House Distress

i know theres been some posting about the pain of looking for a house in long island...

for those of you who have a single family home how many houses did you have to look at before you found the one???

we've had such trouble and stress over this search - put a bid on two houses already that feel thru

do you think the market will get better??? the asking prices for some of these houses in pretty poor condition is ridiculous!

You are going to be living in this house for a long time...so take your time in making any decsions. Better to let a good house pass you by than buy a house you will regret.

Personally, I think the real estate market is going to go down a little in the next year or so - particularily for 'fixer uppers'. Nice homes in good areas will always be expensive.

We must of seem over 100 houses - we looked for over a year. While we were looking homes increased about $100,000 or so - so I feel your pain. The market has been crazy for about 3 years now.
We put so many bids on homes - the only thing I can say is I'm glad we didn't buy one of the first homes we bid on - the longer you look the more experienced you become. After a while you are able to figure out what prices are fair market price and which ones are just plain crazy and those homes will come down in price. We saw homes that came down $75,000 over a few months - we were looking in RVC and we new all the homes that were listed b/c you really do become an expert - I usted to love Friday's when the new listings came out and then going on Sat. moring to look at them all.
Don't give up your home is out there -
we didn't find our dream home - but after looking for so long I felt we should really try and get this one - it was in an area that we wanted - it was a colonial - and had a fire place (we came to realize that 3 out 15 wasn't too bad) LOL -
You'll see you start to give up a lot of the things that were on your must have list
It's just the way the market is these days.

We started looking in the very beginning of August, and we found our home near the end of October. We are hoping to close before Christmas.

Honestly, I think that we looked at over 100 homes or more (with and without realtors). We only put an offer on one other home (besides the one we are buying). Let me stress the single most important aspect of buying a home - LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. You can do any home improvements and repairs that you want, and you can even take as long as you need to get them done. But, you cannot pick up the house and move it someplace else. I fell in love with the neighborhood and the block that our house is on before I even stepped foot inside the home. Of course, I love the house, especially since it has an ideal layout for us. But it wasn't what originally 'sold' me.

Are you working with a realtor? If so, try to be very direct with him/her about only taking you to see homes that meet your criteria. Refuse to let anyone waste your time. I had a couple agents working several different areas for us, and sometimes I had to put my foot down if I felt they weren't listening to what I wanted. I know it is hard to be patient, but you will find what you are looking for. Hang in there and good luck!

We probably looked at around 100 houses in 2 different areas of LI. Keep at it, your home will come along.

We put bids on 3 different houses before we got one accepted. We were about to give up on LI and buy a vacation home upstate instead when we found our house. Good Luck

We started looking in the month of Feb and found our home in June. Theres no set amount of time really. It also depends on how many houses you look at per week/month. We used a realtor and I also set up appointments on my own for the FSBO's. I would set up an entire Saturday 10-6, of appointments back to back. and I had my little notebook to write down anything and everything, because after the day was over we forgot which house had what that we liked or hated.
I really enjoyed looking at homes. I learned something new at each home, I got ideas from seeing so many homes, and in the end it does work out for you ! So be patient ! We didnt get into bidding wars with 2 other homes that we wanted, so we 'let them go' (and boy would we have OVERPAID if we did keep bidding!) but in the end we got the best deal and we wouldnt trade this home for either of the ones we didnt get.

Be patient, keep notes, and as Claud said, put your foot down if you have to !

GOOD LUCK !

we've bid on 2 houses so far - yes found some we really liked but only 2 that met all our qualifications -

first one failed the engineer's inspection

second one the homeowner had spoiled 2 deals before us b/c he wouldn't UNCOVER the inground pool for the inspector (or allow the buyer to set up an escrow acct for any possible damages to that hidden pool) and the realtor also was such a JERK uggh

so we low-bid the 2nd home - really low-bid and just let it go to someone who wanted the hassle when our offer wasn't accepted...

it's hard we looked in areas where the houses are gorgeous but the amount of property stinks and the schools have low state/national scores...

the other thing we're noticing is that the realtor knows we have more money than we want to spend on a house and i think tries to play this game and tell the seller oh don't accept that they can pay more...i'm only speculating here...

well we have time - we're currently renting - so can move anytime...i have NO idea how ppl negotiate selling property and buying another at the same time - sounds sooooooo stressful

ok i'll stop ranting...anyone know of any good halfway decent realtors in good school districts like a RVC or Massapequa or Farmingdale?

I am no expert on looking but I can say that you WILL find your home! Claud is right about not just buying a home, but a neighborhood. Also, if an agent is not taking you to homes that you would even consider, talk to a new agent. I think that is the worst thing- having someone waste your time.
Be patient you will find the perfect place for you.