Buying a house is so frustrating!

[Larry Whitlow]

Well, I had a much longer reply but apparently got timed out. We wanted to move from our current 2 story to a one story and just went through similar frustrations. The days of negotiating a listed price are pretty much gone. Everything seems to be "we are accepting bids on such and such date", and that date is not that far out. My perception is a lot of panicky people bidding high. Prices for fixers are too high (too many potential buyers for these drive prices way up). Offers contingent on the sale of your house are pretty much going to be declined. Everything moves fast.

We like our current neighborhood and I've decided I can install a stair lift if needed for my old age. Asked the wife for her dream list and think we can accomplish just about everything. Made some preliminary plans and will be calling a contractor next week. If things go according to plan, we will be advising our realtor we are no longer looking.

[Brian Elfert]

I don't have the option of not buying another house because my house is already sold and closed. I no longer have a house and am living with my parents until I find another one.

The areas I am looking in don't seem to have a lot of bidding wars, but houses are selling quickly within a few days for anything really good. They generally don't sell over list price. I was looking at a house with a 1 acre lot much closer in for $200,000. That one did sell within a day with multiple offers. The house was pretty crappy and will probably be replaced with a new house.

[Greg Portland]

Yes, I have an agent. My agent doesn't have time...

Get a new agent. You're paying them 3% on a $200k sale for ???

[Brian Elfert]

Get a new agent. You're paying them 3% on a $200k sale for ???

All of the real estate agents I know are very busy right now. I can't realistically expect an agent to know what I want and to take hours out of their day looking at aerial photos of houses to see the sizes of outbuildings. If you were an agent would you rather spend two or three hours looking through home listings for a buyer with very specific needs, or take out other buyers who aren't as picky and won't spend three months trying to find the right house? They all pay the same commission.

There is a house I am very interested in, but I didn't notice it is cash only until my agent told me. Even though it is cheap (for good reason) I don't have enough cash to buy it. The sellers seem very motivated as they have dropped the price by over 20% already.

[Larry Whitlow]

I don't have the option of not buying another house because my house is already sold and closed. I no longer have a house and am living with my parents until I find another one.

The areas I am looking in don't seem to have a lot of bidding wars, but houses are selling quickly within a few days for anything really good. They generally don't sell over list price. I was looking at a house with a 1 acre lot much closer in for $200,000. That one did sell within a day with multiple offers. The house was pretty crappy and will probably be replaced with a new house.

I understand. Hang in there and hopefully you will run into that perfect place. I'm going to be looking at two more potential new places this afternoon. I still think that ultimately we will stay and do some additions to the current place, but who knows. One thing I envy is the lot sizes available to you. I'm kind of stuck looking in a general area where 1/2 acre would be considered huge and less than 1/4 acre is pretty common.

[Brian Elfert]

A new house just showed up this afternoon that is $139,000. Needs work, but it might work out. I've already requested a showing hopefully for tomorrow. Lender owned so no issue getting in the house.

[Brian Elfert]

I give up. I am looking for an apartment and will start my house hunt again in the spring. No point in looking for a house if I'm locked into a one year lease. It is basically impossible to get an apartment lease less than a year because the apartment market is red hot here. They are building apartments everywhere you look because demand is so high.

I was going to go look at a house this evening, but it turns out the house is now zoned commercial so I can't build a new garage because residential use is now non-conforming. The lot probably wasn't zoned at all in 1956.

[Brian Elfert]

I'm not even having any luck finding a decent apartment. It looks like I will probably just end up buying a house I don't like just to have a place to live.

I haven't really looked at a house in more than three weeks. I went to look at a house today, but the screen door was locked so we couldn't get in. It turned out they already had an offer on the house even though it was second day on the market. I have wasted so many hours on the computer looking for a house I could have gotten a second job and made a fortune instead.

[Jim Becker]

Is your relationship with the agent as a "buyer broker"? If not, you may want to consider that arrangement...without such an agreement, the realtor in the end always represents the seller.

But back to your original concern...the good properties selling fast. That's both good AND bad! Unfortunately the bad is what you're experiencing. While I realize that you have a heavy deadline for your move, it may be best for you to schedule some time to see those other properties you're interested in...make it your "break time" from the move preparations and schedule several visits in the same trip for expediency. Even if you need to make it "quick looks", that will at least keep you in the hunt. And maybe hire some high-school or college kids to help with the move prep to free up some of your time. Large numbers of them are not finding jobs these days, so an opportunity for some cash could be attractive to them.

{edit...saw you already closed and are living in temporary quarters. Same advise about the Buyer Broker arrangement applies}

{edit 2 - BTW, the fact that you can close quickly should be used as an advantage in your buying process, both toward the seller and toward any agents you are working with. Quick sales move properties and generate commissions right away}

[Brian Elfert]

I have a buyer's broker. There isn't any particular deadline to move out of my parent's house, but I definitely want to move into a house before winter and I can't stay there forever. Searching for a house is also eating into time I need to spend on other projects. Most families with kids want to move and get established before school starts. The peak time of year for home listings has come and gone already. I saw the most listings during the couple of weeks I was packing and moving so I didn't have time to look at any houses. I saw several houses during that time sell right away that may have worked for me.

The biggest problem with my buying a house is my desire to be able to build a 40x50 or so garage to house a large motorhome. It needs to have 14 foot sidewalls at minimum and most cities won't allow construction of such a garage. If I just wanted a house without the large garage I could probably find something to buy in a couple of days. I would like to build, but lots cost too much. The cheap lots are all sold. There is a nice, cheap lot with sewer in a small town, but it is nearly 40 miles from work. That town also has no retail anywhere near by so a trip to buy anything is a good 20 or 30 miles.

[Matt Meiser]

Well, now we're there. The appraisal on the house we want to buy came in $8500 low. Our sellers' realtor has known since Tuesday afternoon. He keeps claiming he has comps to disprove the appraisal but all he's sent are houses miles away in other developments (or not even in developments) that are no where near comparable on Thursday night. Claims to have two more he refuses to share. He even refuses to answer the question "have you told your clients?" He wants time, something we don't have as we should be closing here possibly this week but more likely next. Its taking everything I have to keep from invoking the nuclear option and stopping by the house and asking his clients and to not call his broker. He seems to think we should all just chill out for the weekend which is all well and good when your family isn't headed to literally being homeless.

[David Weaver]

Matt, if he's fiddling you around, I'd just drive to talk to the current owner and give them what you've got. Tell them the story. Maybe they'll get a new agent.

[Brian Elfert]

Matt, I hope your issue works out and you can close on the house.

I wish I had a house under contract so I might actually close some day. I've been looking for a house since mine sold in mid April and I'm no closer to having a house than I was back then. Prices on houses are just going up and up and up. I was hoping to get a house for $200,000 or less, but almost no way that is going to happen. Almost every house has some serious issue that stops me from buying it. There is one house I like, but it has propane for heat and I won't buy a house with propane heat due to the cost of propane.

[Jim Becker]

Matt, don't you have your own agent? (Buyer broker) If so, they should be negotiating for you...

[Larry Whitlow]

Well, now we're there. The appraisal on the house we want to buy came in $8500 low. Our sellers' realtor has known since Tuesday afternoon. He keeps claiming he has comps to disprove the appraisal but all he's sent are houses miles away in other developments (or not even in developments) that are no where near comparable on Thursday night. Claims to have two more he refuses to share. He even refuses to answer the question "have you told your clients?" He wants time, something we don't have as we should be closing here possibly this week but more likely next. Its taking everything I have to keep from invoking the nuclear option and stopping by the house and asking his clients and to not call his broker. He seems to think we should all just chill out for the weekend which is all well and good when your family isn't headed to literally being homeless.

Well, since my last post on June 8th we have purchased a one story and sold our existing place. For the new place, we went to the open house on a Sunday. Went back with our agent on Monday. Made an offer on Tuesday. Didn't have a problem with appraisal on the one we are buying, but did miss the original closing date due to banker delays. Hopefully will sign the papers & get the keys tomorrow. If not, I may be looking for temporary quarters with the in-laws. Back on the 8th, I really didn't think we would find a place we would like as much as our current house, but as it turns out we did find a great one story that we will enjoy.

All I can say is things move incredibly fast.

As sad as it may sound, up to now the worst part of moving is dealing with ATT/Uverse and Comcast. I'm currently with ATT/Uverse, but have decided to not move with them to the new place based on nothing more than the amount of time and bother involved dealing with them. Comcast/Xfinity is slightly better but you really have to read the fine print.

Anyway, best of luck to everyone going through this.

Take care

Larry