First house

[ChshreCat]

Well, we don't actually have that many to choose from in the area we want to buy in. My wife hasn't been at her current job for 3 years yet, so they weren't able to take that into account for our loan, so we don't have a ton of money to work with. Then taking out everything under 1000 sq ft, everything on the flood plain and everything that needs too much work, that only left us with 8 or 10 places to check out at the moment.

 

[MMW]

Then you will look at all of them, guaranteed. We had that same situation with our current house. We looked at everything within 60 miles in our price range (and even up to 50k above ) and the last house we looked at was the one we bought.

Good thing too, since it was the last home within our price range. :cross:

Don't be afraid of work, btw...sweat equity can be a very good thing. We made 20k on the 45k condo after 2 years. Just get a good inspection and don't fear the easy fixes.

One last bit of unsolicited advice: skip the home warranty when you buy the house. Bank the $300 or so that they cost; they're just not worth the money or the hassle.

 

[ChshreCat]

Ya know, you never realize how much you dislike living in apartments until you see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'll be so happy to get out of here! I don't even really care about the deposit anymore! I just want out!

Looking at houses on Friday! Talked to my agent and a few of them on my list have offers on them, but the one we're most interested in is still up for grabs.

 

[TMet]

Have fun on Fri! Looking at places was half the fun for us.

We closed this afternoon, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Now I just can't wait to actually move, I said screw it and took next week off so I could play with the house.

 

[wild]

Crongrats! I have 6 bids out and am still looking.

 

[Zen_Brew]

Ya know, you never realize how much you dislike living in apartments until you see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'll be so happy to get out of here! I don't even really care about the deposit anymore! I just want out!

Looking at houses on Friday! Talked to my agent and a few of them on my list have offers on them, but the one we're most interested in is still up for grabs.

Hang in there. There has been a bit of buying activity as of late but I think it is still a buyers market. Aug/Sep aren't the best negotiating months as other buyers are looking to settle their families before the start of the school year, especially if they are moving into a new district.

I assume you are going for the $8000 first time buyer credit as well. That's a nice little boost and lets you actually get some of your tax money you've been paying into the system back.

Good luck on the home you have your eye on.

 

[ChshreCat]

Checked out houses today. Saw the one we were most interested in from our online searches. It's off our list now. Smelled kind of funny when we walked in, so we started looking around. Went into one of the bedrooms that shares a wall with the bathtub on the other side and the wall looked water damaged. Then down at the bottom the baseboards are COVERED in black mold. House cancer. Looked like it was likely all through the wall and possibly under the floor.

But we have two so far to choose from. Right now we're having to decide on low price with lots of work to be done, or higher price with much less work to do on it.

 

[bob1852]

Crongrats! I have 6 bids out and am still looking.

Ain't the Phx market rediculously strange the last couple years?

 

[carbon111]

Congrats!

Just look at your mortgage as "paying rent to yourself" instead of to some other guy (who will just waste it on n-scale model trains and rasberry gummy bears).

 

[Zen_Brew]

Yep, Black mold = bad juju. A lot of contractors won't even do work on a house that has large amounts. The ones that will will ratchet up the price to cover all the health and safety precautions. Sorry to hear.

 

[pizzaman]

raspberry gummy bears rock. I bet I could make some wicked mead with 'em...

 

[ChshreCat]

Yep, Black mold = bad juju. A lot of contractors won't even do work on a house that has large amounts. The ones that will will ratchet up the price to cover all the health and safety precautions. Sorry to hear.

Yeah. This wasn't just spots of mold. There were sections of baseboard that were completely black, top to bottom. If that wasn't enough, two of the three bedrooms didn't even have closets! This was a one bedroom house with a den and an office advertised as a three bedroom.

 

[cowgo]

I bought a house just as soon as I could afford the worst piece of crap for a song in my early early 20's, haven't looked back with onward and upward, (with a slight downward the last couple years...hhhhh)

You can't do a hidden man cave in a rental. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f85/hidden-man-cave-47433/

Of course with home ownership when the toilet first blows up on you, your first thought will be "I better call the landlor....oh crap, that's me."

Congrats. Great time to buy right now.

 

[ChshreCat]

We looked at houses on Friday. We decided we wanted one of them yesterday. I emailed my agent today and we are signing an offer tonight.

That hollow ratting sound you hear? That's my head spinning.

 

[malkore]

Congrats. We're selling our first house and closing on the new home sept 10. 8 days later they close on our starter home.

Don't think of it as debt...its an investment. We only lived here a little over 6 years, and we'll pocket $7,000 from the sale after all broker fees, repairs, etc.

Go rent for 6 years and see if you get $7,000 back...let alone your deposit

 

[Zen_Brew]

Good luck Chshre.

Often the offering becomes a complex series of offers and counters based on price and things you want addressed from the inspection. Just hang in there.

 

[ChshreCat]

Bah. We're probably not even going to see a counter offer. Got word that they got another offer at the same time as us so the bank may ask each of us for our "highest and best offer" and whoever gives the best one gets the house. This is annoying because we don't know what the other offer is. We could already have their "highest and best offer" beat, but we won't know. I'm just hoping the other offer was a total lowball and the bank will just throw it out and work with us, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[MMW]

Worst case scenario: resubmit your original offer. If the other guy beats you out you're only out a little paperwork if not you get the house for the price you offered Seriously, you and your realtor (why the hell does firefox want to capitalize that? you don't write 'Doctor' or 'Garbage Man' do you?) know what the house is worth if you're in the ball park you're doing it right. Don't pay too much in the bidding war-- this ain't eBay.

The negotiation is the best part (IMHO).

 

[ChshreCat]

Well, we'll probably offer what we wanted to pay if they ask for our best offer. That's only a little above what the first offer we put in on it was. We're still going to be a little below the asking price in the end, so if the other guy wants to pay at or over that, it's theirs and we move on to our second choice.

 

[MMW]

Either way, good luck and have fun

 

[Zen_Brew]

Don't chase price! Put in your best offer and see what happens. The best piece of advice from my realtor when I bought a house several years ago was try not to get emotionally attached to a house until you have actually bought it. It is hard, cuz sometimes you just walk in and it feels perfect. You start setting up the living room and the kitchen, and the brew space in your mind. You imagine entertaining your friends, bringing your family over, and showing the place off, and then you feel angry and deflated if something goes amiss and you don't get the house.

There is always another house out there that has that magic for your situation, and there is usuually a better one that you just haven't seen yet.

 

[humann_brewing]

congrads, I am jealous you are buying now as I didn't wait and am stuck in my house until the value goes back up. Good luck in hunting.

 

[ChshreCat]

Back to square one. There was another offer on the house we wanted and it was for cash. Instant winner even if we offered a little more. So, we're back to lookin'.

 

[Rick91981]

Goodluck looking. Piece of advice, if possible stay away from Short Sales and Foreclosures. SWMBO and I are in the process of buying our first house as well and unfortunately it is a short sale. Saw the house, thought it was great, submitted an offer which got accepted. Signed the contract in April. Didn't hear for months(which is normal and we expected), then was told the bank would lose too much money and they could not accept the price and asked for 30k more. We continued looking at other houses and came to the conclusion based on what was out there it was still a good deal even at the 30k more so we signed an anmendment to the contract with the new price. Applying for a mortgage our bank does the appraisal and deems the house is worth 25k less than the new contract price. Now we are currently in limbo trying to get the price reduced and have not heard back.

 

[ChshreCat]

Yeah, we automatically took those right off our list from the start. We're wanting to close in time for the 8k rebate.

 

[Rick91981]

The 8k rebate is what we are hoping for as well. Before Dec 1st I believe is the cutoff.

 

[TMet]

I thought is was Nov 1st.

 

[ChshreCat]

Nope, gotta close by the end of November.

I wanted to go egg the house we lost after the new owners move in, but SWMBO won't let me.

 

[S0meB0dy]

I'll second the advice against short sales unless you are really patient and don't care about missing out on the rebate. I finally managed to close on a short sale after being in limbo half a year. It was a great deal and a great house but the waiting is awful.

 

[bob1852]

We're wanting to close in time for the 8k rebate.

I heard a rumor it might be $10K next year...