Our househunting results

Junebride

We went thru the same thing-- we had a price in our head that we didnt want to go over --but also didnt want to pay- we offered them below it and ended up meeting them at that price-- so it was a compromise--but part of the difference with us is the house has been redone so there is not an ounce of work we will do to it-- but it was more than we wanted to spend but like anything it had/has its plusses--the aize of the property/the condition of the house and land/on a culdesac, etc..
you have to do what makes the 2 of you feel comfortable--with us that would change every 2 to 3 hours before the whole thing got settled--
good luck
Laura

Kathi,

This is one of those houses (for some reason it hasn't sold0 I'll tell you what I think ... it was priced to high - it started at 469 (houses around it sell for that but they are in better condition and bigger homes. This house is in RVC (there are not many homes in the 300-400 range) anyway the house has some issues - anyway the sellers haven't wanted to come down - but as months have passed they have - anyway the rumor is that they really want to sell before the winter - I met the owner the other night and it did seem that she really wants to sell bad. Anyway the broker told me they want 370 but thinks that I should put in an offer of 350 - (in your opinion do you think homes have come down? - Although I've been looking it's hard to say - in some ways I say yes - in my opinion people are still pricing the homes very high but they aren't getting their prices and the houses sit. What do you think?
I also don't know what to do about the house - I do think it's worth 350 but I'd prefer to get it for 340 so that I'd have extra money to make the changes I want.
Thank you so much for your help.

they aren`t taking the bid - Will the split the difference?

See how serious they are about getting out of there. Maybe another 5000 will get them to move.

I think there are still some people who put their homes up for sale a while ago thinking this is the time to really make some money on their investment. They had unrealistic expectations about what they could get, unfortunately the market met and in some cases exceeded those expectations. These people might not have any compelling reason to sell -They may just want to see if they can get their price. One of my neighbors has had their apartment off and on the market for the past two years. They consistently ask 15,-20,000 more than everyone else does. That's why they are still sitting there when others put their apartment up and in goes in one weekend. Enough rambling sorry.

Kathi

Ugh i had a feeling that is what you were going to say--one thing i said was i would never live in a cape--dont ask why i had no reason--now we bought a ranch-- but the land is what made a huge difference-- I knew I didnt want our neighbors on top of us and now we only have neighbors to one side of us and the lot is a little bigger than 1/2 an acre (120 X 200) but we went further out to get this-- our taxes are also in the 5K range---
Laura

Laura...

that is us too - in one way if we choose another area we could get a home that we love (well like a lot) but if we want to buy where we rent now (we have to buy a home that is small and we don't love) everyday our opinion changes. We are so confused - this house is on a great block in Rockville Centre (the taxes are ok) low for here - but we don't love the house. James wants to hold out and find our dream home in this area (but I know we will never find that) if we could get this house I think it would be a good buy. (Key word is think) A book that I've read says look at as many homes as you can - all this has done is confuse us even more - it makes no sence at all - some homes that I would think would sell fast don't and prices are just crazy - we've probably looked at 60 homes - and I don't really feel any more educated now then when I looked at my third home.

Junebride

I can imagine how frustrating it is--plus the more you look at the more you expect to find the perfect one--we started to look at it a little differently-- we orignally wanted our dream home (colonial with a beautiful porch)then realized that it wasnt possible so we said we would look for a starter home( i hate this phrase) so we found our 3 bedroom ranch and have decided that in 10-15 years that we could build up and out rather than move on-- so changing or expectations for right now enabled us to find our 'dream' house --although i have to say it is missing some things--no eat in kitchen although they redid the kitchen with amazing appliances (my husband is a great cook and loves to be in the kitchen) so not having an eat in kitchen is a big deal for him-- so there were some compromises-- but again thru the whole thing we kept coming back to making sure this is really what we wanted to do -- I felt like a broken record at times but also felt that we had to be absolutely sure(or at least as close to possible)
hope this helps
Laura
if you want to check out pics of our humble little future home
www.laurajeremy.homestead.com/home.html

Laura I love your pictues - you have a great site!! *NM*

Junebride

Yes, I do think that prices have come down and will continue to decrease over the winter - not drastically, but I think they'll move. Also, everything I'm hearing is that mortgage rates will go even lower by year end... we'll see!!

The broker says 'they want 370K, but come to 350K?' HUH? She's intimating that they might settle at 350K. Remember, she works for the seller. Go to 350K if you think it's worth it, but be firm! OR, you can always leave your offer of 340K there for a few days while you check out other homes over the weekend...hehe

If you go to 350K, the broker will come back and tell you they'll 'meet you in the middle' @ 360K... That's the game! :)

Did she give you comps or tell you there have been other offers on the house? Ask her what offers have been rejected - sometimes a broker will give that info. up to get you to bid above the rejected offers.

Keep me posted :)

Curious - Suffolk comparrisons

For $250-$300 we've been seeing 4 bedroom, 1.5 baths in Western Suffolk in Islip, Sayville, Setauket, Lake Grove, etc. The condition has been varied - some in decent shape, some look like they should be gutted and completely redone, except the exterior structure doesn't warrant it.

I have no problem with a fixer-upper and doing work if it's got great structure and character, but it's hard to do that to a split level ranch that was poorly put together in the first place.

The worst part is that there seem to be lots of people who have done their own interior improvements and should be flogged for having ever picked up tools. I've seen 'improvements' that were so poorly done I'd have to take them out and do them over so what's the point of paying extra for a 'good' condition house.

Suffolk houses seem to have 2 features that I hate too... Lots of them have converted the 1-car garage into an illegal apartment, and they also like to have 1 bathroom upstairs with 2 doors - 1 to the hallway and 1 to the master bedroom. I don't like that lack of privacy - I'd rather have it with no door to the bedroom, or preferably a separate master bathroom - something that seems to be rare in our pricerange. :-(

Junebride - Very long story!

Junebride, I know what you are going through with the 'dream' house. My husband and I started looking for houses in March of 1999. We looked in a bunch of different towns and adjusted our price range a couple of times. We kept thinking that at some point we would just walk into a house and 'know' that it was the one!

What was different for us I guess was that we had no intention of buying a starter house. We really wanted to spend the money up front and buy the house we still wanted to be in 30 years from now when we owned it outright. Also, we were what one realtor referred to as 'picky'! :) We wanted something mostely updated and the only work was cosmetic until we wanted to do something big. We wanted a 2 car garage, a big backyard and a not too long commute into the city. Suffice to say we drove more than a few realtors crazy and had a couple actually give up on us!!

The more you look, the more you start to realize that yes, homes on LI are extremely overpriced. However, its your money and as you pointed out a very big decision. The more you look, the more specific you can be about what you want and it actually becomes less confusing. We started to know as soon as we pulled in front of a house whether it was something we wanted.

We put a bid in on one home and lost. We bid what we thought the house was worth, not the overinflated price they were asking. We lost. But, we kept looking and then a year later (September of 2000) we stumbled into an Open House where we were positive we couldn't afford the house. As soon as we walked in, we ABSOLUTELY KNEW that this was our house. We felt it. It also had been on the market for a while and the price had dropped three times - mainly because the sellers kept having problems with the 2 previous offers to buy and were running out of time to sell since they had also gone to contract on their new house.

Very long story short,(too late!)we ended up bidding about $20,000 more than we ever wanted to spend - which was still $20,000 less than they were asking!! But, we sat with our financial planner and made sure that we could handle the mortgage and still have all of our plans for the future in tact (i.e. me staying home with babies, etc.) And as far as the sellers were concerned, we were the only bidder who could close within a month so we were their best offer even though we weren't the highest one. And we did this 8 months before the wedding! Talk about stress.

Point of my long winded story is - I do believe you will 'know' when you find the house, if you have the time (and patience) to spend looking but also that sometimes things just work out on their own - I know how confusing and frustrating it is, believe me. I work in the mortgage industry and I think housing prices will drop -- but only a bit -- mainly because there are just not as many buyers out there as there were a year ago.

Good Luck to you!!

;-)

Thanks Junebride
Lee--your story sounds great and i agree with the fact that once you walk into the house you will know--
we werent even seriously looking and now we are moving out of our condo next week-- we have to move in with my inlaws for 2 weeks so if my posts start to get bitchy I apologize now!!!! ;-)
Laura

Junebride

Yikes! I'm helping a friend negotiate on her 'dream' house in Glen Head - wish I was in the $600K range - anyway, I realized on my posts to you that I was responding like I would to her!! I get carried away sometimes!! HeeHee!

Sorry!! It's only my opinion - I feel like I know everyone here!!

Good luck in whatever you and your husband decide!!

:)

Lee...

Thank you so much for your story - I have a book of all the houses I have seen with our remarks and a rating - not one house has gotten an 8 - that's sad.
My husband is willing to wait b/c he believes we are going to find it. I just want a house so bad. But, after reading what you wrote (I don't want to settle) and that's what I've been doing. I've been talking myself into houses that I really don't love. The thing is if we were willing to look in different areas we would be able to buy a house we probably could love -However, in the places we are looking we will have to settle (the question is how much) We will only look at colonial or tudors (and I have a feeling agents are getting sick of us too. My mother can't believe that we have looked at over 50 homes (and not one of them is the one) It's just funny that I've been reading the posts (and whatever you are spending - you think if only we had $50,000 more (those would be our dream homes) the thing is that's what I though when i was looking to spend 300 - now where up to 400 and I'm saying it again - all the homes we would love are 450 (but this time we can't go up anymore) Well anyway, I hope oneday to be telling your story to someone else out there. Thanks!

Kathy - I thought it was great advise -

thank you so much! Exactly what you wrote is in the paper today - it's not truly that home prices are coming down it's that there are less people out looking - you know your stuff.
Thank you -

Junebride

You know what? We didn't want to just 'settle' for something either. And we really wanted Massapequa for a number of reasons. So we just rode it out and waited even though prices actually went UP while we were waiting and houses we turned down started looking pretty good in retrospect. If you love your area, than my uneducated opinion is to stick it out and don't settle - if that's what you want to do. Keep reminding yourself that this is the biggest purchase of your life! Of course, settling with a long-term plan in mind is of course another option. You just have to decide what you are comfortable with. I know how it feels to be anxious to find a house and to not have to be bothered with realtors, open houses and the friday section of newsday anymore! But be patient - I know its hard, but just when you are ready to give up (like I was - my husband was getting so aggravated with all of my 'Forget it! we're never going to find THE house. Let's just get one and deal with it')
you find the house you love (or at least that's how it was for us!) Good Luck again - we're here if you need to vent!

Lee -

I just laughed at what you wrote - I can't wait for Friday to come (it's a new feeling for Friday) not b/c of works over and the weekend is here - I just can't wait for Friday's newsday edition of Real Estate! I'm alway hoping to see Prices are coming down.
Wow - when you bought prices were on the rise - that must of been hard - although now when I see homes I wish we would of bought last year (when we sold) prices are much higher this year then last. However, I do see them coming down a little.
So you bought in Massapequa? We looked there too. The only reason we stopped looking there is we really have our heart set on an old colonial (and the only ones they seem to have there are in the 500 range) They mostly have splits, ranches, and capes - in my price range. I still look in the paper in that area but haven't seen a home there in over a month now. Just curious?? What is the difference between Massapequa and Massapequa Park? If you know of one? Thanks!
You were right to wait and not settle! I hope I can do that too.

Lee one more thing...

I didn't know why you told me in your last post that you didn't settle (then I re-read my post - I guess you thought I was sayint it about you - and I was saying that you didn't settle (and after reading what you wrote it made me feel that we shoudn't either) The past month I have been feeling like we have to settle b/c we looked at so many homes and maybe we are just to picky and we are never going to find THE HOUSE - I even told my husband about what you wrote (that you to felt the way we do) and then it happened and you knew - I want to feel that way. We've been bidding on homes that we say well if we get them for the price we are bidding then will take it (but then we complain about all the things the house doesn't have that we want!

Lee one more thing...

Junebride, the only reason I mentioned the 'settling' thing is because I went through the exact same feelings of wanting to just stop looking and take anything. But in the end, I'm so glad we didn't do that just because we truly ended up with exactly what we wanted.

In my opinion, the only real difference between Massapequa and MPark is that the Park is an Incorporated Village. So they are more strict about things like your front yard, and signs, and balloons, and fences, etc. To me MP has a much nicer 'village' area - quaint, nicer looking as opposed to the more 'strip mall' look to Massapequa. The school district is the same, except in certain areas in N.Massapequa/Park where it is either Farmingdale or Plainedge schools. But for the most part it is the same. Massapequa has some real 'ritzy' areas like Harbor Green and Nassau Shores - that's where the real expensive houses - especially colonials are.

To me, either one would have been fine. We ended up with a hi-ranch which also worked out since we wanted either a hi-ranch or a split. We were laughing last night because the 'house that needs no work' has been getting a lot of work done lately!!! It seems there is always something you want to do. We love the area and the house - I still look at Friday's newsday just because I did it for a year and half and its habit now!! Even on Sundays - I check out all the open houses!!

House Hunting-Foreclosures

Has anyone gotten a list of foreclosures, I understand you have to pay for them. Are they worth it?

House Hunting-Foreclosures try www.glensold.com

There is not a lot on there but its free.