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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,539
Registered: ‎11-23-2013

Re: Househunting Is Drivng Me Batty!


@Snowpuppy wrote:

I'm not having much luck, either and like you I've been looking for nearly a year. Fired my buyer's agent. Seller's agent lied like a dog. Over and over. Now back to no agent.

 

I got pre-approved, put an offer in on one home, didn't pass inspection so I withdrew the offer. Second home, the foudation had cracks and leaked, didn't pass inspection either. House was less than 10 yrs old.

 

Last weekend I looked at a new listing. New front door? Huh. Cracked front concrete steps.....the basement leaked under the front door. So I passed on writing an offer. Already knew from experience that this wasn't going to pass inspection, either.

 

Have toyed with the idea of building something modest. The thought is pretty daunting but not much on the market and I have a decent budget.


Snowpuppy, the 2nd house we made an offer on last year, I started "decorating" it.  I was heartbroken when it was sold out from under us.

 

Anything that's move-in ready gets priced over the market.

 

It just seems to be a no wine for anyone except the investors and handy men!

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,539
Registered: ‎11-23-2013

Re: Househunting Is Drivng Me Batty!


@Kachina624 wrote:
I've bought two houses alone in my adult life. In both cases I flew into the town I was moving to, met my Realtor and we looked at houses all day. By evening I made a selection. I've been living in one for almost 16 years. I never regretted either purchase. I had nobody with me to offer opinions except the Realtor. It would drive me nuts to draw the search out to a year. I don't have a problem making decisions.

Kachina, that's how it was with my first house.  It was the first one I looked at and I made an offer on it that day.  Easy.  I loved the house every minute until I sold it when I moved cross country for work.

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,419
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Househunting Is Drivng Me Batty!


@novadc wrote:

Don't  agree that it is always the seller's fault if he is overextended on his mortgage. As a real estate broker for many years, I was pretty aghast at what happened to many people both during and after the so-called housing bust of several years ago.

 

Many people need a home when they need it, and they get very few clues that they might be buying at the wrong time in the market or that they might need to sell years before they initially planned. 

 

One should never buy a house if planning to live in it for  5 years or less because it will always be hard to recoup the money they put into the purchase, but people get hit with job transfers, family crises and other compelling situations that force a sale too soon.

 

The other side of the story is that the housing boom spawned a bunch of shyster mortgage crooks who seriously misrepresented the loans they were arrranging for buyers.  And there are no excuses for the buyers who didn't read their  mortgage documents and thought that home prices were going up forever without interruption, so it didn't matter how much they borrowed.


Most of us average folks are at the mercy of banker, real estate broker, or lawyer. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,539
Registered: ‎11-23-2013

Re: Househunting Is Drivng Me Batty!


@151949 wrote:

Very often people have ideas of what they want in a home and that does not match their budget.Sometimes that is resolved by calling off the search and saving for a much larger down payment so you can get a more expensive home.

Perhaps the OP should look into buying a new home, that she could have a say in the finishes that are used, and that would satisfy her better.

It seems clear the homes she is being shown are in dire need of major work, since they are not passing inspection.Trust me - you are way better off not getting those homes. 


 

Did you read my original post?  Any of it?  I mentioned nothing about inspections or what's on my wish list.

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.
Esteemed Contributor
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Registered: ‎11-23-2013

Re: Househunting Is Drivng Me Batty!


@Burnsite wrote:

Hello, Honny, 

          I am not buying, but I am trying to refinance to fix up my house, which has settlement issues. 

         I don't mean to sell for a while, but a refi would enable me to do this fix-up.  My schedule was to start in May and be done before the heart of hurricane season.

         So about 5 weeks in, I am still in process of step one, financing.

         I was OKd for the refi by my bank (credit-wise) but then the house didn't pass the appraisal, due to the settlement (which I had fully disclosed to them before I applied, sigh, and showed them the estimate from the structural engineer).  Now I think I am OK with a Credit Union I went to the same day I heard no (in italics) on the first app.  They say so far so good, including (I think) the appraisal, but that it will be two more weeks to check title and reassign insurance.  If it goes through, and if this happens on that schedule, it will be two months of arranging for funding.  And this is a HELOC (home equity line of credit) rather than a cash-out refinance. 

         Things have changed a lot since the mortgage collapse that started (where I live) in late 2006, and I expected strict standards.  I did not expect weeks and weeks of sit-and-wait. 

        And I can't imagine the stress of people who need to buy (or sell) in a hurry these days.

 


Burns, what a pain!  That just spells headache all the way around.

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,539
Registered: ‎11-23-2013

Re: Househunting Is Drivng Me Batty!


@occasionalrain wrote:

Have you done your own online search?  Have you looked at homes being sold by owners? 


Oh, don't get me started on FSBOs!

 

I use several websites outside of my realtor's listings.  IF the listing is available (my realtor shows many of them as being under contract), it's a money pit and needs a tremendous amount of work.

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.
Respected Contributor
Posts: 4,349
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Househunting Is Drivng Me Batty!

Buying a home is such a personal experience, I don't think you can compare one person's experience with another's.  I've had easy times and hard times.  I bought property to build, and it took me three years and three builders before I found the right builder and house.  I flew from Az to Wa state on a whim one weekend, and left after putting earnest money down on a new condo that I saw. It's different every time.  And a lot depends on the market where you are.  My best piece of advice is:  don't settle for something you really don't feel good about.   You'll never be happy.  And you want to be happy when you think of pulling into your driveway after a long day's work!  Smiley Happy

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.--Marcus Tullius Cicero
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,539
Registered: ‎11-23-2013

Re: Househunting Is Drivng Me Batty!


@blahblahvampemerblah wrote:
Househunting can be pure insanity. We started off with the idea of buying land and building our ideal 1,500 sq.ft. house, and then we started looking at houses. We bailed at the last minute on what is pretty much our perfect house, but it's still overpriced to this day after all these years of maintenance, taxes and caretaking. I think the owners have over 300K invested, and they think it'll turn around. It won't. Nearby lots are still ridiculously priced despite the fact land is plentiful. There's even a bankrupt subdivision not far off with cheap land but no one is building.

Our realtor, and I'll be blunt, stunk. We told her many times that one or two larger pieces of furniture would be coming with us, but she showed us houses that had no way to accommodate their size. One house was cheap, but I always thought the one next door was far better. That house did sell, and now the one I liked is available. Too bad renovating this house will cost twice our estimates because it's really fabulous.

When and if we start looking again, I expect the process to be arduous.

 

Houses always turn around.  Just give it time.

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,539
Registered: ‎11-23-2013

Re: Househunting Is Drivng Me Batty!


@151949 wrote:

We started out by looking at what our money could buy us in a brand new build. Then we looked at some existing homes and learned that we were better off with the new houses.You can pretty much get the same house (sq footage), Plus the new homes , the appliances and important large items like furnaces and roofs come with warranties. Have you looked at building a new home in a plan?


 

We aren't considering new homes.  A new rowhouse in the area where we want to buy is close to $450K!  Some are considered condos, so you have the HOA and monthly condo fees.

 

The new single family homes are huge but on tiny lots.  If we pay $600K for a new house (which we won't), I'm not trying to see my neighbors' lights.

 

An existing rowhouse/condo in the same zip code is $200K.  I'd rather buy SS appliances and paint rather than finance $250K for the same things.

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,539
Registered: ‎11-23-2013

Re: Househunting Is Drivng Me Batty!


@croemer wrote:

Are you living in a tight market...or a market that is booming Honny?


Croemer, the market is booming here even when it isn't.

 

We looked at a house about a year ago that had just come on the market.  It was a foreclosure and move in ready.  There were over 30 offers on it and it went $30,000 over asking!

Get your flu shot...because I didn't.