First house

[ChshreCat]

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

DON'T DO THAT TO ME!!!

We just did drive by and catburgler style window peeping this afternoon at some houses and have a new list for our agent for us to look at on Monday. This time we might throw offers at 2 or 3 of them and see who bites.

 

[bob1852]

DON'T DO THAT TO ME!!!

I'm not joking - heck, they did it with cash for clunkers; they're talking stimulus v2.0...

And:

Will the $8000 First Home Buyer Tax Credit in the 2009 Economic Stimulus Package be Extended into 2010

"given the political economics of the housing credit, the odds favor some sort of extension, probably later rather than sooner"

 

[blk94f150]

DON'T DO THAT TO ME!!!

We just did drive by and catburgler style window peeping this afternoon at some houses and have a new list for our agent for us to look at on Monday. This time we might throw offers at 2 or 3 of them and see who bites.

Whatever, we bought in 06. How do you think we feel? We missed all the incentives. But our home actually went up 10,000 in value over the recession, so that's not bad.

Learn to do stuff yourself. I put in a basement that probably would have cost $30,000 for about $5,000 and time. It contributed greatly to the increase in value.

Mike

 

[ChshreCat]

Whatever, we bought in 06. How do you think we feel? We missed all the incentives. But our home actually went up 10,000 in value over the recession, so that's not bad.

Learn to do stuff yourself. I put in a basement that probably would have cost $30,000 for about $5,000 and time. It contributed greatly to the increase in value.

Mike

Yeah, I've been learning everything I can about working on a house. I do have the advantage that my father was a mason and I learned a lot from him. He's also willing to come stay with us for a while and help fix up the house. I'm really big on brick and stone so will probably be adding some of that.

 

[Cheeto]

Wish i could do that. For less than I pay in rent, I might be able to get a 40 year old mobile home that smells like cat pee... maybe.

BTW what the heck is the deal with houses smelling like a rotten cat box ?

DON'T DO THAT TO ME!!!

We just did drive by and catburgler style window peeping this afternoon at some houses and have a new list for our agent for us to look at on Monday. This time we might throw offers at 2 or 3 of them and see who bites.

I did that with several houses,
SWMBO and I are looking as well out on the eastside of the state. The market is great out here
you can get a wonderful house 3+ bed 2+ bath under 200k

we are at the contingent stage of the offer right now, there are a few little things that I WANT fixed they don't need to be.

what a pain in the ass


-Jason

 

[ChshreCat]

It's a longshot, but we're putting an offer on a house with an 800sqft brewhaus! It has a covered concrete pad with double doors opening into the shop. Has power, concrete floors, a wood stove, shelves, work tables and even has cable. I'm seeing turning part of it into a pub! And it's in a golf course community. The HOA includes all the golf I want to play with no greens fees. It's a bit out of our range, but we'll throw an offer at it and the worst they can do is say no. We're making offers on two more houses that are a bit more realistic, but I have a few days to dream about this one before they turn us down.

 

[ChshreCat]

Some pics I took:

The front. Open the doors, set up the rig right there.


Shot from inside the doors.


A couple shots of the workspaces.



I want I want I want!

 

[blk94f150]

One piece of advice is not to stretch your budget on your first home. We bought much less than what we could afford and it was the best decision we could have made. You would be suprised at what kind of expenses spring up on you.

Also when my wife lost her job and found out she was pregnant in the same week, it was still no problem.

Mike

 

[ChshreCat]

Yeah. We have a tight ceiling we're working under and can't break it.

 

[Cheeto]

That is a great plan.

I am doing the same thing.

I like being able to cover all of my monthly bills on one paycheck, just in case I get fired.

-Jason

 

[marubozo]

Wow, that shed looks awesome. That the one thing I'm going to really hate about moving. In just a week or so we're moving from a nice rural location that provides me a sweet shed and huge garage to a more suburban subdivision that doesn't even allow the kind of shed I want

So, hopefully you get it. It's fun to dream and it looks like you'd have a lot of options when it comes to making your ultimate brew shed and/or man cave.

 

[dontman]

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."

There is another side to this for the diy'er. When I used to rent I often fixed things myself because it was immediate and convenient.

In my last apartment the insink disposal used to jam all of the time. It was stupidly underpowered and poorly built. It usually took a day or two before someone would get out there to fix it. Also, the appliances were of subpar quality also.

As a homeowner, when something breaks I control how and when it gets fixed and the quality of the work that goes into fixing it. Also, I now have great professional quality appliances and a stupidly overpowered stainless steel disposal. That thing could grind a cow without a hiccup.

 

[ChshreCat]

Yeah, we're looking forward to upgrading appliances and whatnot in the future. A couple of the houses we're interesting in will require us to buy some of our own stuff since it didn't come with a fridge and/or range.

I'm still having fantasies about the big brewspace, but I know it's a long shot. Our offer is quite a bit below their asking price so I'm sure we won't get it. But, I figured it's worth a shot. Doesn't cost us anything to make a lowball offer and the worst that can happen is they tell us to piss off. We might get lucky and find that they have to sell NOW and are willing to let it go cheap. Worth a try for a brewspace that freakin' huge.

Another house we made an offer on that's more realistic has a really nice shed out back that has power, is insulated and even has double-pane windows in it! It's much smaller than that one, but would still be better than fermenting in my downstairs bathroom like I'm doing now!

 

[TMet]

Well a little update on the new place for me. Moved in last Saturday (29th) and I'm enjoying it. Being my first house I can't believe how expensive it is starting out. So many things you need that you just don't think about in an apartment or rental house. Things like a ladder, lawnmower, power tools, etc. There is one great thing though I've noticed. Stuff like yard work that I despised from growing up mowing an acre with a pushmower is fun when its your own place. I definitely take a lot more pride in my own place than I ever have in a rental. The wife has left me the whole garage to do with as I please so I'm now in the planning phase of the brewery and fill station (I'm an avid SCUBA diver and I've always wanted to be able to fill my own tanks). The only things holding me back are time and money.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

My only piece of advice for first home buyers is to not try to keep up with the Jones'. You bought it, be proud of it, not having that awesome car and cool stuff is way more responsible than having a huge credit card balance.

NOTE: I have a huge credit card balance (I think anyway), not from buying stupid stuff but because we bought our house when we weren't expecting to and had no money to buy everything you need when buying an old project house CC bills are the devil. seriously

 

[bob1852]

My only piece of advice for first home buyers is to not try to keep up with the Jones'.

agreed - one of the biggest reasons for the economic situation we're in right now is because most everyone tried to keep up with the Jones', not knowing that the Jones' were actually broke (well, living of massive credit debt, double or triple mortgages, etc)

 

[ChshreCat]

We've got that mapped out. If we can close in time to get the tax rebate, that will clear our credit card debt (which isn't too bad as it is now anyway), pay for a few appliances, get little things we'll need (ladder, garden hose, mower, etc) and have enough left to have two house payments sitting in the bank for emergencies.

 

[ChshreCat]

We're one of 2 offers on the house with the big brewspace. Don't know if the other offer was higher or lower, but they said they'd have an answer within 72 (bankers) hours.

 

[Rick91981]

We're one of 2 offers on the house with the big brewspace. Don't know if the other offer was higher or lower, but they said they'd have an answer within 72 (bankers) hours.

Good luck!

 

[ChshreCat]

Just wrote an earnest money check on a house! Not the one with the big shop, but it has a Trex deck and an oversized 2-car garage so I'd have plenty of brew space. My agent thinks they may be preparing to accept my offer without even a counter.

 

[jonp9576]

Wish i could do that. For less than I pay in rent, I might be able to get a 40 year old mobile home that smells like cat pee... maybe.

hahaha, i just closed 2 weeks ago on a 100 year old colonial that smells like pee. but i got a good deal and i am tearing it apart any way. its a long way from finished, but its mine. plus with my obama money ($8,000)i am buying all kinds of nice things.


also, if you are looking at re-doing kitchens and such, check out craigslist for the appliances. i am buying a $2500 fridge for $1500 because someone bought it to stage a house and then didnt include the appliances in the sale.

 

[jonp9576]

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.

i had mojor mold issues with the house i just bought. they did air quality tests and there was mild in the basement. the house is 100 years old and you could really tell that in the basement. long story short, the seller had to sink in $10k for mold remediation and my basement is now the nicest part of the house. it looks brand new

 

[ChshreCat]

i had mojor mold issues with the house i just bought. they did air quality tests and there was mild in the basement. the house is 100 years old and you could really tell that in the basement. long story short, the seller had to sink in $10k for mold remediation and my basement is now the nicest part of the house. it looks brand new

Couldn't do that with this one. It's bank owned and sold "as-is". They won't do a think other than haggle on the price. And unfortunately, we won't have the money to tear the place apart ourselves. I'd love to have the cash to wait a year or so and if it's still on the market offer them a quarter of the asking price and see if they're ready to just get rid of it for anything.

 

[ChshreCat]

I think we may have a deal. Not the one with the big brewhaus though, but a nice house.

 

[ChshreCat]

Inspection last night. Only one semi-serious issue to get taken care of. Not bad, really.

 

[Zen_Brew]

Man you're getting closes huh? Good luck!

 

[JohnnyO]

Congrats! When we bought our house earlier this year, I was only able to breathe once the inspection came back. Unfortunately, we needed to replace the roof, refinish all the hardwood floors throughout, and we're currently in the middle of a complete gutjob of the kitchen (I really really want to brew in there, so they'd better finish up soon!!). It's an insane headache, but it's our headache.

Best of luck to you.

 

[ChshreCat]

Well, they agreed to all the repairs we sent to them, so we're heading to close! Appraisal has been scheduled by our lender and we're arranging insurance and getting papers signed for the underwriters. Then the long wait...

 

[Cheeto]

ChshreCat,

The worst part is to come, Expect the appraisal to be low, Most Appraisers are afraid because of the current housing market.
My house came in $2000 low ! I want the house, So I am paying the difference....

-Jason

 

[jpc]

plus with my obama money ($8,000)i am buying all kinds of nice things.

Thank you for spending my tax dollars. At least tell me you're doing something beer-related with it...