It's never a dull moment over here, there always seems to be something going on. And the past month my wife and I have been looking at houses.

And boy is it a hectic process. Between the initial meetings with the lender and the realtor, and then viewing house after house, it's one heck of a fiasco.


I'll give you guys a bit of insight as to what we're looking for right now. First it started off that we wanted a single family home with a big yard and one bathroom, didn't care what year it was built.

After viewing about a dozen houses we dramatically switched our criteria to a townhouse that was built after 1999, has 3-4 bedrooms, at least 2 full bathrooms, and includes all appliances. Oh and hard wood floors would be an added incentive to purchase as well.

I think the biggest reason we switched from older single family home to newer townhome was due to the fact of the amount of spaced offered by these newer townhomes. So much more living space and more rooms.

Eventually I would like to get a newer single family home that offered the living space of these newer townhomes, but right now in this area they are about $100,000 out of our price range.

So while we're living through this adventure, I want to see what personal house hunting stories everyone has gone through.

Has how much has your search criteria changed from the start of the process to the end of the process?

Any stories of negotiating? How many bottles of Tylonel did you go through lol!

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.

Wow.....I've got quite the story. However, I don't have time to relate it all, plus you're limited by 10,000 characters in one post anyway.

Long story short, I only had a few requirements for the house that I bought.

• Minimum three bedrooms (master, guest, and "nerd room")
• Minimum two bathrooms (master and guest)
• Crawl space and not a slab foundation
• Had to have a nice looking kitchen
• Private back yard in the country
• Hot tub in the back yard
• Must have internet broadband access
• Must have a basement that I can finish out into a home theater

Well, I managed to get everything except for the finished basement. That would have tacked on another ~$25K to any house that I was looking at. Turns out that most of mid-Indiana is mostly clay, which has led to many a moisture problem in basements anyway.

I had already looked at 15 or so houses and found one that I liked (minus the private back yard, hot tub, and crawl space). I thought about putting in an offer on it until my agent told me to look at the next two houses we planned to see that day. The next house on the list I had already called the cable company and they said that they didn't supply internet broadband to that area. I told my agent to go ahead and skip it but she said that she wanted to look at it anyway for herself. What the heck, I thought.

We pulled in to the tiny subdivision four miles outside of town and as soon as I seen the house, I thought to myself...I'm buying that house. I don't care if I can't get broadband access or not, I'm buying it.

Walked in, liked everything I seen, told my agent I wanted to put in an offer (full asking price IF they threw in the hot tub that was already there and paid for all the inspections...it was a $6K hot tub). As we left, I talked to the neighbor and he said that they do get broadband internet so I was pretty stoked about that.

Well, his agent (and the three different voices in her head) convinced the seller to make a counter-offer. Their counter-offer was full asking price, no hot tub, and I pay for all the inspections.



See ya later! In this buyer's market, I'm not going to get my chain yanked like that unless it has a happy ending for Mr. Pokey. I refused the counter-offer and that apparently sent his agent into a crisis.

They came back the next day wanting to accept my original offer. I waned a little bit on it and finally accepted it.

Now I'm a home owner and I'm loving it.

Rob

i've done the house-hunting thing twice in the past five years, and will likely do it again in the next 3-4 years.

Each time, it was / will be for different needs.
1st time: someplace fiance and I could settle into for a reasonable sum
2nd time: someplace closer to support network for wife while baby coming
3rd time: will be to a much nicer school district for the kid

Make a list of what you Need. Then make a list of what you Want. Then double-check the lists to make sure everything is in the right column.

Then make a list of what you Don't Want, and what you Cannot Have. Then double-check those lists, too.

Then go hunting.

Stick to a price range that results in a mortgage that leaves you with plenty of cash to work with at the end of the month. Never be "house poor" (that is, pay so much in mortgage that you can't afford anything else.) I've been there ... I'm on the edge of it now ... hoping to be completely out of it in a year.

Don't worry about wall colors, or carpet colors. Those things can be re-painted, replaced, whatever (but do take into account the cost of doing so). Look for space, quality of construction, neighborhood, electrical, network (lots of modern houses have CAT-5 run through them), roofing, and of course termites / infestations.

Take a look a the cars in the neighborhood. That's a great representation of the demographic in the area.

Don't get sold on the idea of a "fixer upper" if you have neither the time nor the skill to perform that fixing. My wife was sold on the idea of a cute little house we saw the first time around, but needed a lot of work. She loved the price. She said, "there's all these projects you can do, honey!" I said, "I don't have the time to do projects; I've got grad school and you're pregnant." We passed on that house.

That's about all the advice I can offer, at the mo. If I think of more, I'll let you know.

-godling

It was mid-1997. I was renting my grandmother's house from her as she had grown tired of upkeep but couldn't turn loose of her home yet. So she went to the swinging seniors complex [where she still lives] and I keep up her house.

SheWhoMustBeObeyed and I were married in the front yard in 1992.

But the house was old [1948ish, two wire electrical, small] and we were pregnant. So it was time to go.

Atlanta is surrounded by the I-285 beltway. And we wanted to stay ITP - inside the Perimeter.

But all the houses ITP in our price range were basically what we were trying to leave - small, old.

So we start slowly creeping OTP - outside the Perimeter.

We were on our third weekend of househunting having seen nothing worth making an offer on. And we thought we'd look at one more.

So we get to the open house [2-5!] at 3:30 and no one's here?!?! So back home. But as we are leaving the subdivision we see a Caddie with a realtor front plate so we decide to turn around. Sure enough, the guy is just getting to the house?!?!?

[The punchline is coming - Be patient ]

The 'real' realtor had some emergency and this guy was called in to pinch-hit. The house had been vacated by an older couple and it had been on the market numerous months. It had been the builder's house and so had an 'odd' floor plan compared to the rest of the neighborhood. So Mr. Pinch-hit was in no rush.

But odd was good - instead of making 3 little bedrooms it had two bigger ones. And a huge Master suite instead of two bedrooms upstairs. Everything was BIG! I got the biggest laundry room on the PLANET!

So SheWhoMustBeObeyed falls in love and I'm really pleased myself [I wanted a one story - this has stairs].

And we're ready to go and we say to Pinch-hit that we really like the house so what should we do next [cause we're total amateurs - this is the first house I've ever bought]

And he says - I kid you not - and I quote:

"Oh you don't want this house'

Such a salesman!

Anyway we bought it and I plan on never leaving. Moving is too big a hassle.

Now it hasn't always been peaches and cream. I have determined that the builder's subcontractors [remember - this was the builder's house] must have hated him. Because every time someone comes to do work on the house there is a moment where one of the workmen goes "Why the h311 would anyone do that?" and some odd piece of workaround turns up. Plumbing, electrical, roofing - doesn't matter.

But we're appreciating rapidly [or so we are led to believe] and we like our neighbors and so we sure do love the 'Oh you dont want this house' house.

-MF

Like Rob, I could fill pages with the purchase of the house that I am living in now...and will likely remain in until they carry me off in a pine box...

...but you asked for house hunting stories. Most of mine are stories of regret.

Regret #1: I was offered a chance to buy the house we were living in for $54K. At the time we'd just moved to Colorado, I didn't think I could afford it since my ex-wife refused to work, and the passive solar system didn't work so well when we didn't see the sun for a week that Winter. The electric bill was equivalent to a mortgage payment, and we were forced to move into an apartment. 16 years later, that house has been mildly remodeled and is worth about $350K.

Regret #2: Living in the apartment was a real pain: Bad neighbors, no workspace for me, a tiny living space and another pregnancy made me finally take some action on the insistent nagging by my ex to buy a house. We discussed it, looked over our finances and figured that she would have to find a job and pay a portion of the mortgage for us to be able to afford it. She agreed. The regret was not getting it on paper: I never saw her paychecks.

As a first-time home buyer, a carpenter and the only real source of income for our family, I had to find something cheap, preferably a fixer-upper. We hooked up with a good friend of ours that is a realtor, and after giving her our parameters, spent many an evening looking at some pretty abysmal attempts at homebuilding....but at least were within our price range.

Regret #3: We found one downtown on three city lots. The house was an adequate size, was on the end of a quiet street, and I saw great potential there for expansion and sweat equity. Tragic flaw: The house had some serious mechanical issues and two additions that were literally falling off the main house. No lender would give us a mortgage on a house that was in essence condemned and unable to be occupied. We passed. The house has now been remodeled (much more poorly than I would've done) and is worth about five times what the asking price was.

As you can probably guess, I was pretty leery at that point and looked at nearly everything with a discerning professional eye. Reaching the end of her list, our realtor took us to a log home very near where I live now. The house was listed by another realtor friend of hers, and was on a nice corner lot. Driving up to it, it looked great, had a separate shop building out to the side, and was already a decent size with a large enough lot to expand it further.

Upon inspecting the house, I found the following issues:

-The stairs right inside the front door were steeper than building code allows. At the top, right in the middle of the landing was a structural post. I envisioned myself going to bed at night, running into the post and falling backwards down the steep stairs...and right through the front window into the yard. No way to fix either without some serious demolition and reconstruction.

-The water heater sat in the middle of the kitchen, fully exposed. The kitchen cabinets looked like a 7th grade shop project (a 'C' at best, only if it was an attempt at "rustic") and by the sulfur smell could tell that the well had been sunk in a coal bed. Major remodeling needed, and tough to live there with no water or kitchen until the work was finished.

-For some reason, six feet of the foundation had never been poured. The logs had sagged into the gap and would need to be shored and jacked up (two stories of logs above it) and a new footer poured to repair it...if a lender would even give us a mortgage.

-The gaps between the logs appeared to be *****ed and smoothed out with a golf shoe. I could see daylight through at least a dozen gaps, and the only way to be sure of a seal would be to re***** the entire house.

-The interior layout had some issues. For instance, to reach the adjoining bathroom, you had to go through one of the upstairs bedrooms. If you left the downstairs hall closet door ajar, it would trap someone in the bathroom.

After looking the place over I decided it would be way too much work to fix all the issues. My realtor called and asked how the tour was, and I told her we were going to pass and why.

A few days later she called again and said that the realtor that had originally listed the house had called her and asked if we were interested. She explained that the serious structural issues were too much for us to take on. He apparently spluttered, got quite upset and said,"Structural issues??? I built that house myself!".

Yeah, that explains a lot.

I'm currently looking for a new place myself. Just moved out to Ohio for a new job. My old house in PA is under contract and will hopefully sell. I've seen all kinds of stuff out here since starting to look. Lots of good, lots of bad and some in between. I looked at a couple HUD (bank owned) homes and it is amazing what a person will do to a house when it's being repo'd. Walls bashed in, cabinets ripped out of the wall. Sinks, toilets, vanities missing. Interior doors pulled out of the jams and laying around the house. Nothing really of dire structural problems but months of cosmetic upgrades to repair them, and in houses for the 140-150,000 dollar range. Crazy stuff.

Still haven't found what I want though. Hopefully going out on Monday or Tuesday to look at a few more. It's a big choice and you need to find a home that you like and want. My last place I purchased out of necessity, with lots of issues, and that's not really what I want with this new house.

My girlfriend and I settled for a place that was a single bedroom, a little more storage than we had before, and hardwood floors (in the words of Borat, "Very nice!")

After our last apartment (which was mostly settled upon due to it's cool location in the city and it's ability to get us OUT of my parent's place), we were happy to move into a place that didn't have 2X4 floors with weather sealant in the front-room.

We tend to look for vintage apartments, but I'm still a nerd... Our current place is a loft, that where-as it is fairly old; it has plenty of electrical outlets!

Some of the places we looked at were like prison cells. We wanted this one place, but it was too much room for us. We're really not ready to start a family (I want to finish college before I even think about it again), so in our world, we're pretty happy with a small place. They're easier to clean, easier to make sure a person doesn't collect too much crap and easier to redecorate if we're in the mood.

Also, shopping with pets is a REAL pain in the arse. We found a PERFECT, absolutely breath-taking place with brick, hardwood floors, and in a scenic area of town in our price range... no pets. We decided we wanted to keep the cats more than have that apartment, but we still wish the guy would have been a little cooler about it.

Anyway... our next place will be an adventure as we're moving out of state (as we both hate it here).

house hunting,.... i soon will have war stories... till then =)

I wish i could find houses for the prices you are talking about

for 200k i can get a 1 bedroom condo

for 400k i can get a 900ft starter house

for 700k i can get a nice house (which would cost 180k almost anyplace else in the us)

you know its a sad market when you can get a top of the line jag or mercedies and it cost less then your house payment

There's no way in hell I would buy a house in the US right now...sorry folks...don't want to paint all areas with the same brush, but if it's happening in one part of the country, chances are it'll move everywhere else...IMHO I work damn hard for my $$$ and with the housing market problems I've been reading about over the last several months, that $$$ is better in my pocket than lost in a housing market crash...especially after paying $700k for a house that elsewhere in the country is getting $200k...

I am from michigan and let me tell you a little about depressing

I have a little city about 12 mile to the north of were i work, reed city to be exact.
50 PECENT, yep 1/2 of the houses are for sale because there is a mass exodus from michigan.
thanks Jenny!!

If you didn't have a house right now would be primo for buying. houses are going for way lower then market so people can dump them.

If you do own a house (me)and have the money there's no way in hell you can sell your house with that many flooding the market to even consider buying a new one(me).

but yes Iron I do remember my first one....friggin nightmare.
we changed types of banks and loans at leat 3 times during the process(military,fanny mae, then conventional)
not to mention our note got sold to another institution 1 month after everything was done and said.

anyway, I feel for ya!!!

Don

Well I draw House Plans so if you've got a little time to just look for property then
I can set up any of my friends with their dream house. When the Housing Market
crashed a few months ago my business fell off for a week or 2 or 3. But it's right
back up to speed now. When you buy a "used" home your buying something that
has wear and tear, and usually at an inflated price. Another thing that happens
when the interest rates go up, material and labor prices usually go down. I live
in NE Florida and the total cost of a new home is still the same as last year if you
build your own instead of buying from a Big Builder in a Sub-Division :-)

Quote: Originally Posted by Slaymate I can set up any of my friends with there dream house.

There: A direction, as in, "Over there!"
They're: A contraction for, "they are".
Their: Posessive

All homonyms, but not synonyms

Quote: Originally Posted by Slaymate Well I draw House Plans so if you've got a little time to just look for property then I can set up any of my friends with there dream house. When the Housing Market crashed a few months ago my business fell off for a week or 2 or 3. But it's right back up to speed now. When you buy a "used" home your buying something that has wear and tear, and usually at an inflated price. Another thing that happens when the interest rates go up, material and labor prices usually go down. I live in NE Florida and the total cost of a new home is still the same as last year if you build your own instead of buying from a Big Builder in a Sub-Division :-)

in comparison, how much would a custom house cost vs a new house that is in 2 or 3 designs in a housing tract?

Quote: Originally Posted by THRiLL KiLL in comparison, how much would a custom house cost vs a new house that is in 2 or 3 designs in a housing tract?

Normally a home you build on your own will be much cheaper. When I was working for
a big builder (they were bought out by Richmond American Homes) they sold homes in the
$110-125 a sq.ft. range. But the price also varied on the subdivision. In a nicer location the
price would rise as well as the lot cost. Most people build the homes I draw for about $85
a sq.ft. :-)

This summer, I was house-hunting for my first house. Alberta's housing market was just booming incredibly at that time (it died down a few months later). If you saw a house you liked, you pretty much had to put in an offer that same day, as it wouldn't be available by the end of the week.

I was temporarily living in Edmonton at the time (capital of Alberta), and worked in the south side. I began searching for houses not too far from my work. I had a certain price range in mind. Some requirements: it had to be a house, not a condo or townhouse; I play drums, I like to play games/movies/music loudly at times when typical neighbors won't appreciate it; and it had to have a 2-car garage.

I was really getting depressed with what was out there in my price range. The housing shortage and demand meant that houses were going for crazy prices. House prices doubled over a period of only 4 or 5 years. Some low points: One of the houses I looked at was a "grandma-box", one of those bungalows with no upper floor, no basement and a tiny 1-car garage, and everything decorated in old-folks' decor. It was just north of my high end of price. Another one was just in my price range; it was a 3-level in which each level was tiny and claustrophobic; it was being rented by a group of college students. Dirty dishes were sprouting stuff in the sink and counters; the yard outside had garbage strewn about; the garage had broken windows, and the interior smelled profusely like cat urine. Mmmm!

I finally started seeing some decent houses, nice sizes, with some of the things I was looking for--wayyyyy on the north side of town. That would mean at least an hour commute (or more in the event of traffic problems/rush hour) either way!

I finally found some houses with actual yards and decent floor sizes/garages in Leduc, a town/suburb of Edmonton. It's south of Edmonton so it only takes about 25-30 minutes of freeway driving to get to work, up to 45 mins with rush hour traffic. Not too bad. However, I still couldn't find a house with a 2-car garage in my price range. So, I started looking around for houses with big yards and no garage, as they tended to sell for $50K less. Now I started to find some options (by thinking outside the box)! Since it would cost only around $25K to build my own 2-car 24x24' garage, I'd still end up well within my price range, and have a garage built to my own specs, to boot!

I got my house for a really good price (below the average for houses of its size, around 1145 sq. ft., with a basement, large yard, and a nice, big garage), that was quite a bit less than what they cost in Edmonton, without the smell of cat-piss. I think the ticket is to look for a place that's just a bit off the beaten path. You pay through the nose for a great location.