always adjust! It''s good that you''re preparing.


So D and I still haven''t put in an offer. Ugh. This morning we drove into work together and talked about it a little. Except that we''re tired of talking about it, haha. So the conversation always goes along the lines of "what do you want to do?" "I''m not sure, what do you think we should do?" "I don''t know" "It''s a lot of money" "Well, if you want to live on the ocean, I think this is the nicest house we''ll find in our price range" "that''s true, but maybe it''s not worth it to live there, I don''t know" "I don''t know, either, but I''m tired of thinking about it"....and then it sort of goes in circles. I don''t know if we''ll ever be chomping at the bit to go into so much debt, so I think this is about as upbeat as any house conversation we''ll ever have. I''m sure we''ll discuss it more tonight.

 

[geckodani]

Lynnie- I''m sure your kitty will adjust! And then be thrilled with her new home!

NEL - Hang in there! I totally hear you on hitting that "meh" point though. And if you''re not really, really, really excited about it... don''t do it, IMO. I am so excited and hopeful about this house. I wasn''t about the first one, and was truly happy when we did not get it.

This one... I''m gonna be seriously upset.

Date: 10/21/2009 3:31:57 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Gecko, I can''t believe they''re living in a massive house nearby, that''s befuddling. I admittedly know very little about short sales, but I thought that very few properties could be listed as ''short sales'' because the seller has to prove that their is no way they can pay the mortgage and the bank has to agree? It seems that if the seller has multiple properties, it would be hard for them to prove they are in a dire financial situation. Maybe I''m completely wrong.

Lynnie, thank goodness your mechanic found the hole in the hose! That is almost exactly what happened with our car (except our hose was just loose). I hope that''s it and you don''t have to worry about it anymore!

Good luck with the rest of your packing and the move. I hope the kitty is okay--I''m sure he''ll be fine, even if he''s stressed for a couple of days. It''s funny how they know something''s up. We''ve moved a few times with our dog and when rooms start getting full of boxes you can tell he''s confused. He sort of paces around. It''s all temporary, though, and the pets always adjust! It''s good that you''re preparing.


So D and I still haven''t put in an offer. Ugh. This morning we drove into work together and talked about it a little. Except that we''re tired of talking about it, haha. So the conversation always goes along the lines of ''what do you want to do?'' ''I''m not sure, what do you think we should do?'' ''I don''t know'' ''It''s a lot of money'' ''Well, if you want to live on the ocean, I think this is the nicest house we''ll find in our price range'' ''that''s true, but maybe it''s not worth it to live there, I don''t know'' ''I don''t know, either, but I''m tired of thinking about it''....and then it sort of goes in circles. I don''t know if we''ll ever be chomping at the bit to go into so much debt, so I think this is about as upbeat as any house conversation we''ll ever have. I''m sure we''ll discuss it more tonight.

No... we''re confused too, believe me...

 

[anchor31]

Good news! DH and I met a mortgage broker yesterday and we got pre-approved for a lot more than we need... We''re not going to take that much money though! Sure, we could get the mortgage, but we couldn''t make the monthly payments afterwards!

So we''re going to stick to our budget, and it''s nice to know that taking out the loan will be a walk in the park. Now, let the house hunting begin!

 

[geckodani]

Date: 10/22/2009 9:41:25 AM
Author: anchor31
Good news! DH and I met a mortgage broker yesterday and we got pre-approved for a lot more than we need... We''re not going to take that much money though! Sure, we could get the mortgage, but we couldn''t make the monthly payments afterwards!

So we''re going to stick to our budget, and it''s nice to know that taking out the loan will be a walk in the park. Now, let the house hunting begin!

Same thing happened to us - we were approved for like 100K more than what I consider the top of our price range. Craziness. Happy House Hunting!!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

anchor31, that is great news! We just applied this summer and I have to admit I was worried since I''d heard how much lendors were tightening their belts. I figured that the days of being approved for more than you could realistically spend were gone...until we got our preapproval amount, haha, and then we thought "we''d be insane to spend this much!". It''s nice to be able to "officially" start looking, isn''t it? Are you guys seeing anything this weekend?

D and I aren''t positive that we''re ready. The bottom line is that this house is great and if we were ready to buy, we''d have already put in an offer. We don''t even want to see anything else--we know that if we want to buy, this is it. At least that is some progress...it''s just that we''re scared of such a big decision. We have been insanely busy with work this week, so maybe this weekend we can go down and walk around the area to figure it out. It''s funny because I really thought we were ready, but when I think of signing an offer (which doesn''t even mean it''s set in stone!) I get panicky. We have cold feet!

 

[geckodani]

Aw NEL. ((HUGS)) I dunno what to tell you babe! I just know that with this last house I was chomping at the bit to get the offer in, and it felt really right, which I think is important.

 

[Gleam]

We have been house-hunting in the city of Chicago for over a year now. When we first started looking in 2008, a very mediocre one-bedroom was $750,000. Needless to say, it''s not nearly so expensive now.

Our search is a little more complicated because in urban cities, it''s difficult to find a condo that will allow you to bring your large dog. We have 60 pound dog, so that has seriously inhibited our search. Needless to say, we would never give up our dog.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Very exciting, Gleam!! Which Chicago neighborhoods are you most interested in??

 

[Gleam]

Date: 10/22/2009 3:10:42 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Very exciting, Gleam!! Which Chicago neighborhoods are you most interested in??

Are you familiar with Chicago? I love this city! We currently live in River North ("the gallery district") and we'd like to stay around here because it's where our dog's favorite dog park is located... LOL Can you tell our lives revolve around our dog? Pulling him out of his favorite dog park feels like forcing a kid to move schools.

P.S. LOVE your avatar!!!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 10/21/2009 11:36:09 AM
Author: geckodani

Date: 10/21/2009 11:20:41 AM

Author: neatfreak


Unfortunately it just isn't a logical system. We offered over asking on a few places and *never* heard back at all. And they are still 'on the market' in some cases and in others the banks let them go into foreclosure. It is so so infuriating but there was nothing we could do.


Were you ever able to find out if the previous owners had mortgage insurance? In our experience if they did, and assuming the owners owe more on the house than your offer is for, there is almost a 0 chance that they will allow a SS offer to go through. So something important to know.

Don't know if they had insurance or not. They are currently living in a mansion in a nearby city.

This sucks.


ETA: By mansion I mean ginormous house. They were leasing out the one we are offering on.

Hmmm...well your agent should know whether they have PMI or another type of mortgage insurance on the house or not. It's really important to know that because if they DO have it then it is VERY unlikely that the bank would approve a SS because they stand to generally make more money from collecting the insurance instead.

On another note-refresh me-the bank has already approved this short sale, right? Because it does seem really really weird that a bank would approve a SS if they can afford the payment but just are choosing not to make it.

It DOES suck. I agree! Have you checked out houses that have been sitting on the market for a while but are a bit over your price range? That's how we got ours. It was very overpriced and we made a super lowball offer and they took it because they finally came to their senses regarding how much it was worth.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 10/22/2009 3:18:09 PM
Author: neatfreak


Hmmm...well your agent should know whether they have PMI or another type of mortgage insurance on the house or not. It''s really important to know that because if they DO have it then it is VERY unlikely that the bank would approve a SS because they stand to generally make more money from collecting the insurance instead.

On another note-refresh me-the bank has already approved this short sale, right? Because it does seem really really weird that a bank would approve a SS if they can afford the payment but just are choosing not to make it.

It DOES suck. I agree! Have you checked out houses that have been sitting on the market for a while but are a bit over your price range? That''s how we got ours. It was very overpriced and we made a super lowball offer and they took it because they finally came to their senses regarding how much it was worth.

Well, at the time we put our offer in, our agent still hadn''t received a call back from the sellers agent. (I was there when she called, so I know she''s trying).

So we''re a wee shy on information at this point.

It''s weird with the house around here. They are either in our price range, or WAY above it. There''s not a lot in the just a bit above range. *sigh*

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Date: 10/22/2009 3:12:44 PM
Author: Gleam

Date: 10/22/2009 3:10:42 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Very exciting, Gleam!! Which Chicago neighborhoods are you most interested in??

Are you familiar with Chicago? I love this city! We currently live in River North (''the gallery district'') and we''d like to stay around here because it''s where our dog''s favorite dog park is located... LOL Can you tell our lives revolve around our dog? Pulling him out of his favorite dog park feels like forcing a kid to move schools.

P.S. LOVE your avatar!!!

I love Chicago, but I don''t know it terribly well. A very good friend of mine moved there last year (we work for the same company and she took a job in our Chicago office) and she looooves it. I remember when she was moving and we were trying to find an apartment for her--River North definitely came up because it looks like so much fun and is SO convenient to the city. She ended up in Lakeview because she only had a month to plan and she loved an an apartment that was right across from the lake. She''s exactly like you--she wants to move to another area (Wicker Park), but her dog loves the beach and she doesn''t want to be that far away. Chicago is such a great city, if I were going to move back to the midwest I would definitely go there.

Funny how when you look at places everything is about the dogs. Fenced in yard for the dogs, mud room for the dogs. Heck, one of the reasons we started looking on the beach is because in the summer we have to drive all the way down to the Cape to go to a dog-friendly beach and since our dogs are water dogs, we thought a private beach would be the perfect solution.

I can''t wait to hear about your hunt!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Date: 10/22/2009 3:18:09 PM
Author: neatfreak

Date: 10/21/2009 11:36:09 AM
Author: geckodani

Date: 10/21/2009 11:20:41 AM

Author: neatfreak


Unfortunately it just isn't a logical system. We offered over asking on a few places and *never* heard back at all. And they are still 'on the market' in some cases and in others the banks let them go into foreclosure. It is so so infuriating but there was nothing we could do.


Were you ever able to find out if the previous owners had mortgage insurance? In our experience if they did, and assuming the owners owe more on the house than your offer is for, there is almost a 0 chance that they will allow a SS offer to go through. So something important to know.

Don't know if they had insurance or not. They are currently living in a mansion in a nearby city.

This sucks.


ETA: By mansion I mean ginormous house. They were leasing out the one we are offering on.

Hmmm...well your agent should know whether they have PMI or another type of mortgage insurance on the house or not. It's really important to know that because if they DO have it then it is VERY unlikely that the bank would approve a SS because they stand to generally make more money from collecting the insurance instead.

On another note-refresh me-the bank has already approved this short sale, right? Because it does seem really really weird that a bank would approve a SS if they can afford the payment but just are choosing not to make it.

It DOES suck. I agree! Have you checked out houses that have been sitting on the market for a while but are a bit over your price range? That's how we got ours. It was very overpriced and we made a super lowball offer and they took it because they finally came to their senses regarding how much it was worth.

So sorry to threadjack, NF, but I remember you mentioning this on another thread somewhere and it stuck in my head because D and I started considering a couple of homes at the top of our price range that had been on the market for 4+ months. Do you mind if I ask you a little more about it?

We've found a house we love and it's been on the market for 8 months. It has come down 15% in price, but it is still slightly above the assessed price (I don't put a lot of stock into assessed, but this home does have a lot of upgrades and is in great shape). I've pulled every comp imaginable in this town and feel I've come up with a price I feel is fair given this market, but it's still 13 - 14% below what they are asking and 10% below assessed. Because this home is on the water, I feel like we might have even more wiggle room since it's late October now and nobody wants to head into winter with a beach house that hasn't sold in 8 months. Anyway, I'm babbling, my point is how much did you take those types of factors into consideration? How long it's been on the market, when you were buying, etc.?

You don't have to answer this, but I'm curious how low of a low-ball you offered (in terms of % below asking)? And did they counter-offer?

I know there is no harm in putting in a low offer, at worst they won't respond. I just don't want them to think I'm trying to rip them off. My realtor told us what she thinks we should offer, which is still low, but kind of at the top of our budget and would leave us little wiggle room with negotiating. What was your thought process when figuring out what to offer when you knew it was a low-ball offer?

 

[neatfreak]

Hey NEL- I don''t mind at all! I have limited time so I might need to break it up or make it fast.

Anyway, we offered 20% below list plus closing costs and settled at 15% with them paying closing costs. One counter offer only.

Honestly we really didn''t take much into consideration other than

1. We didn''t think it was worth what they were asking.
2. We really liked the house but wouldn''t be devastated if we lost it because we thought the price they were asking was too high for what it was.
3. We knew that they were in the middle of a divorce and the house had been on the market 8+ months. It had been marketed poorly and the price was just too high even though they had already dropped it a few times.

So based on those things we just went for it! There honestly wasn''t a ton in our price range/neighborhood/things that we wanted but we went for it anyway just knowing that it was a fair price. We figured they were probably tired of dealing with it being on the market and would be happy to have an offer at all.

I think the key for us was that although it was lowballing in terms of what they were *asking* it was not lowballing that much in terms of what it was worth. So I don''t think we got the deal of the century but I do think we paid a very fair price for our house. I think their agent probably ran comps for them and had a convo about the fact that the price we were offering was very fair, so we negotiated a bit and settled on a fair price.

I hope that helps! I am happy to answer more questions later but have to go now.

 

[Diva0413]

Welcome Gleam! I totally understand the difficulties with searching in urban cities. I live and work in NYC, but DH and I want something bigger. Wishing you luck with your search!

Hey NEL, I understand you''re very nervous. Buying a house is a big deal it being a large purchase and a long term commitment. I think you and D will be fine though. But yeah, don''t look at any other houses. You don''t want to start second guess yourself. While it may be a strange comparision, it''s like buying your wedding dress. Don''t keep looking!

gecko, very nice pics of the house! It looks lovely!

anchor, congrats on the pre-qual! Yeah, I haven''t quite figured out how they calculate how much of a mortgagae you can actually have. It always seems like it''s too high...

Lynnie, LOL @ finding that note! That''s priceless. Sorry to hear about kitty''s discomfort. I''m sure he''ll be ok.

neatfreak, thanks for all that helpful info about insurance and offers! I''m still taking it all in.

Today was a good day; and I think I found a place to consider! I found it on Weichert''s website and I''m going to check it out on Saturday morning. It''s a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom condo with appr. 1500 sq ft. They''re already asking for our pre-qual letter so I''m going to get one tomorrow (might as well since I work at a bank

). A huge plus is that it''s about a 10 min. drive to the commuter train and the ride is about 45 mins compared to my living in the city now and I spend about an hour on the express bus just to get to my apartment, also in the city. Keeping my fingers crossed!

As for my Mom, she''s still waiting to sell her house. Someone came by to see it, was very interested and said they''d come back with a pre-qual to get the ball roll. That was last week and she hasn''t heard anything so she''s getting nervous. But either way, she''s tagging along with DH and I on Sat/Sun for condos. Keep your fingers crossed for her too!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

NF, thank you so much for sharing your experience. I feel like we are exactly where you were--this house is nice, but we feel it''s overpriced and we wouldn''t be devastated if we didn''t get it (to be fair, I don''t get attached to houses at all, so I don''t think I''d ever be devastated about losing one). After pulling as many comps as I can, I think that what we''d like to offer is very fair. If we got it for the price I''d like, I don''t think we''d be getting a deal of the century, either, which is okay.

One last quick question: when you gave your offer, did you give any reason behind your offer? I have a pretty large spreadsheet which shows every sales comp on the street and I''ve calculated the % under assessed, % under asking and price per square foot, then have a formula for how I came about our offer price. I thought about including something in the offer letter so they know we''re serious and we feel we''re giving a fair price. Did you even bother with justifying your offer? D doesn''t think it''s relevant (and he''s the mathematician).

Diva, the condo sounds great!! We take the commuter rail into Boston and I actually enjoy it. Being on a set schedule helps me get out of the office and if I''m not working on the train, I read. I literally look forward to getting out of work so I can relax for a bit on the train and read before getting home and starting dinner, cleaning, etc. It sounds like you guys are finding some things you like and I wish your mom lots of luck selling her house!

 

[geckodani]

Sellers accepted a lease application on the property rather than going through with a short sale.

 

[meresal]

Gecko- I'm so sorry.

ETA: I wouldn't expect anything less from people that own another property no less than 50 miles away. A real class act. You'll find something else!

 

[geckodani]

Date: 10/22/2009 8:12:04 PM
Author: meresal
Gecko- I''m so sorry.

ETA: I wouldn''t expect anything less from people that own another property no less than 50 miles away. A real class act. You''ll find something else!

Thanks meresal. I''m actually more upset than I thought I would be.

Guess that''s what I get for getting attached to something that wasn''t ours yet.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Oh, Gecko, I''m so, so sorry. Had they even listed it as a rental property??

I know you must be very upset--it''s easy to say you won''t get your hopes up, but it just happens. I think it''s just human nature. I wish I could give you a hug, I know you guys will find something you love. All of this just takes so much longer than you expect...

 

[geckodani]

Thanks NEL. Virtual hug right back atcha. Just, caught of guard, and had started imagining us there. DH doesn't quite know what to do with me right now, so I figured I'd come hang out here.

It was listed as a rental, but we didn't find that out until the day we put the offer in, since we hadn't been searching for rental properties. It makes no sense. The mortgage payments would have been less than what they are listing it to lease for. According to our realtor, even the seller's agent was surprised that they decided to back out on the short sale given how strong our offer was.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Date: 10/22/2009 8:28:53 PM
Author: geckodani

Thanks NEL. Virtual hug right back atcha. Just, caught of guard, and had started imagining us there. DH doesn''t quite know what to do with me right now, so I figured I''d come hang out here.

It was listed as a rental, but we didn''t find that out until the day we put the offer in, since we hadn''t been searching for rental properties. It makes no sense. The mortgage payments would have been less than what they are listing it to lease for. According to our realtor, even the seller''s agent was surprised that they decided to back out on the short sale given how strong our offer was.

Ugh, what a kick in the balls. Do you know when this happened? It seems so unfortunate that you guys put an offer in almost immediately after it hit the market and STILL somebody else somehow got in. I would have never expected that in this market. If you need to vent at all, we''re all here. This thread has been so helpful in keeping me sane, that''s for sure.

 

[neatfreak]

Gecko Aww honey I am so so sorry. I didn't want to be debbie downer but it certainly seemed like something was fishy with this one from the start. They probably found out that the bank laughed in their face about a SS considering they own a mansion and decided to rent it. People often decide to "do" a short sale before they get approval from the bank to do so. The perfect house will come along for you!


NEL Our agent did write them a letter explaining our move and desire to close quickly-but I don't think she justified the offer. She DID however talk to their agent when we were submitting and let her know why we thought the price was fair. But it was verbal. Hope that helps!

 

[geckodani]

The lease offer was actually accepted the night we faxed our offer over. Ugh. Neat - I hear ya on the something fishy, I just really, really wanted that house!

So, I cried a lot. And some more. And then DH and I got to talkin.

We were gung ho about buying a house because:

1. We thought we qualified for down payment assistance.
2. The 8K Tax Credit.

Guess what. Neither of those apply any more.

So.

Yeah.

I think... that we''re going to sit tight until Adam takes (and passes!!!) the bar exam, and we have a better idea of where he''ll be working. I originally objected to buying a house because I didn''t want Adam to end up getting a job 2 hours away and be stuck with a house we couldn''t sell. This logic is starting to re-emerge and make a lot of sense.

Impasse.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Gecko, to be honest I think the fact that you would probably not be buying a house if it weren''t for the tax credit and downpayment assistance means that waiting might be for the best right now. I was listening to 2 coworkers yesterday who both bought a condo because of the tax credit and are now starting to regret their decision. One was talking about how she stretched her budget and is now frustrated with the constant budgeting (plus she borrowed money from her mom and regrets that) and the other ended up buying a place that wasn''t quite what she and her husband wanted (too small), but they''re stuck there for a few more years. I definitely think it''s a good idea to wait until Adam passes the bar (exciting!) and for things to be a little more settled. I know the frustration--D and I started looking last year before he was finished with all of his professional exams and ended up putting our search on hold when the market tumbled and took our investments with it. I felt so defeated, D finished his exams and we started looking again when we felt more ready.

We are still in house limbo, but I think we are going to take a break. We''re not looking at any other houses, just trying to figure out if this is the move we want to make. We are absolutely terrible with big decisions (obviously). I think for now I''m going to sit back and share the excitment of other people''s experiences while we figure things out!

By the way, thank you again, NF!