Buying a house is so frustrating!

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Myk Rian]

Do you have an agent? If not, get one.
Let the agent do the footwork.

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

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.

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Roger Feeley]

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.

[eugene thomas]

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.

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Myk Rian]

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.

[David Weaver]

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.

[Wes Mitchell]

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.

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[David Weaver]

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.

[Mel Fulks]

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

[Steve Peterson]

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

[Brian Elfert]

My wanting an outbuilding for my motorhome is no different than folks here wanting an extra garage to make into a wood shop. It is just that it is a lot easier to find an house with an extra garage than a house with a large outbuilding.

I really have no problem with buying a house with the proper zoning and building an outbuilding in maybe five years, but an existing outbuilding would be cheaper and possible to finance.

[Doug W Swanson]

Here you go:

http:// minneapolis. craigslist.org/dak/zip/4462280188.html

Just pay a contractor to remove the pole barn for you!

[Brian Elfert]

The bad part is I don't have the money right now to pay a contractor to remove a building. Transport some 50 miles would not be cheap with 40 foot trusses. Without a house bought yet I don't even know if I could erect a pole building. The main city I am looking in requires 5+ acres for a pole building. Only one house I am interested in has a 5+ acre lot, but the house requires major renovation though it is liveable. Paying a little more would get me a house that doesn't require major renovations, but it wouldn't have 5+ acres either.

[Jim Matthews]

Not an ideal solution, but it should work...

http://www.teksupply.com/contractor/supplies/cat1;ts_vehicle_garages_carports;ts_econoline_buil dings.html

Good luck in your search.

[Brian Elfert]

The problem I'm still running into is all the houses that are inexpensive and good are selling in just a few days. Two houses I was very interested in sold in less than a week. I'm sitting on the sidelines on looking for a house until next week as I have to finish moving out of my house by Sunday evening. I'm considering canceling my Memorial week trip so I can be in town in case any good houses come up for sale. I probably spend too much time researching a house which means I might miss out. I probably wouldn't buy any house without at least getting the building file from the city. The building file has any permits, surveys, and septic information the city has on a property.

I've got an automated search going that emails me when any new listings show up in the county I am shopping in. I have also asked my agent to look for pre MLS listings that might work for me. My agent works for a company that has 60% of the market locally so they have access to a lot of listings before they even go public.

[Dave Sheldrake]

Here it's a lot easier, once an offer has been accepted by the seller no more offers can be made (it's a criminal offence) mostly due to estate agents trying to artificially bump prices a few years back.

cheers

Dave

[Rod Sheridan]

Holy cow!

Average house price where I live for a standard sort of house is just shy of a million.

Now, That's Canadian so it's really only $1.97 US.......LOL.

Wish I could get a house with land and an outbuilding for a few hundred thousand...............Rod.

[Mike Lassiter]

Looks to me once you have accepted a offer you HAVE legally agreed to sell at the accepted price. So anyone later accepting another higher offer should face breech of contract as the property sale is pending not still for sale.

[Brian Elfert]

My understanding is if you accept an offer with contingencies you can still take another offer if you wish. Once the contingencies are satisfied you really can't take another offer. In some cases a buyer won't include any contingencies, but buyers will usually want at least an inspection contingency. Buyers will typically want the inspection done fairly quickly so the contingency can be lifted.

In some cases with a hot house the seller won't accept any offer until they get a chance to consider all offers. Some houses locally have sold in under 48 hours with multiple offers for over asking price.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

I probably spend too much time researching a house which means I might miss out. I probably wouldn't buy any house without at least getting the building file from the city. The building file has any permits, surveys, and septic information the city has on a property.

I've got an automated search going that emails me when any new listings show up in the county I am shopping in. I have also asked my agent to look for pre MLS listings that might work for me. My agent works for a company that has 60% of the market locally so they have access to a lot of listings before they even go public.

Nothing wrong with researching the property first. We seriously looked at 3 homes that thankfully we did some digging into before we submitted an offer. We seriously dodged the bullet on one home bought by a contractor to flip. The cliff notes: 2 stop work orders on home & shop; no permits, no inspections, not-to-code; meth inside house & shop; land behind house red-flagged for chemical contamination; 2-party well supplying 3 homes with no water tests over 10 years instead of mandatory every 6 months; meth-head neighbor controlling water supply; weekly police incidents; plus several other issues. When our agent told them we were not going to offer on the house, the contractor wanted to know why since it was "a superb house." When our agent listed all the facts & issues we uncovered thru the County & State, his response was "That's personal opinion."

One thing we have not tried yet ... this was suggested by an old friend of ours who lives in another state and works in a law firm. She said every week she receives calls from people who are looking for homes that may be part of an estate or involved in estate planning. Many of these homes change hands and never go on the market.

When it comes to offers, if the home is a Short Sale, offers can be accepted up until it closes. We had been "locked in" to a Short Sale for over a year. We weren't thrilled with the house but loved the land, shop & stable. After being locked in for a year, an offer came in for $1500 over our price. We had to outbid them to be locked in again. Two months after that we were told things were finally moving along and should close soon. Then a week later, yet another offer came in much higher and we walked away. The house then went into foreclosure.

We have also heard from agents that as many as a dozen or more offers have been submitted on some homes within the first 2 days. A 10-acre listing came on the market within walking distance from us. We were the first to look at it with our agent and while the 1954 home was in excellent condition and reasonably priced, it didn't feel right for our needs. We continued to walk around and admire how spotless the elderly couple had kept the house. A couple & agent came in, started to walk around and then whispered to the agent and they raced out. Our agent laughed and said he bets they are going to submit an offer. The listing agent is in the office next to his so he would know when he returns. Yup. He was right. The couple had already submitted their offer and another offer came from someone in another city who didn't even look at it yet!

[Brian Elfert]

I wouldn't buy a house after just a few minutes looking at it, and I certainly wouldn't buy a house sight unseen. Someone buying sight unseen might be an investor who might not care as much about the condition of the house.

There was an article in the paper about a couple who sold their house in just two days and who are moving into an apartment with a three month lease because they haven't been able to find the perfect next house yet. I'm staying with my parents until I can find a house. I didn't want to be rushed to find another house before mine closed. I also haven't had time recently to look since I am still packing and moving.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

We too would not buy a house after only looking at it for a few minutes, but in the case of that house, the couple who bought it did get a great deal. We did thoroughly look at that house & shop because we were trying to convince ourselves to like it. This was a house that had been moved 40 years ago to it's current location. It appeared to have the original interior paint, carpets, etc. It was SPOTLESS. EVERYWHERE. You could barely even see a wear pattern in the carpet or kitchen flooring where someone could track in dirt. The walls, ceilings, curtains, sinks, appliances, furnace ducts were spotless. No dust, cobwebs, stains, nothing. Even the crawl space didn't have any cobwebs! The only flaw I found was in the kitchen where there was a corner cabinet that opened on the hinge. After 50+ years, there was a slight wear in the wood where the screw for the handle had rubbed a slight dent into the wood. I doubt we will ever see a house that old, in that spectacular condition. It just wasn't the right home & property for us.

[Brian Elfert]

I think I'm going to just have to wait and hope the right house comes up for me. I just don't want to jump on something just to have a place to live and then have a far better house pop up a week or two later. No house is likely to be a perfect "10" for me in my price range. My agent has been watching for pre-MLS listings, but nothing in my price range so far. I have an automated search that finds all new listings in the county that are over 1/2 acre.

There is one house I've been interested in, but I stopped by and looked at it again and it doesn't seem so great now. The lot is five acres, but most of it is wet. The best area to build a motorhome garage is probably too close to the septic system. There was a roof permit taken out in 2003 so presumably the roof was replaced then. I was looking closer at the roof today and it appears it may need replacement again already. The roof would be the final straw against buying this house.

[Matt Meiser]

Inventory here is really low. The gist seems to be that there are quite a few buyers, but a lot of people can't yet afford to sell their house. In the last 2 weeks we've looked at around 9 houses in person. 6 of those accepted offers since. There are 2 more we wanted to look at that already had accepted offers.

[Brian Elfert]

I'm still not having any luck finding a house. Anything halfway decent and cheap sells before I can even get a showing arranged. The prices seem to be rising fairly quickly. Even six months to nine months ago you could find a lot of cheap houses, but not today. I was out of town last week, but I was monitoring the houses new to the market. Nothing showed up that I wanted to look at. I don't believe there is a single house on the market right that I even want to go look at. I've read the peak for listings in April and early May. Buyers with children want to move during the summer and get settled in before school starts.

There is a house I would probably have made an offer on, but it sold in the last week to ten days just before or while I was gone. Maybe it was for the best as it needed a complete remodeling and may not have passed a home inspection.

[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

[Matt Meiser]

We do. Their Realtor keeps jerking ours around promising to send comps he can use to dispute the appraisal but he sent him useless (like in another zip code, different design houses that sold a year or more ago) comps to dispute and now won't answer his phone apparently because its a holiday weekend and he doesn't work or something. Never mind the fact he sat on it since Tuesday afternoon and as far as I can tell did absolutely nothing until late Thursday night. that's OK, my family only needs a roof over our heads during business hours. According to his LinkedIn profile he's retired from another career and I can't find any other houses he has listed so apparently this is a hobby for him.

So I texted him this afternoon and said that since he won't reply to my agent's questions I'm asking directly because I don't understand why we can't work this out. And said I was thinking of driving over after dinner and seeing if I couldn't catch the sellers out on their golf cart (their famous for cruising the sub on their golf cart.) He didn't reply so we drove over there but didn't see them out and didn't have the nerve to ring the door bell. That may change by this time tomorrow night, though I would guess there's going to be some stuff hitting the fan tomorrow.

[Brian Elfert]

I get even more frustrated reading about everyone who has sold their house and already has a new house to move into while I'm still looking. I listed my house on Feb 3rd. It has now been six months and I still have no house. It has been almost three months since the purchase agreement for my house was signed.

I looked at three houses on May 23rd. I didn't go look at another house until June 23rd. I haven't looked at a house since then as there is nothing out there that will work for me. The one house I like needs too much work for the price. It might not be worth putting $75,000 into the house. The house is listed for $190k and my realtor thinks it is really worth $150 to $160k due to the work required. Even $150k puts it at $225,000 by the time it is fixed up. My agent says it is unlikely the bank would take an offer that low.

[Matt Meiser]

If this deal falls through for us we may be there too. Nothing else on the market is really what we want. We did find a foreclosure tonight driving around that has potential if its actually for sale.

[Brian Elfert]

If this deal falls through for us we may be there too. Nothing else on the market is really what we want. We did find a foreclosure tonight driving around that has potential if its actually for sale.

One would think the sellers would just reduce the price $8,500 if the appraiser won't budge. I suppose the sellers could put the house back on the market and hopes the next appraiser gives the house a higher value.

[Matt Meiser]

One would think. Their purchase is contingent on ours closing. I'm worried that for some reason (maybe changed their mind or ???) they are trying to shut everything down by getting us to walk away.

[David Weaver]

Showing up at their door and asking if they are is the best way to find out.

[Larry Whitlow]

I get even more frustrated reading about everyone who has sold their house and already has a new house to move into while I'm still looking. I listed my house on Feb 3rd. It has now been six months and I still have no house. It has been almost three months since the purchase agreement for my house was signed.

I looked at three houses on May 23rd. I didn't go look at another house until June 23rd. I haven't looked at a house since then as there is nothing out there that will work for me. The one house I like needs too much work for the price. It might not be worth putting $75,000 into the house. The house is listed for $190k and my realtor thinks it is really worth $150 to $160k due to the work required. Even $150k puts it at $225,000 by the time it is fixed up. My agent says it is unlikely the bank would take an offer that low.

Even though we are now moving forward, I know your frustration. We had looked at a ton of places and I was ready to throw in the towel and just stay put. Then, whamo, and everything moved fast. Hopefully you will run into that perfect place and all of the gears will mesh.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

I get even more frustrated reading about everyone who has sold their house and already has a new house to move into while I'm still looking. I listed my house on Feb 3rd. It has now been six months and I still have no house. It has been almost three months since the purchase agreement for my house was signed.

We've been casually looking since 2008, semi-seriously looking since Jan 2010, sold our house Nov 2010 and have been in house-hunting hell since then.

We looked at a new listing on Thurs just hours after it was listed. The selling agent is known for putting no effort in his listings, overpricing them and stands in one spot in the driveway and takes a few pictures. The listing said it had 2 outbuildings big enough to fit an RV and a 1968 house on 5 acres. Doing a quick search of online records, it appeared to be owned by an elderly couple.

We arrive at the house with our agent and meet the wife. She's in her 70's. (It's so much nicer walking around an empty house so you don't feel like you are snooping in someone's closets!) The house was maintained years ago, but was in need of updating and repairs. It was almost all original and needs new windows, deck & roof. The husband arrived home and they unlocked the shop for us to look inside. He looked to be in his 90's and while mobile, he moved very slow. The gentleman used to restore old cars. Neither shop was tall enough to fit an RV. The shop near the house had a fair amount of black mold in it and needed a new metal roof. The larger building behind the shop had a paint booth as well as other auto-related stuff. That roof was barely there, black mold on the sheetrock, insulation, ... everywhere you looked. There is an enormous amount of work & money that will need to be done to that place as well as 40 years of collected stuff in the buildings to haul off to the dump. It was obvious that the owners kept it nice until their age prevented them from maintaining it.

What's sad is their selling agent has probably assured them that they can get his listed price. It is worth about $100k less. He has two other listings that have been on the market for several years and they too are way-overpriced. Our agent thanked them and planted the seed by saying we needed to research bank loans since it will be difficult to get a loan due to all the repairs and black mold. No point insulting them in the first few hours of listing their house by offering $100k less for it!

[Brian Elfert]

We've been casually looking since 2008, semi-seriously looking since Jan 2010, sold our house Nov 2010 and have been in house-hunting hell since then.


You must have some pretty specific requirements if you have been looking for a house for almost three years. I can't imagine what it would be like to be without a house for that long.

[Steve Peterson]

One would think the sellers would just reduce the price $8,500 if the appraiser won't budge. I suppose the sellers could put the house back on the market and hopes the next appraiser gives the house a higher value.

It is possible to purchase a house that has a low appraisal, but you have to put more money down to satisfy the banks loan to value ratio relative to the lower appraised value. The banks may also require you to sign a paper stating that you are aware of the low appraisal.

Steve

[Brian Elfert]

It is possible to purchase a house that has a low appraisal, but you have to put more money down to satisfy the banks loan to value ratio relative to the lower appraised value. The banks may also require you to sign a paper stating that you are aware of the low appraisal.


Why would a buyer want to pay more than the appraised value for a house? I suppose if the buyer really wants the house and the sellers won't lower the price then they might want to pay more out of pocket.

[Matt Meiser]

Well, for one there are costs to starting over and costs to being "homeless" as I'm sure you are aware.

[Brian Elfert]

I'm saving a fair bit of money staying with my parents. The rent I pay them plus the storage fees for my stuff and additional taxes is half of what I was spending before. (I pay more in taxes due to loss of interest and property tax deductions.) If I had a family I could see the expenses adding up.

[Pat Barry]

Why would a buyer want to pay more than the appraised value for a house? I suppose if the buyer really wants the house and the sellers won't lower the price then they might want to pay more out of pocket.
In a changing market, particularly as a buyer in a market where prices are going up, its possible that the 'appraisal' isn't accurate. You as the buyer have to make the decision. I don't think you have much leverage in a market with high demand, low availability to get a seller to accept a lower bid just because the asking price is higher than the 'appraised' valuation. They may feel the appraisal is not accurate. I see the appraisal as being something akin to real estate tax valuation - its never current and correct.

[Brian Elfert]

The good news for today is the one house that was way overpriced just dropped from $190k to $150k. I'm not at all confident of being able to buy the house because buyers will probably come out of the woodwork now that the price is realistic. Someone could very well make a cash offer and the banks usually like cash offers.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Since there's a bit of looking going on right now - I figured I should give you all a heads up if you're using Relator.com.

If you get prompted to update your Java to view anything on Realtor.com, don't do it.

It will download and install a very annoying piece of malware. I'm in the process of removing it all right now.

A little more info (as I'm waiting for Ad=Aware to update the definition files)

The Java update/installer looks legit enough, but, when you click on it to install the Java update it installs some off the wall search engine and some other stuff. As soon as I saw that stuff going in, I ran the add/remove programs and uninstalled everything installed on this date.

I still had a ton of new IE Windows being launched all going to :
http //www_getwindowinfo/

I killed some process that started with a w - sorry, can't remember exactly what it was - I was too anxious to stop the pop ups and didn't think about it until it was too late.

It did install ad start two exe files which I believe started the process. I used msconfig to disable those - one is - ywnmon - and the other is ywnmon32.

A google search for either or both shows very little.


Akk - darned AdAware!!!
It used to be a superlative program. Now it seems it's loaded with features that don't work....

[Brian Elfert]

The good news for today is the one house that was way overpriced just dropped from $190k to $150k. I'm not at all confident of being able to buy the house because buyers will probably come out of the woodwork now that the price is realistic. Someone could very well make a cash offer and the banks usually like cash offers.

Quoting myself here. My agent says that bank owned houses often don't allow an inspection contingency. You can have an inspection done, but you can't back out if the inspection turns up major issues you were not aware of. This could be a showstopper for me. My agent is checking on this for me.

[Larry Whitlow]

The good news for today is the one house that was way overpriced just dropped from $190k to $150k. I'm not at all confident of being able to buy the house because buyers will probably come out of the woodwork now that the price is realistic. Someone could very well make a cash offer and the banks usually like cash offers.

Unless the bank owns the property, they shouldn't come into play with a cash offer. The market and process could be different in MN than what we have in my neck of the woods. Out here, a cash offer has the advantage of no appraisal or loan contingencies, and possibly a shorter escrow, which may or may not be to the seller's liking. If it is a house that is wanted by a buyer, then making a quick preemptive offer with the standard inspection, loan, and appraisal contingencies is often done. A contingency on the sale of an existing house used to be routine out here, but is now pretty much a thing of the past unless the seller's house has been sitting on the market for a while. Anyway, the buyer's agent should know to make it clear that the preemptive offer is the best that the buyer can do. Sometimes a bird in hand will sway the seller to move forward with an offer that is on the table.

[Brian Elfert]

Unless the bank owns the property, they shouldn't come into play with a cash offer. The market and process could be different in MN than what we have in my neck of the woods. Out here, a cash offer has the advantage of no appraisal or loan contingencies, and possibly a shorter escrow, which may or may not be to the seller's liking. If it is a house that is wanted by a buyer, then making a quick preemptive offer with the standard inspection, loan, and appraisal contingencies is often done. A contingency on the sale of an existing house used to be routine out here, but is now pretty much a thing of the past unless the seller's house has been sitting on the market for a while. Anyway, the buyer's agent should know to make it clear that the preemptive offer is the best that the buyer can do. Sometimes a bird in hand will sway the seller to move forward with an offer that is on the table.

This house I want to buy is a bank owned home. The banks like cash offers because they close faster with generally no contingencies. The bank may not even allow an inspection contingency. Once you sign the purchase agreement you are stuck with the house even if it turns out to have additional major issues you didn't see beforehand.

[Larry Whitlow]

This house I want to buy is a bank owned home. The banks like cash offers because they close faster with generally no contingencies. The bank may not even allow an inspection contingency. Once you sign the purchase agreement you are stuck with the house even if it turns out to have additional major issues you didn't see beforehand.

Same thing out here. The banks generally won't consider an inspection contingency. Out here, a lot of bank owned properties don't even make it to the MLS. Well connected investors with cash in hand scoop them up in lots.

[Matt Meiser]

Well, my wife and I talked to the sellers tonight after they caught us looking at a new build under construction a couple blocks away that got listed today and then I talked to the buyers agent. Interesting evening, but not much to report. I told the other agent to continue down the path he's working, but then if he fails we need to move fast on a different resolution.

[Brian Elfert]

Same thing out here. The banks generally won't consider an inspection contingency. Out here, a lot of bank owned properties don't even make it to the MLS. Well connected investors with cash in hand scoop them up in lots.

My agent couldn't find anything that states the bank won't accept a inspection contingency. This house is owned by Freddie Mac and they seem to be biased towards selling to an owner occupant. They will only allow owner occupants to make offers for the first 20 days. This one made it to MLS and has been on MLS for about 35 days. I'm slightly upset that my agent didn't get my offer written up today. I want it to be in the seller's hands first thing in the morning before they get another offer.

[Brian Elfert]

I did finally get a signed offer back to my agent close to 3 pm today. I expect it will be the end of the week before I hear anything. I really won't be all too disappointed if I don't get the house as it will be a big undertaking to repair it. A move-in ready house is nice, but then you never know how good/bad a job was done on any renovations.

[Brian Elfert]

Well, my wife and I talked to the sellers tonight after they caught us looking at a new build under construction a couple blocks away that got listed today and then I talked to the buyers agent. Interesting evening, but not much to report. I told the other agent to continue down the path he's working, but then if he fails we need to move fast on a different resolution.

Did you get any resolution on your issues yet?

[Matt Meiser]

Not yet. There's a new build that popped up yesterday, fairly small house but with a change to the garage (who's foundation isn't poured yet) it would work and another that's a good size house but in a sub with a private road and no functional HOA right now. There's also a foreclosure that's being listed tomorrow in that same sub, at least its close to the entrance. We still want the house that we have under contract if we can get it worked out.

[Brian Elfert]

Not yet. There's a new build that popped up yesterday, fairly small house but with a change to the garage (who's foundation isn't poured yet) it would work and another that's a good size house but in a sub with a private road and no functional HOA right now. There's also a foreclosure that's being listed tomorrow in that same sub, at least its close to the entrance. We still want the house that we have under contract if we can get it worked out.

Did you ever get your house purchase worked out?

[Matt Meiser]

Not yet. We looked at the foreclosure on Sunday. We got a little bit of a grace period as it looks like our sale is going to close about a week late (our agent told us it would the night he presented the offer because the timeframe was so short) but there's been absolutely no movement. Which reminds me...need to check what new listings popped up today...

[Brian Elfert]

I finally have a accepted purchase offer on a house. It is a fixer upper for sure. We'll see what happens with the home inspection to see if anything comes up I didn't already see.

Of course, the very day my offer is accepted I see a very nice house come on the market that would work for me and is cheaper to boot when you figure in rehab costs on the one I bought. I do have an out with the inspection contingency yet.

[Brian Elfert]

Not yet. We looked at the foreclosure on Sunday. We got a little bit of a grace period as it looks like our sale is going to close about a week late (our agent told us it would the night he presented the offer because the timeframe was so short) but there's been absolutely no movement. Which reminds me...need to check what new listings popped up today...

Haven't you at least gotten a yes or no from the seller's agent on if the sellers would lower the price to meet the appraisal? Crazy.

[Matt Meiser]

Congratulations!

Not a word except "we still have time to work on the appraiser."

[Brian Elfert]

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

[Chris Padilla]

Sounds like a big fat PASS there, Brian, unless they are giving you the place for free. :)

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Matt Meiser]

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.

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Matt Meiser]

Yes, its customary around here to get possession up to 30 days after close. An oddity from what I hear.

[Matt Meiser]

We got our clear to close and are scheduled to do so Tuesday afternoon!

[Mike Henderson]

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

[Jim Becker]

Congrats, Matt!

[Matt Meiser]

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. :(

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Curt Harms]

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.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

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.

[Matt Meiser]

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.

[Dan Hintz]

Good deal, Matt... our adventure is just beginning, it seems.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

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.

[Chris Padilla]

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?

[Chris Padilla]

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!! :)

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Matt Meiser]

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.

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Matt Meiser]

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.

[Jim Becker]

'Glad you're in, Matt...unbelievable the effort require, however, eh? :rolleyes:

[Matt Meiser]

I have not posted (and will not) 1/2 the crap that we went through.

[Dan Hintz]

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.

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Dan Hintz]

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.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

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.

[Brian Elfert]

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.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

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.

[Greg Portland]

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.
We had the bank attempt to foreclose the property prior to our closing date (on a short sale offer that they had approved). This forced us to move up our closing date. Fortunately it wasn't a problem because we had our loan and down payment cash in hand. IMO, this was a method by the bank to quickly force the sale to go through.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

We had to walk away from yet another house deal. The selling agent is known for his style of work and he's proven it once again. He convinced the elderly sellers it was not a good idea for them to lower the price and have us hire contractors to fix all the issues ourselves. He presented our agent with a counter offer last night. They will fix the bare minimum of what the first inspector listed, but he is unwilling to recognize all the serious issues the highly respected contractor and 3 roofers found and quoted. (We're not even certain if he showed them that info!) All that will do is put a few band aids on it and not deal with all the rot under & around the house and around the roof.

We are not looking forward to yet another winter in this rental. The only changes we have seen on the market in weeks is a "new" listing of a house that sold 2 years ago. It was in much nicer condition 2 years ago, yet they are asking $30k more for it now. By the photos, the new owners (or renters) did not take good care of it.

[Chris Padilla]

Sounds like he really wants the nicest commission from this sale as possible and hopes the next offer doesn't find all the issues you found. Maybe YOU should show the elderly couple all the issues found? I'm sure they would just like to unload it and move on. How long has it been on the market?

[Brian Elfert]

Wouldn't the seller be legally obligated to disclose the rot issues to future potential buyers now that they know about it? The realtor is hoping to find a sucker I guess who will pay the asking price knowing it needs major repairs. Personally, I probably wouldn't pay $100,000 for structural repairs unless they were practically giving away the house.

My own house purchase I'm wondering if spending $91,000 on repairs is really the right move, but there is no turning back now. The house did appraise for slightly more than I am paying for the house and repairs so that is good. I should be good to close on Sept 2nd.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

We would love to talk to the sellers, but we've been told that is frowned upon. I personally don't think the agent told them about all the issues. Legally they are obligated to pass on information, but there is always going to be some agents that have questionable ethics.

We've been watching obsessively over the market for over 4 years now. Every time that agent has a listing, it is extremely overpriced and he puts virtually no effort in the listing. When he takes photos of the house (many times he doesn't even do that!) he will stand in one spot in the driveway and take about 3-5 photos as he rotates a little bit to take the new photo. His listings stay on the market for years. I don't know how he manages to sell the homes, but they will eventually sell. Apparently he's well connected to a law firm in the area and he's a long time member of a church that refers clients to him.

They haven't changed the "pending" status of our listing so we're hoping that once the sellers hear that we backed out, they are going to question the agent. We know they were thrilled with us submitting the original offer and putting in the contract that they could leave personal items for us to dispose of to ease their move into senior housing. They were also thrilled to know that we intended this to be our final home and stay there until their age. We also feel fairly confident the wife had no knowledge of any problems with the house, but her husband did. There have been partial repairs done over the years. She was a grade school teacher while he apparently was a general contractor. If he told her he made repairs under the house, why would she doubt him or the quality of his work?

[Chris Padilla]

"Frowned upon" but not illegal! :) They could "accidentally" find out about the real condition of their home! hahaha Well, I hope things work out for you, Mike, and that this elderly couple starts asking questions or perhaps even contact you. You never know!

[Brian Elfert]

If I ever buy another home from a traditional seller I will insist on being able to talk to the sellers before I buy the house. I don't know why realtors never want buyers and sellers to meet except at the closing table.

I met with my buyers the day before closing and showed them how a lot of things work in the house and also gave them a little operating manual I wrote up.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

LOL Chris. I actually told our agent that I would personally deliver the reports and quotes for repair to the wife. He gave me this look that said "I wish you would do it but I still have to work in this town!"

We have not cared to meet any of the sellers on all the other homes we have submitted offers on. It wasn't planned this time either, but we looked at the house within hours of it being listed and they were surprised to have someone out so soon and didn't have time to go somewhere. The wife is a lovely woman and the husband seems like a nice guy but didn't want to talk to anyone because he didn't want to move into senior housing. (From what we have heard, he isn't expected to be around much longer due to health issues.)

We refused to meet with our buyers of the house we sold. We left very detailed info for them on everything, including all the manuals and flagged all the property stakes with bright tape. The reason we refused to meet them is we left the house turn-key ready and spotless. New paint throughout, new carpets throughout, kitchen appliances spotless, etc. We didn't leave any form of trash outside or inside. Two days after they looked at the house and submitted an offer, we drove down to mow the grass. No one else had been inside the house since then. We had signs on the doors asking to remove shoes due to the new carpets. Upon inspecting inside the house, they had tracked in mud and debris all over the carpets and they were kind enough to bring their own toilet paper and leave the toilets looking disgusting. We were livid, but they were cash buyers with an inheritance to spend. Since then, they have turned the property & house into a total white trash dumping ground. When we talk with our old neighbors, they tell us what an eyesore it is to drive by every day and that they keep piling more and more debris outside.

[Chris Padilla]

Interesting. I did a google search on this topic and folks seems split 50:50 on whether or not buyers and seller should meet and talk and negotiate. Some said it worked out great and others said it was a disaster. We met and chatted with the sellers of the home we currently occupy (been here since 1999) and they were very nice and upfront and even left us a journal of the house that included all sorts of manuals and paint colors for various things throughout the place. It turns out that the lady of the house was a realtor and of course was representing it herself. We had a buyer's agent with us. Everything went perfectly smooth for us. Our next door neighbor worked for the title company that ran escrow! This is the first and only place we've purchased so we don't have a lot of experience here but I would be fine meeting the sellers of any future place we might venture into. It seems quite reasonable to me. I think I'd like to know a little bit about who previously occupied my potential future home as it might give me some idea what is in store for me. I guess the same goes for buying a vehicle although it is a different beast...somewhat.

If you really think this is the place for you, Mike, I would make sure the couple gets the information they should!!! There is no law against it!!!!!!

That is quite sad to hear about your previous place.

[Brian Elfert]

My house is all set to close for Tuesday as of yesterday afternoon. I got the HUD-1 statement already. I am pretty certain the house will close at this point. The contractor has already started ordering siding and some other stuff since it will take a few weeks to get. He can still cancel if the house doesn't close.

The renovation work is scheduled to start on Sept 9th.

[Chris Padilla]

All right, Brian!!! *pops the cork on the champagne* :)

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Nope. No champagne yet! We were set to close 2 times on our house we sold a few years ago and things went right up to within an hour of closing and problems came up. We have learned to wait until all the paperwork is signed and keys have exchanged hands!

Hope it all goes thru for you without a hitch on Tuesday!

[Brian Elfert]

Closing went just fine and I now own the house. I am heading over there to start working on the house. The contractor plans to start Monday.

[Dan Hintz]

Congratulations, Brian... I can only hope ours makes it to the same end.

[Chris Padilla]

296003

A big congrats!!

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Awesome news Brian. Your search is finally over!

[Matt Meiser]

Congrats!

We're 20 days in. Our contractor has a 2-story foyer, small "den", and the basement stairs left to paint and some touchups throughout. Probably the better part of a day's worth of various trim. Tomorrow my office floor is going down. And a list of small stuff that is him or me, whoever gets to it first. We're all thinking he'll be done about this time next week. We're planning to get our POD unloaded this weekend.

[Jim Becker]

Closing went just fine and I now own the house. I am heading over there to start working on the house. The contractor plans to start Monday.
Congratulations, Brian!

[Shawn Pixley]

When we bought our first house in Seattle, it was from the original owner who had lived there for 60+ years. It hadn't been mucked up too badly. When we did the title search we saw the highly redacted terms of the original title (incredibly racist and predjudiced). The realtor was a piece of work. Eventually, the owner agreed to sell it too us for our offer as we planned to live there with our then young son.

We upgraded all the building systems and remodeled / restored the arts and crafts house to a largely original condition (coved ceilings, picture rails, etc...). I had drawn the house up into plans and had designed a remodel of the garret and back porch. When we sold it, I gave the new owners the plans and the drawings for the addition. We never met them.

We never met the second owner (Hollywood lawyer going through a messy divorce) of the house we live in now, but we know and speak regularly to the original owners. We have the plans and occasionally ask the, about certain design details. They made largely good choices when building it (architect designed custom house) though the contractor slipped a few questionable items in (plastic flat roof drain pans) - DAMHIKT. Closing on this house was contingent upon four house sales closing concurrently. We pulled it off.

i think realtors are reluctant to have the two parties meet to avoid seller's remorse or worse yet, some predjucial action that could end up in court. It probably doesn't happen that much, but it is cautionary.

[Shawn Pixley]

Closing went just fine and I now own the house. I am heading over there to start working on the house. The contractor plans to start Monday.

Congratulations!

[Rick Potter]

Whew!! Congrats, I know what a stressful time it has been for your family.

Rick P

[Rich Engelhardt]

LOL! Misery must love company :D

I thought we were all done buying houses since we made the final payment on all our houses (primary and 4 rentals) in November 2014, just a couple weels before my wife retired.

Now my wife tells me she wants another rental,,,,,,so,,,,here we go again!

& man oh man, this thread is so spot on!
Finding a place is really frustrating.
The decent places go as soon as they hit the market. I've seen at least three houses go to "pending" between 6:00 am when I get a copy of the new listings and 9:00 am, when I can contact my agent.
You really have to be fast on the trigger!

I've spent the last few days driving around the neighborhoods where I'm interested and looking for driveways that show no signs of the snow being cleared or driven over.
I copy the address down and pull it up on the county auditor's site and check for overdue taxes or water or sewer bills to see if it may be going on the market soon as a bank buy back or something.

[Chris Padilla]

We've lived in our home since 1999. From the last half of 2014 to today, we've gotten 4 unsolicited letters from various real estate brokers asking us if we're interested in selling our home as it is the perfect size, location, etc. for their clients. The previous time we've gotten exactly zero such letters.

I keep asking my wife if we should sell and she grabs the letter and tosses it into the recycle bin. I guess it's good to know we have a high demand home and/or location! :D