Home Buying Help Thread

[naptownskinsfan]

On 6/19/2020 at 3:25 PM, The Gnat said:

Walk around, look at everything, look at how good the furnace and water heater look. Whomever your realtor is can probably tell you about how old they are. Think about how much you'd fix or change up from what's there already. Also expect it to be different, pictures are 100% wide angle lens so everything will seem much larger.

Also, try and look past aesthetic stuff. Color can change in a room, consider how much furniture is or isn't in the room.

Pre-approval is for your realtor to use basically to show that you'll be good for your offer. And once you've looked, you can make it as quick as you want.

 

And even if it seems super awesome, schedule a few more visits or other places that just look fine or close to see what you like, disklike, in them.

I agree with all of that.  Definitely agree on scheduling a few other visits.  

I visited four houses the first day I met with my realtor (also my cousin.). From those houses, I basically figured out what I wanted.  I kept up with all of the new listings that were emailed.  I found one that I really liked a month later, and after I went to see it, we put an offer on it the next day.  I was looking at newer houses (less than 10 years old) to avoid having a bunch of problems with things breaking, or needing a lot of work.  If you are looking at older houses, definitely continue to look.  For your realtor's sake, if you want to schedule visits, try to do them all at one time.  

Also, schedule the home inspection fairly quickly.  I viewed on a Thursday evening, offered Friday morning and they accepted Saturday morning, and we had the home inspection on Monday.  My cousin the realtor was there, the home inspector and my stepfather.  Why my stepfather?  Well, he's a master carpenter, head of maintenance for one of the county golf courses, former Air Force mechanic, welder, etc.  So all three of them really worked in tandem looking at things.  I definitely recommend having a friend, family member or neighbor who is experienced in any of those areas present when you do the inspection.  Because pretty much after this, barring something unforeseen, you are locked in to the deal.  

[The Gnat]

Have an offer in on a place, should hear back this morning, it's a strong offer and we know we're one of two offers only.

Heard back from our inspection:
Boiler tune-up and certified (It's in a good working shape, we can get it tuned up, but it's old - not in boiler years - so might not get certified)
Outlet cover (can do)
Shower in upstairs bathroom claw foot tub (the realtor added this as a could be done for the right offer, this was not that, and it's not an inspection item)
Paint soffits, around window, garage, and front stoop (Wait, what, if you want the place, you can do that person)

They also asked, after the fact if any of the Window A/C Units would be left (I said one for sure), and if the chest freezer was part of it (not listed on the appliances coming with it), but if we get the place we offered on it has a freezer and central air so I'd leave the window A/C and the freezer but the painting and certifying the boiler are coming off the list of asks. I know it's the buyers first house, so I'm guessing they're just shooting for the moon, and I feel like it's a young realtor who is just starting out (and probably family or friend).

[theJ]

4 minutes ago, The Gnat said:

Shower in upstairs bathroom claw foot tub (the realtor added this as a could be done for the right offer, this was not that, and it's not an inspection item)
Paint soffits, around window, garage, and front stoop (Wait, what, if you want the place, you can do that person)

What did they want done to the shower?

And yeah, they can do the paint.  Give em $50 for a can of paint, lol.

[The Gnat]

2 minutes ago, theJ said:

What did they want done to the shower?

And yeah, they can do the paint.  Give em $50 for a can of paint, lol.

So it's just a claw foot tub upstairs, they would just be asking for instead of the spigot that fills the tub it to be a shower head up higher. I wouldn't put in the halo or anything for a shower curtain, they can do that.

[The Gnat]

AND WE GOT THE PLACE, SO EXCITED!

[MWil23]

8 minutes ago, The Gnat said:

Have an offer in on a place, should hear back this morning, it's a strong offer and we know we're one of two offers only.

Heard back from our inspection:
Boiler tune-up and certified (It's in a good working shape, we can get it tuned up, but it's old - not in boiler years - so might not get certified)

Our last buyers wanted this, and I told them that they could have the home warranty OR I'd have this tuned up for them, not both.

8 minutes ago, The Gnat said:

Outlet cover (can do)

Absolutely! $3 fix!

8 minutes ago, The Gnat said:

Shower in upstairs bathroom claw foot tub (the realtor added this as a could be done for the right offer, this was not that, and it's not an inspection item)

That depends on what exactly they'd want done.

8 minutes ago, The Gnat said:

Paint soffits, around window, garage, and front stoop (Wait, what, if you want the place, you can do that person)

Dear future buyer(s), welcome to home ownership. Buy some paint at your local Sherwin Williams, some paintbrushes, rollers, and accessories. 

8 minutes ago, The Gnat said:

They also asked, after the fact if any of the Window A/C Units would be left (I said one for sure), and if the chest freezer was part of it (not listed on the appliances coming with it), but if we get the place we offered on it has a freezer and central air so I'd leave the window A/C and the freezer but the painting and certifying the boiler are coming off the list of asks. I know it's the buyers first house, so I'm guessing they're just shooting for the moon, and I feel like it's a young realtor who is just starting out (and probably family or friend).

You do what's best/it depends on how badly you want to sell your house, but I think countering and doing about 3 of those 5 things is very reasonable and in good faith. However, it's not YOUR job to be their future contractor and fix cosmetic things like paint. I personally told the buyers who wanted the tune up to the furnace "No, it works, the inspection didn't show anything. I'm not doing that.", but I played hard ball on that area. Some people get it done, some don't. I'd ask your realtor his/her opinion on some of this before making your counter.

[theJ]

6 minutes ago, The Gnat said:

So it's just a claw foot tub upstairs, they would just be asking for instead of the spigot that fills the tub it to be a shower head up higher. I wouldn't put in the halo or anything for a shower curtain, they can do that.

That's ridiculous.  I'd tell them where to put that request (kindly of course).

3 minutes ago, The Gnat said:

AND WE GOT THE PLACE, SO EXCITED!

Congrats!

[MWil23]

9 minutes ago, The Gnat said:

So it's just a claw foot tub upstairs, they would just be asking for instead of the spigot that fills the tub it to be a shower head up higher. I wouldn't put in the halo or anything for a shower curtain, they can do that.

HARD PASS. You're not their contractor. If I were their realtor, I'd be downright embarrassed to even ask that, especially given the value of a claw foot soaker tub. 

[The Gnat]

8 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

You do what's best/it depends on how badly you want to sell your house, but I think countering and doing about 3 of those 5 things is very reasonable and in good faith. However, it's not YOUR job to be their future contractor and fix cosmetic things like paint. I personally told the buyers who wanted the tune up to the furnace "No, it works, the inspection didn't show anything. I'm not doing that.", but I played hard ball on that area. Some people get it done, some don't. I'd ask your realtor his/her opinion on some of this before making your counter.

yeah, that's what I'm thinking as well, I really feel like they were just shooting for the moon to see what would happen. We were very honest about any issues that had happened (all that we've dealt with), so we've been working in good faith, so no need to ask for the moon. Yeah, we'll chat with our realtor probably around noon today and go back with our counter.

[The Gnat]

11 minutes ago, theJ said:

That's ridiculous.  I'd tell them where to put that request (kindly of course).

 

7 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

HARD PASS. You're not their contractor. If I were their realtor, I'd be downright embarrassed to even ask that, especially given the value of a claw foot soaker tub. 

Yeah, I'm annoyed at our realtor for even putting that in there as we could do it for the right offer.

And it's not an inspection item, which bugs me. I was slightly worried about what they'd ask (we heard there were several) and when we got them, I just found it pretty funny.

[The Gnat]

We pushed back on the painting, but are "moving ahead" with the shower. By that I mean, it's still on the table, mainly because we're taking paying for painting off the table right now. But we did the boiler tune-up and the unneeded certification (because that could be done during the tune-up) so we're already going above and beyond for them, which should give us some more leverage if push comes to shove.

[scar988]

On 6/22/2020 at 10:29 AM, The Gnat said:

yeah, that's what I'm thinking as well, I really feel like they were just shooting for the moon to see what would happen. We were very honest about any issues that had happened (all that we've dealt with), so we've been working in good faith, so no need to ask for the moon. Yeah, we'll chat with our realtor probably around noon today and go back with our counter.

The right offer for a claw foot tub is $5000 more on the price of the house.

[The Gnat]

18 hours ago, scar988 said:

The right offer for a claw foot tub is $5000 more on the price of the house.

Yeah.

 

Inspection has been done on the house we're buying, garage is in rough shape, but kind of knew that going in. The house roof has a couple of rough spots where branches have been rubbing, not too rough, but we'll have them trim back those branches, and then there was an odd gap along the roofline in the attic the let in a little light, we'll see what we have them do with that when we talk with our realtor. Otherwise it will likely just be cleaning out the dryer vent. Everything else like, electrical outlet doesn't have a plate, I can do that, electrical outlet has wires reversed, I can fix that, nothing major. 

[The Gnat]

We have a closing date on our new house, August 31st, now to just line that up as closely as possible with our current house. I think the longest it'd be would be a week, August 24th to August 31st, we're hoping that it can both be done on the same day, but not holding my breath. I think that August 28th and August 31st are more likely. So we'll have to figure out how to move stuff, right now leaning towards renting a truck, loading it (or hiring people to load it) park it in front of a friends place for the weekend, then hire someone to unload it on the 31st.

[Ty21]

I have an income of $40k or so a year, a credit score of 670+ and no debt and about $15k put away and I’m wondering if I should start looking into buying a house. I saw one already that looks intriguing for $156k and saw my “buying power” is $181k so I’m wondering if this is the time to put my chips in. I’m inheriting $30k next year so I wonder if it’s still a good idea to send it now or be patient til I get that for a lower mortgage or something.