Our househunting results

Our househunting results

We haven't found anything yet, although we did see a FSBO that we were tempted to make an offer on. Decided to hold off because we had an appointment with a realtor later that day and we had really just started looking.

On Saturday, we looked around Islip, E. Islip, Blue Point, and Sayville. It was pretty depressing. A couple of the places she showed us needed a lot of work and all of them were smaller than we wanted.

Sunday was better. The FSBO (in Lake Grove) was so much better than anything we saw the day before, we were tempted to jump on it for fear it was better than anything we'd ever see. But good sense prevailed, and since it did have some drawbacks we decided to see what the realtor on the north shore had to show us. She showed us some things in Setauket, E. Setauket area. None of them were 'the house' but we could have made any of them work - more than I could say for anything we saw on the south shore. So we're going to do some more looking next weekend, in the same areas, and I'll keep looking on the internet too.

Sounds alot like my househunting experience...

I went to 8 open houses yesterday in Levittown (don't ask why), Wantagh, Baldwin and N. Massapequa and didn't see 1 house that was worth the asking price, in my opinion.

Frankly, the word discouraging is an understatement - mind you, I sell apartments in Manhattan for a living - so I'm all too familiar with the term 'overpriced' and the phrase
'you've got to be kidding me'.

Suffolk County here we come. We can be neighbors, Karen!

:)

Kathi - Suffolk County

If you're serious about Suffolk County let me know - maybe we can share some of our research results on towns, areas, etc. If you want to send me your criteria in an e-mail I can let you know if we find anything that might suit your needs. Then again, we may be looking for the same thing :-)

What surprised me most was what bad shape most of the houses were in - lousy home renovations (who taught those people how to paint or use a saw???) JUNK glued to walls - on house had phrases in magic marker all over the teenager's room and clippings taped all over another wall - you know they would still be there when you moved in, and what a nightmare to clean it all up. Anyway, my e-mail is [email protected] if you want to share Suffolk County info (anyone else looking there too!)

Kathi & Karen -

I too am going through the same thing -but I'm looking in Nassau which I believe to be even more overpriced.
We go to open houses every weekend and I am alway real excicted and feel this is the day - only to come home and be depressed b/c it is starting to feel like we are never going to find a house.
Kathi I was looking in Massapequa, Wantagh, RVC and now we've started in Floral Park. We are always saying we are going to have to start looking in Suffolk - but really don't want to be that far out. We got the book buying a house for dummies which we have found to be helpful - After reading it - it appears all the signs are there for homes to come down - we are really hoping. I cannot believe what people are asking for their homes - we sold in Baldwin a year ago and the house was priced at the fair market value - we didn't say let's ask for $75,000 more - but I guess if you can get that why wouldn't you - But... we are not paying that - I refuse to overpay for a home no matter how much I love it.
We are going to continue to look but are going to try and wait to buy - unless we get luck and find someone out there selling their home at a fair price. Good Luck and I hope we all find something soon!

Kathi & Karen - Surprised at what you are being shown

I am amazed that you are not able to find anything good at a reasonable price in Suffolk. I can honestly say that Nassau County houses are about as overpriced as you can get, so if you want value for your money that is not the place to look. A 3 bedroom cape on less than 1/4 acre down the street from us just sold for $350,000. And trust me it is nothing special. I would suggest taking your time and if the agent is not showing you what you want be firm and ask to see only what you are looking for. If you are not happy with that agent go elsewhere. My youngest sister just went through a selling and buying process and went through 6 agents before she found one who showed her what she asked for. Don't give up..your house is out there. Good luck!

Wendy - not giving up yet!!!

I think it's extra tough because we have a tight budget but want a lot of square footage. If we would settle for a 2 bedroom we'd have a lot to pick from. The agent on the N. Shore definately did a better job of listening and getting what we want, although she was a bit up in price. We sat with her at her computer and did searches on several areas in our price range. Out of 6 we wanted to consider, 3 were already in contract. The hardest part about our search is that if we could just go 25K - 50K higher we'd have so much more to pick from, but we'd never get the mortgage and since I'm relocating, we don't have the luxury of taking too much time. If worse comes to worse, we'll get a fixer-upper and do a lot of cosmetic work and sell at a profit in a few years and hopefully the interest rates won't be sky high.

I think for the first day the agents, especially on the S. Shore, were showing us the range, to get our reaction to things and see what we'd like. I'm still optimistic!

what we were told

that you typically go 50K higher than you thought you would and real estate agents know this-- so it is best to low ball sometimes --I agree the process is difficult but there is a house out there for everyone--
we had a 50K range on what we wanted to spend 250-300 and we spent 275--300 would really have been stretching it for us ( i am a social worker so I dont make the greatest salary-- and i plan on not working when we have kids so keeping the mortgage down was our top priority)
keep looking you will find it
Laura

Karen- E. Islip agent

Before I met my husband he used this woman to buy a house and she was great. They stay in touch since he knew her daughter. Barbara Duerr at Century 21 on Main St. in East Islip. You can tell her the Calleja`s referred you. I met her when she came to tell us her estimate on the house before we had it appraised, and she was a sweetheart.
Good luck!

what we were told

We're in a similar range. We want to keep it under $300 but could go to about $320 if we had to. I came right out and told them not to bother showing us the places that were $350. They showed us the printouts, and said they were negotiable, but when I asked by how much they said maybe $10,000 so it just wasn't worth looking.

Maybe it's a case of the grass being greener on the other side, but it sure seems like getting to that $350, 400 range offers a quantum leap in quality. Time to go buy a scratch ticket :-)

Victoria - thanks for the info

We have someone with Prudential that showed us some houses, but we'll probably give your referral a call if our current agent doesn't come through better this weekend.

Karen -

Our range has been going up and up - we first started with 250-300 and now we are up to 350 - but I just wanted to tell you we have looked at houses for 450 even though we really can't go any higher then 375 - you never know. These days everyone has there homes truly overpriced - We have been looking for about 5/6 months - and I'll give you one example - a house was listed at 469 - then dropped to 429 - 399 and now 389 - we saw it at 399 and asked if they would consider 350-360 and they said no - (Well we went to the house again - and now we put in an offer for 340 and they might take it... people are not getting what they were this past summer. Although the home is priced at 400 that doesn't mean they are going to get it. Make offers on the homes that you think you like - make an offer on what you can afford - you never know. Good Luck

Good luck, Junebride!

That would be incredible if you get it. That house you`re bidding on was drastically overpriced if they`re considering an offer that`s 30%!!! off the asking price (unheard of in Manhattan)! This is great information. By the way, where is the house located? Floral Park?

Our situation is that we want to keep our apartment in Manhattan and to do that, we need to stay under 300K, ideally closer to the mid-200`s.

Right now, I`m just looking at homes priced up to 300K...

We`ll see, although, the idea of looking for 5 - 6 months is not apppealing!

:)

Good luck, Junebride! Im keeping my fingers crossed for you! *NM*

House Hunting

Jeez,

I guess we will be buying a shack..lol hubby is a fireman and we all know what great salaries they make. We can only afford 200-250

House Hunting* We are going to look this weekend

Actually we are going to do some 'area hunting'. Now that I have finally faced the fact that I will have to commute a little longer than I would like to we are going to look in Nassau. It sounds like we will probably be looking in Suffolk to really get anything for our money. :(

Curious

what is 250-300 getting you on LI? we are in NJ-- what type of house/land? we went further into NJ so we could get a nicer house with a nice piece of land but I am curious as to what you ladies are finding
Laura

Curious

I'm finding 3 BR, 1 bath capes for $250K - $300K+ with 60 x 100 - if you're lucky - lots and taxes are about $5000. Usually fair to good condition. This is on the South Shore of Nassau. Depressing, really.

Well - they aren't taking the bid -

The house is over-priced but they all are. Therefore, I'm looking at homes we truly can't afford and hoping that someone someday will except our offer. This home has been on the market for a very long time - (which worries me) but anyway, the agent told me that we really have to go up 10,000 more for them to consider - this is the hard part - is it just a game or will I lose the house if I stay firm? If we loved the house we would do it... but we are only bidding on it (saying - if we get it for this - then will take it. It is not even close to being our dream home - but we have realized we are not going to find our dream home for our budget. I think I am going to go up the 10,000 and see what happens - if they except we can always change our minds - I though planning the wedding was hard - this is so much worse - that was one day this is a home your going to be living in (having children) so much to consider....

Well - they aren`t taking the bid -

Sorry to hear that they won`t counter-offer. Personally, I wouldn`t move off the $340K for several reasons.

1) It ISN`T your dream home
2) It`s been on the market a 'very long time'
3) It is a game, unfortunately. If you`ve read my posts, you know I`m a broker in Manhattan. Obviously, we work for the seller. Our job is to get them the best price. The sellers in this case could be holding out for a 'magic' number, but their broker isn`t doing them any good if she`s not telling them what the market will bear.

This is all my opinion, of course!!! If they'll take $350K and the house means that much to you, then the 10K doesn't matter. Amortized over 30 years at these rates, it's an insignificant amount.

Good luck and keep us posted!!

:)

P.S...

The broker wants you to go to $350K to get a counter? Or did you get the feeling that $350K was 'the' number? If it's the former, then the sellers are obviously looking to close at more than $350K. Also, did you get recent comps from the broker? Find out what the neighbor's houses are selling and/or listed for. She should be able to supply you with that info. Good luck again!!