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DickNervous · 16-November-07, 11:19 AM

Tylenol? How about how many bottles of JD?

We bought our house in Sept of 1999. At that time, the housing market on Long Island was just starting to take off and I had just gotten a nice bonus from work, so the time was right. Getting pre-approved for a mortgage at the time was easy. We got approved for up to $250k.

After researching the neighborhoods and schools in Nassau county, which is where we wanted to stay, we basically came up wit one area that had good schools, good neighborhood, and in our price range: Levittown. The problem with Levittown, the first AMerican Suburb, is that the houses are generally small and have no basements. If they have been expanded, chances are the garage was turned into some extra living space. I really wanted to have at least one of those, but being in a good school district was more important.

The first weekend we looked was in June. We went with a realtor on Sat and saw 7 houses. On Sunday we went with another realator and saw 4 more. The 2nd realtor was a jerk, so the we made an appointment to go with the first one again the following weekend.

Now keep in mind, at each house I had a form that I was filling out with all the info. Number of rooms, type, style, sizes, etc. So on the 2nd weekend we saw 12 houses on Sat and 8 more on Sunday. We put a bid in on a house we saw on Sat. for the prices they were asking. We found out Sun, while we were looking at other houses, that we were outbid. Okay. So we get done on Sunday and saw two more houses we liked. One was already expanded at bit, and my wife fell in love with it the second she saw it, but the other was cheaper.

So we put in a bid for the house my wife loved. They were asking $190k, so we bid $192k. In an effort to cover all our bases we also put in a bid for the other house for $175k (they were asking $170k).

Monday afternoon comes and the agent calls me. The house on Saddle Ln (the one we really liked) told us they were thinking about it. The one on Balsam Ln (the $175k) told us that they were concerned that we were only putting 5% down. I told the agent to tell them they could kiss my a$$. We had a pre-approval letter and it really is none of their concern how much we had for a down payment and that I made a very good offer and they can take it or leave it. Stop with the BS. She laughed.

Tuesday come and she calls me. The first house we bid on, Abbey Ln, that we got outbid on. The deal fell through and we were the highest bidder. What did we want to do. I told her to stall them until we heard from the Saddle Ln house.

Wed. she calls again. Saddle Ln accepted. Balsam Ln accepted. Abbey Ln accepted. We had 3 houses to choose from. All of them we were the highest bidder. We went with the Saddle Ln house and have been here since. The amazing this is that the house is now worth considerable more than I paid. And, if we had bought it 3 month earlier, we could have gotten it for like $40k cheaper. Oh well.

16-November-07, 11:19 AM		#2 (permalink)
DickNervous Vic Rattlehead's Hoe	Re: House Hunting...What are YOUR stories? Tylenol? How about how many bottles of JD? We bought our house in Sept of 1999. At that time, the housing market on Long Island was just starting to take off and I had just gotten a nice bonus from work, so the time was right. Getting pre-approved for a mortgage at the time was easy. We got approved for up to $250k. After researching the neighborhoods and schools in Nassau county, which is where we wanted to stay, we basically came up wit one area that had good schools, good neighborhood, and in our price range: Levittown. The problem with Levittown, the first AMerican Suburb, is that the houses are generally small and have no basements. If they have been expanded, chances are the garage was turned into some extra living space. I really wanted to have at least one of those, but being in a good school district was more important. The first weekend we looked was in June. We went with a realtor on Sat and saw 7 houses. On Sunday we went with another realator and saw 4 more. The 2nd realtor was a jerk, so the we made an appointment to go with the first one again the following weekend. Now keep in mind, at each house I had a form that I was filling out with all the info. Number of rooms, type, style, sizes, etc. So on the 2nd weekend we saw 12 houses on Sat and 8 more on Sunday. We put a bid in on a house we saw on Sat. for the prices they were asking. We found out Sun, while we were looking at other houses, that we were outbid. Okay. So we get done on Sunday and saw two more houses we liked. One was already expanded at bit, and my wife fell in love with it the second she saw it, but the other was cheaper. So we put in a bid for the house my wife loved. They were asking $190k, so we bid $192k. In an effort to cover all our bases we also put in a bid for the other house for $175k (they were asking $170k). Monday afternoon comes and the agent calls me. The house on Saddle Ln (the one we really liked) told us they were thinking about it. The one on Balsam Ln (the $175k) told us that they were concerned that we were only putting 5% down. I told the agent to tell them they could kiss my a$$. We had a pre-approval letter and it really is none of their concern how much we had for a down payment and that I made a very good offer and they can take it or leave it. Stop with the BS. She laughed. Tuesday come and she calls me. The first house we bid on, Abbey Ln, that we got outbid on. The deal fell through and we were the highest bidder. What did we want to do. I told her to stall them until we heard from the Saddle Ln house. Wed. she calls again. Saddle Ln accepted. Balsam Ln accepted. Abbey Ln accepted. We had 3 houses to choose from. All of them we were the highest bidder. We went with the Saddle Ln house and have been here since. The amazing this is that the house is now worth considerable more than I paid. And, if we had bought it 3 month earlier, we could have gotten it for like $40k cheaper. Oh well.