Buying our first home! UPDATE pg 4: Starting Over

[ChicknThief]

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I emailed her about it and she did know. She just didn't want to tell us until we had already seen the place. We are currently trying to find a lender who will do Homepath loans, as I guess that is the only kind of loan we can do in this situation? I honestly am not all that knowledgeable about this whole process yet.

And yes! There are actually a couple of properties that we have our eyes on now. All are on at least two acres, have at least 3 bedrooms, and are under 150,000$. So there are definitely options out there. I just made the mistake of getting ahead of myself and getting attached too soon

 

[ChicknThief]

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Good plan guys. That will be the first thing we do when we make a concrete decision on a property. I don't want to go through what poor Linda did. Blech.

 

[hemet dennis]

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I emailed her about it and she did know. She just didn't want to tell us until we had already seen the place. We are currently trying to find a lender who will do Homepath loans, as I guess that is the only kind of loan we can do in this situation? I honestly am not all that knowledgeable about this whole process yet.

And yes! There are actually a couple of properties that we have our eyes on now. All are on at least two acres, have at least 3 bedrooms, and are under 150,000$. So there are definitely options out there. I just made the mistake of getting ahead of myself and getting attached too soon

As a builder first let me say this is all from the pic. and may be all wrong. I would guess that the problem is with that deck / carport not having a permit and not built to code. If you really want this one please go to the county building dept. and see if it will need to be removed or can you bring it up to code and base your price on that.
Anyone can go to most county sites ( in Calif. ) and look up any property in their land use tab to check on property problems.
Good luck

 

[speckledhen]

Absolutely, no way I'd want you to go through Linda's ordeal! Just remember, there is always another house around the corner in this market. Don't get stuck on one with too many bad issues.

 

[wolftracks]

I'm living through you on this thread. I've mentioned trying to find something around the first of the year on the Calfornia thread and has some help there. My oldest daughter has 2 jobs. One is an RE agent and I've watched her sell every single listing she got quickly and she's worked so hard for buyers. I've also seen some of her buyers go check something out and go through the selling agents after she's worked her behind off for them. I know who much she puts into it and how much she loses out when that happens, so for now, I'm hunting and then having her look. She has been waiting for my go ahead, but I'm not in a huge hurry (well I am, but I need to get an idea of where places are) but I know once I tell her NOW she'll be on it. Thing is I'll be harder to work with, because basically, I'm broke and financing is gonna be a pain.

I love these places you've found. I really like that they have area and trees. I hope you find just the right one for you. A house has to feel like home to you even if it's just something simple that makes you feel good.

And I agree with finding out what you're zoned for. It's something I've thought about for a very long time and with what they are putting Linda through it's just frustrating to know that she found a place to be happy and she'd had to deal with drama.

Here's hoping we both find our forever homes. I wish you all the luck in the world.

 

[ChicknThief]

Ok so Jamison and I made a trip to Placerville yesterday to look at properties. All in all, the results were discouraging.

The first house was on mostly unusable acreage, the deck was dangerously dry-rotted (I very nearly fell through), and there were several code violations that Jamison was able to spot right off the bat.

The second house was right next door. Again, mostly unusable acreage. The deck was solid on this one, but the interior was really gross and there was really no place to keep any of the livestock we want.

The next house was the house I was really excited about earlier. We voted no on that one too. It had GREAT property with barns and fenced areas, but whoever owned it before messed up big time. It was pretty apparent that he had done all the renovations himself (or perhaps hired the neighbors kid) and that their only building experience was with legos. Most of the wood used on the deck and supports were interior use only, not to mention the wrong sized cuts of wood. The whole thing would have to be ripped out and redone. And the previous owners had really altered the original floor plan, and apparently had never heard of a "level". Almost none of the walls matched up, there was water damage everywhere from a botched roof renovation, and almost NOTHING was up to code. So obviously we voted no.

The next house we couldn't even find it was so far back in dirt roads. It's a miracle we even found our way out.

The last house looked really promising at first. That is, location wise. The drive was pretty nice at first, and we really liked the pictures of it. We kept driving... and driving... and driving... Right when we start to feel like we MUST be almost there, we start seeing signs...

"15% grade"
"Trucks and Trailers not permitted beyond this point"
"Yield to uphill traffic"

There was no turning around. We had no choice but to keep going. This hill was steep, and at the bottom of it was a TINY one car bridge. I got to the bottom and panicked. There was NO WAY I was going to be able to do this. Beyond the bridge was the uphill 15% grade, and there wasn't even enough room for Jamison and I to trade so he could drive. It was me, or nothing. I creeped inch by inch across the bridge with cars on both sides honking and yelling at me to hurry up. I manage to get across, squeak past the other cars, and start gunning it to the top of the hill. We make it, but just barely. Let me tell you, I have never been so grateful to drive a 150hp vehicle. If I had been in a junker I am sure it wouldn't have made it.

Once we got to the top of the hill Jamison and I looked at each other, and without a word I turned the car around to go home. NO house was worth that. I manage to get to the bottom of the hill, cross the bridge, and zoom back up the other side without too much trouble. We almost got hit head on by a speeding SUV that wasn't paying attention to what side of the road they were on as they were coming up the hill, but at that point it was all just par for the course.

Needless to say, that house was a NO. We couldn't even get to it.

After this experience, we decided to narrow our search. We will probably stick to places like Ophir and Woodland where there is farmland, but NO steep hills haha. I honestly still would like to live in the foothills, but Jamison doesn't want snow, and that last experience really kind of traumatized both of us. I actually had nightmares about it last night haha.

So, that is the latest update. Hopefully we will find some more promising prospects very soon.

 

[sfw2]

At least you now know what you DON'T want.

 

[Jferlisi]

LOL that would have sucked driving that. I think i would have been like your driving and climbed across the top of the car. LOL

 

[Whispering Winds]

I am a realtor, and see if you can find what is called a Rural Development Loan. It's 100% financing, but there are income limits, but if you are only going to use one income, then it might work . . .its a phenomenal loan, and if the property needs any work to be done to bring it up to code, that can be incorporated into the loan too, and the interest rate is good too. . .love the looks of that one you have issues with . . .hope its not anything that can't be resolved.

Illinois is dealing with a lot of foreclosures now, and the bad thing about them is NO disclosures, you are buying "as-is" and that can be a bad thing, if you don't have a whole house inspection done by a certified home inspector. The agents who list these homes, know nothing about them, other than "neighborhood talk" and sometimes that is all negative, because the neighbor might want to get in on a good deal . . .they are usually priced well below appraisal value as well, but financing with the companies who "own" them can be a pain the butt. . .but usually is your agent is on top of things and know the structure of the companies special Addendums and requirements, it can be a fairly easy experience.

Good luck!!! And, I will tell you the same thing I tell my clients when something doesn't turn out in their favor. "you aren't meant to get this house, the one you really want is waiting for you right around the corner" and 9 times out of 10 its true.

 

[ChicknThief]

We went on another little "road trip" to look at properties again yesterday. And this time we found some places that we really like!

One of them is in Rescue, about 30 minutes from my work. The property is beautiful, mostly fenced, usable. It's right next to a decent looking school and it's zoned agriculteral. The only hitch is that the inside of the house is unfinished. No drywall in a lot of areas, incomplete siding, etc. The entire family room and one of the bathrooms is just 2by4s and bare flooring. It would take a lot of work to make it livable, but the property is the most convenient and the most usable. This one is definitely my favorite. The kitchen and one of the bathrooms is functional, so we would be able to move in and slowly take care of one project at a time. I also like it because we will be able to make the place look EXACTLY how we want it to.

Another one is a little further out in Placerville. It has a big, beautiful, move-in-ready house, on an acre that will be very difficult if not impossible to use to it's full potential. This house is Jamison's favorite. It really is a lovely house in a pretty area. My only hang up is the land it's on. I am sure with a lot of work we could reach *some* of our goals, but I don't believe we could ever reach complete self sufficiency. We are going to see the inside of this place with a realtor on Thursday. If only we could buy this house, and stick it on the property in Rescue! Haha

The other property that we both like, but aren't completely in love with is also in Placerville. It is a large house that will need some work on the inside (replacing carpets etc). It is on about an acre with a granny cottage on the property that could be rented out after a couple small renovations. Most of this acre is THICK with starthistle that will be an absolute nightmare to get rid of. The major hang up about this place is it's location. It is the furthest out and I can't imagine we would be able to have many visitors, as everyone we know is at least an hour away, much more in some cases. Not to mention to commute to work that must be considered.

All in all we feel much more satisfied with the way our search is going. We will be talking to our banker soon about putting the car loan in my name so we can be qualified for a larger home loan.