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Thread: Buying a house is so frustrating!

  1. #76
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    5,427
    The repair costs for the fixer upper I have a purchase agreement on just keep spiraling upward. I am probably going to give up on this house before the inspection contingency expires. I will meet with two contractors at the house tomorrow to see what they have to say. I figure between $125,000 and $150,000 to fully renovate the house. It will be over $60,000 just to do what needs to be done today.

    List of repairs needed:

    Complete forced air heating and cooling system needed including ductwork
    New water heater and well pressure tank
    All new siding, windows, and doors needed minus one door and window
    City requires first 100 feet of driveway to be paved
    All new interior doors and trim (Many missing or have holes)
    Main bathroom needs gut and redo (Toilet and sink missing. Tub doesn't work.)
    Master bath needs new faucet
    No venting at soffits. Needs new soffits
    Deck needs to be torn down for safety
    Various electrical repairs needed
    All new floor coverings
    Need new kitchen, but it does work except faucet
    Bay window in kitchen needs replacement

  2. #77
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    15,332
    Sounds like a big fat PASS there, Brian, unless they are giving you the place for free.
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  3. #78
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Padilla View Post
    Sounds like a big fat PASS there, Brian, unless they are giving you the place for free.
    That is probably what will happen unless the contractors give me a really good price tomorrow. The lot is really nice and I like the fact that the septic is almost new. One good thing is once the repairs are done I would have a practically new house. If I buy a house that has been renovated you never know if it was done right. I also like that this house was built in 1980 so it has no lead or asbestos.

    I was supposed to go look at another house that came on the market last week, but it sold already. I think that house would have been perfect for me.

  4. #79
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
    Posts
    11,896
    That stinks. We closed on our sale yesterday. We have an agreement to roughly split the appraisal difference on the new house and our loan went for final review this morning. Hopefully we will close soon as we have 30 days at the old house and owners of the new house get 15.

  5. #80
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
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    5,427
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    That stinks. We closed on our sale yesterday. We have an agreement to roughly split the appraisal difference on the new house and our loan went for final review this morning. Hopefully we will close soon as we have 30 days at the old house and owners of the new house get 15.
    Does this mean the seller of your new place get 15 days after closing to vacate? Around here, the norm is the house belongs to the buyer immediately at closing. Sometimes a seller will get up to 72 hours to vacate after closing.

  6. #81
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
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    11,896
    Yes, its customary around here to get possession up to 30 days after close. An oddity from what I hear.


  7. #82
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
    Posts
    11,896
    We got our clear to close and are scheduled to do so Tuesday afternoon!


  8. #83
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    Yes, its customary around here to get possession up to 30 days after close. An oddity from what I hear.
    That is extremely odd. Around here, most buyers want to take possession as soon as the escrow clears. In another state, I had a friend who would get someone to sit in the house while he went to closing, just to make sure the sellers did not start taking things like chandeliers out of the house after the final walk through.

    The seller could do a lot of damage in the 30 days after closing and you'd have a heck of a time to recover for it.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  9. #84
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,685
    Congrats, Matt!
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  10. #85
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
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    11,896
    Well, I might have celebrated too soon. Probably shouldn't say much in public but I'll fill in the details later. This sure has been a roller coaster.


  11. #86
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    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Padilla View Post
    Sounds like a big fat PASS there, Brian, unless they are giving you the place for free.
    The house is $150,000 with three acres. I got the first bid for repairs and it came in at just over $80,000. The price includes forced air heating/cooling system with ductwork, new water heater, new bathroom, new doors and new Andersen windows, paved driveway, new siding with Tyvek, soffit, and fascia, and new flooring. House will basically be all new inside and out except the kitchen.

    The price is more than I was hoping for, but I was also planning to replace only a few windows and no siding, but the contractor makes a good case for doing all the windows and the siding at the same time. The windows would all need replacement eventually anyhow. I'm still also looking at a new house too. I could get a new house for basically the same price as renovations on this one. A new house would only have one acre instead of three acres. I do like the lot and location on this house that needs renovations. A lot of properties in the area are very wet and swampy, but this one is completely high and dry. I rejected one house because the lot had serious water issues including a swap in the front yard.

  12. #87
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Doylestown, PA
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    7,551
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    Yes, its customary around here to get possession up to 30 days after close. An oddity from what I hear.
    Quite. SWMBO has been a Real Estate Agent and Broker for 35 years in Pennsylvania. When I told her about this I got a "you're kidding, right?" look. It'd be extraordinary for buyers to not walk away from the settlement table with keys in hand. If something minor is noted on the walk-through there may be some money witheld to rectify it but possession is immediate.

  13. #88
    We're starting to make progress on our stint in house hunting hell. We put an offer on the listing we looked at 3 weeks ago that was overpriced, original 1968 house with 2 outbuildings that needed new roofs and the insides were covered in black mold. The house is larger then we wanted but at least it's 1 story. The property had been well-maintained all these years until the elderly couple could no longer do it on their own. (They are the original owners and are moving into senior housing. He looks to be about 90.) The land is smaller then we wanted, but at least it's 5 acres. They planted LOTS of trees 40+ years ago so we will need to do some clearing to make pasture for the livestock. The property is surrounded by larger parcels ranging from 10 to 50 acres of rolling pastures.

    We offered quite a bit lower then they were asking. It was a fair price, but their agent is known for pricing his listings too high and letting them sit for years. Our agent had a brilliant idea based on what he is witnessing with another senior transaction he is currently involved in. In our offer, we stated that the sellers may leave any personal items and/or trash in the house & outbuildings for us to clean up, so that they suffer as little hardship and stress as possible to move into their new location. We also said they could pick a closing date based on 30 - 60 days whichever made it easier on them. Those statements made a huge impact on them, as well as the fact we are okay with fixing all the little things that need fixing. There was very little "trash" to begin with, so we don't expect to clean up much.

    It's not our ideal home, but it does fit our basic criteria and with a lot of clean-up and some modifications, we can turn one of the outbuildings into use for both storage & shelter and the other outbuilding will eventually be able to fit the RV and all of our vehicles & toys. It will be a home we can live in until our senior years.
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  14. #89
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
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    11,896
    Phew! Closed this afternoon. Wasn't sure it was going to happen, just about right up until this afternoon but its officially ours. We get occupancy in 15 days--about a 5 day buffer before we have to be out of this house. Seller says she's going to be out as soon as she can so maybe sooner but I'm not counting on it.


  15. #90
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Good deal, Matt... our adventure is just beginning, it seems.
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