Buying a home - need some advice/opinions

[PineappleMama]

Yeah, and don't forget that right now Buyers That Can REALLY Buy (as in get funding!) are really really hard to come by.

If you're one, then YOU are in the driver's seat.

 

[calicokat]

Keep looking and/or be patient.

We looked at our "perfect" house when it was on the market - the owner was asking $125,000. A couple buyers offered in the $105K to $110K range. But he didn't accept any low offers because he was in debt on it due to a Home Equity Loan/2nd Mortgage.

It needed a lot of cosmetic work, and tons TLC. It was on the market for 6 months and no one would offer him what he wanted/needed. And he wasn't accepting any lower offers.

At the end of that 6 months, he lost it in forclosure. We picked it up for $80,000 when it went to the Sheriff's sale. We got lucky because only the first mortgage forclosed on it, the 2nd/Home Equity loan just took a loss.

Because it had been on the market, we had seen the inside and even had the disclosure papers and MLS info - which isn't the norm in a Sheriff's Sale situation, they are usually sight unseed and AS IS. There was a tiny, tiny bit of vandelism he did on his way out, but it was easy to fix/clean up. We got rewarded for being patient and not getting "house fever" when we first had the chance to buy the house.

So, my advice is to keep looking, or sit back and wait on this one to go into forclosure. If they are that far behind, it will likely happen. Watch your local paper's classifieds, the sales are usually posted in the legal section with the address of the property. Sometimes you get REALLY lucky and the legal add will also tell you the amount it will be forclosed for.

 

[TwistedSerpent]

I apologise if any of the info is kind of mishmashed, I'm just getting it all second hand as the bf is the one actually dealing with the loans and things (I'm just going along for the ride, and for moral support). The more we think about it though the more we are really liking this new place I found, and going with an agent this time to check it out in a few days. The idea of the place on 11 acres sounds nice but we're realising its just a mobile home placed on flat land, windy and unprotected by elements. We want to have maybe a horse or two, but nothing thats actually going to need 11 acres, and much more isolated. This new place has all the same ammenities plus a few added creature comforts (like central air), plus being surrounded by trees as well as plenty of open land and a river within walking distance, just the lack of pasture land. It's a lot more of what we're looking for in a house.

I keep forgetting about the forclosed sales, we're not looking for a fixerupper so are kind of cautious. Will definatly keep an eye out though. The owners of the place on 11 acres are really trying to rush us into a deal, but have already stated their absolute minimum, which is pretty high, also they wont be taking care of closing costs which really turned us off to it when we heard that (this was before we knew about the actual price the realtor said it was worth when she showed it a year ago). Going by the fact that they couldnt meet house payments or be able to cover closing costs its pretty unlikely they'd be able to afford any repairs we might want, it makes sense now why theyre not going with a realtor and not putting their place on the market.

Both of our preferences would be to find somewhere we will be happy living at for a long time, the idea of buying and reselling later in hopes of a higher value sounds decent but I agree in reality it probably wont work out that way and I would hate to be stuck somewhere I didnt want to be.

Thank you everyone for your great advice, it has been invaluble for me to get some wonderful and sound information from uninvolved parties. I will definatly be posting more updates as we go along, we're going with an agent on monday to look at this new place and probably a few others.

 

[koop]

There is more then price when you negotiate a deal, there's inclusions, and terms. Sometimes you do better giving them what they want (the price) and getting better terms and inclusions.

One other trick for over priced real estate is to write a cover letter stating WHY you are offering what you are.

 

[rancher hicks]

Your title says advice/opinions so here goes.

Unless you are married don't go into buying a house together. This is why.

Case #1 (these are true cases)

He and she were living together. He a miner in PA , she stayed home and took care of his two toddler age children from his first relationship. She loved the kids. He died in an accident.
Since the house was in his name she lost the house , the kids went back to the mother and she got zip! No rights to life insurance, pension, Soc. Sec. nothing.

Case#2
When my cousin Joe died at age 30 of a heart attack he had been living with Cindy for years. Since they were not married Cindy got (you guessed it) zip! She had no say in the funeral and while my aunt sat at the front of the funeral parlor Cindy sat in the back. Not in the place where a mariied woman would sit. Joe would not have been happy.

Case #3
I had to give a oral presentation on "Whether gays and lesbians should get the same benefits as heterosexuals". Now I had to do research into what those rights were. What I found was that unmarried couples lose out big time when it comes to healthcare, social security and pensions. Some types of retirement accounts can be left to whoever the retiree assigns. If they howeve have not assigned anyone the other party of a couple living together gets zip! It will go to the next blood kin.

And get this. If he/she has kids by a previous marriage those kids are entitled to a claim on the parents estate. If either of you has kids by a previous relationship those kids would have a claim on the deceased parents estate regardless of whether they were married to the other parent.

Finally I read the realestate section of our local paper. There is a columnist named Edith Lank. She gets letters all the time about couples living together and buying realestate with each of their names on the mortgage. They split and now the party who moves out is still liable for the rest of the terms on the loan. Even if you don't live there you or they could still be tied to the other party. Unless the other party who keeps the house can afford the mortgage you could be stuck.

Case #4 There was a house down the road that burned. In talking with the woman at the gas station I learned that she used to live there. But because her name was not on the deed, when she and her husband split she got zip. She had to move out and had no claims to the house.

Ladies know your legal rights in the event that something happens. If you love each other you will do whatever it takes to protect the rights of the one you love. Even if it means getting a license to prove it. A marriage license doesn't mean you love each other, IT MEANS YOU ARE COMMITTED TO EACH OTHER.

34 years ago when I married my wife I meant it. "for richer or poorer , in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, til death do us part." Believe me you will see all these things at one time or another.

Hope you make the wise decision
Rancher

 

[TwistedSerpent]

Definatly good advice, most people dont consider the legal factors of marrige, at least not right away. I know living together without being married isnt looked well upon by many, however personally I want to see if I can live with happily with a person before I make such a dedication to them, after the fun and newness of the relationship is over. He has been in some pretty rough relationships before me (twice he has had girls sell/kill his pets they were watching while he was deployed, among other things...) so he has built up some pretty thick walls. He has no trust issues, but is very cautious with who he is with to ensure it doesnt happen again. The fact that he is more then willing to have me with when he buys a house says a lot to me, we have known each other for a few years but I lived a few states away and was having a rough time on my own, he asked me to stay with him and feed me well so I accepted. My name wont be on anything, I do understand if anything happens I wont get a thing, but to me the oppurtunities he is opening up for me and the fact he got me out of a not so good situation outweighs those cons in the chance that we dont work out, which if thats the case I know I'll always have a place to go back home too. While legally its not the best circumstances, mentally and emotionally I couldnt be in a better place and the possibility of a few dreams coming true is worth the risk to me.

He's commited enough to let me live with him and get a place with him, I just need to let him take his time taking his walls and safeguards down. I know he would be totally heartbroken if something happened to him and I was left with nothing, but some things you just cant rush and to us this is one of them.

 

[gryeyes]

I'm from a fairly suburbanish area, but out on the outskirts where it's much more rural.

2+ acres is a good chunk of land. Quite a bit to keep up.... maybe not much for farming something. I think that would be much more doable than 11 acres. A much better deal in my opinion, comparatively.

My landlady owns an acre, and I rent the "back" house on her property. I am hoping like heck to be able to buy it from her, someday. The whole acre. I think of 2 of 'em, and I don't panic near as much as I would if I was considering 11 acres.

But that's just me. I've lived in a mobile home before (for 20 years).... they're not awful, the usage of space and storage is excellent. But a stick house is SO much nicer.

Tell the sellers of the 11 acres thanks, but no thanks. Try to get the other property. May you and your BF have many happy years in it together, so you don't NEED marriage to keep yourself "safe" from what I'm sure would happen to ME if I went in on a house with someone to whom I was not married. (But that's my story, not yours.)

Good luck! Raise lots of chickens!

 

[TwistedSerpent]

So we checked out the place today, we both really like it a lot, 2.44 acres is plenty of room for us. The deck needs a little bit of work but otherwise everything seems pretty nice. A very nice garage and several sheds, a lot of space to plant on. Cistern water but well water for the lawn, a hot tub but unsure if it works, and the gazebo is too cute, screened in with a swinging chair. Got to hear back from the loan officer but if they give the ok I think it might be the place we will want to make an offer on.

 

[AngieChick]

It sounds lovely. Good luck to you. The inspection process and waiting for it to close can be pretty stressful. Just keep your chin up throughout and enjoy planning your gardens and how you want to decorate.

 

[skeeter03]

Good Luck!!!