The House Hunters Thread

[Lynnie]

I know there are quite a few PS''ers in the midst of the house-buying experience (including myself), so I figured I''d start a thread

How long have you been on the hunt?
What are your must/must not haves?
How many homes have you looked at?
Have you put in any offers?
Is the Obama tax credit putting you under the crunch? It is for us, knowing that we have to settle before the Nov 30th deadline!

DH & I started casually looking in June. Checked out some houses, got the pre-approval, found a realtor, etc. We put in an offer on a house, which got accepted, but the inspection came back with some unknown issues... termites AND foundation problems. We tried to lower the offer, but the sellers weren''t having it. We had originally offered 30K lower than the asking price, though... that house was a major fixer-upper to begin with. It was pretty heartbreaking at the time, losing that house, but now I''m glad. That house was a money pit, anyway!

We''ve really only done walk-throughs of about 10 houses. I''m looking pretty close to where we live now, so we''ve done a bunch of drive-bys too.

DH is going to school full-time this semester, so that has been a huge point - we need to find a house that we can afford on my paycheck alone. We have a set amt of $ that we feel comfortable with, as a mortgage payment. And boy, has this been daunting. The housing prices in our favorite neighborhood are about 20K to 30K over what we want to spend, and I know that''s not much, spread out over 30 years, but we want to be at or under our magic number, yanno? It''ll be tough for 2-3 years, while DH is in school full time, but it''ll be worth it in the end!

Must haves:
3-4 bedrooms
Twin or better... we''re looking in Philadelphia, and we''ve both lived in rowhomes our whole lives
a basement that''s either finished or finishable
garage
within a decent driving distance to I95 - I don''t want my commute to work more than 50 minutes or so

Must not haves:
ROWHOMES

Philly can be weird, too. One neighborhood is pretty nice, but then five minutes in another direction could have you in the badlands

We have a list of desireable neighborhoods that we''re looking at, and we haven''t strayed from it.

So we found a house, and put an offer in yesterday- it''s easier the second time around! We''re supposed to hear back by Sunday. It''s priced really well, and it''s in our favorite neighborhood. It needs some cosmetic stuff, which is no big deal to us. Wallpaper galore, but in really good shape. And we''d be neighbors with a couple who we''ve been good friends with for 10 + years. This house has all the "must haves", plus an extra half bath. Fingers crossed! I''m super nervous, though. The last house that went up for sale on that block was only up for 4 days before it was sold - this house went up 7 days ago, and we''re the first offer. I have my friends spying on it for me, to gauge how much traffic it''s getting. Last night, as we were putting our offer in, two couples came to look at it. We offered full asking price, but with some seller''s assist, so we''ll see.

Let''s hear your experiences! Anyone else having trouble finding *the* one? I thought it was supposed to be a buyers'' market?? We''ve been looking for 3 months now, and Nov 30th is just around the corner, it seems!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Good idea Lynnie!

DH and I just got preapproved two weeks ago and we''ve looked at 4 houses so far. We''re going out again this weekend to look at three more, plus go through two of the previous houses again. We will probably put in an offer on one of the ones we saw last weekend though.

We really want to get the $8K tax credit, but won''t be totally disappointed if we miss out since we''re jumping in late in the game.

Must haves:

2+ bedrooms
1+ bathroom
fenced backyard
good school district
appliances included with house
clean, well-maintained property
living area that can hold our furniture and DS''s toys that seem to multiply on their own

Would like to have:

garage
dry basement - finished or not
central air
hardwood floors
dishwasher
the ability to put up a privacy fence in the future
separate dining area

Will not have:

house that is cramped/too small
too high property taxes
college kid infested neighborhood

non-insulated house
major remodeling - can''t afford it right now

Our preapproval is a tad low for some of the neighborhoods that we really like, however, it''s a buyer''s market around here so the mortgage company and our realtor don''t think we''ll have any problem getting into a good home.

I am so excited, nervous and happy about this whole process. We''ve never owned any real estate before and it''s sort of weird to think that there will be no landlord! Totally different mindset for me. My parents have one of my dogs and I can''t wait to get her back! It will also be sooo nice to get out of the IL''s house and have my own space back.

 

[geckodani]

Nice thread idea Lynnie! Good luck on your offer - I hope it works out for you!

Date: 9/4/2009 10:43:33 AM
Author: DivaDiamond007
Good idea Lynnie!

DH and I just got preapproved two weeks ago and we''ve looked at 4 houses so far. We''re going out again this weekend to look at three more, plus go through two of the previous houses again. We will probably put in an offer on one of the ones we saw last weekend though.

We really want to get the $8K tax credit, but won''t be totally disappointed if we miss out since we''re jumping in late in the game.

That sounds about right for us too.

We''re stuck in an apartment lease until May, but the place is falling apart so badly we''re willing to take a hit on the rent just to get out!!! So we''re scrambling trying to take advantage of the 8K to offset the price of the apartment. It sucks.

We got preapproved this week, and our realtor has a bunch of houses lined up for us to look at on Tuesday. Ready set GO!

Must haves:

3 bedrooms, or 2 bedrooms and a finished or partially finished basement. We need room for us, the computers, and a possible small homo sapiens in the next few years.

2 full bathrooms.
decent sized kitchen
bathtub!!!
garage
No more than 30 - 45 minute commute for either of us
no major renovations needed - we''re not that handy and don''t have the cash

Must NOT have:

Condo or townhome. I am not listening to neighbors stomp around anymore!!!
I would really prefer that it not be ancient.

 

[Shoopy]

We''re house hunting too! Our condo is just too small and I really feel like we are losing tons of money in this property. So we''re going to take the loss, sell for whatever we can get, and in the meantime we''re looking for a house.

We just now started the hunt but we have been looking into neighborhoods for quite a while. We are looking into three specific areas in the Fort Lauderdale region.

Must haves/Not haves:
Minimum of 4 bedrooms. We need a master room, baby room, guest room, and FI needs a room for all of the crap that I have tried to get him to throw out for the past 8 years. I would really love to have 6 bedrooms so we have multiple guestrooms but anything above 5 here can get really pricey (or at least outside of what we are willing to pay).
Family room-I''ve always loved the idea of a family/play room
Tile-I absolutely refuse to have a stitch of carpet anywhere in our home. We have carpet now and on top of the condo always feeling hot, we get lots of ants because they dig themselves into the carpet. I have no idea what I''m going to do once DD starts crawling.
Big patio
Not that much land. I know that sounds weird but I don''t want to deal with a lawn.
I''m still on the fence re: a pool. DD''s birthday is in July so having a pool would be great for birthday parties but it can be such a PITA to maintain. The good thing though is that unlike in many other places, we pretty much can use the pool year-round.

Haven''t made any offers. We''re taking our time in searching.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 9/4/2009 1:09:01 PM
Author: fiery
We''re house hunting too! Our condo is just too small and I really feel like we are losing tons of money in this property. So we''re going to take the loss, sell for whatever we can get, and in the meantime we''re looking for a house.

We just now started the hunt but we have been looking into neighborhoods for quite a while. We are looking into three specific areas in the Fort Lauderdale region.

Must haves/Not haves:
Minimum of 4 bedrooms. We need a master room, baby room, guest room, and FI needs a room for all of the crap that I have tried to get him to throw out for the past 8 years. I would really love to have 6 bedrooms so we have multiple guestrooms but anything above 5 here can get really pricey (or at least outside of what we are willing to pay).
Family room-I''ve always loved the idea of a family/play room
Tile-I absolutely refuse to have a stitch of carpet anywhere in our home. We have carpet now and on top of the condo always feeling hot, we get lots of ants because they dig themselves into the carpet. I have no idea what I''m going to do once DD starts crawling.
Big patio
Not that much land. I know that sounds weird but I don''t want to deal with a lawn.
I''m still on the fence re: a pool. DD''s birthday is in July so having a pool would be great for birthday parties but it can be such a PITA to maintain. The good thing though is that unlike in many other places, we pretty much can use the pool year-round.

Haven''t made any offers. We''re taking our time in searching.

DH thinks I''m crazy when I give listings the stink eye based on the amount of property. But I know he''s not going to mow that monster without harping, so I don''t wanna deal with it!

 

[Shoopy]

Date: 9/4/2009 3:09:01 PM
Author: geckodani

DH thinks I''m crazy when I give listings the stink eye based on the amount of property. But I know he''s not going to mow that monster without harping, so I don''t wanna deal with it!

That is the *exact* same reason why I don''t want too much land. I can already see the fights to get his butt out there to mow.

 

[sunkist]

Date: 9/4/2009 9:55:00 AM
Author:Lynnie

DH & I started casually looking in June. Checked out some houses, got the pre-approval, found a realtor, etc. We put in an offer on a house, which got accepted, but the inspection came back with some unknown issues... termites AND foundation problems. We tried to lower the offer, but the sellers weren''t having it. We had originally offered 30K lower than the asking price, though... that house was a major fixer-upper to begin with. It was pretty heartbreaking at the time, losing that house, but now I''m glad. That house was a money pit, anyway!

We''ve been house hunting since March I think here in SoCal! Got preapproved and started searching condos. I don''t know how many we''ve been to. I''m exhausted though. I guess we took about a month off in the middle somewhere, but we''ve been searching again since June. But now we decided we wanted a house instead of a condo.

Lynnie your story above sounds like what we just did. We were in escrow and got the inspection and realized it was a money pit

So we cancelled.

Things go sooo fast around here and for asking price or above it seems. What happened to the buyer''s market? Maybe we missed it back in March. I''m not rushed by Obama''s $8000 anymore. It would be cool, but I''m not going to let that rush us on such a huge investment. I''m just getting burned out by the search

Good luck to all searching!

 

[Lynnie]

Hi, fellow house hunters!

Diva, Good luck on the hunt! Isn''t it a strange combination of excite and sheer terror? lol Re: property taxes... one of the reasons we have chosen to stay within Philadelphia. It''d be nice to be in a suberb or even so Jersey, but the taxes would kill us! Not to mention that tuition for DH goes up if he moves out of the city. So Philly it is. I don''t know what it''d be like to not have a convenience store of somekind within walking distance, anyway

Gecko, that really stinks about your apartment. There''s no way that given the shape of your apt, the landlord won''t let you bail on your lease? Maybe you could sublet? I thank my lucky stars for an awesome landlord... haha - he even came to our wedding! We''ve been month to month for about a year now, and the landlord says we are welcome to stay as long as we want, and he wouldn''t change the rent (which is pretty dirt cheap). Crazy story - when we first got this apt, the original landlord was a nice guy, the price was right, so we snatched it up. It''s the 2nd floor of a duplex, and the downstairs was being renovated. Two months after moving in, the landlord OD''d on heroine in the basement

What a sight that was - his girlfriend had found him, and started screaming. We went down to see what the commotion was - lo and behold, there he was, pants down, off the toilet - Elvis-style

Turns out he had just returned from rehab, and musta taken too much, I guess. So we paid a lawyers office til someone bought it. The new guy is super nice, and not a drug addict. Some people think we''re crazy for still living here. But it''s in a decent neighborhood, and the price is phenominal. DH & I have discussed staying here til after he''s done school - we''d be able to bank up some money and all, but we figure 3 years of rent is just that much more $ that could go into a house, and a house is a much better investment. Plus, we want to start a family next year.


Fiery - good luck on your search! About the land - that''s funny, ''cause we are the opposite. We currently have a patch of a front lawn that''s about 10 x 15 feet. So we''re looking for more. Rowhomes have practically no land. We''re not even considering rowhomes - which has narrowed our choices hugely; the majority of Philly is rowhomes. The house we just put an offer on has a nice front yard and backyard (it''s a twin). It''s got tomato plants around the whole front and side of it - I''ll have to learn how to grow tomatos, hopefully! Ands DH is currently a landscaper - he has no qualms about the yardwork being on his list of chores!

Sunkist - Did you lose out on your inspection $ too? We did

I wish we hadn''t considered that property to begin with! Supposedly, someone can buy our inspection report at a discount, but it''s been 3 months, and that house is still up on the market! I don''t know what''s going on with the market, either. The houses we''ve been looking at seem either overpriced (they tend to sit on the market for a while), or priced really well (and get snatched up). Doesn''t seem to be a decent middle ground, to me. Try not to be bummed - it''s the biggest investment of your life so far, and it has to be right, yanno? The right house will come along, eventually! Lots of house dust to you!

33 1/2 hours until we find out if we''re homeowners

The wait sucks! They have til 8pm tomorrow to accept the offer. We already have an inspector lined up for Tuesday morning, too. It''s nervewracking, I tell ya!

 

[Haven]

Hi, house hunters!

I just wanted to pop in with an interesting anecdote. Well, it''s a very painful anecdote for me at the moment, but interesting nonetheless.

The moral of this anecdote? Timing is everything.

Here''s why:

When DH and I were house hunting in 2007 and 2008 I fell in love with an old Hubbard schoolhouse that had been converted into a lovely 2 bedroom home. It was beautiful. I''m a teacher, so it held a very certain appeal for me right off the bat. The original cloak room was still there, the classroom was now a gorgeous great room, the original bell tower had been lifted and put over the master bedroom so it was this very charming, very dramatic little home. The property sits on 2 acres, which is a lot for the area.

It was located a bit farther west than we wanted, so DH said that the only way he''d buy it is if it was the right price. It also only had two bedrooms, so we''d need to add on eventually, so there was that. Well, of course, it wasn''t the right price. The sellers would not come down, and we very reluctantly walked away and eventually found our home, which I LOVE.

So, as I was cleaning out my office today I found the listing sheet and brochure from this schoolhouse-that-stole-my-heart and decided to look it up on Zillow to see what it eventually sold for. The listing price, when we looked at it, was $424,900. The sellers refused to drop their price lower than $414,900, which was too much for us to spend to live in that location.

Are you ready to hear what it sold for, a mere ten months after we walked away from it? $195,000! OH! The horror! We would have paid so much more for it, and it sold for $195,000 not one year after we moved on!

I have no idea why it dropped so much, I imagine something difficult must have happened to the sellers and that makes me sad. They were lovely people. But be-still-my-heart, I felt some *serious* regret when I saw that just now.

Anyway, I suppose there is another moral to the story: Sellers, don''t be so quick to turn down a good offer!

In the end, I''m living in a home I absolutely adore, and a location that is much better suited for us. But man oh man, would I have loved to live in that schoolhouse.

Happy hunting, everyone!

 

[Haven]

Lynnie--Good luck with the house! I hope they accept your offer!

 

[Lynnie]

Wow, Haven, that's some story!! I wonder why, as well... that's a HUGE price drop! There must have been something major that happened, or something. Thanks for the good luck wishes, too... I may need it!

So I have some news... I guess it's good, I dunno.

My RE agent called me about 2 hours ago. Our original offer was full asking price for the house, but they would have to cover all closing costs (6%). It's an estate sale, so knowing that, we made the settlement date Oct 15th, and the inspection would be done within 7 days... so a quick quick sale to entice the sellers. They came back at full asking price, but only 3% closing costs. Problem is, with DH going to school, we don't want to plop down ALL our savings. Basically, that 7K would put us in the hole. So we came back by raising the offer enough that if they pay all the closing costs, they would net the same amount of $ as they would have in the original offer (I hope that makes sense). It'd raise our mortgage a little (eek - $20 more per month than my max #, but what's $20, right??!?) haha

So that was 2 hours ago. I don't understand why I haven't gotten a call back yet... I can't see them not accepting the offer. Unless they're just waiting it out, to see if there are any more offers that come to the table. They have til tommorrow, technically, to accept. I hope there's not a bidding war, because we really can't go any higher.

I have my phone sitting here by the cpu, and you know that funny sound that comes out of electronics when your cell phone's about to ring?? Every time I hear that my heart skips a beat!!

 

[I Love My Sailor]

the tax credit did give my husband and I the motivation to buy a house, we new we could afford it but held off until now.The house we bought was the first house we looked at in person. we looked a lot online. we both feel in love with the house right away, we never worked with a Realtor, but gave a verbal offer, a month later, the house was ours.

 

[sunkist]

Ya, we had to pay for the inspection and an appraisal. Lost out on that money

But I feel like it''s better to have paid for the inspection and know what we were getting ourselves into, and then out of!

As for must haves, I feel like we''ll always have to make compromises. But here''s my list anyways!

3 bedrooms/ 2 baths
(or at least 2 beds and a loft for the office)
fenced in backyard for the dog and the kid
at least 1250 sq feet, would love larger of course!
dining area separate from living area, prefer formal dining room
room for guest parking

Things I would Like:
big kitchen
big yard
near park
near shopping
laundry room

Lynnie good luck on hearing about your offer! Fingers crossed for you!

 

[iheartscience]

Oooh good luck everyone! I just got done house hunting not too long ago and still can't keep myself from checking out real estate listings! I'm sure I'll be following this thread, too, even though it technically doesn't apply to me. Hope that's okay!

It took us almost a year to find (and actually close on) our place. The tax credit didn't exist when we started looking so we didn't have that added pressure. It was a bonus when it went into effect, though! We put an offer on one other house but it was a back up offer and the original contract stayed so we didn't get the house.

One word of advice-I would definitely check out overpriced houses! Our house was originally listed for $100k MORE than what we paid for it. When we looked at it for the first time, the list price was still well over what we paid for it. Then she dropped the price a third time and we put in an offer. She didn't take our offer, but she dropped the price a bit more. We waited for a couple of months and then made an offer that was actually a little less than what the house is worth, and she took it. I think it helped that the paint colors in here were atrocious and so was her furniture, so someone with less imagination probably couldn't see past all that!

P.S. Haven, that story about your schoolhouse is INSANE! I bet they were kicking themselves for not selling to you!

 

[Lynnie]

Thanks for the dust, girls! Thing - no prob! Stick around as long as you want... the more the merrier, right?

Re: overpriced houses... what is a decent amt to underbid... 10% 20%? I feel like 20% less than asking price is insulting to the seller. But I guess it''s worth a shot.

So she called me back last night. Apparantly, there are 2 offers besides ours on the table. She spoke with the seller''s agent, who said he was going to go over all 3 offers with the seller, and let us know by 8pm today. My realtor said she tried to gauge if we were the best offer, but the sellers agent didn''t say one way or the other... so I don''t know. Still waiting.
So we''re kind of trying to ''expect the worst, hope for the best''. Worst case, we don''t get the house, but that''s okay, because I''ve found more to check out! And, I''ll start searching the overpriced list to see what''s been on the market a while.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 9/6/2009 11:51:18 AM
Author: Lynnie
Thanks for the dust, girls! Thing - no prob! Stick around as long as you want... the more the merrier, right?

Re: overpriced houses... what is a decent amt to underbid... 10% 20%? I feel like 20% less than asking price is insulting to the seller. But I guess it''s worth a shot.

So she called me back last night. Apparantly, there are 2 offers besides ours on the table. She spoke with the seller''s agent, who said he was going to go over all 3 offers with the seller, and let us know by 8pm today. My realtor said she tried to gauge if we were the best offer, but the sellers agent didn''t say one way or the other... so I don''t know. Still waiting.

So we''re kind of trying to ''expect the worst, hope for the best''. Worst case, we don''t get the house, but that''s okay, because I''ve found more to check out! And, I''ll start searching the overpriced list to see what''s been on the market a while.

Oh I hope you get it! Your offer sounds very good-hopefully you''ll beat everyone else out! I bet most people probably offered less-I know I would have probably offered less than asking price. I''ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you!

As far as underbidding, I think it really depends on the area and what the house is actually worth, as well as how long it''s been on the market. Plus if the owner bought the house before the boom (as opposed to during the boom) they probably aren''t going to lose money no matter what, so I think that makes a difference too. The previous owner of my house bought it 10 years ago for a price so low it hurts me, so she wasn''t going to lose money, even with the renovation money she had put into it.

Our offer the second time around was about 15% under her list price. She came back with a higher counteroffer but offered to throw in $8k for closing costs. However, we knew our closing costs weren''t going to be $8k and we had plenty of money saved up for the closing costs so that wasn''t a huge factor for us. We pretty much played hardball and she knew we had walked away before when we made the first offer, so I think she knew we would do it again. We ended up very close to our offer and she still paid $6k closing costs.

She desperately wanted to buy another house (it sounded really cool-a converted historic church) so I think that finally pushed her over the edge and got her to sell to us at a reasonable price. She kind of lost her attitude in the end and paid for/did all the repairs, etc. without complaining. We didn''t get a screaming deal but I think we got it for a very fair price, probably a bit under what the house is actually worth, and well under what it appraised for. The market in my area, particularly my neighborhood, is still VERY strong as long as the house is priced right-one across the street from my house actually sold the same day it was listed. We looked at it the same day it was listed, too, but it had been badly renovated so we passed on it.

So I don''t know if all that was helpful but that was our situation!

I guess the bottom line is that it really depends on a lot of different factors!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

We just put an offer in on a house!

I am excited and nervous at the same time. This could be IT! DH and I decided that if it''s not then we''ll keep our eye on the other property we were really interested in (the one that was FSBO), save a bit more and then approach the owner with an offer. If that doesn''t pan out then we''ll have to continue looking around. This is so nerve-wracking!

I''ll keep you ladies posted!!

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 9/6/2009 2:37:04 PM
Author: DivaDiamond007
We just put an offer in on a house!

I am excited and nervous at the same time. This could be IT! DH and I decided that if it''s not then we''ll keep our eye on the other property we were really interested in (the one that was FSBO), save a bit more and then approach the owner with an offer. If that doesn''t pan out then we''ll have to continue looking around. This is so nerve-wracking!

I''ll keep you ladies posted!!

Ooooh good luck! Fingers crossed you get it!!!

 

[mimzy]

fun thread!

my husband and i started house hunting casually back in june, starting seriously looking in july, walking through probably 20-24 houses. We put in offers on two houses, one wouldn''t come down low enough, and our second offer was accepted a few weeks ago! We definitely did try to get in before the tax credit deadline - even though it will *probably* be extended, we didn''t want to bank on it

Must haves:
old house (100+ years) w/ lots of dark trim and wood floors
walking distance to downtown GR and east hills (so within 3 neighborhoods)
minimal to moderate repairs/renovations needed
3-4 bedrooms/1-2 baths or room to add more
some sort of yard
some sort of driveway/garage
able to afford on one income

The house that we will be closing on was originally a short sale, but we upped our offer by 5k and that was enough to avoid it because the seller was able to come up with the difference in the meantime somehow. We were a bit worried about the inspection, but by the end of it the guy was joking that he was going to outbid us, it was such a great home and we were getting such a great deal!

We are going to have to upgrade the electrical and add a half bath downstairs, but other than that it''s got everything we want

We should be closing october 1st, which gives us two months of overlap with our apt to move in slowly and be able to paint and do some small renovations without having all of our furniture in the way. we''re so excited!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Our offer was accepted!!

We are signing some docs tomorrow and also scheduling the inspection.

Whew!

I can''t belive we are thisclose to buying a house!

 

[sunkist]

Congrats Diva!! That is so exciting !

Hope all goes well

 

[iheartscience]

Yay, Diva! Congratulations! Fingers crossed the inspections and everything else goes well!

 

[geckodani]

We start the search tonight! We''ve got about 13 houses lines up to see this week. Cross your fingers for us!

Date: 9/7/2009 8:54:31 PM
Author: DivaDiamond007
Our offer was accepted!!

We are signing some docs tomorrow and also scheduling the inspection.

Whew!

I can''t belive we are thisclose to buying a house!

Yay!!!! Congratulations!

Lynnie - I hope it all works out for you! I think your offer was a good one, and hopefully the sellers will see that! We are going to talk to our property manager, but not until we know we have somewhere to go! Also, a lot of the places we''re looking at need a major kitchen overhaul, so if we''re paying for the apartment anyway, we may stay in our apartment while we fix up the new place, so we''re not living in renovation land!

Haven - good advice, as always!

I love my sailor - The internet certainly streamlines the process!

 

[Lynnie]

Diva, Congrats!!!

Thanks for all the well wishes, everyone!!!
Guess what?!? Our offer was accepted, too!!!!

We didn''t hear back until today, because the sellers were away for the holiday. Apparantly, the other 2 offers had contingencies on the sale of their houses.

SO the inspection''s gonna be Thursday or Friday, and settlement''s Oct 15th!!!!! I can''t believe it!

I already talked to our landlord. We''re gonna keep the lease til Oct 31st. We''ll use the extra 2 weeks to take down wallpaper and paint. I''m on cloud 9, I dont know how I''m gonna make it through work tonight!!!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Date: 9/8/2009 5:33:35 PM
Author: Lynnie
Diva, Congrats!!!

Thanks for all the well wishes, everyone!!!
Guess what?!? Our offer was accepted, too!!!!

We didn''t hear back until today, because the sellers were away for the holiday. Apparantly, the other 2 offers had contingencies on the sale of their houses.

SO the inspection''s gonna be Thursday or Friday, and settlement''s Oct 15th!!!!! I can''t believe it!

I already talked to our landlord. We''re gonna keep the lease til Oct 31st. We''ll use the extra 2 weeks to take down wallpaper and paint. I''m on cloud 9, I dont know how I''m gonna make it through work tonight!!!

CONGRATS Lynnie! That is wonderful news!!

Our inspection is next Wednesday and then we meet with the loan officer next Friday. EEEEEE! I am over the moon excited about this!

 

[iheartscience]

Woohoo, Lynnie! That's awesome-congratulations! Gecko, you're next!

 

[Lynnie]

Thanks, guys!

We are so excited. I started worrying a bit, that maybe we offered too much, but looking at the comps in the area, this house was truly priced to sell. Similar houses are going for 20-30K more than what we offered. Plus, my friends (now neighbors!) bought their house for 5K more than we did, and they bought 3 years ago (and I think our house is in a little better shape than theirs was). It''s the exact same house as theirs, layout wise.

DH is funny - last night I left for work, and he''s already got 3 boxes of books packed! haha

*Our House* (sooo crazy to write that!) has:

4 bedrooms, 1.5 baths
central air
FInished basement
nice yard
a fabulous quiet neighorhood
1 car garage (but not accessable from inside the house, which is a little weird, but oh, well)
1 year old roof, 3 year old hot water heater
newer windows

It''s covered in ugly wallpaper, though. And the man that lived there was over 90, and had a lift chair installed so he could get upstairs. The bolts go through the carpet, too. So I guess we''ll have to take it out. DH joked we could leave it, and use it as a laundry hauler (laundry room''s in the basement).

Diva, what''s your house like??

Gecko, you''re next!!!! haha Or maybe it''s fiery?? Or sunkist?? Continued dust to you all!!

I''m already spending the tax credit, in my head

I can''t wait to go furniture shopping!

Mimzy, the first house we put an offer on was a 100 y/o victorian. It had tons of potential, but needed way too much work. I love, love those old houses. They''re so charming! Good luck on your search!

ILMS, you''re right, the internet definitely makes things easier. I couldn''t imagine house shopping before the internet - we filtered out MANY houses. That''s awesome how things worked out for you that way!

Thing, you''re like the cheerleader for this thread! Love it! AND, I''ll be looking into your decorating thread... wait, I already have (ssshhh)

 

[geckodani]

Congratulations Lynnie!!!

That''s fantastic!

We looked at 6 last night... and they were horrible.

I mean, really, really bad. Cracked foundations, gutted (holes in walls etc) kitchens. Garage doors falling off. Basically the folks being foreclosed on just ripped the places apart on their way out.

We saw one that was looking pretty good, but only had 1.5 baths, and 2 full is something we''re not willing to budge on at this point.

We were in this gigantic old farmhouse, with all the original grates and molding, that would have been fantastic, if the siding hadn''t been rotten. Oh, and the whole thing was on a slight tilt because the foundation was sinking.

We had fun making ghost noises though, LOL!!!

We''ve got 12 more to see in the next week or two... and still looking. Adam and I are a little worried that we''re too snobby for our prince range though!

 

[radiantquest]

I want to join in! Ok, so we are not looking for houses now, but I am. See I recently started a new job with some incredible $$ potential and it is starting off mighty well.

Must Haves:

3 bedrooms
Masterbathroom
finished basement
garage/off street parking
multi level, but not duplex
dining room

Will not Have:

I will not share a bathroom with children any longer
no rancher
Sloping land, too hard to mow
I don''t want to live on a back road. See in live in the NE and they are hard to get out of on winter

 

[geckodani]

zOMG. Cross your fingers for me folks. Going to see a house tomorrow - and it looks good!More to the point, it''s nice. The garage door isn''t hanging off. The chapstick will not roll down the sinking foundation to rest next to the rocking horse in the cave like basement surrounded by the remains of foreclosed on homeowners.

We had a bad go of it the other night, can you tell?