Our Home Buying Misadventures - Part Four
So I was hoping to wait on this installment until tomorrow, but due to some other circumstances....it comes today.
Out of the hundreds of houses that we have seen, we did see a few that we thought could actually be our home.
Updated House. This house was a four bedroom, two bath home. The garage had been converted in to the master bedroom. It had a small living room but updated kitchen, fenced in back yard and other updates throughout the house. The two things we disliked about this home were the lack of garage and it was on a very major street. It was reasonably priced and we had considered putting an offer in but we didn't act fast enough. The home was on the marker for less than a week before it was purchased.
Older Home in a Great Neighborhood. We saw this house and quickly grew fond of it. It had extremely tall ceilings, a large living room, separate dining room, and spacious bedrooms. The home was about 20 years old. There were a few updates that needed to be done (stretching or replacement of the carpets) and a few things that should be done to help the overall appeal (new appliances and tile flooring). The home was priced above our comfort level, but we thought we would go ahead and make an offer. Our first one! There were many factors that we considered when it came to making our offer. We weren't just giving a low number to see if we could get it for a steal. We considered the age of the home, the things that needed to be done to update the home, the number of days on the market, and specifically the fact that you could buy a brand new home that was move in ready for slightly lower than what they were asking. We were told these sellers were "very motivated" and we thought we would get the ball rolling with a price. Our agent listened to our offer, kind of laughed at us, and quickly called us back and told us that when we had a "real offer to give" to call back. That was our real offer. We used comps in the area and gave a legitimate asking price. (By the way, I would think that it is the agent's job to find the comps, not us, AND be our advocate.)
Needless to say, we are not proud owners of the home. This is probably a good thing because even though we really liked it, even putting in the offer we did, made us a bit hesitant with the actual cost of the house.
For Sale by Owner. So here we have the last house. This house we looked at three or four times. I loved the location of this home, the size of the rooms, the backyard, and the fact that it was move in ready. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We thought about this house for weeks. As our first home we were a bit concerned about FSBO but after looking at so many houses, I felt like this was the one. We had a contractor even come out and look at the house with us to give us estimates on what it would cost to make a laundry room, rearrange the bathroom, and even add on a sun room. Not that we would do all of it right away, but to make sure it was a good investment. After looking at all of the homes, this was the one that always came back to the front. So...we called the owners today and told them we were planning on dropping off the contract with our offer tonight. Then we hear that they already received an offer this morning right at their asking price. Nooooooooooo!
What I thought would be the end of our misadventures in home buying has now brought us back to the beginning. I know this happens in the world of home buying, but our deadline of moving out is in just two short months. Maybe we should take a step back from buying a house, but on the other hand, the rental market in this town is even worse than the buying market.
Out of the hundreds of houses that we have seen, we did see a few that we thought could actually be our home.
Updated House. This house was a four bedroom, two bath home. The garage had been converted in to the master bedroom. It had a small living room but updated kitchen, fenced in back yard and other updates throughout the house. The two things we disliked about this home were the lack of garage and it was on a very major street. It was reasonably priced and we had considered putting an offer in but we didn't act fast enough. The home was on the marker for less than a week before it was purchased.
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| Great curb appeal and I loved the little picket fence in the front yard! |
Older Home in a Great Neighborhood. We saw this house and quickly grew fond of it. It had extremely tall ceilings, a large living room, separate dining room, and spacious bedrooms. The home was about 20 years old. There were a few updates that needed to be done (stretching or replacement of the carpets) and a few things that should be done to help the overall appeal (new appliances and tile flooring). The home was priced above our comfort level, but we thought we would go ahead and make an offer. Our first one! There were many factors that we considered when it came to making our offer. We weren't just giving a low number to see if we could get it for a steal. We considered the age of the home, the things that needed to be done to update the home, the number of days on the market, and specifically the fact that you could buy a brand new home that was move in ready for slightly lower than what they were asking. We were told these sellers were "very motivated" and we thought we would get the ball rolling with a price. Our agent listened to our offer, kind of laughed at us, and quickly called us back and told us that when we had a "real offer to give" to call back. That was our real offer. We used comps in the area and gave a legitimate asking price. (By the way, I would think that it is the agent's job to find the comps, not us, AND be our advocate.)
Needless to say, we are not proud owners of the home. This is probably a good thing because even though we really liked it, even putting in the offer we did, made us a bit hesitant with the actual cost of the house.
For Sale by Owner. So here we have the last house. This house we looked at three or four times. I loved the location of this home, the size of the rooms, the backyard, and the fact that it was move in ready. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We thought about this house for weeks. As our first home we were a bit concerned about FSBO but after looking at so many houses, I felt like this was the one. We had a contractor even come out and look at the house with us to give us estimates on what it would cost to make a laundry room, rearrange the bathroom, and even add on a sun room. Not that we would do all of it right away, but to make sure it was a good investment. After looking at all of the homes, this was the one that always came back to the front. So...we called the owners today and told them we were planning on dropping off the contract with our offer tonight. Then we hear that they already received an offer this morning right at their asking price. Nooooooooooo!
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| The one that got away. |
What I thought would be the end of our misadventures in home buying has now brought us back to the beginning. I know this happens in the world of home buying, but our deadline of moving out is in just two short months. Maybe we should take a step back from buying a house, but on the other hand, the rental market in this town is even worse than the buying market.
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