Possible House! Exciting!

[Aloros]

FI and I have been considering house-buying for a while now. We''ve just been sitting on our hands lately, waiting for prices to drop. Now, with all this recession talk, I''ve noticed a substantial drop in the housing prices in our neighborhood.

In fact, one house that piqued our interest has dropped 50k in the past week! It''s a lovely bank-owned 3bd/2ba a stone''s throw away from my stepson-to-be''s school. It has new paint and flooring and a lovely layout (we peeked in the windows). We''re taking a look at it tomorrow. It is in a VERY nice neighborhood and away from the main streets. This recent price drop puts it into a very comfortable range for us.

Any things I should look out for? We would definitely have an inspection done beforehand, and my parents (very experienced home-buyers...we moved around a lot) have given me a list of things to check.

The backyard is a mess - it definitely needs some clean-up, landscaping, and a new gate on the fence, but the house itself looks to be in very good condition.

I''m slightly anxious because I know that, due to this drop in price, there are several other people interested in this home. We''ve recently dropped our agent - I found that I was better at finding homes than he was and I found his negotiating stance, especially in this market, to be too soft. So I''m sort of frantically looking info up on the internet and poring through our "buying a home" books. I don''t know whether we should find another agent or go it on our own. Both FFIL and my parents think we can get a lower price if we go it alone.

Anyone have any past experience?

Thank you! I''m hoping it looks as good from the inside as it does from peeking through the windows! If not...eh...we''ll probably sit on our hands some more and see what else pops up.

 

[merricks_girl]

I'd be a bit wary going it alone but I know people do - you just will need a mortgage broker and/or attorney on your side to make sure the papers are all in order. I bought my second home last year (didn't sell the first one and am regretting it now!!) and here's what I I will pass on to you (and will do myself next time!)

1) get on Angie's list (you have to pay a small fee to join) and use an inspector from there who has stellar ratings. Our inspector was nice as anything, but missed some *major* issues that cost us two months in the house while the sellers made repairs. We were paying for an apartment and another mortgage during that time because we couldn't live in the house yet but had to still pay for it! Be sure you know what your inspector is required to do or not do. In my state they don't have to move appliances or crawl into attics....guess what was behind the fridge when we moved in?! Rotten wood and drywall!! It was a relatively easy fix that the sellers took care of, but it really made us concerned about other issues (wiht good reason - more below!)

2) get a good plumber to come in and do their standard leak test to make sure there are no foundation issues. This will cost a couple of hundred dollars but will be so worth it in the long run. They basically check all the pipes throughout the house and make sure there aren't any problems.

3) you can get free inspections for a lot of things - foundation, roof, etc...ideally your paid inspector will notice problems that you can explore in more depth if you need to, but had I done that it would have saved me a lot of grief!

Know what you would and wouldn't realistically change. It's easy to swan through the "perfect" house and say "oh, we don't really need a downstairs closet - or we can just convert something and hang some shelves..." etc and then you end up in an uncomfortable fit because you run out of time, energy or resources to make the changes! Oh and if you're going to paint or change flooring, do it before you move in if you possible can!

If the house is being lived in (or even being staged), don't be shy....lift up area rugs and inspect the floor underneath. Lift up curtains and inspect the drywall all around the windows (two of our front windows were completely rotted out - we never noticed it until the curtains were gone because it was mainly covered by the blinds...sellers paid for repairs later). Take a flashlight and look into the vents. We found mold in ours that the inspector missed. Yippeeeee! Check behind furniture...you never know if there's a great huge honking hole in the drywall hiding behind a strategically placed piece of furniture! Check any area that shows signs of repair and ask for an explanation. Open curtains and let natural light in - check for discoloration on the ceiling and ask for explanations! Look inside the tubs (I missed a freaking crack that had been badly repaired because I just glanced in the bathroom), flush the toilets, open drawers (yup, you guessed it....some kitchen drawers were falling apart), open interior doors and make sure they're all working properly.

Make note of the closet space.......we made a *huge* error with this house. We'd looked at literally 50 houses because we have very specific needs (we both work from home and needed a certain layout). We finally found the perfect layout and jumped into action - made an offer the day it came on the market. It was only after we moved in that we noticed there are *no* closets downstairs, except for the master closet...which is tiny and badly organized. None!! And the ones upstairs are really small. We just didn't notice it - we were so thrilled at the layout and so ready to move in before the baby arrived! Also, if it's a two-story, really pay attention to the height of the stairs - we have a gorgeous curving wood staircase and have all wiped out on it because the stairs are deceptively deep, and the bottom one isn't really long enough for a foot, so it's easy to trip. Terrifying wiht a baby in your arms, and not so good on the knees!

Beware of those dangerous words "oh, we can update those awful blue laminate countertops in the kitchen with granite".....because a year and a half later, guess what?! Those awful blue laminate countertops are still driving us nuts!

Good luck with it - we experienced a harsh learning curve with this one and now have to hang on to it for a while until the market improves. Some repairs and issues are to be expected but you so don't want to buy someone else's nightmare! I hope it all works out!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Aloros, how exciting that you are looking for a new home!

As I realtor I am happy to share some advice with you, which are you are welcome to take or not, as you see fit.

First off, you mention that you have dropped your realtor. If you think you are using "no realtor" you are a bit mistaken. Rather you are relying on the SELLER'S realtor to represent you on your side of the transaction too. Big mistake. You need someone (i.e., your own agent) working on your behalf on your transaction. Otherwise you will become a "victim" of dual agency and you will not get the zealous advocacy that you deserve in a real estate transaction.

Also, you will not get a lower price by "going it alone". The seller's agent will simply earn more commission. We refer to this as the "double bubble."

You said that there may be other parties interested in this same house. You do not want to be the "back up bidder" if you can help it. Ever. If you think you want the home make a bid. Do not sit around having a cup of tea. Someone else skipped that cup of tea and wrote up an offer. Be the first on in the door in the negotiations inf you possibly can.

About the price; this is another area where you need a realtor. If the house has dropped 50K in the past week maybe it has been OVER priced to this point. Have your agent draw up comps for what other houses have SOLD for, not what they are LISTED for, in the past 3-6 months with as similar features as possible.

An inspection is an absolute must. Enough said on that point.

As for an attorney, different jurisdictions completely closings differently. If you are in a state that permits the process of "attorney review" then that will be the best $$$ you can possibly spend in the transaction.

Finally, you mention that you will sit on your hands if it doesn't look as good from the inside as it does from the out. A house should make you very happy. But there is no such thing as a *perfect* house that will make you *perfectly* happy. As much as buying a home should be a logical decision it is also an emotional decision. Go with your head and your heart and decide what is best for you.

Good luck -- keep us posted!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Good luck, girl. It''s a fun (and sometimes exhausting) experience. Paul and I tried the "no realtor" thing for a wihle, but have found that having a realtor has been great. She does most of the work at finding what we''d like to see, and the more we go out to look at homes with her, the better idea she has of what we''d like in our home.

We tried several times to contact the selling agent regarding homes we were interested in, and very rarely did we get a response. Here, they can''t double represent, so for the most part, we never got a call back. That was so disappointing for us.

I hope you really like the home when you see inside of it today! You''ll know when you see it, if it could be the *right one.*

 

[Aloros]

We looked at the house. It''s very well kept inside! The floors have been replaced, and it has new paint. There''s been heavy rain, but I could find no evidence of any leaking. I checked under the sinks, pulled open cupboards and doors, checked the windows...on a shallow inspection, everything looks great.

Unfortunately, due to the huge price drop, there are quite a few other people interested in the house. According to the agent who showed us the house, there are already 2-3 offers on the house. We''re not entirely sure whether to believe her though, of course...but I wouldn''t be surprised, given that there were two other people looking at the house when we showed up.

Bleh. So now we''re debating whether or not to keep with our original idea of offering low, or to maybe go ahead and offer higher, or even the asking price (this is the lowest priced single-family home in the neighborhood).

We''ll see. I get the feeling prices are still going to go down, and we can afford to wait. We''re not going to get into a bidding war in this market.

Thanks for all the advice! We''re still talking over the agent/no agent thing. So much conflicting info!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

I''m glad you liked the inside! It''s funny how a house can look awesome from the outside, then be a huge disappointment once you get inside (and vice versa).

Let us know what you decide to do!!

 

[misysu2]

No past experience, but I''m wishing good things for you! I''m going to start my house hunting here in a month or two, so I''m on the radar, also. GOOD LUCK!