House Buying Thread

Miami Vice
Posts: 1505
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:48 am

House Buying Thread

Postby Miami Vice » Fri Apr 10, 2015 9:28 am

As noted elsewhere, after dragging my feet for a few years I'm preapproved and need to buy a house within the next 7 weeks or so. I'm not very picky, so as long as it has a few main features, passes an inspection, and incomes in around my desired monthly payment, I'm in.

I have a friend who is a realtor on the side. I didn't think he was doing much business with it, so I wanted to help get him the buyer's commission. After getting my first preapproval last friday I sent him the letter and told him I wanted to sign the buyer broker agreement paperwork and start looking at a few places.

He's been slow to call me back, and last night kind of said on the phone "between me needing to buy a house and close by July 31 and a half dozen other clients, I need to look over my schedule and see if I can do this to help you." Which I really appreciated - I don't want him to feel compelled to work with me because we are Pitt tailgating buddies.

But now I'm waiting for him to make a decision on that and I have a slightly compressed time frame. One house I'm extremely interested in just dropped about 8% and is doing an open house on Sunday. If I like it as much as I do from the pictures I want to buy it - and I'm willing to offer a bit more than the new lower asking price to make that happen. But I'm afraid its going to slip away.

Do people make offers AT open houses? Or is that something they leave and potentially discus with their realtor?

blackjack68
Posts: 14856
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:09 pm
Location: Across the River from Filthydelphia.

House Buying Thread

Postby blackjack68 » Fri Apr 10, 2015 9:33 am

People absolutley make offers at open houses.

Not always, but it does happen.

blackjack68
Posts: 14856
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:09 pm
Location: Across the River from Filthydelphia.

House Buying Thread

Postby blackjack68 » Fri Apr 10, 2015 9:34 am

Tell your buddy to "Giroux" or get off the pot.

Miami Vice
Posts: 1505
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:48 am

House Buying Thread

Postby Miami Vice » Fri Apr 10, 2015 9:38 am

If I were having an open house to sell anything I think I would wait 48 hours or something like that to see if I get any other bites before I accept one. Its not like a car, right? If you make an offer you are bound by it if accepted.

blackjack68
Posts: 14856
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:09 pm
Location: Across the River from Filthydelphia.

House Buying Thread

Postby blackjack68 » Fri Apr 10, 2015 9:41 am

I would imagine you have a 3 day right of recission.

But, that may only apply to refis or HELOCs. I'm no lawyer.
Last edited by blackjack68 on Fri Apr 10, 2015 9:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

shmenguin
Posts: 19041
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 2:37 pm
Location: people notice my car when its shined up

House Buying Thread

Postby shmenguin » Fri Apr 10, 2015 9:42 am

If you offer asking price for a house that has been on the market long enough to drop in price, I don't think they'll be sleeping on it

shmenguin
Posts: 19041
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 2:37 pm
Location: people notice my car when its shined up

House Buying Thread

Postby shmenguin » Fri Apr 10, 2015 9:44 am

Also, why are you buying a house? Unless you are a big DIY guy and/or desperately want a space to make your own, I don't see a lot of practical reasons to get a house right now unless you're about to start a family.

Miami Vice
Posts: 1505
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:48 am

House Buying Thread

Postby Miami Vice » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:08 am

A couple of reasons, but I mostly miss being able to entertain and screw around with projects. I can't grill, work on my car (that I'm paying $70 a month to keep in storage), home brew, watch movies at reference volume (let alone use my subwoofer), have large crowds over for football games like I used to, that kind of stuff.

I'm paying roughly $1000 for 500 square feet and storage in a decrepit building.

Plus the interest rates will rise when Yellen starts screwing around with them in the coming months. Now is the time to invest.

shmenguin
Posts: 19041
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 2:37 pm
Location: people notice my car when its shined up

House Buying Thread

Postby shmenguin » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:27 am

Don't know if we're at the point where you can treat a house like an investment again. Depends on your taxes and how much home improvement you can do yourself, but I wouldn't necessarily go into it thinking that way.

mac5155
Posts: 13813
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:47 pm

House Buying Thread

Postby mac5155 » Fri Apr 10, 2015 10:58 am

There are certain things I would never want to use a friend for help... a realtor is probably one of them. I want to be able to yell at you and not ruin our friendship, ya know? Kind of like an attorney too. I wouldn't want my lawyer to be my friend. What happens if I lose? Then I hate you forever :pop:

grunthy
Posts: 18239
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:29 pm

House Buying Thread

Postby grunthy » Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:11 am

Don't know if we're at the point where you can treat a house like an investment again. Depends on your taxes and how much home improvement you can do yourself, but I wouldn't necessarily go into it thinking that way.

I'd rather spend 1k towards a house with the possibility of building equity than throwing 1k away in an apartment.

PFiDC
Posts: 9248
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 2:23 pm

House Buying Thread

Postby PFiDC » Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:18 am

If you offer asking price for a house that has been on the market long enough to drop in price, I don't think they'll be sleeping on it
As someone who recently did just this I can say shemnguin is right. We had 2 more showings scheduled at the time of the offer and we could have waited to see if either of them wanted to bid higher but the odds of that are very low.
There are certain things I would never want to use a friend for help... a realtor is probably one of them. I want to be able to yell at you and not ruin our friendship, ya know? Kind of like an attorney too. I wouldn't want my lawyer to be my friend. What happens if I lose? Then I hate you forever :pop:
We have a friend who is a realtor and we used her. Well, we used her group as she is a buyers agent. She is the one who ended up bringing our buyer to the house and the fact that she is a friend helped us. A house down the street went on the market for less than ours and she steered the buyer in our direction.

mac5155
Posts: 13813
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:47 pm

House Buying Thread

Postby mac5155 » Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:21 am

For selling a house, I absolutely would. But for buying, probably not.

PFiDC
Posts: 9248
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 2:23 pm

House Buying Thread

Postby PFiDC » Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:32 am

For selling a house, I absolutely would. But for buying, probably not.
That makes sense...

willeyeam
Posts: 39523
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:49 pm
Location: hodgepodge of nothingness

House Buying Thread

Postby willeyeam » Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:39 am

I wouldn't use a friend to sell but I would use one to buy.

Miami Vice
Posts: 1505
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:48 am

House Buying Thread

Postby Miami Vice » Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:56 am

I wouldn't use a friend to sell but I would use one to buy.
Thats kind of where I'm at. I'm paying my friend nothing. I know I won't be a particularly difficult or time consuming client so in my mind its an easy commission for friend to help me make an offer and push through the closing process with me.

Contrast that with selling the house, where a friend could potentially cost you a lot of money.

LITT
Posts: 7043
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 6:43 pm
Location: Those who don't listen will eventually be surrounded by people with nothing to say

House Buying Thread

Postby LITT » Fri Apr 10, 2015 11:56 am

I think with selling, you could probably just put it on zillow and have just as much success as with a realtor.

shmenguin
Posts: 19041
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 2:37 pm
Location: people notice my car when its shined up

House Buying Thread

Postby shmenguin » Fri Apr 10, 2015 12:17 pm

Don't know if we're at the point where you can treat a house like an investment again. Depends on your taxes and how much home improvement you can do yourself, but I wouldn't necessarily go into it thinking that way.

I'd rather spend 1k towards a house with the possibility of building equity than throwing 1k away in an apartment.
PMI, taxes and extra utilities/maintenance costs more than rent in many cases. It's generally not worth it to buy in those situations unless you have an explicit need.

PFiDC
Posts: 9248
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 2:23 pm

House Buying Thread

Postby PFiDC » Fri Apr 10, 2015 12:32 pm

I think with selling, you could probably just put it on zillow and have just as much success as with a realtor.
Success in getting showings and/or interest in your home? Probably. It's what needs to happen after an offer is made where an agent shows his/her value.

shafnutz05
Posts: 50339
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:27 pm
Location: A moron or a fascist...but not both.

House Buying Thread

Postby shafnutz05 » Fri Apr 10, 2015 12:33 pm

As someone who recently did just this I can say shemnguin is right. We had 2 more showings scheduled at the time of the offer and we could have waited to see if either of them wanted to bid higher but the odds of that are very low.
Whoa dude congrats, must have been tempting 8-)

tifosi77
Posts: 51457
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

House Buying Thread

Postby tifosi77 » Fri Apr 10, 2015 12:54 pm

If I were having an open house to sell anything I think I would wait 48 hours or something like that to see if I get any other bites before I accept one. Its not like a car, right? If you make an offer you are bound by it if accepted.
When we sold our house in 2012, it hit the MLS on Sunday with the first open house scheduled for the following Saturday. We had a broker's open on Wednesday, and got an over-list offer (sight unseen by the buyer) that same day. Our Realtor suggested we accept, and Mrs Tif agreed, so we ended up not even having the open house.

In retrospect, I think it was a huge mistake; we listed at $599k, sold at $604k, and I think we probably cost ourselves probably in the region of $10k by not having the open and seeing what other interest there was.

tifosi77
Posts: 51457
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

House Buying Thread

Postby tifosi77 » Fri Apr 10, 2015 12:59 pm

I think with selling, you could probably just put it on zillow and have just as much success as with a realtor.
There are far too many intricacies involved with real estate law. To the point that when we've been house hunting, I explicitly excluded FSBOs from our search.

Chances are good that your house is likely the single most expensive investment/transaction you will ever undertake. There's no way in hot Hades that I'm not having an expert guide me through that process.

Miami Vice
Posts: 1505
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:48 am

House Buying Thread

Postby Miami Vice » Fri Apr 10, 2015 1:39 pm

I just want a few very basic things:

-at least a one car garage
-within 5 miles/10 minutes of downtown
-at least 2 bedrooms
-small patio, deck, or backyard space
-a finished or finishable basement

Beyond that I really don't care, so long as termites aren't eating it, the roof isn't collapsing, the furnace is younger than me, and mold isn't going to kill me.

Gabe
Posts: 1070
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 3:09 pm
Location: St. Cloud (not the cold one)

House Buying Thread

Postby Gabe » Fri Apr 10, 2015 1:55 pm

I think you need to be honest with your buddy. Tell him that you'd love to do business with him, but if he is too busy, you understand. put it in his shoes, and if he can't help you, then you go solo and bid on the property you want. You took your friend's financial well being in consideration when you offered the business. If they are a good friend, they'll understand and consider your financial interest if they can't meet your needs. There shouldn't be any hard feelings. If he can't help you, move on, and invite him over at the housewarming for a beer or beverage of choice.

Miami Vice
Posts: 1505
Joined: Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:48 am

House Buying Thread

Postby Miami Vice » Fri Apr 10, 2015 3:12 pm

School district rankings in the Pittsburgh area:
Rank 2015 District
1 South Fayette Township School District  
2 Hampton Township School District  
3 Mt. Lebanon School District  
4 Upper St. Clair School District  
5 North Allegheny School District  
6 Fox Chapel Area School District  
7 Peters Township School District  
8 Pine-Richland School District  
9 Quaker Valley School District  
10 Mars Area School District  
11 Moon Area School District  
12 Franklin Regional School District  
13 Bethel Park School District  
14 Penn-Trafford School District  
15 Greater Latrobe School District  
16 Norwin School District  
17 West Jefferson Hills School District  
18 Canon-McMillan School District  
19 Ligonier Valley School District  
20 Montour School District  
21 Seneca Valley School District  
22 Freeport Area School District  
23 West Allegheny School District  
24 North Hills School District  
25 Beaver Area School District  
26 Kiski Area School District  
27 Hempfield Area School District  
28 Avonworth School District  
29 South Butler County School District  
30 Southmoreland School District  
31 Greensburg Salem School District  
32 South Park School District  
33 Plum Borough School District  
34 Riverview School District  
35 Chartiers Valley School District  
36 Belle Vernon Area School District  
37 Blackhawk School District  
38 Keystone Oaks School District  
39 Trinity Area School District  
40 Gateway School District  
41 Baldwin-Whitehall School District  
42 Butler Area School District  
43 Western Beaver County School District  
44 Elizabeth Forward School District  
45 Central Valley School District  
46 Slippery Rock Area School District  
47 Riverside Beaver County School District  
48 Frazier School District  
49 Allegheny Valley School District  
50 Derry Area School District  
51 South Side Area School District  
52 Brentwood Borough School District  
53 Shaler Area School District  
54 Hopewell Area School District  
55 Moniteau School District  
56 Yough School District  
57 Chartiers-Houston School District  
58 Mount Pleasant Area School District  
59 Fort Cherry School District  
60 McGuffey School District  
61 Deer Lakes School District  
62 Karns City Area School District  
63 Carlynton School District  
64 Armstrong School District  
65 Burrell School District  
66 Freedom Area School District  
67 Ambridge Area School District  
68 Bentworth School District  
69 California Area School District  
70 Apollo-Ridge School District  
71 Northgate School District  
72 Avella Area School District  
73 Leechburg Area School District  
74 Charleroi Area School District  
75 Burgettstown Area School District  
76 New Brighton Area School District  
77 Ringgold School District  
78 Connellsville Area School District  
79 Highlands School District  
80 West Mifflin Area School District  
81 Uniontown Area School District  
82 Laurel Highlands School District  
83 Bethlehem-Center School District  
84 South Allegheny School District  
85 Jeannette City School District  
86 Big Beaver Falls Area School District  
87 Washington School District  
88 Albert Gallatin School District  
89 Steel Valley School District  
90 Cornell School District  
91 East Allegheny School District  
92 Rochester Area School District  
93 Pittsburgh Public Schools  
94 New Kensington-Arnold School District  
95 Brownsville Area School District  
96 Penn Hills School District  
97 Woodland Hills School District  
98 Monessen City School District  
99 McKeesport Area School District  
100 Aliquippa School District  
101 Clairton City School District  
102 Sto-Rox School District  
103 Wilkinsburg Borough School District  
999 Duquesne City School District  
999 Midland Borough School District (K-8 only)  

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 62 guests