we've got things in the works with the mortgage guy for a pre-approval letter. but we've found a house in our range we like so we're gonna make an offer. all offers are contingent upon financing anyhow so i don't really think i'm hurting anything by putting in the offer without the pre-approval in hand. i'm going to give you guys some background on the house and you tell me if you think i'm getting a good deal.

         1) 3 bedrooms
         2) 1 bathroom
         3) approx 1,180 sq ft.
         4) all new kitchen(including sink and counters and cabinets and flooring and new microwave)
         5) all new bathroom as well.
         6) fresh paint and carpet
         7) new sump pump and hot water heater
          vinyl siding is new
         9) new ceiling fans with remotes in each room
        10) windows are new (still got the stickers on em)
        11) no garage but lot size is 44x140 so there is room for one eventually
        12) semi-annual taxes are $299
        13) furnace is not brand new but isn't very old either
        14) price of the home is:    $72,900

so, any opinions? 

It'd be nice to have 2 baths or at least an extra 1/2 bath.To me, it sounds like a good start.You can always sell later and upgrade.This crappy market can't last forever.Can it?

Congrats, it sounds nice. 

Maybe I missed it, but you didn't say where the house is located?

Also, neighbourhood can make a big difference.

the neighborhood is decent. it's kinda on the outskirts of town so it's quiet. i too would like another bath but ya know. i'd really like to have a garage and central air too but i'm learning that when looking for a first home you're gonna have to compromise on some things.

1 bath would be a no-go for us...as would be the 1100sqft but that's dependent on the new owners.  I'm not sure what property goes for in Ohio but a lot of the houses we're looking at here are 3/2/2 and have a workshop on 2+ acres for under 100k.    The house we're really looking into right now is 2500sqft 4/2.5 with no garage, a 30X40 shop with separated "party room", all on nearly 6 acres with a list price of $114k...which is way over for the property and we won't give them a dime more than $90k.  Our other big interest is a 2200sqft 3/2/2 with a 20X30 shop and a 40X60 shop on 6 acres for $80k.

Quote from: jserio on March 01, 2008, 07:20:56 PM
we've got things in the works with the mortgage guy for a pre-approval letter. but we've found a house in our range we like so we're gonna make an offer. all offers are contingent upon financing anyhow so i don't really think i'm hurting anything by putting in the offer without the pre-approval in hand. i'm going to give you guys some background on the house and you tell me if you think i'm getting a good deal.

         1) 3 bedrooms
         2) 1 bathroom
         3) approx 1,180 sq ft.
         4) all new kitchen(including sink and counters and cabinets and flooring and new microwave)
         5) all new bathroom as well.
         6) fresh paint and carpet
         7) new sump pump and hot water heater
          vinyl siding is new
         9) new ceiling fans with remotes in each room
        10) windows are new (still got the stickers on em)
        11) no garage but lot size is 44x140 so there is room for one eventually
        12) semi-annual taxes are $299
        13) furnace is not brand new but isn't very old either
        14) price of the home is:    $72,900

so, any opinions? 

depends on zip code. back in MS (39305) our house is similar in size, price, and has sat unsold for a few years now. here in FL (33510) you can't touch properties for less than $150000 that are similar in age/location/condition. then view things in california (willits) and see doublewides going for $600,000 (yes, that's five zeros) on rented land.

what it all comes down to is:
it beats the hell out of renting/apts, and you get your 'rent' back if/when you sell. this is our first time in apt's and we hate it. _HATE_. if/when the house sells we're throwing a party.


good luck on the offer, make sure you crawl around underneath, and check the attic, pay an inspector to check everything, and go with them for the inspection.

the home inspection will be done sometime in the next ten days. we made our offer earlier today and the seller has allready countered.  the price we agreed too is $72,500. seller is going to pay closing costs and pay for a one year home warranty. now, just waiting on the mortgage guys to do their thing. 

this threads worthless w/o pics, ( or a google earth  )

well, i got an update for ya guys. my home inspection is in the morning. and i should know for sure by the end of business on friday if all the loan details have been worked out and approved. this waiting game sucks. but i suppose it will be worth it in the end. 

Wow - I need to move.  Last March we bought a townhouse ... 3 bed/3.5 bath all brick end unit, new kitchen, walkout basement to a small fenced backyard.

No garage but at least it has 2 parking spots right in front (most have 1 across the lot).

$420,000

And in an area where many tax assessments are fluctuation by more than the places both you (jserio) and mak have mentioned, ours dropped $364 ... less than 1/10%

At least I also get near constant rush hour traffic and high fuel prices to make me feel better.

Sounds nice jserio - if you have the space to put in a garage, you can always add another bathroom/master suite if you need it - we surely would.

it's got room for a garage, yes. i walked with the inspecter through the whole house. from the roof to the crawl space. well, i'll admit, i didn't go into the crawl space, i let him do that on his own. anyhow. i'm glad i had it done. found some problems with the home. some more serious than others. the major issues i'm going to demand the seller fix. the minor things i can work on after we move in. some examples.

major: all plumbing is pretty much new except it was done by someone who had no clue about plumbing. all the joints leak, all the drains leak. and there is no frickin pressure.

minor: some outlets shown to have reversed polarity. that is something i can fix on my own in a short amount of time.

major: none of the electrical juntion boxes have covers on them.  this screams, "fire hazard".

minor: linoleum in the kitchen is bubbling up a bit in some places

major: furnace is not working properly and the return is not ran properly.

major: 2 floor joists have severe cracks in them. this can be fixed by bracing however.

i could go on but those are the main things i remember from today. i'll get the full report in the morning. if the sellers refuse to fix the major issues, guess i'm still lookin for a house. i will keep ya guys posted. oh, and i'll get pics up as soon as i'm certain it's ours. 

Quote from: jserio on March 13, 2008, 09:36:37 PM
it's got room for a garage, yes. i walked with the inspecter through the whole house. from the roof to the crawl space. well, i'll admit, i didn't go into the crawl space, i let him do that on his own. anyhow. i'm glad i had it done. found some problems with the home. some more serious than others. the major issues i'm going to demand the seller fix. the minor things i can work on after we move in. some examples.

major: all plumbing is pretty much new except it was done by someone who had no clue about plumbing. all the joints leak, all the drains leak. and there is no frickin pressure.

minor: some outlets shown to have reversed polarity. that is something i can fix on my own in a short amount of time.

major: none of the electrical juntion boxes have covers on them.  this screams, "fire hazard".

minor: linoleum in the kitchen is bubbling up a bit in some places

major: furnace is not working properly and the return is not ran properly.

major: 2 floor joists have severe cracks in them. this can be fixed by bracing however.

i could go on but those are the main things i remember from today. i'll get the full report in the morning. if the sellers refuse to fix the major issues, guess i'm still lookin for a house. i will keep ya guys posted. oh, and i'll get pics up as soon as i'm certain it's ours. 

Wow - those are some major issues.  And the minor issues might be indicative of major issues - polarity on multiple plugs?  Did the guy build the house himself?

the plugs that have reversed polarity are in an addition he added on. the majority of the work, paint, drywall, siding, cabinets, carpet, he did an excellent job. but, he obviously didn't pay a liscensed plumber or electrician to come out. well, now he has too. bummer for him. i don't see him gettin around it either. i don't know of anyone who would buy the house without wanting these conditions fixed.

Absolutely.  Hope it works our for you

me too. so does the wife, she's in love with the place.  will keep ya guys updated.

well, i got the report. but i can't open it to read it.  apparently it is an .xls type document and microsoft excel is needed to open it. a program which i do not have becuase there is no need for me to have it.  is there any way i can change the document type to a type my computer will open and read? i allready looked into trying to download a free trial of excel and it will require 2 separate downloads and the first one says it takes roughly an hour! 

If you want, you could email it to me and I could send it back as an XPS (MS doc) or Word.  PM me if that would help.  Or if anyone has full version of Acrobat (I do at home - not here), you can print to PDF.

i've got acrobat. so could i email to myself? or maybe to my wife's email?

You need to open it in Excel and print to PDF. 

Scratch the PM - was going to give you my Office Online accpount info but it's tied to my email haha - thought it was different.

You can use Google Docs (or similar) to open it quickly.  MS Office Online takes a day or so to set up.

If you wife has Excel and Acrobat (not Reader), she could open it and Print to PDF as well.

i got it open by previewing it. nothing really in there i didn't know about yesterday.