Never thought I'd get tired of looking up houses

[DouglasSheridan 1]

Well, guess the title says it all huh....

So married life start and Moms basement is getting kinda crowded plus the presents and stuff we purchased for our future house is kinda piling up and needless to say I'm eager to have that house to put it all in.....

I consider owning a house a private place for us to grow, grow as a couple and as a family, and its sneakily also somewhat of a project for me, a place in the world where I can freely express my creativity.... (creativity linked of course to the available balance in our bankaccount after the mortgage is paid!)

But..... its always something.

When I first arrived "Open Sundays" were a blast!

It was something nice to do, cruise around houses, see nice things you would like to have, but now, the novely has totally warn off and its starting to bum me out!

Always something..... the price is right but the area isnt (or vice versa).... it doesnt have enough bedrooms..... no garage for those chilly Nebraskan winters...... or the house is a total $hithole (excuse the expression, but some really are!)....

And there is the issue of all agreeing and liking it..... boy I never thought buying a house was this stressfull!

I guess I wrongly assumed it was "find something pretty you like, go to the bank for money and move in..." Well, there goes that idea LOL

Me and my hubbys Mom have in the meantime practically seen every house in our price range available in and out and nothing has come up, but one. We made an offer and got turned down (I assume knocking $15,000 off the price was a risk....)

I guess we'll keep looking and like many ppl say.... when its meant to happen it will and eventually the perfect house will come around and boy, I hope so!

Well, just my bit of ranting for the day LOL

Oh BTW.... anyone out there know what it means when the paper advertises a notice for houses for sale soled for the delinquent taxes? Does it mean you bid and it starts at whatever amount of taxes unpaid? Do you need the cash with you, or can you still work with a mortgage?

[zyggy 9]

Well, guess the title says it all huh....

So married life start and Moms basement is getting kinda crowded plus the presents and stuff we purchased for our future house is kinda piling up and needless to say I'm eager to have that house to put it all in.....

I consider owning a house a private place for us to grow, grow as a couple and as a family, and its sneakily also somewhat of a project for me, a place in the world where I can freely express my creativity.... (creativity linked of course to the available balance in our bankaccount after the mortgage is paid!)

But..... its always something.

When I first arrived "Open Sundays" were a blast!

It was something nice to do, cruise around houses, see nice things you would like to have, but now, the novely has totally warn off and its starting to bum me out!

Always something..... the price is right but the area isnt (or vice versa).... it doesnt have enough bedrooms..... no garage for those chilly Nebraskan winters...... or the house is a total $hithole (excuse the expression, but some really are!)....

And there is the issue of all agreeing and liking it..... boy I never thought buying a house was this stressfull!

I guess I wrongly assumed it was "find something pretty you like, go to the bank for money and move in..." Well, there goes that idea LOL

Me and my hubbys Mom have in the meantime practically seen every house in our price range available in and out and nothing has come up, but one. We made an offer and got turned down (I assume knocking $15,000 off the price was a risk....)

I guess we'll keep looking and like many ppl say.... when its meant to happen it will and eventually the perfect house will come around and boy, I hope so!

Well, just my bit of ranting for the day LOL

Oh BTW.... anyone out there know what it means when the paper advertises a notice for houses for sale soled for the delinquent taxes? Does it mean you bid and it starts at whatever amount of taxes unpaid? Do you need the cash with you, or can you still work with a mortgage?

Different states have different rules. Some states only put the tax lein up for auction. What you're doing is paying for the government's lein on the property. It would be your responsibility to try to collect the tax amount plus interest from the homeowner. If you are unsuccessful, you would have to go through foreclosure proceedings on the property.

THe other way is through an outright tax sale. In that the government will have taken title due to unpaid taxes and they sell the title at the end of the sale.

Either type of sale requires that you have the full purchase price in cash at the end of the sale. A mortgage won't work.

For the tax sale that results in title, it usually doesn't start at the delinquent tax amount. The starting bidding price is usually much higher. Typically about 60 to 70% of the appraised value.

Edited February 21, 2006 by zyggy

[ChristinaM 0]

It's always a compromise between space, condition and location to get to the right price! It's very frustrating when you can't get all of those things to balance, but in the end you have to decide which is the important factor(s) and shoot for that.

Good luck finding the perfect little (or big!) house for you and your family.

[kc456 0]

I just peeked at the housing ads, while looking for a new rental and it's pretty depressing for a first time home buyer.

Even looking at rentals is really tiresome! I can't believe it. And we are just renting.

So good luck to you in the home search -- you'll need it!

[Fandango 1,439]

I wish I could help with tons of advice, but I cannot advise anyone who is loking fo a home outside of FL...each stat has different laws so I my hands are tied...If anyone wants to be hooked up with realtors in your different areas, pm me...I can put you in touch with FANTASTIC local realtors!

Speaking very generally here, $15k below asking price seems quite low for an offer....sometimes with negotiating a price, you run the risk of alienatng the sellers. Sometimes they could get offended, because let's fce it....if you 'insult' the value of their home, it's taken personally. Houses have so much emtion attached, that it's like a smack in the face.

The market it's not as hot as it was over the summer, but it's still hot enough - and occassionally sellers don't understand that the market's slowed a little, so their expectations could be a little unrealistic which makes negotiation a bit difficult.

and fwiw, government auctions usually are fincance-free purchases

Good luck!!!!!

Edited February 22, 2006 by LisaD

[DouglasSheridan 1]

Speaking very generally here, $15k below asking price seems quite low for an offer....sometimes with negotiating a price, you run the risk of alienatng the sellers. Sometimes they could get offended, because let's fce it....if you 'insult' the value of their home, it's taken personally. Houses have so much emtion attached, that it's like a smack in the face.

I totally know what you are saying, but in this case the property was purchased in '99 as a rental and the owner had never lived in it herself. And we attempted knocking so much off, as the property was worth a lill over $22K below what they were selling it for. I guess I've become an addict to the county assessors webpage and we kinda agreed that we wouldnt go out to buy a house over its value, at least not that much over. And yeah the market has slowed down for sure, its a total bore lately and quite depressing for first time buyer. Well in meantime found another one worth taking a look, totally different from what we've already looked at, so who knows?!

THanks for the advice everyone

Sheridan

Edited February 22, 2006 by DouglasSheridan

[zyggy 9]

Speaking very generally here, $15k below asking price seems quite low for an offer....sometimes with negotiating a price, you run the risk of alienatng the sellers. Sometimes they could get offended, because let's fce it....if you 'insult' the value of their home, it's taken personally. Houses have so much emtion attached, that it's like a smack in the face.

I totally know what you are saying, but in this case the property was purchased in '99 as a rental and the owner had never lived in it herself. And we attempted knocking so much off, as the property was worth a lill over $22K below what they were selling it for. I guess I've become an addict to the county assessors webpage and we kinda agreed that we wouldnt go out to buy a house over its value, at least not that much over. And yeah the market has slowed down for sure, its a total bore lately and quite depressing for first time buyer. Well in meantime found another one worth taking a look, totally different from what we've already looked at, so who knows?!

THanks for the advice everyone

Sheridan

There is a BIG difference between an assessed value and an appraised value.

An assessed value often has caps and other restrictions on it placed by law that do not adequately represent the true market value of a property. You should never use an assessed value to determine the market price of anything. An assessed value is for calculating tax amounts only.

You want to go to your county recorders office and get home sales data. This will give you the true market value of a property in the market that you are in. A realtor will also have the sales data very handy and will be able to guide you on what you should offer. This is why if you want to purchase a house, you really need to get a relator or you need to get the right data.

Edited February 22, 2006 by zyggy

[Fandango 1,439]

Speaking very generally here, $15k below asking price seems quite low for an offer....sometimes with negotiating a price, you run the risk of alienatng the sellers. Sometimes they could get offended, because let's fce it....if you 'insult' the value of their home, it's taken personally. Houses have so much emtion attached, that it's like a smack in the face.

I totally know what you are saying, but in this case the property was purchased in '99 as a rental and the owner had never lived in it herself. And we attempted knocking so much off, as the property was worth a lill over $22K below what they were selling it for. I guess I've become an addict to the county assessors webpage and we kinda agreed that we wouldnt go out to buy a house over its value, at least not that much over. And yeah the market has slowed down for sure, its a total bore lately and quite depressing for first time buyer. Well in meantime found another one worth taking a look, totally different from what we've already looked at, so who knows?!

THanks for the advice everyone

Sheridan

There is a BIG difference between an assessed value and an appraised value.

An assessed value often has caps and other restrictions on it placed by law that do not adequately represent the true market value of a property. You should never use an assessed value to determine the market price of anything. An assessed value is for calculating tax amounts only.

You want to go to your county recorders office and get home sales data. This will give you the true market value of a property in the market that you are in. A realtor will also have the sales data very handy and will be able to guide you on what you should offer. This is why if you want to purchase a house, you really need to get a relator or you need to get the right data.

You are absolutely right, zyggy

Sheridan:

Let's say you buy a property for 100k about 5 years ago. and let's say the property prices have doubled. So your house is at 200k mkt value now, but what you're assessed for is not the 200k. (Again only speaking about FL) property taxes go up 3% or the cost of living increase, whichever is lower.

So even if your assessment went up 3% a year, you wouldn't be anwhere close to being assessed at full mkt value.

Let alone any exeptions!

Zyggy's right....a realtor® can do what's called a CMA..it's a market analysis of the area & a specific home. through the Multiple Listing Service, a realtor can pull up every house that's on the mkt in the area, and ones that have sold recently. Then you find comparable homes to the one in question, which will give you a range for the price. This is usually done for sellers to give them an idea of fair market value when deciding to list a home, but I see no reason why you couldn't ask for one when you're looking to buy.

I showed property to this one guy....he brought his mother with him. The mother had sold her house in the area 5 years prior. Now keep in mind the explosion that happened with the market, so I was showing her son some really exeptionally priced homes....very reasonable. She was just horrified & kept sayin 'this is a ripoff! this is bs!' and I tried repeatedly to get her to understand that her expectations were completely unrealistic, but she never did get it....and he never got his house cos he kept lowballing way too low.

I think having a fair idea of what the market's doing is your best tool while house hunting!

Good luck!!!!

[cmartyn 0]

In my area, Farfield county Connecticut, one of the cool things is that there are so many small homes. Much too small to live in if you ask me., 12 - 1400 square footers. Lots of tiny rooms. They are all on huge 1 acre lots though. These things just cry out to be torn down but if you are handy you can turn them into great houses. There is a lot of ledge here so slab foundations and crawlspaces are common. This makes adding an addition a real weekend warrior possibility.

[Fandango 1,439]

In my area, Farfield county Connecticut, one of the cool things is that there are so many small homes. Much too small to live in if you ask me., 12 - 1400 square footers. Lots of tiny rooms. They are all on huge 1 acre lots though. These things just cry out to be torn down but if you are handy you can turn them into great houses. There is a lot of ledge here so slab foundations and crawlspaces are common. This makes adding an addition a real weekend warrior possibility.

You think that's bad? I've seen 4 bedroom 1000 sqfters.....with rooms so small you can't raise veal!

[DouglasSheridan 1]

In my area, Farfield county Connecticut, one of the cool things is that there are so many small homes. Much too small to live in if you ask me., 12 - 1400 square footers. Lots of tiny rooms. They are all on huge 1 acre lots though. These things just cry out to be torn down but if you are handy you can turn them into great houses. There is a lot of ledge here so slab foundations and crawlspaces are common. This makes adding an addition a real weekend warrior possibility.

You think that's bad? I've seen 4 bedroom 1000 sqfters.....with rooms so small you can't raise veal!

I was shocked reading the 1200-1400 square feet houses being tiny... we are first time buyers looking to buy for just over 100K and that is the average market here, but that means a 2-3 bedroom ranch below 1000 square feet.

And ziggy, thanks for explaining that to me, I guess having never been aware of the market in the US I took the assessors page for granted. Funny however you should say to work with a realtor and they can tell us differently. We have been for the past 1.5 months and she actually advised me on the county assessors and agreed it was a reasonable approach... guess it aint just the common folks that need some teaching?!

[rebeccajo 14]

There are plenty of incompetent realtors out there.

[zyggy 9]

There are plenty of incompetent realtors out there.

I would hate to have that realtor if I was selling. If she's using that site to suggest a selling price, she could be lowballing her clients by thousands of dollars...

[kc456 0]

I would love a small house, I think 12-1400 is perfect, but I come from Moscow, where apartments (flats) are tiny, so anything seems big to me.

[rebeccajo 14]

I would love a small house, I think 12-1400 is perfect, but I come from Moscow, where apartments (flats) are tiny, so anything seems big to me.

I couldn't agree more. Ours is 1500 now and when my son moves out, probably so will we.

I want less house to clean and worry about.