scrappinspidey2
Pearl Clutcher
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Location: In the Parlor with the Fly
Mar 18, 2015 19:19:37 GMT
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Post by scrappinspidey2 on Aug 20, 2015 20:38:00 GMT
Perfect except for price and size?  Seriously though, I just came from looking at three houses. One I cant even believe is showing. It was gross. They didn't even have the toilet flushed (yes they are still living in the house) I felt like I needed a bleach shower after. Then we went to this house. It had been on the market before and caught my eye but I couldn't do anything with it then. Its back on the market due to an issue that has been fixed and life time warranty on the issue. The house is darn perfect. It solves a ton of issues i currently have. It is mostly non carpeted flooring, except in bedrooms and basement, which is a big deal to me. It has the laundry on the main level (again another big plus for me) The yard is manageable and has a very nice fence/deck area. the layout is what I like. Location is amazing and great for resale in the future. The garage would fit my truck/trailer and motorcycle. There is even a possibility of setting up a space in the basement as a dark room, which is a life long dream. It is only a small distance from where I currently live so adds no time to my work commute at all. My problems? Its too big. Or at least I think it is. Its about 2400 sq feet including the basement which has a mini kitchen, a bedroom and full bath (which solves a problem if I can find a college student to help me with the girl three nights a week) plus a huge main area for crafting, entertainment etc. But I have to clean it all and maintain it all. Thats a huge task for just me and Im not a great house cleaner. I can hear it now....hire someone....yes but that is money and this house is stretching a budget I set. Speaking of budget, its a bit out of my self imposed top end. The realtor I spoke with said he thinks it can come down to closer to my top end budget....Its out of the range by about 13K I believe right now. He is going to run some numbers and let me know. If it were closer to my top end number, the only concern I would have about it is the size. Literally it hits every Need and want I was looking for. There has to be something wrong No house is perfect. Ugh. So I came home to ponder. He is going to run some numbers. Im going to see what else is available, which isn't much due to I have to stay in the girl's school district and homes here typically sell very very fast. I went to this house hoping to find something to take it out of the running other than the budget and the size, but so far I haven't found a thing. What am I missing?? I don't know if I want to be talked out of or into this house. ***UPDATE***. Well looks like I have a house. There was a small bidding war but because my bid was in first I got first shot. Had to come up a bit but I spent the last day talking with people and running numbers so I'm much more comfortable with the final number, which is not near asking price. Looks like we close October 8th! Yikes. Thank you for letting me use you guys as a sounding board  |
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Deleted
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May 17, 2024 16:08:02 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2015 20:40:27 GMT
For me, if a house is above my budget and larger than I need, it is not the right house. Especially the budget part. If it's over my budget, I won't even look at it.
A larger house is more expensive to maintain and run (heat, A/C, and so on) on an ongoing basis, so you're not just looking at a higher mortgage, but higher everything else as well. Can your budget comfortably support all that?
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MDscrapaholic
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,370
Location: Down by the bay....
Jun 25, 2014 20:49:07 GMT
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Post by MDscrapaholic on Aug 20, 2015 20:40:33 GMT
Sounds like you've already made up your mind. Do you want us to talk you out of it?
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Post by hop2 on Aug 20, 2015 20:41:26 GMT
Location is my most important criteria. Even the most perfect house isn't for me in a bad location. Did it once, never again!
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Post by papersilly on Aug 20, 2015 20:45:08 GMT
the perfect house is the house you want and will buy. perfect, by definition is absolute and complete. anything else is not really "perfect" so that frees you to move on and find what is truly perfect for you.
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scrappinspidey2
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,511
Location: In the Parlor with the Fly
Mar 18, 2015 19:19:37 GMT
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Post by scrappinspidey2 on Aug 20, 2015 20:49:24 GMT
I don't know that I have made up my mind per say. I really want to stay within my budget, which he thinks might be possible.
Here is the deal with the budget, I made the budget with the plan being that I would have to replace flooring (I hate hate carpet and won't have a house full of it again) and do some painting. With this house, there some carpet but mostly the house is hardwood, so I could be fine without replacing that stuff. It also doesn't really need immediate paint as everything is in a very neutral tone. I would eventually paint but it would be at my own pace etc....I wouldn't feel rushed to have it all done before moving in if that makes sense. Utility wise, I would be fine. Our house in AZ and my house in CA was close in size to this (but this has a much better layout for me) and I didn't have any issues with utilities there.
So my two biggest expected expenses are non issues with this house right now.
Location is a big deal. The other house we saw today was backed up to a strip mall. Had it not been for that, I would have been all over it, but having a strip mall in my backyard (you could see the back exit doors to the strip mall from the back porch) is not acceptable and would be very difficult to sell in the future.
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georgiapea
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Post by georgiapea on Aug 20, 2015 20:54:42 GMT
I feel larger than needed is way better than being cramped. I would make an offer for what I could afford and see what happens.
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Deleted
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May 17, 2024 16:08:02 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2015 20:59:46 GMT
It seems like you've made up your mind. You've justified to yourself why being out of your budget is ok and you've convinced yourself it's better than anything else out there. It's your decision to make.
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Post by rst on Aug 20, 2015 21:01:09 GMT
Can you resolve the budget and size issues by using a portion of it as a rental or airbnb type thing? Even if you just did rental during a few months of the year, that could potentially make up the budget gap, and maybe enough over to pay for your house cleaning service.
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Post by dewryce on Aug 20, 2015 21:02:36 GMT
Most peas will probably disagree with me, but if I was that in love with it, I'd buy it. Hopefully at a lowered price.
"darn perfect"
"solves a ton of issues"
"Big deal"
"Big plus"
"Location is amazing"
"life long dream"
Those are some pretty strong descriptors. For the cleaning, how old are your girls? I imagine they will take on more duties as they get older. Eta: also, own less stuff. Less to pick-up, clean, store and repair. It makes a huge difference for us.
For me, our home is where we spend most of our time. The things we love and hate about it, the little conveniences, the space...they impact us every moment we are here. There are things I knew we'd need to change when we moved in to be truly content with it, and some of them haven't been able to be completed. But the things I loved when we moved in, I still love 7 years later. If you found a house you love that meets your needs as is, it sounds ideal to me.
And I would very much rather have too much space than not enough. It is just my husband and myself in 2400 square feet and it is marvelous. We each have our own room, there is an extra room for guest room or nursery. Having a dedicated room/area for everything makes all the difference for us. It gives us room to breathe, if that makes sense.
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scrappinspidey2
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,511
Location: In the Parlor with the Fly
Mar 18, 2015 19:19:37 GMT
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Post by scrappinspidey2 on Aug 20, 2015 21:11:37 GMT
My daughter is 16 and can help with cleaning.
Sister pointed out something I missed and embarrassed to admit as it's usually my first question. Roof has never been replaced and is 24 years old.
also at some point the deck will need to be refinished. It is weathered already. Rail is pretty sturdy but probably could use some tightening up.
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Deleted
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May 17, 2024 16:08:02 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2015 21:13:14 GMT
Realtors are in the business of getting the most money as possible out of you. Some will try their best to keep it within your budget, some will tell you "it's only a few $ more a month." What they don't tell you is that larger space means higher heating/cooling costs. You will to take everything into consideration. You could rent out the basement but it's not guaranteed that you will.
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MaryMary
Pearl Clutcher
Lazy
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Post by MaryMary on Aug 20, 2015 21:21:00 GMT
A too big house can be overwhelming. Will your daughter be moving out in a few years? Then you'll have a too big house all to yourself?
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Post by peasapie on Aug 20, 2015 21:31:48 GMT
My house is about that same square footage, and truthfully, I don't feel like I'm a slave to cleaning it. It's mostly about how many people are using a space because then you have a lot of laundry and cleaning of bathrooms. So when we have company it's different -- but it would be anyway, no matter the size of your home, if you have company.
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lindas
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Posts: 4,159
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Post by lindas on Aug 20, 2015 21:35:18 GMT
I spent almost 18 yrs in a house I hated. With the finished basement we had about 2300 sq ft which you would think would be enough for 2 people but the layout just never worked no matter how hard I tried. When DH retired we decided to move out of state. We looked at a lot of new homes about that same size but with better flow in the floor plan. Any one of them would have worked for us but not once did I hear one whisper 'buy me'. We wound up buying a house with 3400sq ft because the minute I saw the floor plan in the sales office I was in love. Sure it's more than we needed, sure I gripe about cleaning it and I really raised a stink with DH decided to finish the basement and add another 800sq ft but I love this house.
All that to say don't settle. If you love the house and you can make the budget work go for it.
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Deleted
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May 17, 2024 16:08:02 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2015 21:38:41 GMT
Yes, it will need a new roof soon. So, if that is something you can manage (even if it's save for and manage) - the its still in the running. If not...... I would get it well inspected if it stays in the running.
Otherwise, based on everything you've written here, it sounds like the perfect house for you and the fam - size and all!! I bet it can be negotiated down into your budget.
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Post by dewryce on Aug 20, 2015 21:38:47 GMT
My daughter is 16 and can help with cleaning. Sister pointed out something I missed and embarrassed to admit as it's usually my first question. Roof has never been replaced and is 24 years old. also at some point the deck will need to be refinished. It is weathered already. Rail is pretty sturdy but probably could use some tightening up. The deck I wouldn't consider a big deal, just a routine house maintenance task. The roof could be huge. Are you able to get an inspection before making an offer? |
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Post by hop2 on Aug 20, 2015 21:56:38 GMT
My daughter is 16 and can help with cleaning. Sister pointed out something I missed and embarrassed to admit as it's usually my first question. Roof has never been replaced and is 24 years old. also at some point the deck will need to be refinished. It is weathered already. Rail is pretty sturdy but probably could use some tightening up. If it's a shingle roof you are usually 'allowed' one more 'layer' of roof shingles (1 new roof ) before you have to do a complete rip off, before re roofing. Which is much cheaper. It depends on what structure is there. If it's not shingles then ignore this it'll be expensive. Lol |
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lesley
Drama Llama
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Posts: 7,179
Location: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland
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Post by lesley on Aug 20, 2015 21:58:58 GMT
It sounds like you are really keen on this house, so I wouldn't worry too much about it being too big. 2400sq ft isn't huge; to me it sounds like an ideal size.
Is 24 years old for a roof? My house is over 100 years old, and when we moved in 17 years ago, the survey said the roof would need replaced within a couple of years, but we have managed just with annual repairs. I'll be moving into my childhood home soon, and the roof there is 58 years old, and in great condition.
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Post by melanell on Aug 20, 2015 22:18:27 GMT
2400 sq feet would be more house than I would want to have, but I think I am in the minority there.  I wish you luck with whatever you decide. |
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Post by moveablefeast on Aug 20, 2015 22:25:26 GMT
For me, 2400 square feet is pretty big but we live in much less than that now. If I could afford to heat and cool it, I would be less concerned about cleaning it.
Good location, solves problems, priced too high - I would try to get the price down.
I would get an inspection on the roof as part of the process.
I would try to stay under budget, especially if the roof is even remotely in question. That would be my deal breaker.
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Post by CarolinaGirl71 on Aug 20, 2015 22:26:15 GMT
You can ask for a new roof from the seller as a condition of the sale. Might be worth considering, although you might end up having to up your asking price a little bit. Discuss it with your realtor. The biggest thing to me is location, location, location!
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Post by MichyM on Aug 20, 2015 22:34:33 GMT
I too think that 2400sf is large for two people, especially since your daughter is 16 and will be emptying the nest shortly. I personally would sit tight for a smaller house with a good location that meets most of your needs!
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Post by houston249 on Aug 20, 2015 22:40:04 GMT
Realtors are in the business of getting the most money as possible out of you. Some will try their best to keep it within your budget, some will tell you "it's only a few $ more a month." What they don't tell you is that larger space means higher heating/cooling costs. You will to take everything into consideration. You could rent out the basement but it's not guaranteed that you will. Very well said Another "trick" some (not all) reators use to push you into a higher price point is to show you 2 overpriced, badly mainained homes within your budget and then show you the "last" resort that is just a "little" over your stated budget. Seriously, my first thought was that not only do you need to keep looking, a new realtor is in order. |
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paigepea
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Jun 26, 2014 4:28:55 GMT
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Post by paigepea on Aug 20, 2015 22:46:55 GMT
I don't think the size is too big, even for cleaning. And I don't think slightly over budget or at the high end of your budget should be a deal breaker, as long as you can afford it. A little bit over budget usually doesn't add up to that much extra / month / in the long run, especially if it is the perfect house and you'll be happy. Location is always our number 1 criteria.
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sweetpeasmom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,592
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Post by sweetpeasmom on Aug 20, 2015 23:05:05 GMT
The house we bought and moved into at the begging of the summer was $35K above our top end. In all honesty, once we started running real numbers with the taxes and all figured in, we realized our top end was about $5K more than we were comfortable with. Anyways, this house had been on the books since Aug 14 and on the market since Dec 14. We saw it in May 15. It checked off everything we needed, except location. It is the 1st house in the subdivision on puts part of our yard on a very busy road. But because it fit everything we NEEDED and we can eventually fence it in, we put in a low offer. They actually countered by coming down $24K. We countered up $5k from our original offer. They said their counter was as low as they'd go. We walked. 5 days later they called our agent and said write the contract.
So my point is a)if it fits all your needs but it's a little big, go for it. b)the price is negotiable. Worst case they say no.
Do your research of the area. You know it was on the market once before. So that can be to your advantage.
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Post by gritzi on Aug 20, 2015 23:06:14 GMT
It sounds like the location, size, layout, the price (almost) works for you, and it's the nicest house you have seen. Is the neighborhood ideal, too?
If you decide to make an offer I would do so contingent on a home inspection. The roof would be a concern, but not necessarily a deal breaker, esp if the seller is willing to offer a roof allowance (if needed).
Good luck deciding!
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scrappinspidey2
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,511
Location: In the Parlor with the Fly
Mar 18, 2015 19:19:37 GMT
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Post by scrappinspidey2 on Aug 20, 2015 23:25:33 GMT
Let me clear up a few things. The realtor only showed me homes I told him I was interested in. None of the houses we saw were his suggestion. It is possible I played into his hands with my suggestions, but he did not push anything on me. The inventory in this area is very small. I think currently there are only 7 houses that fit the search parameters I gave him. He cautioned me against putting in an offer on anything till he did some number crunching. He has actually been very informative and listens well to what I have to say about my needs. He was hesitant to show me this one as it was bigger than I said I wanted. I told him that was a concern but honestly it does solve a host of other issues that have cropped up due to my current situation. I was the one who brought up this house, not him. The neighborhood is great. Its older, but not crumbling. Its quiet the few times I have been there. I have lived across from a high school before so I know how that works and Im actually okay with it. We enjoyed living that close to the school in AZ. He did email me back and told me what his number crunching came up with. He thinks an offer that is just above my price point is a reasonable, non offensive offer. In the long run, loan wise, the amount he is suggesting wouldn't' be noticed. (there is a lot I am not disclosing here on the boards) . He thinks its a fair offer and said that if they don't reasonably counter or accept, we should walk away and keep looking as truthfully I am in no hurry. I did email back regarding roof and home warranty and I would NEVER purchase a house without an inspection. Murphys law would dictate that if I was in a hurry we wouldn't find anything, but now that I am not in any hurry, we find something Honestly over the last few hours, I have yet to come up with a reasonable negative to this house. The other homes we purchased were also a touch above our limit we had set for ourself and it all worked out fine and with his suggestion for an offer that took my last barrier out. so I think Im going to put the offer in and see what happens. My stomach hurts though big money decisions do that to me every time. |
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blue tulip
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Post by blue tulip on Aug 21, 2015 0:04:29 GMT
My daughter is 16 and can help with cleaning. Sister pointed out something I missed and embarrassed to admit as it's usually my first question. Roof has never been replaced and is 24 years old. also at some point the deck will need to be refinished. It is weathered already. Rail is pretty sturdy but probably could use some tightening up. If it's a shingle roof you are usually 'allowed' one more 'layer' of roof shingles (1 new roof ) before you have to do a complete rip off, before re roofing. Which is much cheaper. It depends on what structure is there. If it's not shingles then ignore this it'll be expensive. Lol this is true, but know a couple things. one, going over existing shingles will cause the newer top layer to wear faster (the degrading asphalt underneath will contribute to the wear) so you're not going to get the amount of years out of them that you would if putting over the wood/tar paper. also, often having shingles installed over older shingles will negate any warranty they may have. so balance these things out with the savings not having a tear-off will get you, and see if it's actually worth it.
it sounds like you're in love with the house. if the 13k is around 5% of the total cost or less, I wouldn't think twice about bidding your max, especially with the known issue that will have scared a lot of people away, even if they know it's now fixed. for the housecleaning, you said you have kids, put them to work. the deck shouldn't scare you, there are many ways you can do that yourself, from replacing a couple boards to refinishing to using a deck-over type product to make it look new. any of those don't take a lot of skill and you could probably handle it!
best wishes on the decision! I know it's rare to find a house that checks of that many things on the list, so I wouldn't count it out easily!
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Post by dewryce on Aug 21, 2015 0:14:42 GMT
Keep in mind that kids in their late teens and early 20's have a tendency to boomerang back home more often now. Having that little suite in the basement would be an ideal setup if the need ever arises for one of them to return home. That is an excellent point! |
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Seriously though, I just came from looking at three houses. One I cant even believe is showing. It was gross. They didn't even have the toilet flushed (yes they are still living in the house) I felt like I needed a bleach shower after. 
I wish you luck with whatever you decide. 
