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Rurutia posted:Totally speculating here, but from past experience in other markets this usually happens if someone got talked into lowering their price (maybe by their realtor) and reversed the decision (maybe catalyzed by an offer at that price, which they couldn't go through with). Like I said the listing agent said there hadn't been any offers in a bit, and the one that came in was under asking price. The house also didn't seem to be actively lived in. There was like two beds, a table, some random cleaning and personal care supplies, and a motorcycle in the garage. So I'm not sure "make me move" is really the motive operandi here. Either way, would making a lowball offer with an explanatory note to the seller be worth the time? I know that's impossible to answer without knowing the guy, I'm just trying to feel out if that would be a huge breach of etiquette or something. Our friend had a good experience with a letter accompanying their offer, explaining that they were buying the place to start a family and not trying to flip it for profit. We're in the same boat, and it's frustrating to see otherwise OK homes get snapped up and flipped at prices hardly anyone can afford, or snapped up by landlords to be rented out at a price exceeding what the mortgage would have been by several hundred dollars.
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Dec 16, 2013 16:58
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It never hurts to try, there's no need to worry about etiquette. Unless of course later on you think you'd regret not paying an extra $10-20k to get the place, because he may tell you to gently caress off after trying to lowball. Even then it doesn't mean he won't work with you in the future. I lowballed for the place I got, although with no letter, in the same price range. Original listing was $250k, then they dropped it to $245k. I offered $230k just because why not try, and they countered with $245k but would pay all of the closing costs, my va loan funding fee, inspection, appraisal, and would reimburse my appraisal if the amount appraised came in under the asking price and I wanted to back out. Couldn't turn that down. scavok fucked around with this message at 17:43 on Dec 16, 2013 |
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Dec 16, 2013 17:18
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LogisticEarth posted:Like I said the listing agent said there hadn't been any offers in a bit, and the one that came in was under asking price. The house also didn't seem to be actively lived in. There was like two beds, a table, some random cleaning and personal care supplies, and a motorcycle in the garage. So I'm not sure "make me move" is really the motive operandi here. Divorce house, there is an amount that has to come out of it for assets so you my not be able to lowball at this point.
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Dec 16, 2013 20:17
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There are more fish in the sea. By which I mean there are millions of houses and you only need one. Make an offer that represents what you feel the home is worth and what you're willing to pay. Attempting to psychoanalyze the seller is a fool's errand. You cannot know exactly why the seller picked the price point they picked to advertise, and you cannot know whether they'll take your offer, counter-offer, or have a temper tantrum. The only sane thing to do is to forget about even attempting to guess and just make an offer that suits your own assessment of the property, your needs, and the comps. The worst that can happen is that you don't get the house. That should be OK with you. If it's not OK with you, then you have "fallen in love" with the property and that is a very bad place for you to be in. The best attitude to take when shopping for a house is to recognize that no property will be perfect; there are always going to be flaws, whether it's in the structure, the location, or just the price tag. Some you can figure out now, some won't become clear till you've owned the place for a year. Being willing and able to walk away is the best way to avoid a post-purchase buyer's remorse. Remember that even if the seller plainly states "we will not take anything below $x", they can change their minds. Especially if it's the only offer they get, or the best offer they get, or if their financial circumstances change, and you can't really predict any of those things.
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Dec 16, 2013 20:34
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Leperflesh posted:There are more fish in the sea. By which I mean there are millions of houses and you only need one. Make an offer that represents what you feel the home is worth and what you're willing to pay. Attempting to psychoanalyze the seller is a fool's errand. You cannot know exactly why the seller picked the price point they picked to advertise, and you cannot know whether they'll take your offer, counter-offer, or have a temper tantrum. The only sane thing to do is to forget about even attempting to guess and just make an offer that suits your own assessment of the property, your needs, and the comps. It's entirely possible to get a house for less than you're willing to pay. Especially if you have some inside information. Why wouldn't you try to reduce the price of the single most expensive thing you'll ever buy by any ethical means available?
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Dec 17, 2013 00:24
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CitizenKain posted:I used to work for a small boutique / antique furniture place and it was pretty jaw dropping the money people would spend on furniture. I once delivered a set of 4 dining room chairs that were Amish crafted, each chair was $495. It's more than just a D&D table; that's an oversimplification. The top comes off and you can use the recessed area inside for all kinds of other games. You can put your board games in there and instead of cleaning everything up to make way for dinner you just put the leaves back on and finish up when dinner is over. You can set it up as a kind of craps table for a casino night. We used it for Warhammer at my friend's house; he loved not having to pick up terrain that he'd made. We also utilized the terrain as islands in our Dystopian Wars naval scenarios. The table is going to get a lot of use. I'm not the only one buying either; they're on a 12 month waiting list right now.
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Dec 17, 2013 01:52
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Drewski posted:It's more than just a D&D table; that's an oversimplification. The top comes off and you can use the recessed area inside for all kinds of other games. You can put your board games in there and instead of cleaning everything up to make way for dinner you just put the leaves back on and finish up when dinner is over. You can set it up as a kind of craps table for a casino night. We used it for Warhammer at my friend's house; he loved not having to pick up terrain that he'd made. We also utilized the terrain as islands in our Dystopian Wars naval scenarios. I just rewatched the Shark Tank episode to see how the "Geek Chic" furniture guy made out. Looks like he was actually operating at a small loss on 2 million in income (partly due to lack of efficiency of scale) and his new business partner (Robert, if any of you watch the show) said that his strategy was to hit the geek niché market hard and raise prices across the board. Although I think the emissary table that you're buying was the same price before Geek Chic went on the show (3000-3500). And with the backlog there's clearly a big demand out there for these things. Enjoy!
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Dec 17, 2013 02:07
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Dik Hz posted:Nonsense. Or even unethical means? Because the place I got was in my condo building, I was really tempted to pick the lock and take a dump on the floor before the seller came to show me it for the first time. That would have been a hell of a bargaining position.
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Dec 17, 2013 02:12
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Dik Hz posted:Nonsense. That... is entirely in line with what I'm saying, though? If you think you can get a house for $x, then that is literally what it is worth. If you can't get it for that, because someone else will pay more, then it was worth more than what you thought, but you should be OK with that. If you can't get it for $x, you will either have to reassess what it's worth, or walk. Either way, you're not being overly concerned with whether or not you're "insulting" the seller with your offer. Example: A seller has listed a home at $200k. You think you can get it for $175k, so you make a $175k offer. The seller accepts your offer and you buy the house. Conclusion: the house was worth $175k. Could you have gotten it for $165k? It's impossible to know, and not worth your emotional well-being to agonize over it. It probably is possible to insult a seller by making an offer so low that it's not taken seriously enough to even prompt a counter-offer, but that scenario really only makes sense if you're the only bidder on the property. And if you're literally the only person bidding, you can't know what the magic lowest-number-they'll-take-seriously would be... so what do you base your offer on? What I said. Make an offer based on your assessment of the home and what you think you should pay. If you think you can get it for $165, then that's what you should offer. If you still disagree, can you please describe exactly what reliable method you propose to use, to glean the secret number within the mind of the seller that is the lowest offer they'll take seriously and either accept or at least counter-offer, without being a close personal confidant of the seller?
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Dec 17, 2013 08:38
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Leperflesh posted:If you still disagree, can you please describe exactly what reliable method you propose to use, to glean the secret number within the mind of the seller that is the lowest offer they'll take seriously and either accept or at least counter-offer, without being a close personal confidant of the seller?
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Dec 19, 2013 23:50
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I got really lucky on my house, it sat on the market because the previous owner smoked cigars and the house natuarally smelled them. The originally listing price was 255000 and they had it down to 235000. On the advice of my real estate agent I put in a 219000 offer and they came back with 222000 which I bought it for... Of course later when making the deal I found out a family was selling the house on behalf of their mother because she had to be placed in a home for care. Felt great about the lowballing after that.
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Dec 20, 2013 04:08
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DariusLikewise posted:I got really lucky on my house, it sat on the market because the previous owner smoked cigars and the house natuarally smelled them. The originally listing price was 255000 and they had it down to 235000. On the advice of my real estate agent I put in a 219000 offer and they came back with 222000 which I bought it for... Yeah, I get that it sounds like you could have lowballed more, but it sounds like you did more than alright if the comps panned out. If you're worried about the moral implications, send their mother a fruit basket.
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Dec 20, 2013 04:11
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After a long process, my wife and I have made an offer that has been accepted on an apartment in New York City. In NYC, before any money changes hands, our real estate attorney does a bunch of due diligence on the building with the building's managing agent, basically checking into if everything is all right. This is apparently so thorough that <5% of people ever actually hire an individual inspector to look at an apartment they are buying, the way you do in most markets if you are buying a house. My attorney was at the manager's office yesterday and told me that they are missing a lot of paperwork (this is a tiny co-op, five units) so the way to do it is to submit a list of questions to the building manager. He will have his own (presumably thorough) list. But I am here to ask the thread: what things might I not have thought of that I want to make sure to ask about?
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Dec 21, 2013 21:52
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I ran across an interesting listing today - the house is not formally for sale yet but appeared in the property ads anyway because the bank had posted a notice of intent to foreclose. The location is very appealing to me, the estimated price was well within my range (no asking price was available since it's not for sale), and while I couldn't get closer than about 400 feet to the place without crossing property lines the parts I could see looked fine and the neighborhood overall seemed decent. My position right now is that I'd be interested in doing a walk-thru if the owner would entertain the idea of selling the place. A bit of Googling revealed that in these situations both the bank and the owner could be motivated to sell since it'd save them both the cost and troubles associated with going through a foreclosure proceeding. On the other hand they might be trying to work out some other payment deal and not want to sell at all which would be fine too. So how do I best go about contacting them to see where they stand? Cold calling the owner myself seems like a terrible idea, should I try to find an agent and have them initiate contact after discussing the situation with them? Are there any other special considerations or legal issues to keep in mind for a pre-foreclosure property?
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Dec 23, 2013 01:14
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PDP-1 posted:I ran across an interesting listing today - the house is not formally for sale yet but appeared in the property ads anyway because the bank had posted a notice of intent to foreclose. The location is very appealing to me, the estimated price was well within my range (no asking price was available since it's not for sale), and while I couldn't get closer than about 400 feet to the place without crossing property lines the parts I could see looked fine and the neighborhood overall seemed decent.
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Dec 23, 2013 05:00
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My first foray into home ownership was frustrating to say the least, I am in Alberta Canada. I find 2 properties that are being built to check out, our realtor sets up a time to view and there is only a bare shell without electricity, we view the property and see that just the flooring needs to be installed and the rest is pretty much good to go. The unit is part of a 4 plex and there is no hint as to what the numbers would be. We look at the other property, also doesnt have electricity or anything of the sort just a bare bones, drywall is up etc etc. We like the first property more and due to location and layout we decide to put a bid on the property, the other units in the complex sold for substantially more above asking but due to the fact there could have been upgrades we were unaware of we ask for listing plus a larger appliance package. We get no issues with counter offer, our only conditions were that we get documentation regarding floor plan and finishes. They take it right up to the wire in order for the conditions not to expire. My bank in the mean time is fighting me on other things like condo association rules of which we saw no documentation. Of course during this time I decide to check on the property from the outside and see the progress. Much to my surprise as I am pulling up 2 people are walking into the property and lights are in and blinds are installed. This obviously freaks me out, i have my Realtor contact theirs and they say not to worry they are just storing furniture. The Lawyer comes back and says no you actually bought the property on the right hand side. As the documentation for the property makes reference to a different legal unit we dont actually have a sale. By this time we've already given up tenancy in the place we are renting. Their realtor blames our realtor for showing the wrong unit, every documentation that we got made reference to the left hand side including the picture on the MLS listing, the lock box was on the left hand side. Right-Hand side is a mirror image however the main concern is that there will be construction right next door being done by the same guys and until then we do not have access to the garage (still unbuilt anyways). They dont budge an inch and we cant walk away from the transaction. With all this we asked for a few minor upgrades that we were told that it would cost less than 2 k to put in the final bill comes in at $4,000 with no documentation as to why the difference. Unfortunately the girlfriend wanting to get things done signs it and sends it back with the false understanding that since there was no amendment to the purchase price the change order doesn't mean anything. We lose 3 or 4 days on our possession date while the lawyers figure that out. So we get no compensation, our move date is pushed back 1 week which fucks us with movers and we didnt get the unit we wanted, plus we have to put up with construction, a different view, zero access to the back lane which we need to take out garbage etc. Move in day comes and we get the bombshell dropped on us that because the building next to us is unfinished, which is into our property line the Condo registration which is required for titles to given is going to be pushed back until April at the earliest. No clue how this is going to affect my pretty decent deal I got on my mortgage. Also a large part of our change order isnt completed. But now I feel completely hosed over by everything with no recourse other than to blanket builder review sites, yelp and possibly write a letter of complaint to the real estate board. Unfortunately all of this with the stress of work and school caused numerous panic attacks. Now I am at a loss of what do do other than suck it up and move on and try to deal with the pending 5 to 6 months of construction. apatheticman fucked around with this message at 23:07 on Dec 23, 2013 |
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Dec 23, 2013 22:59
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I am need of some opinions. Looking to purchase a new built home and have done the calculations on renting vs ownership and it makes sense in my situation. Now I am looking at lenders for a mortgage. The builder have their own preferred bank and stated they will match up to 12K in closing cost. Home purchase will be my first in the US so I am not familiar with all the different costs. Was told I will need to have 6% for closing cost.. I have seen online lender (PenFed) which will cover closing costs. Builder states they will match any rate. Based on the cost of the home $400k. Closing cost is $24k. Builder states only 12k closing cost but I see PenFed offering covering of closing cost. $12k difference is quite a bit. My question is 2 folds. 1. Should I look at banks other than from the builder? Going with the builder may make the transaction more seamless. Benefits with not going with the builder? 2. Type of mortgage. 5/5 ARM or 30 YEAR Fixed. Have read some info stating the 5 Year ARM is not a bad way to go. Also any suggestion, concerns or tips would be greatly appreciated. OatmealRocks fucked around with this message at 01:13 on Dec 26, 2013 |
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Dec 25, 2013 18:54
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Sorry to interrupt, I posted a thread "Tell me about being a real estate agent" http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3596742 I know there are more than a couple that read this thread so I thought I'd bring attention to it.
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Dec 25, 2013 22:45
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Whiteycar posted:My first foray into home ownership was frustrating to say the least, I am in Alberta Canada.
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Dec 26, 2013 18:30
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Dik Hz posted:Why haven't you walked away yet? They're clearly in breach of contract and you need a lawyer. They knew exactly what they were doing, and have hosed you at every turn. Pot committed by the time we found out all the poo poo ended our tenancy with another renter already lined up etc. We already had a lawyer and he tried to fight for compensation but was unable to get anything out of them. So basically all I have left to do is file a formal complaint with the real estate board and fire off negative reviews to every review site I can think of.
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Dec 27, 2013 05:14
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Whiteycar posted:Pot committed by the time we found out all the poo poo ended our tenancy with another renter already lined up etc. We already had a lawyer and he tried to fight for compensation but was unable to get anything out of them. So basically all I have left to do is file a formal complaint with the real estate board and fire off negative reviews to every review site I can think of. You also have a lovely lawyer. Get another one.
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Dec 27, 2013 05:28
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Whiteycar posted:Pot committed by the time we found out all the poo poo ended our tenancy with another renter already lined up etc. We already had a lawyer and he tried to fight for compensation but was unable to get anything out of them. So basically all I have left to do is file a formal complaint with the real estate board and fire off negative reviews to every review site I can think of.
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Dec 28, 2013 14:55
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So a foreclosure was listed early this month in our favorite neighborhood. We have been shopping in the price range of 250-300. This neighborhood's average home is somewhere around 250-275. Last year around this time another foreclosure (completely stripped of appliances and fixtures) sold for 210k. The foreclosure is a Fannie Mae asking for 230. Our agent's comment was that we could probably buy the house for 230 and sell it for more money the next day. We started getting preapproved to make an offer and then our agent calls and says someone else put an offer on it, so now we're expediting things and submitting an initial offer of 214,000. Since there is another offer, our agent said they will probably ask both parties for their best offer and take the highest. We are putting 20% down on this as a primary residence. We're trying to decide if we should submit a best offer of 123, 127, or just offer the full asking price. Our agent said that our initial offer might actually already be the best, but the seller would probably play coy and ask for our best offer. I'm not sure how to play this smartly. We love the neighborhood, but I don't want to enter a bidding war against my shadow. One of the most attractive things about this house is how cheap it is, after all. On the other hand, even at 230,000 this house would save us a ton of money compared to our second choice at 285,000. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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Dec 31, 2013 07:05
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^^^ I just won a Fannie Mae bid for a place at 68k (80k list) and that was bidding against one other person as well. Honestly I probably could have not budged with my ininital 66k offer and still nabbed it, I'm sure the "competing bid" was a lookey-loo lowball, hell a competing offer of 10 bucks could theoretically trigger what you're experiencing. Obviously you're playing with bigger numbers but the concept is the same, so if I were you I'd not budge. I'm sure there are plenty more opportunities in case you don't nab it anyway.
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Dec 31, 2013 08:37
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The foreclosure guys always ask for a best and final offer even if there isn't a competing bid that is close. It is their fiduciary duty. It is a cruel game. You are going to spend a lot getting the house in proper living shape so be prepared. Banks sellers are aholes.
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Dec 31, 2013 17:45
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edit: nm gonna post this in the small questions thread
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Dec 31, 2013 18:09
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So, I'm a brand new home owner! Well, part home owner, had a little help. But either way, now I have 3 rooms to rent, so I'm also going to be a landlord. I'm only going to rent to people I really trust, but I'm not going to make the mistake of not having them sign leases. Anyone here have experience with being a landlord? I've been a renter in several roommate situations, so I know how to handle interpersonal stuff - I mean legal and monetary issues. Any common pitfalls I should watch out for, or general advice? Here's the lease agreement I was going to use, found it on a quick Google search: http://www.dca.ga.gov/housing/specialneeds/programs/documents/C-2SampleLEASE.pdf
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Jan 2, 2014 18:52
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You might want to head over to the Rental Property thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3548312
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Jan 3, 2014 02:59
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LogisticEarth posted:You might want to head over to the Rental Property thread: Oh, I didn't even know there was one. Thanks!
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Jan 3, 2014 19:59
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^^^Edit: Son of a bitch. Still, this post is somewhat less about logistics, lease forms, etc., and is largely about the financials on the personal side. I'll take it to that thread if you guys feel it fits better over there. Original post: Anybody have any thoughts on buying a house and renting out a room or two? It seems to me that would greatly speed up the timeline for whether or not it's worth it to buy vs. rent. Is that a completely naive sentiment? I'm aware that being a landlord has its own risks and headaches (in addition to the usual ones that come with home ownership), but it seems like those particular risks would be significantly (not entirely) lessened by renting out individual rooms while still living in the house myself. Some obvious things I've already considered:
What are the other pitfalls I haven't accounted for? Also, anybody have any thoughts on how this would affect the mortgage process? Cranbe fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Jan 5, 2014 |
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Jan 5, 2014 05:47
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Anyone know about the real estate market in the Ann Arbor area? Just from a quick glance it looked like $300,000 did get you too much as far as square footage, etc. I was seeing around 1700 sq/ft looked to be the norm in that price range. If you were working in the area of the University, what other outlining areas would be close enough but maybe less expensive than Ann Arbor proper? Are there areas that have newer developments going in?
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Jan 7, 2014 07:36
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AzCoug posted:Anyone know about the real estate market in the Ann Arbor area? Just from a quick glance it looked like $300,000 did get you too much as far as square footage, etc. I was seeing around 1700 sq/ft looked to be the norm in that price range. I used to live up there 4 years ago and was looking for a house. I actually lived east of Ann Arbor in Plymouth, which is about a 30 min drive. PM me and I can recommend a really great agent if you're interested. Ann Arbor is kind of an island with Saline and Ypsilanti as suburbs. Saline is nice, Ypsilanti not so much. Ann Arbor itself is pretty cool, but generally has a higher cost of living then surrounding areas. Football game days are kind of nuts for traffic. West of the city about 30 minutes you have Dexter and Chelsea, which were building up when I was living up there. Lot of A2 transplants there. A bit north and you have Whitmore Lake and South Lyon. I have friends that lived in South Lyon and its a nice smallish town with lots of housing options. I've been out of the market for long enough I can't really tell you what 300k will buy. It will likely buy more house the farther you go from A2, the exception being Plymouth and Northville because they are both pretty trendy and affluent areas. There are a ton of highways up there so a 30 minute commute opens up a lot of options. LordOfThePants fucked around with this message at 14:49 on Jan 7, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2014 14:37
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LordOfThePants posted:Football game days are kind of nuts for traffic. I spent 3 loving hours trying to get from the field to the highway 3 miles away, after watching OSU beat That Team Up North. Why don't the police direct traffic or make streets one-way to get people out faster?
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Jan 7, 2014 16:15
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Quick question: Due to the monster freezing in the area, how do you guys tell if there's a burst pipe? I'm fairly sure all my internal piping is fine, but I have an outdoor spigot (winterized) that has a fair chunk of ice around it. Is my only option to hire a plumber?
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Jan 8, 2014 19:54
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The DIY fix it fast thread had some tips there a few days ago: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2734407&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=230#post423697474
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Jan 8, 2014 23:39
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Is there an interior design thread anywhere? I looked in DIY and didn't see anything. I'm having a bitch of a time finding a good color to paint my kitchen.
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Jan 9, 2014 00:35
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Furniturechat: If you're in the southeast US, check out Ernest Wardner Designs out of Alabama. Completely customized woodwork. I got a nice solid desk and entertainment center for about $900 including delivery to Atlanta. You can send them a bunch of pictures of things you like and they will come up with something, or even sketch it out to every dimension (like I did to make sure my center speaker and receiver would fit in the entertainment center). It was pretty much a no brainer when everything else I was looking at would cost either half the price and fall apart in 2 years or was going to be 2-3x more expensive and probably not fit my stuff. Garage/estate sales are also great for getting nice solid wooden pieces cheap.
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Jan 9, 2014 04:38
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What are the things you should be conscious of when looking at older homes, built ca. 1930 to 1950 (edit: or even 1900)? I suppose the obvious one is to make sure the foundation is solid, but what are the less obvious concerns?
Cranbe fucked around with this message at 07:00 on Jan 9, 2014 |
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Jan 9, 2014 06:53
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Wiring. Wiring. Wiring.
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Jan 9, 2014 07:10
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Sewer.
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Jan 9, 2014 07:16
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