Page 7 of 9 FirstFirst ... 3456789 LastLast
Results 91 to 105 of 128

Thread: Buying a house is so frustrating!

  1. #91
    Awesome news Matt!

    We are scheduled for the home inspection in a few hours from now. This is the farthest we have made it on all the other homes we submitted offers on in the last few years. We're trying not to get too excited yet. Not until we have the keys in our hands! Our agent and I stopped by the house yesterday to collect a water sample for well testing and the wife spoke to us for a few moments. They're moving into the senior housing next week and she said she cannot thank us enough for our offer and that we stated they could leave personal items to ease the hardship of moving. I looked up their senior housing online this morning and while it's a nice place, I couldn't help but think how hard it would be to go from living 40+ years on secluded acreage to a very noisy, populated area and sharing walls with your neighbor.
    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."

  2. #92
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    15,332
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    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.
    Sounds like you have some thinking to do, Brian. I did note that you are NOT getting a new kitchen with all that. That is the priciest room in the house but the land sounds like a real winner. Location, location, location! Maybe in a few years you can save up to get the kitchen done or do it on your own at your leisure? How long for the contractor to complete the work and when could he start?
    Last edited by Chris Padilla; 07-30-2014 at 5:12 PM.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  3. #93
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Posts
    15,332
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    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.
    Yes!!! I bet that is a huge weight off your shoulders! SWEET!!
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  4. #94
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    5,406
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Padilla View Post
    Sounds like you have some thinking to do, Brian. I did note that you are NOT getting a new kitchen with all that. That is the priciest room in the house but the land sounds like a real winner. Location, location, location! Maybe in a few years you can save up to get the kitchen done or do it on your own at your leisure? How long for the contractor to complete the work and when could he start?
    The contractor couldn't start until some time in September since the closing wouldn't be until end of August. If the contractor has a month's notice hopefully he could work it into the schedule easily. I'm more worried about getting the bids right now than the contractor's schedules. I would probably do the kitchen myself at a point down the road. I would be more concerned about saving up for the big garage I want to build than the kitchen initially.

    I am still looking at having a new house built instead for basically the same price. The lot is definitely not as nice, but I don't need three acres. I meet with the builder tomorrow to go over possibilities.

  5. #95
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
    Posts
    11,896
    The problem with building is that there are all the extras like landscape, grass, deck/patio, et, etc, etc to do as well that are often done at existing houses. That all adds up.

  6. #96
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    5,406
    Since a lot of the landscape at the house that needs work needs to be redone there is no cost savings. The deck is unsafe and needs replacement too. I think sod is included with the house and I hate dealing with landscaping so I wouldn't do anything. A lot of people hate the big open lots with no trees, but I hate trees after the trees at my previous house.

    A lot of the new stuff you have to buy for a new house would be the same for the other house since it has no window coverings or anything of that sort.

  7. #97
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
    Posts
    11,896
    We are finally in. Actually got the keys last night around 7 after a very stressful 32 hours that involved a phone call where the previous owner screamed at me. Yesterday started with a phone call to consult with a lawyer. But in the end our realtor and the broker of the selling agency came up with a plan.


  8. #98
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    'Glad you're in, Matt...unbelievable the effort require, however, eh?
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #99
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
    Posts
    11,896
    I have not posted (and will not) 1/2 the crap that we went through.


  10. #100
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Glenelg, MD
    Posts
    12,256
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    I have not posted (and will not) 1/2 the crap that we went through.
    Will you PM it? Submitting an offer on a short sale in the next day or two, wondering what could go wrong, not what a perfect sale looks like.
    Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )

    Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
    CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
    USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
    Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
    Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
    Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
    Delta 18-900L 18" drill press

    Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
    Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
    Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5

  11. #101
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    5,406
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Hintz View Post
    Will you PM it? Submitting an offer on a short sale in the next day or two, wondering what could go wrong, not what a perfect sale looks like.
    I hope you're prepared to wait a long time on a short sale. My agent said to expect 90 days in a best case scenario and up to 6 months to a year in some cases. Banks takes forever on a short sale. There was one short sale that I wanted to look at, but once they dropped the price to a reasonable level it sold right away. It would have been the perfect house for me with a 40x80 outbuilding that alone is probably worth $100,000. It sold the first week of May and the buyer is still waiting on bank approval.

  12. #102
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Glenelg, MD
    Posts
    12,256
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    I hope you're prepared to wait a long time on a short sale. My agent said to expect 90 days in a best case scenario and up to 6 months to a year in some cases. Banks takes forever on a short sale. There was one short sale that I wanted to look at, but once they dropped the price to a reasonable level it sold right away. It would have been the perfect house for me with a 40x80 outbuilding that alone is probably worth $100,000. It sold the first week of May and the buyer is still waiting on bank approval.
    We're prepared... we have to find out if our offer was accepted (likely by Monday evening). After that, he expects this one to travel through the system relatively quickly (comparatively speaking, of course). Our contract states a closing date of end of November, but obviously it would be nice to have it long before then.

    If we don't get it, we don't get it, and the search continues... we have a few new-build options to work with, but that's just more wheeling and dealing to stress over.
    Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )

    Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
    CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
    USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
    Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
    Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
    Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
    Delta 18-900L 18" drill press

    Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
    Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
    Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5

  13. #103
    We are still stuck in limbo on our latest attempt to purchase a house. The well water test & septic inspection were okay. The home inspection came back with all sorts of "little" issues such as all the plumbing fixtures were leaking. The big issues came back that the roof needs replacing and has a fair amount of rot, insect infestations in the outbuilding and under the house. Then the real big issue ... the owner made some poor choices when he built the house. There is a lot of rot & mildew under the house due to water issues. Many of the floor joists and sill plates need to be replaced. He was quite proud of installing 10,000 bricks around the house, but he didn't install any vapor barrier and the brick & mortar have been sucking up the water and rotting the walls. All the brick needs to come off.

    We have several quotes from contractors on repairs. We are still considering it since there is NOTHING on the market that suits our needs. This house is too large for us, but it will fit all of our needs and once it's repaired and fixed up, it will be a very nice home and is in an ideal location for us. The banks won't do a loan with those types of repairs needed, so we are in negotiations with the sellers to purchase through them, immediately start repairing stuff and then get a loan through the bank and pay off the sellers. (They are now moved into their senior housing.) It's rough on the husband to learn that he didn't do as good of a job as he thought he did, yet at the same time, he did know about all the rot under the bathroom floors as there were some partial repairs made 10-20 years ago. We have no doubt the wife did not know there was an issue. As far as she was concerned, her husband said it was fixed, and he had been a general contractor for a living, so it was fixed. Who knows what the other homes look like that he "fixed" and how much rot they have.

    As for short sales. We've been thru 3 of them and never made it to closing. The first one was a wait over a year then we were bumped by someone else offering more money. They waited a year and it never closed. It is still vacant, in limbo in foreclosure 3 years later with 2 banks fighting over it. The last one we had submitted an offer on had been pending for almost a year with previous buyers. They walked away. We submitted a full price offer and were told it would close quick. Nothing happened. We waited over 8 months and had yet to receive an acceptance from the bank. We finally walked away after they hinted there would be some movement on it. (It was way too small for us and the animals.) Someone else offered on it 3 days later. It has been pending for 4 months for them now.
    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."

  14. #104
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    5,406
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Chance in Iowa View Post
    We are still stuck in limbo on our latest attempt to purchase a house. The well water test & septic inspection were okay. The home inspection came back with all sorts of "little" issues such as all the plumbing fixtures were leaking. The big issues came back that the roof needs replacing and has a fair amount of rot, insect infestations in the outbuilding and under the house. Then the real big issue ... the owner made some poor choices when he built the house. There is a lot of rot & mildew under the house due to water issues. Many of the floor joists and sill plates need to be replaced. He was quite proud of installing 10,000 bricks around the house, but he didn't install any vapor barrier and the brick & mortar have been sucking up the water and rotting the walls. All the brick needs to come off.
    That sounds like an expensive repair job if the joists have to be replaced. It makes my renovation/repair job sound minor. The stuff I am doing is mostly cosmetic. The only structural repair is to fix some rot underneath a window that was left open for a long time.

  15. #105
    It will be, but it has to be fixed in order to sell the place unless they find a cash buyer who doesn't care. We gathered several quotes from licensed contractors and they have all stated the same thing. Sill plates, rim boards, joists and walls have a significant amount of deterioration. If the sellers agree to this, our offer will be reduced by around $100k to cover the costs to repair the issues under the house as well as the roof and all the risk we are taking with the unknowns of pulling off the brick. While this will be a much larger project then we planned, we are still okay with going thru with this as long as we have contractors lined up to do the work. It's one thing to know about the outbuildings being in bad shape and planning our time to make repairs and install livestock fencing so we can move in right away. This changes things when we have to fix a whole slew of things with the house and not have time to deal with the rest of the issues.

    It's rather sad. The wife was so thrilled with us submitting the offer the way we did and learning that we planned to do what they did and live there until age prevents us from maintaining it properly. While we were there for the septic inspection, the wife was already mentally moved out and calling it our home and inviting us to see their new senior housing. I have no doubt in my mind that the wife is feeling a lot better in their senior home and away from all the mold and mildew odor coming up from below the floor.
    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."

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •