Househunter's Journal

[Morrighan]

This has been going on for...*counts* three months now, and it doesn't look like ending anytime soon, so I'll share. I'm trying to buy a house. In theory, it should be easy. Best time to buy, right? Surplus of property on the market, foreclosures every which way, properties selling for half their assessed value, I should be able to make a killer deal.

In practice, none of the above is true.

Some legislation passed Congress (and thank you, Mr. President) that froze the vast majority of foreclosures. This is good for the people that want to stay in their homes. For those people, and the banks that are taking massive losses every month, that want to sell, it sucks. For those people that want to buy, it really sucks. The market for houses has dried up to the point that as soon as a house comes on the market, there are a dozen offers that first day. If you don't get in on that day, you're not even going to be able to make an offer. You need to be in the Inner Circle of the Inner Circle of the Inner Circle of realtors to even know these properties exist before they're snapped up.

I had an offer on a short sale in May, and heard nothing back for two months, at which time I--colossal error--withdrew the offer to look elsewhere. A foreclosure property came on the market on Thursday, I got the paperwork in for an offer on Friday, and it was sold to someone else by Monday. I've looked at six or seven other houses, but either they were in such bad repair I didn't want to make an offer or someone else beat me to the punch.

So I'm back to scouring the realtor websites again, waiting for something else passable to come on the market so I can ditch work immediately, go see it, and make an offer that day, and the offer will have to be substantially higher than the asking price because every property is pretty much a bidding war...only you don't get to know what everyone else is bidding.

This. Sucks.

[_Ky_]

I'm so sorry, Morr.

We got our house by freak accident. It actually had a sale pending before us, but they found a "flaw" in the house during the appraisal and dropped the offer. Okay, well, honestly, the small sinkhole in the backyard is a flaw, but I fin it a useful place to throw all my yard and plant sheddings, so I'm slowly filling it back up and it had sunk as low and it is going to sink so the previous attempted buyers fear that it was going to do massive foundation damage to the garage was rather silly.

However, remember that in a seller's market there might be a lot of "For Sale by Owner's" and that people might be jumping on houses and getting buyers regret so if you find something you actually like keep folllowing through on it to make sure the sale finalizes.

We continued looking, but this was the house that we wanted so we had eyes on it an jumped the moment the sale pending sign went down but the for sale sign went up. After that, everything moved very fast.... including us.

[vamp_writer]

That is unfortunate. In my neck of the woods, there are so many houses for sale. Hubby and I toyed with the idea of buying my best friend's house (she and her hubby recently moved to Arizona) but alas, we don't have nearly enough money to make it happen. Plus with PMI and taxes and closing costs, we'd drain our savings.

All I can say is keep trying. Something's gotta come up sometime.

And, when you get to the point of a purchase agreement, get an inspection. I cannot emphasize it enough. That's the only way to find out if there are problems with the house --with the structure, the roof, etc. Sometimes you can negoitiate (sp? too tired) with the seller based on what the inspection reveals.

(I used to work for a home inspections company. Very enlightening).

V.

[_Ky_]

Originally Posted by vamp_writer

(I used to work for a home inspections company. Very enlightening).

Heh. Our inspection revealed that there is actually asbestos in our kitchen flooring. It is fine as long as we don't fuck with it, but we would have to get special people out if we ever wanted to remove it.

Our plan... tile over the crap.

There was also asbestos in the attic that had to be sealed.

And, of course, the dreaded sink hole - oh my!

Of course, when you are looking this close to the University, it is difficult to find a house that hasn't had a million and nine renters move through it. This house had one owner prior to us and you could tell in the quality of the house. The house next to ours has been a renter house for as long as we've been here and it rents for $200 more a month than our morgage payments. There is a house down the block that was going for $500 more a month. Granted, it took them awhile to rent it, but the lot size was much bigger and it had some add-ons that our house didn't. However, I knew the old owners, and unless they gutted the place it would have been hard to get that place clean. He was a potter and his kiln was in the garage. There had to be clay dust every where.

Babble babble.

[raintiger]

You could try getting a buyer's agent, Morr. (Is that what they're called? I can't remember.) They're more expensive, but they have resources you don't and might be able to help you find more houses.

Hubs and I are buying a house next summer, but we thought we were going to have to buy earlier this spring, so we've already done a lot of this crap ourselves.

[Morrighan]

Well, I've got a VA loan, so a home inspection goes without saying. I can't buy a house without an inspection. My realtor's a family friend I've known for ten years, so I know he's got my best interests at heart even if he is overprotective. I am not sixteen anymore! It's just frustrating. *sigh* So far everything's been a fixer-upper, which I don't mind--I'm good at that kind of thing--but you know the dream house everyone has in the back of the their heads? Yeah, not even close.

[snapesgirl]

I know where you can get a recreation of a queen anne for a song. only trouble is the commute would be a killer for you.

house hunting is never fun, even when the market is good.

[Morrighan]

*sighs* Well, that's the end of that. House hunting season is over until next summer.

So now it's on to apartment hunting, which I thought would be easier and emphatically is not. I am restraining the urge to rant and swear, so all I'll say is this: my sister and I don't make enough money for the apartment size we want, but we make too much money for the apartment size we can afford.

What kind of commie laws are these? Who instituted them? When? And how can I find them so I can strangle them?

I have never in my life heard of maximum income restrictions. Granted, I've only had to do this twice before and one of those times was in another state, but what the fuck? If I make greater than X amount of dollars I can't have the apartment?

Seriously?

Seriously?

I'm going to buy an island off the coast of somewhere where I can rent out apartments to my peasants at subsidized pricing. And then point and laugh at them.

[vamp_writer]

Wow, that's fucked up. Hugs.



V.

[raintiger]

I had that problem apartment hunting. Subsidized housing is a bitch for those of us who make just a liiiiiittle too much money.

There are a few mid-range options you guys could try. Buying a condo, or watching Craigslist and renting a house or something. I ended up moving into a townhouse after my last apartment because I didn't make quite enough money for a nice apartment, but too much for a subsidized place. (And there's actually some really nice subsidized places around here.) I really love living in a townhouse with a landlady who owns only a couple other properties. She's way better than a management group.

[Morrighan]

I got an apartment today! After the agony that was househunting, I was braced to wait a month at least to find the right apartment. The first two we saw were opposite ends of the spectrum--one non-subsidized, really nice, waaaay too expensive, and owed by a soulless multiglobal management company with a Bible of neighborhood rules. The other was a subsidized apartment that we make way too much money for with that nasty bubble-plaster ceiling and a closet of a second bedroom. The third one, though, was just right. Big enough, not too expensive, basic (ugly kitchen, though) and quiet.

We move in in two weeks, so yeah, I'll be busy. I cut my vacation short so I can have four days of solid packing this weekend, and then next weekend is the move. *wipes forehead* Hurrah!

[_Ky_]

Congrats, Morr. I'm very pleased for you. I hope you really like it there!

[vamp_writer]

Congrats!!!!!!



V.

[snapesgirl]

congrats, may the move be safe, sane and uneventful

[Anaquana]

Why did these posts not show up in the new posts?

Many congrats on the new apartment!!