The Home-ownership Thread

[Doohickie]

What’s the status of your current home? Was your acceptance of the cash offer contingent on this other inspection?

 

Nope.

 

We're moving in March, one way or the other.

 

I have a friend that said I can park boxes at her place if it comes to that.  We still need to live somewhere though, including the dogs and the cat.

We looked at homes tonight.  We saw two that, while flawed, would do in a pinch.  One was in an even better location, but far smaller than we want.  The other is a good size home for the price, but not in the part of town we want to be in... and has a questionable foundation.

The good news is that our loan process is moving along.  We will switch houses, but they've already run a credit check and said we're fine as far as the loan we're seeking.

So once we find a home we can live with, the loan should go right through.

[Winston]

Nope.

 

We're moving in March, one way or the other.

 

I have a friend that said I can park boxes at her place if it comes to that.  We still need to live somewhere though, including the dogs and the cat.

We looked at homes tonight.  We saw two that, while flawed, would do in a pinch.  One was in an even better location, but far smaller than we want.  The other is a good size home for the price, but not in the part of town we want to be in... and has a questionable foundation.

The good news is that our loan process is moving along.  We will switch houses, but they've already run a credit check and said we're fine as far as the loan we're seeking.

So once we find a home we can live with, the loan should go right through.

 

I'm sure it will work out! Just will be stressful when you're in the limbo. Unless you can close super quickly, I'm assuming you'll have a transition period where you're between homes anyways. I've had a couple friends/coworkers that did that recently with success. Moving twice sucks, but if you find you find the right home, then those two moves will be the last for awhile. 

*when I say I had friends/coworkers that did "that" recently, "that" is living somewhere temporarily between houses because they had to move out before they closed or even found their new home. One found a sublet. Another worked out a short term lease with an apartment complex. 

[Doohickie]

We have a two week leaseback on our home.  I think as long as we close on the new place within a week of the first closing we will manage to just move once.

 

If not, I have a friend who has extra space in her home that she's offered as storage space.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Bummer. But at least you know you have a good inspector. That's easily worth the price.

 

I don't think any truer words were ever typed.

 

We have a two week leaseback on our home.  I think as long as we close on the new place within a week of the first closing we will manage to just move once.

 

If not, I have a friend who has extra space in her home that she's offered as storage space.

 

Hope it all works out with as little disruption as possible, but be careful, as well.

[Doohickie]

There are a couple of houses we have not yet seen that are high potential.  One is a couple blocks from a friend's house, less than a mile from my son's apartment, and a mile and a half from the tollway that would take my wife to work.  It's slightly (1-2 miles) closer to the places my bicycle rides start from compared to our current house.  It's not where we would have chosen, but looking at the above makes it sound not so bad.  It's also a little bigger than the house we backed out of for the same price more or less.

 

Another is a bit above our price range, but it's right in the heart of town in a nice neighborhood.  It's smaller and older than the one we backed out of (caveat emptor), but it's got charm, baby.  The kitchen looks like it was last re-done in the 1960s, so that's meh and will cost us some money.  It's above our price target, but it's been on the market for 3 months so they might negotiate down.

 

And there are two or three other potential houses that we're interested in.

 

In a totally different direction... does anyone in Buffalo need an apartment to rent?  My cousin posted this on Facebook:
 

Anyone looking for a decent apartment in South Buffalo? Two bedroom upper available soon. Great area near McKinley Parkway. Halfway between Caz park and the Botanical Gardens. PM me if interested.

 

If you're interested, let me know via PM and I'll get you connected with him.  I've been to his house and it's a pretty nice spot.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Anordning

[Doohickie]

The home search:  This is what about $200k will get you in Ft Worth.

 

We found this home, which is next door to a friend of mine and across the street from another friend, in the really fashionable, hip, Southside.  Emotionally this is our house!  We've wanted to live in the Southside for years.  But realistically, too small for us and would eat us alive in maintenance, being nearly 80 years old.


Probably the strongest candidate that we saw tonight is this house.  It's in a boring, milquetoast neighborhood.  The house itself is in outstanding shape.  It's a bank repo that the bank apparently had refurbished to nearly like-new condition.


But my wife found one more we want to look at on the west side, in a neighborhood that was formerly run down but is rapidly rejuvenating.  A coworker just bought a house a few blocks from this one.  This one slipped under the realtor's radar because it's a For Sale By Owner.  The adjacent neighborhoods have homes 2x and 3x more expensive.

 

I hope that tomorrow we'll have an offer on one of these two homes.  There is another one or maybe two I could see offering on if these slip away.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

The first one is real cute.

 

Move it to a nice piece of land on the Atlantic Ocean shore of NS and we'd take it in a heartbeat.

[josie]

I love that top one.

 

200k?

Jesus Crispies we're fu*ked someday. 

 

Just got an in for a dream job-involves sports and art at a good company. Yay Jo! You say. Where is it? You ask. Fu*king Florida. I can't relocate. 

God Dammit why can't I get this kind of luck in this damn city? The Buffalo art scene isn't that jaw dropping why the hell can't I crack it arghghh kill me

[WildCard]

I love that top one.

 

200k?

 

Jesus Crispies we're fu*ked someday. 

 

Just got an in for a dream job-involves sports and art at a good company. Yay Jo! You say. Where is it? You ask. Fu*king Florida. I can't relocate. 

 

God Dammit why can't I get this kind of luck in this damn city? The Buffalo art scene isn't that jaw dropping why the hell can't I crack it arghghh kill me

Houses cost more down south. Similar houses in Georgia from Rochester cost $100k more. Difference is, taxes are so much less in Georgia, you can afford it

[Doohickie]

The third house already has an offer, so we're making an offer on the second house.  Meanwhile, the inspection of our current house is this afternoon.

[WildCard]

Am I the only one that doesn't like ranch houses? I need to have my living area and sleeping area separated 

[Doohickie]

Wasn't there a thread 'adventures in real estate' at some point?

 

You guys need to stop hijaking 'the even randomer' thread.

 

I don't want to ever see you mentions someone's birthday in this thread again.  ;)

 

Am I the only one that doesn't like ranch houses? I need to have my living area and sleeping area separated 

 

Seeing as my wife has creeky knees, stairs are not a desired feature in a house for us.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Am I the only one that doesn't like ranch houses? I need to have my living area and sleeping area separated 

 

Really, eh.

 

Are there no 2 story houses in Texas?

[WildCard]

I don't want to ever see you mentions someone's birthday in this thread again.  ;)

 

 

Seeing as my wife has creeky knees, stairs are not a desired feature in a house for us.

Yeah my dad will need one eventually for medical reasons. Not putting it down, just saying they're not for me

Really, eh.

 

Are there no 2 story houses in Texas?

I've been looking at houses down south. They seem to be a lot less common 

[Doohickie]

I've been looking at houses down south. They seem to be a lot less common 

 

There are lots of multistory homes around here, but you just won't see me buying one because of my wife's creeky knees.  Also, southern cities saw major growth with the advent of air conditioning.  That coincided with the advent of the automobile which means many southern cities are afflicted with urban sprawl.  Distances matter less when you drive everywhere, and so land use density is lower... so... more ranches.  There's just not a hard push for high density.

Well, Mr. Smarty Pants, I have never wished anyone a happy birthday in this thread.  Only in the awesome thread, or that other one that 11 created in some kind of rage against the machine.

 

And don't worry it seems that there has been a bit of re-programming and birth dates are not displayed anymore even if that bit of info is revealed.

 

+++++

 

On your second point.  I get it.  Ageing is wonderful, but it beats the alternative, so far anyway.

 

Actually, if I had remembered the real estate thread, I would have used that one.  So it goes.

[North Buffalo]

Depends on the Ranch house, have a special needs son who is wobbly sometimes on his feet so we have a contemporary ranch open floor plan for living room kitchen and diningbroom is nice. Bedrooms are in the back sequestered so hard to notice untill you go back a long hallway. Again depends on layout. PS porches on ranches tend to be really nice, especially if you have french doors opening up on them.

[Weave]

Am I the only one that doesn't like ranch houses? I need to have my living area and sleeping area separated

I’m not fond of ranch houses, but after seeing grandparents and now parents dealing with stairs in their elderly years, my next house will be a ranch.

[darksabre]

bump?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

bump?

 

Looks like chz has some work to do.

 

:w00t:

[Gramps]

Houses cost more down south. Similar houses in Georgia from Rochester cost $100k more. Difference is, taxes are so much less in Georgia, you can afford it

 

Truth ... my taxes in N.Atlanta are about a 1/3 of what they'd be in WNY. 

[MattPie]

Am I the only one that doesn't like ranch houses? I need to have my living area and sleeping area separated 

 

I don't love them either, although it's entirely likely my next house will be one. Personally, 2-story > ranch >>>>>> split foyer.

 

I love that top one.

 

200k?

 

Jesus Crispies we're fu*ked someday. 

 

Just got an in for a dream job-involves sports and art at a good company. Yay Jo! You say. Where is it? You ask. Fu*king Florida. I can't relocate. 

 

God Dammit why can't I get this kind of luck in this damn city? The Buffalo art scene isn't that jaw dropping why the hell can't I crack it arghghh kill me

 

That house probably runs $130k in Buffalo, don't worry. If you'd like some more sticker shock:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2597-Charlestown-Rd-Phoenixville-PA-19460/54739195_zpid/

 

This is house is just up the street from RosePIe's preschool. We're looking to move and thought, that'd be perfect, it's in a much better school district than we live in, Phoenixville is cool, and it's way closer to work for me. Completely not in our price range.

[WildCard]

I don't love them either, although it's entirely likely my next house will be one. Personally, 2-story > ranch >>>>>> split foyer.

 

That house probably runs $130k in Buffalo, don't worry. If you'd like some more sticker shock:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2597-Charlestown-Rd-Phoenixville-PA-19460/54739195_zpid/

 

This is house is just up the street from RosePIe's preschool. We're looking to move and thought, that'd be perfect, it's in a much better school district than we live in, Phoenixville is cool, and it's way closer to work for me. Completely not in our price range.

2 story > split > ranch > raised ranch

 

Yup, that link is exactly what I was talking about. Well, kinda...didn't realize PA was that expensive either

Edited February 14, 2018 by Jokertecken

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I'll play d4rk ...

 

This is one near us ...

 

https://www.viewpoint.ca/map#eyJvdmVydmlldyI6eyJsaXN0aW5nIjp7Imxpc3RpbmdfaWQiOjIwMTYxNjQ5NSwiY2xhc3NfaWQiOjF9LCJwcm9wZXJ0eSI6eyJwaWQiOiI0MDExNDM1NyIsImNsYXNzX2lkIjoiMSJ9fSwic3VtbWFyeSI6eyJsaXN0aW5nIjp7Imxpc3RpbmdfaWQiOjIwMTYxNjQ5NSwiY2xhc3NfaWQiOjF9LCJwcm9wZXJ0eSI6eyJwaWQiOiI0MDExNDM1NyIsImNsYXNzX2lkIjoiMSJ9fX0=

 

We could have it 15 years ago for about $375,000.  Back then we could have sold out house for about $225,000 (now we would get close to $500,000 for ours).

Edited February 14, 2018 by Sabersfläkt i NS

[Doohickie]

That's almost twice the $/sq ft of the house I'm looking at.  Dang.

 

Wait.... does the walk-out basement count toward the square footage?  If not, that's a decent value.

[MattPie]

2 story > split > ranch > raised ranch

 

Yup, that link is exactly what I was talking about. Well, kinda...didn't realize PA was that expensive either

 

Chester County is one of the more expensive in the country. A lot of that is driven by the really expensive old mansions (railroad money) closer to Philly, but it also affects the outer suburbs too. Once you get away from Philly, it's not nearly as crazy. That being said, Philly itself is relatively cheap for East Coast. You can actually buy houses in the city on a normal person income.

Edited February 14, 2018 by MattiPaj