House Buying Thread

[dodint]

What's up with this neighborhood? http://www.berkshirehathawayhs.com/home ... -192155601

Good/Bad? Kind of a weird location. Walkable to Heinz Field but it's right next to some railways. The house itself was foreclosed two years ago and looks a little disheveled, but for that price it's compelling. Four car garage, deck, sun room, 9 minute drive to work.

[robbiestoupe]

Walkable to Heinz Field

Do you like people publicly urinating on your property? Then this is your dream home.

[Troy Loney]

What's up with this neighborhood? http://www.berkshirehathawayhs.com/home ... -192155601

Good/Bad? Kind of a weird location. Walkable to Heinz Field but it's right next to some railways. The house itself was foreclosed two years ago and looks a little disheveled, but for that price it's compelling. Four car garage, deck, sun room, 9 minute drive to work.

You should be able to get something nicer in that area. I have a friend that bought there a few years ago. They got a beautiful place for 215. 2500 SF, 3 BR 2 Bath.

[dodint]

The thing that flagged my interest is the 4 car garage, which I assume is a double tandem. Was thinking maybe throwing a lowball at it and putting the extra money towards redoing the inside.

[large garlic]

What's up with this neighborhood? http://www.berkshirehathawayhs.com/home ... -192155601

Good/Bad? Kind of a weird location. Walkable to Heinz Field but it's right next to some railways. The house itself was foreclosed two years ago and looks a little disheveled, but for that price it's compelling. Four car garage, deck, sun room, 9 minute drive to work.

We looked at some places in Manchester about two years ago, and I thought it was still pretty sketchy there. Living on the Northside, I feel like the central Mexican War Streets area is very nice (and pretty expensive at this point), and then the redevelopment is kind of radiating out from there. So, you have Manchester to west, Deutschtown to the east, and Fineview to the north all starting to get nicer, but still with some issues. Of course, that means you can get good deals in those areas with some reasonable expectation that your place will appreciate nicely.

[CBear3]

Second floor framing going up on the new house, Yea.
Inspection revealed hail damage to roof in old house, Boo.

[shmenguin]

Son of a f*%#!

We were a week away from puttin an offer in on a house that was a hidden gem. We just wanted to do our due diligence. Was scheduled to see it again today and someone put in an offer that was accepted yesterday.

Dammit. There's nothing else in the area without going up 100k. And our house is likely going to sell right when it's posted next week.

Tldnr; I'm going to be homeless soon

[CBear3]

That bites.

We'll be living with my parents for two months while our build is done. Which is nice in terms of savingsa mortgage payment, but will obviously dampen other parts of our lives.

[dodint]

Son of a f*%#!

We were a week away from puttin an offer in on a house that was a hidden gem. We just wanted to do our due diligence. Was scheduled to see it again today and someone put in an offer that was accepted yesterday.

Dammit. There's nothing else in the area without going up 100k. And our house is likely going to sell right when it's posted next week.

Tldnr; I'm going to be homeless soon

Sorry man. Hope the offer falls through.

We looked at 8 this weekend. Narrowed it down to 3, and then 2. Spent a few hours in pretty heated discussion as I liked house A and she liked House B. She spent the time discounting the merits of A all day.

B gets an offer at 4:30pm today. Whoops.
Both houses were a 95% solution for us so it doesn't really matter, but she nearly had me sold on B so now we're both having to backtrack and act like A is the greatest thing ever.

[tifosi77]

Son of a f*%#!

We were a week away from puttin an offer in on a house that was a hidden gem. We just wanted to do our due diligence. Was scheduled to see it again today and someone put in an offer that was accepted yesterday.

Dammit. There's nothing else in the area without going up 100k. And our house is likely going to sell right when it's posted next week.

Tldnr; I'm going to be homeless soon

I think our final tally ended up being four houses that we were inside touring when the seller accepted and offer. And there were another couple instances where offers were accepted between us seeing the house and our agent asking for disclosures (no more than an hour later).

[mac5155]

That's the part that got me about home buying. You have to make the biggest decision of your life in about 15 minutes.

[dodint]

That's the part that got me about home buying. You have to make the biggest decision of your life in about 15 minutes.

Hey, just had a 15 minute chat with my realtor and we're putting in an offer!



It's not a lowball but it is super buyer friendly. $3k under their asking price with full sellers concessions. *rolls dice*

[dodint]

Negotiating is fun and not at all stressful!

It's actually not that stressful, but the tension generated by waiting for the other side to have a chat does add some drama to the afternoon.

[tifosi77]

This is well and truly the sucky part. Good luck to you.

[dodint]

We seem to be the only ones offering so it's just a matter of aligning the numbers. We're $3k apart on a $200k house, we should get there soon.

[tifosi77]

Just agree to the higher price. Seriously, that's like $15 difference in monthly payments.

[dodint]

If only.

The seller realtor **** up the math and their counter to us, when we conceeded some of the gap, was $7k higher than our counter. They're now asking for above their original list price from October, which they lowered in January.

Their realtor told them the comission amount when the seller asked about closing costs, not the rest.

[CBear3]

Ouch

[dodint]

I'm trying to seperate my irrelevant anger at the gaff from rational thought. The kid **** up, and if I accept the offer the chump looks like a hero instead of the assface that he is.

[CBear3]

Well, don't let the chump come between making both you and the sellers "happy."

Easier said then done, as I pose this question to the group:
Listed house, accepted full price offer within 48 hours and agreed to pay $4k in closing costs. The inspection revealed a couple of rather trivial BS things and what appears to be hail damage on the roof. They're asking for repair/replace the roof in accordance with a roofer's opinion, also they want the three BS things that I figure will probably add up to $400.
Assuming my insurance goes for replacing, I figure I've got ground to stand on if I request to be reimbursed some of the cost of the new roof. They gave me full price for a 15 year old roof, adding <$1k to the pot (which is my deductible) for a brand new roof which would increase the value of the home by a far greater amount seems fair, doesn't it?

[tifosi77]

I'd just fix it. If something happens with this transaction, the leaky roof is part of the disclosures on the property going forward. If you don't want to fix it, you'll probably be asked to lower the purchase price by the amount of a roof repair.

[CBear3]

Welcome to Tornado alley. There's no leaks, hail breaks up the silicate layer and can accelerate the degradation of the organic material at the center of the shingle. Or so the Google tells me. To me a good roof is one that doesn't leak, which is the reason I've never bothered to look at it despite all my neighbors having theirs replaced.

I'm fixing it, and I'm going to ask for a few bucks. But if they say no I'm probably just going to bend over and take it.

[tifosi77]

Did your buyers specify a mutually-agreed contractor, or does their roofer get sign-off on the work by your contractor?

[dodint]

Well, don't let the chump come between making both you and the sellers "happy."

We came to an agreement and have a contract. Shaved $1.5k off of their dumb offer out of spite but we have verbal agreement now, just waiting to sign.

[tifosi77]

My man.

*high five*