EliteCM.net

Well guys I’m slowly in the process of fixing up my house to sell it, it was fine when it was just 3 of us but with a baby and accumulating toys and furniture there is just no more room. This weekend I’m going to try and finish painting the inside. Next weekend, lay down some kitchen tile and then start cleaning up the garage and by then it will be close to Thanksgiving. My thought is to put it up for sale early next year, maybe around April. I’m eyeing foreclosures at the moment because I can pick up a 4/2 2000sq ft double car garage and .3 acreage for $148k, which is cheap, other side of town it would go for $180k. It’s definitely a buyers market, so I hope I can sell my house for what I owe on it. Just looking for input and advice here and if anyone has any home buying related questions then post away.

Verify you can secure financing.  That's the tough part these days, even for those with flawless credit.  Good schools in the prospective area?  How about city/county property taxes?  What's the historical trend for housing values in the prospective area?  It may be a "good deal" now, doesn't mean you wont lose your butt going forward.

Just make sure you get a realator who actually gives a damn..  My parents realator we got through a neighbor friend and the guy never called to tell us anything after open houses or showings.  Basically he called to kick us out when someone wanted to see the house, and didn't even call to tell us we could go back.  The only reason they ended up selling the house was because my dad had to stay at the house during a showing and got a chance to talk to the lady who ended up buying it.  I have a feeling that if the government wasn't paying my dad's closing costs and realators fees, that guy wouldn't have gotten paid.

on another note, homes in AL are really cheap right now, you're right it's definitely a buyers market.  and the interest rates are still incredibly low, but I have a feeling it's not going to last much longer.  I would get in contact with a realty and at least get the process moving along right now.

Take anything I say with a grain of salt, because no, I've never bought and sold a house of my own.  I'm only an observer of the process.

I don't know I think things are going to stay about where they are at market and interst wise for another year or so. My plan is to buy in the next year.

^ yea, agreed.  i bought my apt last year when interest rates were "rock bottom".  and yet, they're lower now than what i secured. 

im not complaining because i got a real good rate, but it just goes to show that you never know what will happen.

I'm using the same realtor I used when I bought this house, real good guy, he's shooting me updates and working on securing financing numbers.

Well great, I just found the perfect house and my wife loves it and so do I. Now I just need to find out how to sell my house and buy this at the same time. But first need to see what I can get loaned. Man I hate buying houses, such a clusterfuck.

Whatever u do, don't do a bridge loan!  Make an offer with a contingency

Please explain Jason

Do you wiki?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_loan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_loan)

Short answer, dont buy a new house until you sell yours.  If you put in offer on a house before yours closes, add a contingency to your offer.  Bridge load is almost as intelligent as a 3 or 5 yr ARM (sarcasm).

I wish I was in the position to buy a home.  The only thing I can do is wish you well Jeremy.  I have no advice. 

Right now I'm trying to pay off all the debt I can. I want to go in with CC balances and things at $0.

you're a smart guy mike.

slipkord - how long have you owned your current home for - i.e. has it retained (increased) its value since you originally purchased it?

I just got some fucking rocking lender news...just have to sell my house now.

4yrs, value has gone down, fucking economy

Keep in mind, you buy and sell in the same market.  Those folks that revel in trading up houses in a strong market think they're making bank on their house.  However they turn around and buy a new one at an inflated price!  I got a nice chunk of equity in my tiny house and I ain't sellin!  2 "adults", 3 kids, & 2 dogs in 1700 sq ft sucks, but soon to be zero revolving debt makes it all worthwhile ... just don't ask my wife's opinion!

How about two adults and two kids in a 1400sq ft house  :flip: You can at least throw the dogs outside.

Just found out I will basically have very little equity because of the 10-15% economy fart.  I’m not even sure putting money into the house will net me much of anything. New paint and tile and I think I’m done. Throw some flowers outside to make it look pretty.  God willing, this will happen. This 2,200sq ft house is looking better every day.


For grins...here's a few pics of this house.

(http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww318/jeremycarp80/214109_0642500.jpg)
(http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww318/jeremycarp80/214109_3642500.jpg)
(http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww318/jeremycarp80/214109_2611250.jpg)

Looks nice Jeremy. My parents would love to move to another house.

That looks much nicer than the shoe box sized apartment that I pay way too much money to rent. 

Yeah Tim, this is a castle compared to what I'm in now. Hopefully we can get this, its so nice...ppl at work calling me a drug dealer bc I show up every month with a different car, if only theyd see this house..lolz

Hmm, I'm gonna get my popcorn and watch the show.  You'll have some interesting decisions to make.  Since you have no equity in your current residence, are you willing to accept the bull shit premium called mortgage insurance?  To avoid MI, the loan value cannot exceed 80% of the home value.  Tough decisions....

At least you live in an area where buying a house is actually affordable.  I was disgusted when my brother told me how much he got his house for.  He has a pretty nice 4 bedroom with a huge 2.5 car garage that he got for very little.

I don't have $37k lying around, soooo, can't avoid MI

MI sounds like bull shit. What's the purpose?

8Actually just found out home is selling for $37,600 less than market value, so loan value technically wouldn't exceed 80% of home value lol...am I looking at this right?

Makes sense to me

Not sure Jer.  I believe its based on purchase price vs the latest appraisal.  Cant remember if you have to do an appraisal for closing but most people do one before putting their house on the market.  I think the logic makes sense, though.

All I know is that my brother got his house for $120k, when the same house out here in MA it would be at least $800k-$1mil.  Srsly.

jer, i know the pic of the house you posted would sell for low 290,000 upwards to 390,000 in Eugene.

T ryunder $200k

Where is Eugene? That would be about $240k here. Somewhere in the 110 a square foot range.

I need to figure out if I want to rent my house out or not, lots of things involved in that...but extra income would be nice too...

That house would be 300 - 500k in my neighborhood.

Oregon

I can't get over the inflation of housing in the north. I'll show you what 500k will buy in my neighborhood. This house is a few houses down from mine Click Me! (http://tupeloms.pru1strealestate.info/details/photos.aspx?results=true&mode=Search&propid=146T00010-144#tblPhotos)

This is probably one of the nicer homes in my neighborhood. Click Me! (http://tupeloms.pru1strealestate.info/details/start.aspx?Results=true&propid=146T0010-1298&mode=Search)

There's no telling what these would cost up north in a comparable neighborhood.

OMG...if I win the lottery that first one is mine!

Haha yeah. It's pretty bad ass. I'm not a big fan of the kitchen though, it's pretty dark, especially in person. A house of that caliber should have a four car garage imo. Speaking of the lottery, I bought more tickets while in Gulf Shores. Drawing is tonight. I only bought 25 numbers this time and did the Florida Lottery not the powerball. I'll still take 4 million, lol!

Link didn't show me anything Mike

Probably sold lol

yea, welcome to the northeast.  anything worth even looking at will run you $300K and up.  all of these prices are making me :facepalm: what i paid for my 900sq ft apartment.

My 1025 square ft. condo cost $82,000. It is 2/1.5. Which is pretty cheap considering it's in a college town and in the most desirable location in that town. It's not super nice, but not bad, especially for a college student.
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_0030.jpg)
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_0020.jpg)
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_7874.jpg)
(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_7850.jpg)

Shit that place is nice Bill, id live there...and fuck me some college honies!!

Can't get a condo for under $95000 in my non college town! I was looking at condos initially but, it's not really worth the investment local to me.

It also helps that your parents paid for it Bill.  I'd be happy if my parents bought me a condo too.


That's why I'm trying to move out of the area down south.

I'm looking to stay under $200k which in my area is possiable for something that needs a little work

My Dad is making money off of it. These over the past 5 years or so have averaged a growth in value of about 10% a year. So, not only does he not have a monthly payment for me and my sister's housing, he'll profit when he sells it. It's more of a cost saving effort for him.

^shit, your college living quarters are bigger than my normal person living arrangements.. bastard!  I probably should've bought a house instead of renting.. I have the same problem in MD that you guys up in MA have.  Nothing in my price range would be even worth a look.  I guess it's for the best though, because once my fiance graduates in May, we may have to relocate for wherever she gets a job, and my lease is up in June.

South>North

Only for cost of living.  That is the ONLY reason I would ever consider the south.

Uhhh, cost of living, weather, sweet tea, nicer people, better looking girls assuming you don't go where Mike lives.

I'll give you TWO of the things you put on that list.  COL, and nicer people.  I like the weather in MD, I know how to make my own sweet tea since my whole family is from the south, and the girls win by ten fold up here, I'm not a fan of the "southern bell" blondes

now that being said, I live in the country right now (not a fan) and to prove as such here's my apartment complex:  http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1381/homesh.png (http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1381/homesh.png)

I'm not really sure what the southern belle look is, but If I had to guess I don't go for them. Damn, you do live in the country.

You can get sweet tea at fucking McDonalds! As for the women I perfer mine with teeth and not sleeping with there cousins. There is porbably a reason cost of living is higher in the North East, and it's because more people want to live here! I actually like to have my four seasons, and you southern fucks can enjoy your tornadoes.  :ranton:

Hurricanes Mike....monkey fucker!! Get it right

I'd like to go ahead and separate MS from AL and TN. We have teeth and we don't commit incest. McDonalds sweet tea doesn't count. Go find some Milo's Sweet tea.

Go find some Coffee Milk!

Touché

Unless.... You count This! (http://www.autocrat.com/cart/index.cfm?ac=ShowProducts&CatID=550&SetCat=1)

If you have never had it I stongly suggest trying some! It's a big time RI thing, along with Quahogs lol but, back to house buying. I'm going to look at a lake front cottage today in MA that seems resonably priced. This generally means that it needs tons of work but, my fingers are crossed.

good luck with that mike, lake front and reasonably priced can only mean serious problems.

I don't mind serious problems to an extent.

I wonder how much sq ft we would need to live comfortably? I'm aiming for 2000, but is that too much for 4 people?

^to put that into perspective, my parents just bought a 3500sq ft house for just them.. define "live comfortably" hahaha

Then on the other hand my parents would love to unload their 3500 square foot. When they had 3 kids at home, they thought 2800 was too small so the added 700. It's all what your used to.

You guys aren't helping lol...I'll probably just have to go look at a few houses ranging in sq footage and pick the one that feels the best

Get the one with the spare bedroom that way you have an alternative to sleeping on the couch.

For sure Mike  :D My plan is to get a 4/2. That'll be the 'man cave': PS3/47" flat screen/comfy couch/surround sound/laptop and whatever else I wanna throw in there.  :flip:

You mean Xbox 360

That will all end up in the garage, with your lift.  you know it'd be better!  Watch football, work on the S, not be nagged..  oh and don't forget to put a grill/mini fridge out there so you can eat too.  you'll need your retreat! haha

Here's what my parent's did when they were wanting to downsize. They made a list of every room in our house and decided if that was important to them. Like this
4 bedrooms- Yes
3 baths- Yes
Formal Dining- no
informal dining- yes
living room- no
family room- yes
2 sitting rooms- maybe 1
office- yes
kitchen- yes
laundry room- yes

So, you determine what rooms you want and can afford, and square footage can be determined from there. I think my parents decided they would be comfortable with about 2500. Do you just want bigger rooms or more rooms? If more rooms, what type. Something my parents always had was a "play room" for the children to basically do what ever they want in. Just some suggestions.

Damn that does sound badass  ;D

Makes me want to move in.  I can supply a grill, mini fridge, and home theater system!!

Take Tim in Jer!! I'll make my occasional "business trips" to AL to visit as well, with a couple 30packs ofcourse.

Bring it on guys lol...long as u pay rent

Hahaha.

perhaps you didn't read my post correctly.  the 30 packs ARE my rent  ;D

Well got off the phone with my insurance agent. Looks like they aren’t taking on any new policies under I-10. So I’ve got to adjust my home search. No biggie. Homes 45 minutes west of there are 3000sq ft with a pool, two stories, etc for the same price. PWNAGE!

Tim, If you can hold off a year I will probably be buying a house In about a year if I get this new job and everything goes the way they are looking. I am sure you could find a comparable paying job here.

 And Jer, Stay away from a "baloon" rate. That is my contribution

And Damn Bill, Caling me out in a thread I had not even made an appearance in, that is low Sir.

BUMP

House search continues. Plan to have my home to sell within the next two months. Wish me luck.

I have to get searching women is done school in a year, and then its time to move forward with life.

I'm house hunting as well.  So exhausting.  Sucks being poor and picky  :(

I'd move Tim in just to have that hella-awesome Bose surround sound system...

I want a house so badly.  Makes me sad.  I have simple requirements.  2 car garage, grass, no shared driveways. 

A little late on that one Country.  Ohh yeah.  For the record, I actually have 3 Bose surround sound systems.  Even my guest bedroom has 5.1 surround sound.  It's just not hooked up.

Even though I'm renting still, having a bigger place with a garage is so much fucking better than the apartment I was renting.  If things go well out here, I'm going to probably settle and buy a house.  I'm thinking that I need a place with a 4 car garage and a twin post lift though.  The 2 car isn't big enough and I want to build a race car.

Well you're in MD right? house hunting here is ridiculous.. I refuse to settle into a house here.

Well, I'm about to sign the contract with my builder to add about 400 sq ft (including another bath thank god) to the house.  Why buy bigger when you can add on for $0.25 on the dollar!  Buying again mean carpet, granite, paint, landscaping, etc, etc, etc all over again.  Also adding onto the driveway so I have room for the vette when it arrives.  Too much to do...

Good deal jason!
I have 30acres 30min north of here, would love to biuld there but wifey may want to move to fl one day, the issue is, this is family land and can't sell...might as well move to fl and get my life over with

Do you own the land or is it truly "family" land?

Both actually., I own a piece of it

Funny you mention I though it was rare to be in the family land situation.... I have a piece in NH.

Yup, I know how you feel. 

I live in a pretty nice neighborhood. It's not great but lets just say in the 5yrs I've lived here I havent had any issues. My next door neighbor had the lock on his fence cut, the lock on his shed cut and had a few things stolen last night, lawn mower, saw, and something else of little value. Leaving the expensive generator and a few other high price items. Makes no sense to me, but okay. I was up all night and heard nothing, aparently they drove their truck thru the fence and everything. Makes me worried about my families saftey while I'm at work and their at home on Summer break. I have made a plan to fix up the house by June and move by August. I just found my dream home. 3000sq ft 5 bed/3.5bath 3 car garage. Surprisingly it's not that much more than I'm paying now, with low interest rates it's a good time to buy. I've got to GTFO of here and get into something bigger and nicer. It's well worth the money. I've been in this sardine can of a house way too long.

Here lately, mainly because I'm bored as shit, I have been doing to work to my place. I installed new counters, put up a tumbled marble back splash, installed a new sink and faucet, and hung a TV up in the living room. Pics! Next, I think I am going to build a bar on the other side of the kitchen. I am going to experiment with concrete counter tops. If they turn out well for the bar, I will make some for the bathrooms as well. I'm trying to get into woodworking. Hopefully, at some point, I can build some built ins in my bedroom. I want to put some crown molding up too. The list keeps on growing haha. I work full time for MSU, so I am using most of that money to put into it. Its pretty satisfying.

(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_0540.jpg)

(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_0543.jpg)

(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_0559.jpg)

(http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd296/wtcii/IMG_0570.jpg)

Looks good bro.

Not a bad bachelor pad. I hope you can cook so you can win over the hearts of women with that kitchen dude.

Bill did you hire a decorator??  a pad that classy does not look like a college kid lives there! haha

Thanks!


Thanks, I mess around in the kitchen some.. I grill a lot better than anything inside.


Uhh, kinda, an interior designer picked out the furniture and my sister was an interior design major for 3 years so she did the rest. It's not quite as manly bachelor padish as I wanted but I like it.

I found the house I want!... anyone wanna give me money for a down payment? ;)

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1395-Whitaker-St_Hellertown_PA_18055_M34617-45119 (http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1395-Whitaker-St_Hellertown_PA_18055_M34617-45119)

Don't cook too good, or you'll get the fatties coming over, like a moth to the flame...

I'll just cook healthy shit. That'll scare them away.

What's wrong with hoggin' every now and then?

We have been over this so many times haha. Some how it always comes up.

I think I bring it up lol

Damn Bill, you have a nice looking place...

Some friends and I are going to be moving in a 3/2 apartment... it's about 1400sqft. I doubt it'll look as nice as yours, considering we won't be having an interior designer do it, haha. Well, my girlfriend may end up wanting to do some shit. Whatever. As long as it doesn't look like a chick should be living in our apartment, it's all good.

You're not the only one.

We're thinking of buying something down in Florida.  Probably a condo in the west palm area.

Fuck you Ryan!

Wife and I were talking about buying her Aunts condo in Tampa today ROFL

I guess its time for me to join the ranks of potential home owner. Got the ball rolling Friday and currently on the hunt. Exciting shit.

I think I just found my new house. 2200 sq. ft,  2 car garage, pool, newly renovated, quiet neighborhood, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath. Open floor plan. I could go on about this place. I'm going to put an offer tomorrow.

Where at?

Miami, near Country Walk.

good luck!

Switching realtors. I need a damn pitbull that hasn't been fed. Not a fucking fat Chihuahua puppy.

I hear that I looked at a house last week with a lady and got rid of her as soon as we were done... Spent the whole time on her phone. I've never been so pissed off!

That's fucking annoying. I swear, this last realtor didn't want to do her damn job. I was doing all the leg work.

Fuck! I'm torn between two great opportunities. Fuck!

Sounds like a great opportunity for a pros and cons list....

Yeah. Just weighed them out. Now is when the nerves kick in. Getting ready to put an offer down on the one with the potentially higher resale value.

Good luck Z

Thanks man. The offer is in so now the fingers are crossed.

And... offer rejected. Fuck my life.

That sucks...

Z, that's a part of buying a house.  Hopefully you have a good realtor that can help you make good choices.

It's all good. She's doing the best she can with my loan type. Va just makes it difficult.

Here's the house buying thread.

I need to get myself one of these.

Voila! Yeah I need to get one too. I have mucho student loans, and the whole process makes me nervous. But I guess it's better than paying rent, and feeding into someone else's retirement. There was a house for sale last year in Mason NH, it had an open format, with a huge kitchen, but what sold me, was the basketball court in the attic. lol  It was like 500,00 

Since Nelson is a d-bag! It does not have a garage but, has everything else we are looking for.

Lol You can add a garage onto it, if it has enough room on the side ;)

Its not something I need.

But, But, ...But car! Nice, beautiful car!

Actually waiting to find out what company has purchased my loan, since it's finally out of default, and then go and see what me and the hubby can get pre-approved for..

The biggest thing is debt to income ratio along with a good score. If any of that is no good, you may not get approved.

if anyone needs advice, i work for a mortgage broker and can be of some help.

Making an offer tomorrow night.

Good luck with that. Hope it's accepted.

I doubt the first one will be. But, in the interest of getting a lower cost..

Have to call the tax assessor tomorrow but if everything is as it appears we will be officially submitting our first offer.

You would be surprised what people will except these days.  It would be stupid not to low ball at first.  Lots of houses have been sitting on the market for a lonnnng time and people just want to get rid of them.  

Good luck bud!

Thanks man we are starting about 20k below asking price.

That's a good starting point.

(http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/vv356/ICEBOX434/myhouse_zps77521310.jpg)

closing on monday!

Congratulations homie!

That's a nice looking crib spot!

Garage out back?

no garage but i will be building one with a lift.

I like your style! 

:) That is all don't want to jinx anything...

Very nice!  I like how the yard is landscaped.  How old is the house? 

Submit your offer yet?!

That's a pretty sweet looking crib Dave. Like Tim said about your garage idea, I like your style.

Mike, I won't jinx you but that smiley does give some clue as to what happened with your offer.

Nice house Dave!  Love that vintage brick style with chimney/fireplace.  :thumbsup:

well the closing got delayed  :'( hopefully everything works out in the next few days.

Past that stage.

Waiting for the inspection then?

Waiting on the seller to sign some documents.

Sounds like the seller accepted the offer.

Yes bit they still haven't signed the purchase and sales.... Pissing me off honestly

They do that man. I hope you put an "accept by..." in that offer.

Yes of course.

Btw realistically it hasn't even been 24 hours since it was submitted.

Then you're being entirely too impatient.

Seriously.  You want them to vacate by Thursday too?

 :D



Once they sign, lets see some pics of the house!

Well, looks like i'll be posting in this thread more often. We have to submit a letter to the state explaining our situation with our cats. They may or may not let us keep them. Regardless of what they determine, we've decided to leave, and will be actively looking for a house in the Merrimack area. What a headache :(

I'll post pictures when everything is done. Just trying to get through the process.

http://www.beangroup.com/real_estate/listings/Homes/NH/Londonderry/1574563 (http://www.beangroup.com/real_estate/listings/Homes/NH/Londonderry/1574563)

Ignore the "kindergarden" lol it has a ton of space! And a bar! Could get creative with this one lol

It's nice... All these big houses I got a tiny one lol.

As I'm sure your girlfriend has told you a million times, size doesn't matter Mike.    8-)

A house with a 4 car garage for less than 300,000$ is amazing. I need to move bad!

That's like a down payment for a small 2 bedroom house here.

You Fucker...

Hell yeah it is. And with just over 3100 sq. ft. of finished living space. That same thing in Miami would have been well over 600k.

I just signed the paperwork on mine!  :droid:

Congrats! When do you kick the old owners the fuck out?

i got the keys today, already starting the move in!

I would agree with you guys.  Having that kind of housing prices would be fantastic.  But I do like where I live; so Nelson, I'd have to disagree with "I need to move bad!"

I'm kindof picky about what I want in a house.  I have taken a look here and there, but the price for a house that fits the want list is at a price point where I couldn't swallow.

Fucking awesome dude! This guy? Jelly.

Yeah this girl also....congrats though! Have to have a house warming party! :)

Congrats David.  Good luck Mike!

I'm hoping that eventually we will start looking for a house.  Right now, we're just trying to save as much of a down payment as possible.  I'm willing to wait for the house that I want, instead of settling for something smaller or doesn't have the features I want. 

Look into first time home buyer programs in your area Tim. I was surprised at all the options. We are going to the inspection wed. Hoping all goes well but my luck says otherwise.

Fuck your luck Mike. It'll be fine. Probably find some minor things but nothing structural.

The main thing is that I know about how much the kind of house I want will cost in my area, and we're nowhere near being ready to afford something like that right now.  Like I said, we're saving up for a big down payment.  I'd like to be able to save as much as possible before we buy. 

^^ This definitely.   I would never have been able to buy my house without it. 

If you have good credit the sky is the limit on these programs. Down Payment assistance, grants for buying in specific areas (usually rural), closing cost assistance, etc. With the market the way it is there is a lot of help out there. It's not taking a hand out when its funded by your taxes.

My credit isn't that great.  My wife's is better though.

Lol the opposite over here..I have bad credit, (or i think, not sure) my husband's is awesome.

It's free check it

Doesn't it hurt your score when you check it?

My biggest concern is how to improve my credit.  I've gotta start working on that.

Yeah me too, stupid 50k in student loans..I should become an nfl ref,  and provoke a coach lol

I got some really good advice from a credit counsellor if you would like to exchange pm's about it.

It does not hurt your credit to do a soft credit check.

http://www.newhampshirehomes.com/hillsborough/hudson/home/6-Greenfield-Drive,-Hudson,-NH-03051/4154206/photos

Oh my god it has a lift!

Yeah. That's a good idea. I need to finish building my car before I can really do anything else right now though. It's a long term goal, so I have time before we actually start looking seriously. Shoot me a pm or text about it.

Let me revisit my notes and getback to you

Inspection was okay.. Going to try to negotiate a couple of repairs.

How close do you think you are to move in day? We're off to the bank this Friday to see what we can get pre-approved for...

Closing is 10/31 or 11/2 I don't recall that may change based on what they are willing to fix.

Nice. Pics of the casa or waiting until close?

I don't have any so ill wait lol

Off to the bank to see what we can get approved for! Wish us luck!

Good luck

Best of luck to you Denny!

Good luck homie!!

Well, there's a 20 billion page application we have to fill out....

I know that feeling I haven't stop signing shit for a month...

Sellers agreed to fix everything we requested.

Nice Mike, congratulations.

That's definitely a win on your side.

Congrats buddy.

We didn't ask for everything but this saves us about 5k

Dude, savings are savings. Now I need to save some cash so I can buy myself a casa when I finally GTFO of the military.

Signed and official... Keys in hand... I'm a wreck because I don't want to move away from my nephew...

:( I imagine getting a new home will bring many mixed feelings...congrats nonetheless! I hope you can work something out with your nephew.

Congrats on the house Mike. Moving away from little buddies can be tough but you'll work it out.

its like 4 miles away. I've just been living with my nephew since he was born.

Understood.

Congrats Big Mike.

Congrats dude!  Now the fun starts...

It already has. I'll snap some pics tomorrow. Not living there until we get all of or stuff in. Hopefully this weekend.

Congrats Mike

Realtor has 15 houses she wants us to look at! Here we go!

happens fast... Next time I'm home in day light ill snap some photos.

Yeah I'd love to see pics :) our realtor is hilarious. She said she'd find our light at the end of our kitty-less tunnel lol

My realtor was amazing.

Saw 2 houses today, really liked the second one, needed a refinished hardwood floor on the 1st floor. But I have a question...my credit is 3 points away from qualifying to be used on our loan. Right now Rob is approved for 200,000.  Is there anything I can do to bring my credit up? I've been looking as gas credit cards, and secured cards. The girl at the mortgage co, said to put my name on Rob's credit card accounts, but will that hurt his credit? And how long will it take to bring my credit up that way.. there's so many scams I don't want to get screwed. I haven't had a credit card in almost 10 years because i'm afraid of them...

applying for cards will pull ur score lower for the short tern inquiries subtract points

Darn....ok i'll wait...

The housing market isn't going to improve anytime soon so you have plenty of time to build some credit. 

Our lease is up in July, i don't want to be sleeping at 2 houses for an extra year :(

keep paying bills on time. 3 points is nothing, and could occur naturally. You could also just find something under 200k then add your name down the road if you refinance.

Back to the hunt, going to look at 5 houses with our realtor Lisa tomorrow...

Well, we fell in love with a house on a pond. 4 bedrooms and 2 bath for 204,000. Huge kitchen, there's like 6 finished rooms in the basement. 2 car garage..the only problem, is that flood insurance might be mandatory since it's on an "island" which could be another 7k on top of the town's taxes. Our realtor is checking it out now..it would be nice to go kayaking in our back yard in the summer. Almost everything in the house has been updated. Fingers crossed!

The insurance is going to be insane we almost bought on a lake bit it pushed us away

This house hunting thing is an emotional roller coaster! Ugh! Today I find out that the house we fell in love with on the pond is NOT in a flood zone! Yay! Then after my realtor emails me some of the paperwork to get the ball rolling, she discovers that it's under agreement :( Why do I get my hopes up?!?

Awww  :'(


It just wasn't meant to be I guess...   

Yeah...that's what i said to myself...the search continues.

That happens a lot unfortunately. When I was in the market a year ago, every house I put an offer on, was under contract or some other bullshit. Its disheartening to say the least but you just move on. Conversely, the agreement may go under for any number of reasons so ask your realtor to keep an ear out.

She sent an email to see if they'll take backup offers...who knows

This happened with the house that we ended up buying. They took a higher offer so we made an offer on something else and then got a call the next day saying it was ours if we wanted it.

http://www.beangroup.com/real_estate/listings/Homes/NH/Amherst/1671985

The house on the pond fell through, it was actually under agreement when we went to look at it..bummer...

We have our sights on the house above...thinking we'll make a bid!

Very nice!  love that deck and yard

I agree(physically hurt to type that)

That is a pretty nice deck, Denny. What caught me off guard was "Driveway: Dirt"... No so "car enthusiast" friendly :D... I like the price, although I am very unfamiliar with the pricing in that area.

That's gravel not dirt.  It's fine.

We're gonna pave the hell out of it anyway :)

Going to view the house again tomorrow! Bring some fam with us, and then there's talk of paperwork. I've emailed our rep at the mortgage company twice, no answer yet. I'll call tomorrow...

Viewing was canceled. Ran the numbers and we can't afford it. Now looking into maybe owning a port-a-potty, or maybe a really big frig box. :-\

Stupid money.

 :(


What about building your very own igloo?

Not a bad idea, especially with the weather today, and i heard they were heat efficient lol.

bought my house 2 years ago, heres a pic of my mini bar and home theater in my man cave
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v52/du3ce/IMG_0013.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v52/du3ce/IMG_0011.jpg)

Very nice.

All it's missing is a stripper pole and its ready to go.

I need a mortgage in my life so badly.

Oh my gerd! Nice setup. I really want a bar in the basement!

That looks like a great man cave.  I want one so bad...

Me too! Er....woman cave lol

I have developed a small room into a man cave type area. Just for gaming and tv

My whole apartment is a man-cave. I just let my wife live with me.

Let me call and ask her

Lol. I think I hear a whip cracking.

I'll text you some photos tonight Mike.

Can we see pix too, Nelson?  :)

I would love to have a man cave, but we have no basements here.  All I have is a crawl space full of car parts.  :(

I would very much like a mortgage so I can build a man cave, however, I have a "mortgage" with SallieMae and Department of Education that  I have to pay down first lol. For the time being I'll be like the rest a ya'll dreamers

mines not in the basement

Spare bedroom, Mike?  I don't have that either. LOL.

No we have two living rooms. I took the smaller one as my space

I owe you all some photos.

(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/lavalleemike/IMG_1479_zps97f498ca.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/lavalleemike/IMG_1481_zps6d3c7fec.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/lavalleemike/IMG_1477_zps13ab7c63.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/lavalleemike/IMG_1476_zps750a27d6.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/lavalleemike/IMG_1475_zps49e98ffa.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/lavalleemike/IMG_1474_zpsec7ad508.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/lavalleemike/IMG_1473_zps29526b68.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/lavalleemike/IMG_1471_zps0788b563.jpg)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f173/lavalleemike/IMG_1470_zpsa8f216b4.jpg)

Still needs some work but, we will get there...

Wow! Looks awesome! Reminds me of the ranch we couldn't afford lol nice kitchen :)

I hung out there and drank some piss water. Hey Mike, why didn't you take pics of the dungeon?

We are renovating down there so it's a fucking mess.

Worse than when I came over?

Oh yeah... Building walls and stuff... Drywall dust and saw dust all over the place. I'll take some pics later as I prep for paint.

only thing I'm not a fan of is how high your living room TV is..

I have recently decided that saving for a house, while on my list of things to do, hasn't been one of my top priorities.  I am planning to change that.  I just wish housing wasn't so expensive.

Tell me about it...i have no idea how people afford to live in a house...it's ridiculous

Low ceilings make it look higher than it is. Viewing angle is pretty comfortable.

Depends where you live and down payment. My mortgage is less than 1050 a month. That includes taxes and insurance.

The house looks really nice mike.  Congrats!!

Nice house Mike!  You need to get a carport out front. 

Going to do something.. Couple years down the road

Off to the realtor's office later today to bid on a flipped house in Derry....could go either way obviously, i'm ready for both, but I really like this house..

And the bid is in...

Best of luck

Hope bit works out for you...

Keeping my fingers crossed!

Nice house Mike!  I like that rear deck :thumbsup: (Z, don't take that outta context.  100% KillJoy. LOL)

GL w/ the bid, Denny!  Hoping for the best!


This.  Trying buying in HI. :D

And we were outbid :( dam...the search continues i guess

yeah, while not as bad as you guys have it, southern california is pretty bad too.  it just sucks when i get all hyped up about looking at what's out there and looking at model homes only to realize the cost of my wish list.  i know what i want, and i have come to realize in the past that it results in a very high number; and in a lot of cases, to a point where the monthly mortgage comes in higher than net salary.

it makes it harder because i'm picky, and i haven't really sat myself down to come up with a list of things that i could compromise on.

but i would love to get into a place without shared walls..
Sorry to hear that Denny!

That's one of the benefits of living out here.  The cost of housing is a lot lower than it was when I lived in MA.

MA / RI are very area dependent. Any where with easy access to the cities cost a fortune. Out laying areas are cheap. My house was under 160k

I live a ways out from the city (i.e. dowtown Honolulu / Waikiki) and definitely not beachfront property; somewhat small town and country-ish.  Let's just say my house and property was over $500K... and it was built in 1946  ???.  As Mark stated, and coming from a 2-Bedroom TH myself, a single-family dwelling >>>>>>>> Townhouse with shared wall, IMO :D

THEY ACCEPTED OUR BID!

Woohoo!

I can't believe this, the other party got cold feet and backed out! My realtor called me and we resubmitted our bid! 10 min later she said they accepted! Hooooly shiiiiiiit!

Hoo Ray!  Congrats Denny!

This has me confused. Which house are we talking about? The first one?

Congrats Denny.

Congrats. iJelly!

It was the flipped house in Derry! It was the house we bid on a few weeks ago!

http://www.nneren.com/listing_detail.html?id=4212847&return=1

This one!

Now I member. Awesome!

Gravel driveway one. I too remember this house you speak of.

Yeah, we'll have to pave, getting 6k back from the seller plus some help from my mother in law, maybe we'll have enough to pave it :) hubby said I could have the garage :)

Congrats. We had literally the same thing happen.

My parents have had a gravel driveway for 29 years. Just learn to wipe or feet and pull in and out real slow.

Congrats!  I'm envious of your screened in porch.  My parents had one and I spent more time out there than I did in the house. 

Thanks! I love that porch! It's all screened in and someone installed electrical outlets all across the top of it :)

Congrats Denny!  That porch does look nice.  Seems to have an open layout for the most part.  I love the price :)

We got it for 187! Muahaha! Lol

Ah jeez. I sense some bad things happening and appearing on the news in that house. I will burn that address into my mind should it happen.

In the spring or summer time, buy yourself one of those alkaline water testers before you wash your car with the hose.  You're using well water and sometimes well water is really hard.  Those hard water stains are a pain in the ass to get off your paint.

Also ask if there's a septic tank and when the last time is was cleaned out was.

Just a thought.

Bad things? Like what? Lol

Nelson the house has a water filtration system, but we're going to have it tested as well, and the septic will be tested also..

Good stuff Denny! Wish you guys the best.  How far are you from Lawrence?

Looks like it's about 30 min from there! ;)

My brother lives in Lawrence, I will be there in June for my nephews graduation. See you then.

Awesome! You should check out Hondafest, it was in Lawrence last year :)

Congrats Denny!

Off to our house inspection! :)   with my mother in law :(

Yay and boo all at the same time?

Denny do yourself a favor and ask for everything to be fixed. You will never get ot all but will be more inclined to get some. And ask to see the repairs before the day of the closing. At that point its to late to have them fix anything that wasn't correct. I got screwed on this. Something was half ass fixed but we were ready to move and would have had to put the closing off.

Congrats Denny! Its weird seeing someone posting about NH. I grew up in Londonderry and lived in the area up until 09 and was the only active member on here from the shire for a while.

Dam! Why did you move!?! :(

Inspection went well..the fireplace needs some attention.. and the laundry drainage is an issue also..

Have to replace some doors..

Don't worry Mike, our realtor is a hard ass..she's gonna ask for everything and see what happens..we have another inspection before we close too..

yes but make sure its a week or two before close.

Gotcha..i'll mention that to our realtor in my next email ;)

The inspector was laughing because I was more concerned about the hard water on my car when i wash it, ...than my hair lol

That's because you're not a normal chick and that's cool.

Not buyin a house, but lookin into an apartment, so I felt that it fit.  Torn right now, I wont find out if I'm getting the job until Saturday but the lady who showed us the townhouse we love said they rentin like hot cakes with only a few left... so do we risk losin the $200 deposit and say were in before I know for sure or just wait and risk her renting it out.  I talked to my would be boss today and he said he felt confident in it but couldnt give me a def 100%... I think were gonna risk the deposit.  The price is just too right and the place is too nice to let slip thru the cracks.

I hate risks lol. If your gut is saying to go for it, than go for it! I hope the job works out :) What's the place look like?

Well I sent the list of everything that was on the inspection report for the house to our realtor. I organized the list into different categories, what the seller should fix before we move in, what we will fix, what the utility companies will fix, and i have no idea who is supposed to fix.. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll fix all of it. Mortgage and appraisal paperwork was done this morning.

Two bedroom, 2.5 bath, 3 story townhouse... WITH A GARAGE! Lol

3 Stories!? So the basement is finished? or it has some sort of loft? WOOHOO on the garage!!! Having more than one bathroom is a lifesaver!!!

Ground level: garage and laundry room.

1st floor:  Eat-in Kitchen and living room with half bath and 8x8 deck off kitchen.

2nd floor: Two bedrooms, each with own bathroom.  Master has a HUGE walk in closet.

(http://propimages.apartments.com/119366/007/BL010164.JPG)

(http://blog.keystonearms.boydwilson.com/files/2011/12/chilton.jpg)

That place sounds awesome, I hope you guys get it. Crossing my fingers!

Ryan, I'm crashing at your place when I go back to IMW for my next tune.

Sounds good to me.  Good luck gettin the garage from GF tho... ;)

I feel like I should be nice and let her have it... but her car has remote start and mine doesnt... so...

I don't care about the garage.  Just going there to crash.  If you move, how soon would it be?

Also, back on topic.  We went out looking at houses in our neighborhood and around town.  Saw some stuff we liked, but will probably be building something if we can work something out with the builder.  Right now, we're about to start the process.  Gotta talk to a bank first and see what can be done to get our finances in order.

Itd be available April 1st.

I have friends that live in freemansburg that have that same layout In their town house. Must be popular In PA. Or the same builder.

So I've looked a little bit online, and I can't find an answer. This new house has a septic system, which means no cooking oil or olive oil down the drain. Besides storing it in cans and disposing of it in the trash or elsewhere, where does it go? Any thoughts?

Some townships offer recycling for it.

some folks will buy to run in diesel trucks. Shouldn't be hard to get rid of

Check your local dump.  Our dump has a section for disposing that kind of stuff.

So, I think we're going to be getting a house built.  Gotta see what we qualify for and figure out what we can afford.  Not sure where to start though.

We started by getting pre-approved. Making sure our credit scores were in order and finding out what we could afford. What you get approved for and what you can afford may be different. I'm not sure what the process is for building a house..

Same process for a spec house. Which is what I think you're talking about. Instead of paying the previous owner, you're paying the builder.  Only difference is that here, you're getting a warranty for the house.

Yeah.  The building part isn't really my concern.  I'm more concerned about starting the process for the financial aspect.  I guess we can start by seeing what we can get pre-approved for.

I would also calculate how much you want to pay on a mortgage.  You may be pre-approved for more than you want to pay.

When I sit down and look at everything, I want to be sure mortgage payments and taxes aren't higher than what I'm paying for rent right now.  It all depends on what kind of rates we can get, and how much we can put down.  We have some money saved up, but more would be better.  The good thing is that we are willing to save more and wait to get the house that we want.  The builder that we spoke with still has a lot of lots to build on.  The area we are looking in is still being developed.  There isn't even a street where we are planning on buying.

Tim - depending on your credit, you can get phenomenal rates still.  I think they're going to hover around the 3.2-3.5% for a little bit longer.  Make sure you remember to add in any HOA fees when you're doing your monthly cost as well as your mortgage and taxes.  Usually when the bank or whomever writes you a pre-approval letter to accompany an offer on a house, they'll break it all down for you.

Keep in mind, with most mortgage companies if you don't put down 20%, you have to get mortgage insurance which can be a couple hundred extra a month.  

Are you a first time home buyer?  A lot of places have first time home buyer's assistance.  I had to take three first time home buyer classes and in return the county I live in provided monetary assistance towards my settlement.  I would never have been able to buy my house without it.  

Same here first time home buyer programs a big help. 20% and mortgage insurance isn't always true its credit dependent. We had the option to finance with 0 down and no mortgage insurance (pmi). We put money down to lower the monthly payment regardless. But banks will offer 0 down no pmi if the credit scores are high enough. Really your credit scores and income to debt ratio go a long way in determining what your going to be offered.

I've already been looking into classes for first time home buyers.  At the level we're looking at, it would be a bit of a stretch to put 20% down.  We know what we want and what we are able to afford for monthly payments.  It may be a matter of waiting longer to put away more money for a bigger down payment.  We are probably going to go to a local credit union soon to get the process started, or at least see what we need to do to prepare for this.

Some of the classes are online ;)

Check for state programs as well. In RI depending on income the state offer mortgage programs for first time home buyers. I didn't quite qualify but its something else to look at.

Yeah. That's something I've been looking into. The weird thing is that some of these mortgage calculators are all wonky and I get a variation of close to 50% on monthly payments. I guess it's time to go through our finances and go to the bank.

The house passed the water and radon test! :D

So it's livable. Good shit!!

What's your next step?

Waiting for the appraisal...and whether or not the seller will fix a few things...

We got the townhouse!!!  And aparently our credit was so good we only have to pay half of thr deposit.  Awesome!

Sat cant come soon enough... I know I can afford the rent, but itll be nice to know that I have that extra buffer.

Nice dude!

That's awesome! My husband and I did a woohoo! in the kitchen when I read this! :D

Lol thanks!

Congrats Ryan! Now I got a place to visit in PA!!

Let's crash that motherfucker.

I owe you guys some photos.

(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/21/ehumahyr.jpg)

(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/02/21/uqyqery6.jpg)

Wow cool open format :)

Come on guys... let me move in first... ;)


@Nelson - DAAAAAM!  That nice.

I owe you guys a photo if the bedroom. Right now that shits a pig stye.

Not bad for a basement right?

Awesome basement.. :) jealous!

Really nice. Especially considering NYC.

This surprised the hell outa me too.  Def not what I expected.

Damn Nelson, sweet setup you got there!

Surprised the shit outta me. Looks like I'm going to take you up on that offer sooner than expected Nel.

Keep in mind the ceiling height is like 7'-6" and there's lay-in ceiling tile running down the middle of the apartment. Very little daylight comes in.

^^Still, that's a pretty nice layout.  I like the use of the trim on those steel columns.  Did you do the redesign of the interior yourself, floor plan wise?  I'd be interested to see what the original layout consisted of.

My best friend used to live there before I did. It's the basement of his grandparents house.  He finished it when he lived there. My wife and I just changed a few of the colors in the living room and bar area.

I'll see if I can draw up the floor plan this weekend.

What is this offer?

Getting absolutely obliterated on some rum.

Nelson's place is pretty nice. I didn't expect it at all.

Ryan, you gonna be out there by March 8th? I might be bringing the Accord out there to see another car get tuned.

Thanks Tim.  I appreciate that.


Mike, you coming down for this too?

huh?

Are you down for this too??

No sir, its not available til April 1st.

:(

I'll be re-tuning my car in April. I may set up a Saturday appointment. I might leave Friday night. You should take the day off of work and come hang out.

That sounds awesome.  Let me know closer and ill see what I can do.

I was saddened this was not directed towards this particular Mike... or that I wouldn't even be able to make it :(... LOL.

Not to worry. Knowing the three of us, it'll never happen.

go away you

Way to be optimistic Nelson.

That's what happens when you live in the middle of the Pacific. BTW, I see you looking at this thread right now. :flip:

I'll be on my best behavior, now.  :angel:... Or try to  >:D

:mod: :trololol: :slap:

House update! The seller has agreed to fix everything on the list we sent him from the inspection! Holy shit! :D

Wow! That's awesome!

congrats... Buyers market have your inspector back out its worth the money

Closing date: March 29th...oh yeahhhhhh! Woohooo!

Great news! Congrats and be prepared its an emotional roller coaster.

Why it gotta be called a house warming gift? It's spring, and not cold anymore.

That's a good question. I guess a house cooling gift doesn't make sense either... lol

Mike this whole process has been an emotional roller coaster...

Why not a "good job you bought a house" gift

warm
- to excite enthusiasm, ardor, cheerfulness, or vitality in (someone): The wine soon warmed the company.

Smart ass

You asked a question, I answered. Forgive me for trying to, as the kids would say, drop some knowledge.

Haha you so smart Tim!

I like dropped knowledge, I like to pick it up. :)

Went to take pics at the new house for the underwriter today, still a ton of snow around the house. Went next door to stay hi to the neighbors, come to find out it's a husband and wife, an older couple, with 5 kids between them, but none of them live there. The husband is the owner of Couriveau Routhier, a big stone work company here in NH. And he loves cars, has a firebird,....and a lift in his garage!

Closing tomorrow!

Bet of luck Denny!!!

I'll say congrats tomorrow.

U feel bad for you... Closing sucks.

:( Great... well I took the whole day off... to recover.

Just takes for ever. It's uncomfortable and long.

What's forever? Like 6 hours forever? Should I pack snacks? lol

mine was about four but your sitting in a room signing your name. Its nice when its done I'm assuming you have a walk through today also?

Did the walkthrough on Thurs. :)

All the repairs were sufficient?

Everything looked great, only problem was there was no power, and the dumpster was still there. The seller knows he has to remove it.

we had a similar deal only it was the moving trailer.

The dirty deed is done! Took an hour and a half! We have a house! We're going to get the keys and eat wendy's in it!

Then get your jiggy on in the empty house.

Woohoo!

You get the cats back now! Congrats Denny.

Hell yeah! They will be the last thing we move, although if i had my way we'd move everything tonight! Lol just spent almost 4k in stainless steel stuff. Oy....and we have no power until Monday. :(

money spends fast for the first month or so. When's the party...

Lol not sure, it won't be for a month or so, we have a lot of work to do. We'll have a gathering :D

Gonna crash Denny's house this summer when I come up to New England.

^ this!!!

Thanks jerk... I see where I rank...

You really want me to crash your place too?

He does. I think I'm the only one that's been to his place since he bought it. Aside from family of course.

No house warming party yet?

I didn't see my invite.

That's when z was over... Your welcome here Tim I may be at work but fell free to crash.

Ok. Buying exterior doors suck! Lol. You guys can crash at our place whenever :) we will have 4 bedrooms :D just want a head's up is all. I'll let you know when we have our gathering. Still feel bad about missing yours Mike :(

All good there was too many people anyway. Probably do a summer BBQ for some friends, and of course the members here would be invited

(http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o80/dieselphle/2013-03-31_11-38-00_564_zps42591473.jpg)

 (http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o80/dieselphle/2013-03-31_11-30-26_738_zpsd7e84d50.jpg)

Spent the day sweeping and cleaning this, got my priorities lol.

Garage first! LoL. I like your style!!

Hell yeah garage first! My car's new home! And all my parts lol. We'll have power tomorrow! Woohoo!

Congrats on the signing and official ownership of a mortgage, Denny.  LOL :)... No more basement parts storage!  Woohoo!

Mike, Denny, I will be in MA in July for a day or two if I can find a place to crash (wink wink).  I'm hoping to convince my wife to let me take the Accord

I still need to get off my ass to start the process.  I'm pretty sure we have settled on a builder, but I don't know what we are pre-approved for.  I guess we need to start there first.

Which ever you prefer, we'll be settled by then. Have 4 bedrooms, and you'd have your own full bath. But I guess it depends if both of us have open doors, which one makes sense for the location in mass your visiting. :)

see where I am in July lol... That's usually a vacation month.

And we still don't have power...I smell the faint scent of bullshit, and i'm starting to become irate .....

Really frustrated now, I called the electric company, and we can't do anything. It all rest on the seller completing some work. Still don't have power. Maybe we could get generators to run the whole house! The seller is ignoring our calls, emails, and texts, he's probably drinking a cocktail on an island for all we know. >:(

Sue them. I would call the realtor too.

I'd definitely talk to the realtor first, then a lawyer.

Lol. It wasn't order specific. Either way...living with no electricity for a week is cruel and unnecessary.

Finally heard back from the seller. He says the power company wants us to have an exterior shut off valve, they're charging the seller 1100 to install this. This exterior valve is what the burglars shut off during the Mont Vernon home invasion. We don't want anyone to have access to our power. The seller is fighting it, that's what's taking so long.

Is go by a generator to run somethings...

Most alarms get their power from the telephone line instead of the electric lines in the event that you do lose power, the alarm is still functioning. To me that sounds more like a case where the seller doesn't want to lose $1,100 by upgrading a house that he no longer owns rather than trying to fight to do you a favor.  Regardless of his argument, you've been without power for quite some time. I would be irate and have them connect the power while they figure shit out.  Of course the seller doesn't care, he has power at his house.

I installed alarms for a few years and most of the modern stuff requires a plug or batteries because the phone line doesn't have enough power for the key pad / display.

Damn technology. LoL.

Thanks for the clarification, bud!

The electrical company is a small company, that only services certain sections of the state. I miss PSNH already.

A lot don't use the phone line at all. The communicate via cellular so that line can't be cut...

I told you. He doesn't care, he's got his money and he isn't living there. Threaten with a lawyer. I would at a minimum send him a certified letter in the mail formally requesting that he move his ass with your no electricity issue.

My realtor has threatened to email/call everyone she knows and tell them not to buy his houses if he doesn't fix this... I love her :)

Going to meet the seller now, he's going to give us a check to get the work done. Finally this is going to end.

Until you find out the repair costs twice what he gave you.  Why isn't he just paying for the repairs directly?

His lawyer advised him it would be a good idea if he stayed off the property at this point. We're using the master electrician he got the quote from, and we got the quote in writing. We verified with him that the amount would cover everything before we signed.

Smart lawyer. Lol.

(http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o80/dieselphle/2013-04-19_17-27-13_475_zps0b783f1d.jpg)

Getting there...

 (http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o80/dieselphle/2013-04-19_17-27-53_660_zps6ba212c7.jpg)

So shiny!  I love stainless steel appliances

 :stupid:

How's it feel now Denny?

Feels like it's all fake and it's someone else's house. Surreal.

Love that kitchen Denny!  Don't show my wife that.  :-X

damn! great kitchen!

my wife and I just put our first ever offer in on a house.. crossing our fingers like crazy.. ???

Finally listing with a realtor...hopefully it sells quick! New house, yall are all invited, weeklong partay!

Good luck Jer.

There are mushrooms, that's right mushrooms, the fungus...growing out of our basement carpet. This stuff only happens to us....if a chocolate river shows up and Veruca Salt runs by i'm outta here lol

So it's not the "good" mushrooms?

Aren't those small, with black on them? These were yellow...lol

Maybe some advice from you folks... My property abuts the road which does damage to my lawn because the road salt ends up on the first 4 feet of it and kills it. Anyone have any neat decent looking ideas to fill this space? I was thinking some crushed stone but not sure how it will look.

Send me a photo.

Yeah a picture would help.


Denny, has the basement been checked for mold?  If you have mushrooms growing on the carpet, heaven only knows that else is growing down there...

Is that something beyond the house inspection?  Or do they check for mold then? Our water softener was leaking when the power was off but it's fine now. The shrooms were growing in the spot where the leak was. No issues with the softener now, dehumidifier is in the works...

I would remove the carpet and look under it. Clean up anything that may be lurking.

(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/05/07/ru9u5y7u.jpg)

(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/05/07/upa5uzu9.jpg)

How is your lawn the only one that got chewed up?

Yeah, seriously mike, where are they piling up the snow?

Gravel isn't going to look good. I would put a small tree or shrubs or something so they know where they can stop with the pile up.

Maybe some of those red reflectors that are on 3'-0" poles, but just put them during the winter time.

That's a nice house, Mike.

Have you considered laying out some patterned stone or brick, of uniform shape or otherwise?  Maybe look on a "Curb Appeal" site?  Or build a berm?  That would be cool (and purely functional, although possibly not aesthetic)........ or a moat.

If there were sidewalk in your neighborhood there wouldn't be a problem. For gravel, you need to put up a divider in order to keep it neat, otherwise it'll just spread across your lawn.  I say plant grass and find ways to solve the snow pile issue.

Mike - I think the recommendation of planting small shrubs or something like that may be the best.  It also depends on your HOA or neighborhood rules (if applicable) for what you can and can't do.

Denny - that's insane.. you may want to bleach the area too, kill any mold/mildew that the mushrooms could have been growing from.  carpet MAY need to be replaced..

The issue is not a snow pile. The slat from the road killed the grass. I was all brown and dead its torn up because I raked it to plant. Seed hasn't germinate and its been weeks. Salt absorbs all the available water.

This webpage has some good recommendations of lawn care after salt damage.  Maybe it'll help

http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/wronglawn.html (http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/wronglawn.html)

I don't see how the salt gets on your lawn with the curb there.   Judging from the picture, both your neighbor and the houses across the street don't look like they have any problems.   

I'd consider laying down some sod if the grass seed isn't working.  The bush/shrub idea is good but if the grass won't grow there, then I doubt they will either. 

I'd water it everyday to try to get some of the salt to wash away. From an aesthetic standpoint I would only consider some type of natural green barrier and nothing like pavers or gravel.

Hedge wall!!!
(http://vivianreiss.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/hedges-and-crabs-palm-beach-104-1024x768.jpg)

Being the first year I'm not sure what the previous owner did. What happens is the city salts and plows after and it pushes it all onto the grass.

I graduated from URI lol... Never even thought to look

signing my life away at noon tomorrow!  ???  :'(

Good luck!

 I was a nervous wreck at ours, but it only took about 45 minutes. And it took about a month for it to set in lol

Haha, yeah they said that we should expect about an hour for the whole process. I don't think it will set in until we finish settling in.. Too much to do!

So it's still contingent on a home inspection and me going to a seminar and receiving some first time home buyer grant money but... GF and I put in an offer on a house and they accepted it!  If everything goes to plan we should be movin in Jan or Feb.  :D

Congrats dude!

yayy responsibility intensifies!  :omg: :fuuu2:

Haha thanks guys.  I'm psyched about it.

Congrats Ryan, hoping to do that next year.

Congrats Ryan! Doing big things buddy

Yessir.  Next year's gonna be big.  Then maybe I can relax for a bit... haha

Congrats ginger

So I'm thinking about applying for a mortgage in the coming days. Any words of wisdom from the recent home buyers on here? I've been reading all these reports on news sites about the smaller banks being more lenient on lending again and thinking it may be a good time to try because to debt to income is high tho CS is good (damn you student loans) lol.

We went thru a realtor and she found us a lender.  Worked out well since we are first time home buyers and there are plenty of programs out there to assist us.

Thanks Ryan.  Was it a local realtor or one of the larger ones such as century 21?

We went through a Realtor as well. She was recommended to us by a friend. She was great (and she loved zombies Lol) we used companies she recommended. May I suggest not buying a flipped house? D: I also had a few house apps on my phone and would send the listings to our Realtor so we could check them out.

Thanks Denny. I'm gonna start researching realtors now. I did some research on mortgage bankers and brokers and requested some rate info based on reviews. It's surprising reading some of the negative reviews of the popular advertised companies.

Yeah, I've seen horror stories about flipped houses. Our only requirements are big enough garage, 3 bedrooms and maybe enough yard to put all you guys every June lol.

Also see if your state offers any first time buyer programs. RI actually financed our entire purchase

Yeah we do Mike. 0-3.5% down, but some have restrictions on where you can look for a house.

I'm currently working with a realtor from Coldwell banker.  He was a recommendation from my best friend and its been a good experience.  We're also using an independent mortgage broker and we're happy with her as well.  Good luck with the hunt Rich.

Local I believe.  It's RSR I'd never heard of em but one of Shellys coworkers recommended them.

+1 to the realtor apps (realtor, zillow, trulia).  That's where we started to get an idea and we went out to some open houses.  Cool thing was when the realtor started sending us houses most of them were ones we were already interested in seeing.

+1!   I had to attend a few classes but Baltimore ended up paying 100% of my closing costs and my down-payment (around $15k total).  If I stay in my home for over 10 years, I don't have to pay a penny back.

When you find a house you like, use sites like zillow and trulia to see what people in that neighborhood paid for their houses.  That will give you a good idea if the seller's asking price is good or not.  A good realtor should do this themselves, but I like to do my own research. 

When picking a realtor, make sure you check out their fees.  Some charge more than others. 

Thanks guys. I have few calls to return today.

Wow thats a nice deal.  We did FHA so we only have to put down 3.5% and I went to a 2 part seminar and will get $3000 in down payment and closing cost assistance.

Just got word that we are officially approved for the grant money!  We close Jan 28, now comes the shitty part... packing and waiting.  This month can't go quick enough.

congrats man. We have slowly started looking for a new house.

Thats crazy were supposed to close the 26th :-/ yay for spending money

Time to get a home depot card lol

Just found out seller didnt disclose its in a flood zone! Dammit! Waiting for quote on flood insurance

Ugh. There was a house on a peninsula we were looking at. The flood insurance was ridiculous!

Met with the officer and realtor yesterday.  Took care of some paperwork and started the pre - approval process. Got the online portal setup today and started gathering a few more info. Here goes nothing.

Great news!

Good luck Rich!   

3 more weeks til we close... i can't wait! I want in now!  Totally drove past and creeped on the place yesterday... lol

Thanks man. We went around (cause we needed to get out of the house) and drove by a few that we had seen online. Narrowed down to 3, but one is a short sale. Waiting to here back from the realtor to when we can go see insides and hopefully make a decision on one.

That's what we did before getting preapproved and visited a few open houses .  Then we made a list and described what we wanted to the realtor.  Surprise surprise her recommendations were all from our list.  Lol

Going to visit a few places with the realtor in the morning. Hope we find something we both like.

Good Luck Rich!

I just started switching over all the utilities, shit is gettin real.

So psyched, the new place is already set up Verizon Fios so I called em up.  They got me more TV channels and twice as fast Internet for $40 cheaper than Comcast.  Oh, and a year free of netflix!  Yup, pretty sweet.

So went to see 4 places. Got let down by the top 2, then our jaws dropped when we went inside one that we weren't even planning on viewing. Crazy shit, went from a last minute add on to putting in an offer tomorrow. Let the dance begin. Heard that the seller just got their new home so maybe this will work in our favor and they'll want this one gone asap.

Lowball them!

I didn't think i did, but we're doing the dance anyway. It's just crazy cause I'm away and have to text with the realtor when i can instead of talking to her. If it was meant to be, it'll work out.  Hope they accept the counter offer so we can get this done with.

Good luck with this Rich.  We have put in offers on 3 different properties that the seller accepted.  During the under contract phase they all fell apart.  What we've learned is that nothing is secure until you actually sign the paperwork on your closing day.

With p&s in placed Nelson?

I sign my paperwork next wednesday... don't jinx me.

Thus makes car issues seems like a cake walk especially because I away this week and is just dealing with realtor and broker via text. Idk, what is to be will be. I've now agreed to yesterday's offer becuase they said that they have another offer coming in. Could all just be shit to get closer to asking price. We'll see

Ding ding ding!  Negotiation tactics 101 :( 

Believe me, i know. If this place didn't meet 99% of our criteria i wouldn't have even made a counter offer. I'm kinda kicking myself because their counter was fair based on what most of the other houses in that area sold for. We'll hopefully know tomorrow.

Good luck man.  Post up a picture if you get it. 

whats p&s?

No go, time to start again.

:( It's a roller coaster ride

An endless roller coaster ride for us.  We've been plying this game for a year already

Purchase and sale agreement. Our sellers Realtor pulled that other offer shit. Have you Realtor tell them you made an offer on a different home they change there tune really fast.

Closing on Wednesday... shit is getting real!

Congrats dude.  Pics!

Soon...

Boom! Homeowner bitch!
(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/01/28/fe46ffd49f59659bdd7b38d3453da3e5.jpg)

Very nice!  I wish I had an attached garage.

No garage. :(

It used to be a garage but they walled it over and put in a door.  I thought about converting it back but I decided I'm just gonna partially finish the basement and mancave it.

Here is my blank canvas.
(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/01/28/eea08f08dda1d63cd1eb275ee1f2914d.jpg)

Ooh It's all open! Make it a garage and put a man cave so you can hang out with your car lol

You've already heard my suggestion Ryan.

When I buy a house, it will have a mancave/garage. Basically a comfy garage with couches, a home theater, big TV, refrigerator and something to wrench on.

I'm not gonna lie it was discussed.  I pictured myself on my couch, watching tv, and having my car parked 18 inches behind me.

But I decided I want a pool table instead.

Sounds like heaven Ryan. No pool table

Pool table will get more use... only wrenches I turn these days is for changing oils.  :/

Congrats Ryan! How long ago did they accept your offer?

We're actually going to look at one across the street from the last one tomorrow.  It was put back on the market this past Monday. Seems like a better deal to bank owned so we'll see.

The offer was accepted back in November or December, but we had to wait until now so we could get the grant money (down payment and closing cost assistance).  They had given all the money out for 2014.  We were the 1st or 2nd buyers to receive the grant in 2015.

It's kind of illegal to not have walks around your garage. You need to have a fire barrier between the rest if the house and the garage.

Congrats Ryan. That's great news.

House used to have a garage in the basement.  House next door is the same layout and still does have it as a garage.  But both were just being used for storage, so I'm sure that's fine.

It's an awesome step in life to purchase a home.  Good job dude.

Thanks Nelson!

Officially moved in today.  I love this place.(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/01/31/5dd45e55d9b58549bb40c3776c34d052.jpg)

Looks good Ryan. I would hope you love it being that you're committed to it for the next 30yrs lol.

So we went and saw the one across the street and tho its not as updated as the last, it actually had a lot more to offer. All these houses have the same general floor plan but this one made better use of the layout and it roomier. It's also around $20k less so we may mortgage a little more to do some updates. The seller pretty much accepted the offer and will sign the contact Monday. Then we have to wait for the bank to accept it, get a lawyer and inspection. Fingers crossed again lol.

Good luck guys! Love that fire place Ryan!

The saga continues, So after 5+ weeks of waiting on the bank to respond to our offer, they came back with a counter offer and said that there policy is only to offer 3% seller credit. So now we have to counter and then come up with the other 3% to cover closing.

Closing by the end of the month.

Nice! Congrats Rich!

Thanks man.  Still have to get inspection done and possibly fix any issues that they may find.  Being a short sale, if anything needs to be fixed, we would have to tap into our rehab funds so not out of the woods yet.

Congrats Rich! It's so exciting! If you need help moving maybe we can drive down :) let me know

Will do, Thx guys.

So we didn't get approved for the personal loan to fix the dtiveway. :( we have a few other options we're going to try.

Not surprised, buying a house turns your credit to shit. 

Actually our credit is pretty good

Your credit score might be good still but when you sign off on a mortgage your debt to income ratio sky rockets and the chance of creditors approving loans or upping credit limits goes way down.  I'm not saying it is impossible to get one but it is definitely harder.  For good reason too. 

Sorry to hear Denny, but what Ike said is so true. DTI ratio for most loans can't be more than 45% and the higher it is the higher the interest.

$1k here $1k there $1k over there FML. Should be closing in a week

maybe go to home depot and pick up some illegals to help fix the driveway  ;D

Almost there Rich!  Post up some pictures once she is all yours. 

I get it. But how are you supposed to fix major issues? :( I doubt the insurance company will cover the driveway lol. We're headed back to the bank this Sat

Got the keys and have been cleaning since. We'll get before and after pic up, ike. Gotta make a home Depot run today for tools and supplies. No more auto parts for a while

Nice! Pix of the house?

A few pics. Will get some of the garage and man cave soon

(http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/rich-01/Mobile%20Uploads/100MEDIAIMAG01181_zpspbiolhf0.jpg) (http://s611.photobucket.com/user/rich-01/media/Mobile%20Uploads/100MEDIAIMAG01181_zpspbiolhf0.jpg.html)
(http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/rich-01/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0048_zps2vwumxgp.jpg) (http://s611.photobucket.com/user/rich-01/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG0048_zps2vwumxgp.jpg.html)
(http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/rich-01/Mobile%20Uploads/100MEDIAIMAG00971_zpshua1h4cj.jpg) (http://s611.photobucket.com/user/rich-01/media/Mobile%20Uploads/100MEDIAIMAG00971_zpshua1h4cj.jpg.html)

Congrats Rich! That's awesome news!!

Congratulations Rich

Thanks Mike. I'm still on the roller coaster. Gotta fix the exhaust pipe for the dryer and clean out all the lint from between the walls in the basement. Then I have to get some shingles replaced around a skylight so I can keep my insurance FML. On the other side, we're chipping away at the original list of items. Carpets replaced last week, this week replacement counter tops.

Wow you're getting a lot done!  We had to repair a bunch of things when we moved in too. It was a little frustrating.

Not too much Denny, just wanted the manor stuff out of the way because I don't want to spend all my free time over the next few years. Bad enough the cars are on the back burner for now.

She fits......sort of.
(http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/rich-01/20150703_185008_zpsrcce16hk.jpg) (http://s611.photobucket.com/user/rich-01/media/20150703_185008_zpsrcce16hk.jpg.html)

(http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/rich-01/20150703_184936_zpsutpui5un.jpg) (http://s611.photobucket.com/user/rich-01/media/20150703_184936_zpsutpui5un.jpg.html)

I finally joined this club as well. Took a year and a half to find the right one.

Congrats to you and Michelle. I hope it's not in NJ  ;)

It is. LOL

That's a tight fit Rich. (Hehe) but at least it's in the garage now!

Congrats Nelson!!

 :D yup. I have to rip out the shelve on the right and move my generator hookup. Then I can work under the hood with the garage door close.

Please be careful... my dad lowered the garage door on the trunk of his 9th gen coupes within a week or two of getting it... jus sayin.

Finally fixed all the dirt and uneven pavement in front of the house! Now we're super broke! Lol #natureofthebeast but it's so worth it. And it's lowered car friendly. Meet at our house?


(http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o80/dieselphle/20151007_165608_zpsh1qkrpd1.jpeg) (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/dieselphle/media/20151007_165608_zpsh1qkrpd1.jpeg.html)

(http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o80/dieselphle/20151007_180449_RichtoneHDR_zpsxv6nb6le.jpg) (http://s117.photobucket.com/user/dieselphle/media/20151007_180449_RichtoneHDR_zpsxv6nb6le.jpg.html)

Wow, that looks great!

Thanks Ike! I drove on it for the first time today :)

Ughhhh...we had our driveway sealed this past weekend.  It hadn't been sealed in forever.  Every time I hit with the leaf blower chunks would fly off.  I hoping this will make it last for two years before we have a chance to redo the entire thing.  Yours looks great! I'm jelly.