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Thread: Buying a house is so frustrating!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
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    5,406

    Buying a house is so frustrating!

    I'm trying to buy a house, but any decent inexpensive houses are selling like hotcakes. I was supposed to go look at a house with a 40x80 outbuilding tomorrow, but it sold already. (Priced at $199,000 and the building alone is probably $100,000 to replace.) There are quite literally zero houses with an existing outbuilding to fit my motorhome for sale right now. An outbuilding is not a requirement, but it is far cheaper to buy a house with building than to buy a house and then build an outbuilding. I also can't get financing for an outbuilding.

    It is just so frustrating seeing any decent houses sell in no time. There are several houses I would like to go look at, but no time to do so since I need to get moved out of my house in 10 days for a closing on the 23rd.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    The Hartland of Michigan
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    7,628
    Do you have an agent? If not, get one.
    Let the agent do the footwork.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  3. #3
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    Oct 2006
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    Yes, I have an agent. My agent doesn't have time to look through all the listings to find the ones with an outbuilding large enough. I end up going through all the listings online and looking for outbuildings on the aerial view.

    My agent set up a search for houses with outbuildings listed in MLS. The problem is most selling agents don't fill in the outbuilding field in the MLS listing even when there is an outbuilding. Other agents put stupid things like garden sheds in the outbuilding field. All of the agents are extremely busy right now with it being prime buying season so it isn't always possible to see a house before it sells.

  4. #4
    You're not alone Brian! We have been house hunting for 4 years now and have lost out on three Short Sales we were locked-in to for 6-12 months only to get bumped just prior to closing when much higher offers came in. We were outbid by cash buyers by over $10k on two other homes.

    We have to factor in acreage for the livestock as well as RV access and shop space. Most of the listings we have looked at have land covered with trash or the homes have been very neglected and need a lot of updating and are way over-priced for what they are. After losing out on yet another offer 2 weeks ago, we started looking at building again. We found some acreage that we are researching now. Drilling the well and installing the septic are not going to be cheap. Many of the wells in that area are 60-200' deep, but the 4 closest properties surrounding it all have wells that are 308' to 375' deep. Ouch.

    Like you, we have a fantastic agent who grew up in the area and knows practically everyone, but it's the other agents that don't seem to know the difference between a garden shed versus a real shop when they list it on the MLS. Using google earth comes in very handy!

    Good luck.
    I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and I think, "Well, that’s not going to happen."

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    Minneapolis, MN
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    I can't really afford to build although I'm looking at that as an option too. My absolute top dollar I want to spend unless I find a "10" home is $250,000. To build on a 1 acre lot with septic and well with a 1,200 square foot home would put me right at $250,000. That includes no garage. The garage I want that is 40x50 and 14 foot clearance is another $40,000 on top of that that I can't afford. I can buy a decent pre-owned house that needs a few repairs for a lot less than $250,000. If I am willing to wait a few months I might even find something with the right outbuilding for $250,000. Outbuildings are few and far between to start with, but the 14 foot clearance is the killer.

    I could certainly qualify for a much higher mortgage probably as high as $400,000, but I don't want to be "house poor". I wouldn't really call my agent fantastic. I think she is already sick of showing me houses.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    Falls Church, VA
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    Whoo boy. Where to begin when ranting about sellers agents. The listings are terrible. I truly don't understand why sellers put up with such poor listings written by agents. Some of my personal favorites:

    -- The lead picture on one listing was of a filthy toilet.
    -- The description that shows up on the listing in MLS is basically a tweet. One listing used that text to warn about a vicious dog.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    black river falls wisconsin
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    I went through lot of agents few years ago.. Only houses they found for me was their listing, otherwise my wife found the houses and All agents did was get key and try to distract use from all the red flags.

  8. #8
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    Oct 2006
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    Minneapolis, MN
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    My agent doesn't have any homes for sale though her partner does. None of the homes they have listed are in the area I am looking at so I don't have to worry about that.

    I find all the house I want to look at online myself and I'm fine with that. I want to be able to do my research on a house before asking the agent to do a showing.

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Cash is King. 43% of homes are purchased with cash these days.
    Just saw a report on home buying this morning. Many of the purchasers are foreigners, and don't even live in them.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  10. #10
    I'd separate the house and the motor home. It sounds like the motor home is more trouble than it's worth, and there's got to be a yard somewhere (be it a small trucking company or whatever) where they'd let you stow it for cheap.

  11. #11
    An agent that "doesn't have time" to find the right listing for you doesn't sound like the right agent to me.

    The market has really taken off, and now that we're into Spring they won't be slowing down any time soon. I'd look for an agent that can put the time into finding you listings that are right for you when they come on the market. Does your agent have a query set up to send you new listings each day that fit your criteria? If you're just going through realtor.com, or any of the broker sites, you're probably missing out on a lot of listings. The "MLS" available to us online isn't the real MLS.

  12. #12
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    My motorhome is one of the primary reasons to move along with trying to spend less on housing. I could buy a home this evening if I just wanted a place to live. I want a house that has enough space and the zoning to build a garage for my motorhome, or an existing building large enough for my motorhome. An existing building would cost less.

    I don't think it is realistic to expect a realtor to spend an hour a day looking at new listings to find me a house with the right outbuilding. It could take months to find a house with the right outbuilding. I've seen ONE house with the right outbuilding since January. There is an automated search the realtor setup to find homes with outbuildings, but it finds about one house a week.

  13. #13
    Yeah, I think the outbuilding issue makes it tough, because you know how much it cost a prior owner to put up a good outbuilding, esp. if it has a poured floor and isn't old.

    In my area, people who have a setup like that either are permanently settled, or they want a lot of money and are willing to let their listing sit on the market. It's too bad you couldn't get to the one you mentioned soon enough. I think in the balance of things, though, it sounds like your motorhome is causing you a lot more trouble than utility.

  14. #14
    I'd look into what a steel outbuilding would cost. Makes buying a house a lot easier.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    El Dorado Hills, CA
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    1,311
    I know what you mean about how tough it is to find a nice home at a price you are willing to pay. The problem appears exaggerated because all the "10" houses get snatched up right away. Nobody buys the problem houses or the overpriced houses, so they clog up the MLS listings. The best results tend to be found by only searching for new listings. The old listings are old for a reason - nobody wants those houses.

    Steve

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