House buyers, a little advice please

[Divia]

For those who have purchased houses may I ask how the house hunting process went for you?

Currently I am looking at a general area, but I'm finding that what I can afford needs a lot of work

This is what I am finding:

Old country houses, which you know are drafty n cold.

Or old city homes which have no land.

There doesnt seem to be anything in the middle. I want a little wiggle room and a warmer house. will say that i tend to lean towards the older style homes, victorian, craftsmen etc. etc.

I want 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths. Sometimes I think I am asking for the moon.

Has anyone else had these issues? What did you do? I know this isn't the perfect time to hut for houses, but I'm starting to become frustrated. I make decent money and I would like a decent house. Not a mansion, but something decent.

[BCI Guy]

Find a good real estate agent - don't try to do it on your own. Let them know exactly what you're looking for and give them enough leeway because they may find something you love but weren't expecting. They have access to so much more than you and they'll put in the time that you just can't to do the preliminary legwork on everything.

I was renting in LA and wanted to buy in the Vegas area. Through networking I found an agent that I liked that specialized in the area I was most interested in. She would email me listings she thought I'd like, and I'd email her ones that I found (and if they seemed to be good, she'd go check them out and call me with details). Every week or 2 I'd fly into Vegas in the morning, she'd pick me up, we'd look at 10-15 houses and I'd be home by dinner. It took about 3 months until she found me the perfect house. And she took care of everything, got me a lender in the area, hooked me up with a handyman and a gardener, etc.

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

This, this.

Find a good real estate agent - don't try to do it on your own. Let them know exactly what you're looking for and give them enough leeway because they may find something you love but weren't expecting. They have access to so much more than you and they'll put in the time that you just can't to do the preliminary legwork on everything.

I was renting in LA and wanted to buy in the Vegas area. Through networking I found an agent that I liked that specialized in the area I was most interested in. She would email me listings she thought I'd like, and I'd email her ones that I found (and if they seemed to be good, she'd go check them out and call me with details). Every week or 2 I'd fly into Vegas in the morning, she'd pick me up, we'd look at 10-15 houses and I'd be home by dinner. It took about 3 months until she found me the perfect house. And she took care of everything, got me a lender in the area, hooked me up with a handyman and a gardener, etc.

[Brad2dbone]

BCI Guy is right, get a good Realtor, and be aware of what is available in your price range, so you know what kind of compromise you're going to have to make- you'll always have to compromise, unless you have a couple mil. to spend.

[Wulf-Gar]

All of the advice above is good. I would add the following:

1. Try to stay emotionally detached. This will help you determine the house's value objectively. My wife made the mistake of falling in love with a house and she couldn't see some glaring issues because she was emotionally attached to the place.

2. Have a contractor ally with you to take note of potential issues. If you have a friend who's in construction you can trust, that would be ideal. This will let you estimate how much repair and upgrade costs you are looking at short and long term and knowing such details can be a powerful bargaining tool.

3. Don't let your realtor push or pressure you. They make comission so they might try to herd you toward choices or pressure you to close on things or make compromises in the interest of a quicker sale. Do not do this. A home purchase is huge, take all the time you need to get something you are happy with.

4. Trust your gut, if you get a vibe to run away or feel cautious its probably for a reason.

Good luck on your hunt and I hope you find a place to call home.

[Alexx]

Guess I gotta echo the "good realtor" advice. Our realtor was a BIG help, 'cause she understood what we wanted and went along with us when a house fell through for us and we wanted to put hunting on the backburner for a bit.

I understand the frustration though; it took us FOREVER to find what we wanted, and in the end (we just bought the house we're in now a few weeks ago) we got most of what we wanted in an okay area. We're right across the street from a school, but there's a certain point where you got most of what you want in a house and you just aren't gona find much better. I mean, we could, but we've been looking for so long that we had to take this one 'cause I don't know how long it would take to find another one that had so much of what we wanted.

[Barezz]

A realtor is a good idea. And while I don't know the area you are looking in, I will say that it is a good time to be looking.

the best advice I can give is to know what you are able to do. If you can afford someone to do some renovations, or know someone or have the skills yourself, you can always do things to improve a house. Adding new windows can really cut down on a draft.

But if you don't have a means, don't settle for a house. I have a friend who got a terrible house, thinking he could add on and stuff... and then discovered that you can just easily expand a house (or cheaply). And now he's in a craptastic house, way overpriced that he will never make back what he paid for it, unless Evil-lyn casts some kind of spell.

[Divia]

well, I hate the realltor he has and I dont think she is really looking for us. We get those stupid daily emails that tell us "this house is available." We say "I hate ranches" and then we get of 50 ranches cause they are in the price range and its in the stupid programed email. Its frustrating. He and I have been doing all the work.

I have fallen in love with a few houses, but he talks sense into me and then I snap outta it, but I tell him "I understand what you are saying and I agree but let me pout for a minute for the loss of my dream."

Right now he is in love with a house and i think it is a horrible choice. There is hud housing behind it, plus a frat house and its off a busy street with a slew of college bars.

The one thing I do not want, is to be house poor. So thats why we are sticking to the budget.

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Divs, I would point out that there is a substantive difference between a "real estate agent" and a "Realtor", with a capital 'R'. It's easy to qualify as the former. The latter requires a lot more work and adherence to certain standards. You always want to go with an actual Realtor.

well, I hate the realltor he has and I dont think she is really looking for us. We get those stupid daily emails that tell us "this house is available." We say "I hate ranches" and then we get of 50 ranches cause they are in the price range and its in the stupid programed email. Its frustrating. He and I have been doing all the work.

I have fallen in love with a few houses, but he talks sense into me and then I snap outta it, but I tell him "I understand what you are saying and I agree but let me pout for a minute for the loss of my dream."

Right now he is in love with a house and i think it is a horrible choice. There is hud housing behind it, plus a frat house and its off a busy street with a slew of college bars.

The one thing I do not want, is to be house poor. So thats why we are sticking to the budget.

[BCI Guy]

well, I hate the realltor he has and I dont think she is really looking for us. We get those stupid daily emails that tell us "this house is available." We say "I hate ranches" and then we get of 50 ranches cause they are in the price range and its in the stupid programed email. Its frustrating. He and I have been doing all the work.

I have fallen in love with a few houses, but he talks sense into me and then I snap outta it, but I tell him "I understand what you are saying and I agree but let me pout for a minute for the loss of my dream."

Right now he is in love with a house and i think it is a horrible choice. There is hud housing behind it, plus a frat house and its off a busy street with a slew of college bars.

The one thing I do not want, is to be house poor. So thats why we are sticking to the budget.

You need a different Realtor. Mine would only send houses that matched my criteria, and the only time she'd deviate is if she found something that was really special and thought i might be interested. I actually never got any computer generated searches sent from her, only handpicked listings.

[Divia]

She did say that she was going to look around and see what she could find, but we have yet to get that list and that was about a month ago. Sad thing is he has a contract with her for another 6 months i think. Woohoo!

To be honest the houses we have seen are pretty sucky. I'm not impressed and neither is he. I know we have to give a little on something, and I understand that, but it seems like we are giving up a lot.

[JSteele]

My advise....keep looking. I looked at (literally went to) 46 houses before I found mine. Mostly because of the budget I was on at the time, many were dumps. I got lucky with the one I ended up finding. I'm glad I took the time, as I almost jumped into a house the week before that would have been a bad idea. Also, desperate sellers will usually discount houses further in the winter time because of the lack of people buying during the winter season. Also, if you don't like the real estate agent, fire them! You don't have to do business with someone you don't like. DONT sign another contract with any realitor EVER!

[Divia]

My advise....keep looking. I looked at (literally went to) 46 houses before I found mine. Mostly because of the budget I was on at the time, many were dumps. I got lucky with the one I ended up finding. I'm glad I took the time, as I almost jumped into a house the week before that would have been a bad idea. Also, desperate sellers will usually discount houses further in the winter time because of the lack of people buying during the winter season. Also, if you don't like the real estate agent, fire them! You don't have to do business with someone you don't like. DONT sign another contract with any realitor EVER!

OH! I dont feel so bad now cause I have looked at 10 houses and so far have had no luck. I thought I was on the high end, but I guess not. That is reassuring.

[ksensor]

OH! I dont feel so bad now cause I have looked at 10 houses and so far have had no luck. I thought I was on the high end, but I guess not. That is reassuring.

Yeah, 10 is really not that many. My realtor and I looked at 9 on our first day That was definitely on the high end for what I could stand, but it gave me a nice perspective. About the 3rd time we did that sort of all-day tour, I found a place I liked.

[BCI Guy]

OH! I dont feel so bad now cause I have looked at 10 houses and so far have had no luck. I thought I was on the high end, but I guess not. That is reassuring.

10 is not many. I'd look at 5-10 each time I'd fly in.