Long Island here, have been actively looking for a home in the range of $500,000-600,000. Have found a nice home with 3000 sqft 4 beds and 2.5 baths. Amazing location and amazing community near a major road. Good school district. House is probably the biggest I have seen here, the problem though is it needs some work. Kitchen cabinets need to be replaced, basement, though small, needs to be maintained, one of the rooms had some water damage in the ceiling, and some carpeting needs to be replaced. It's listed for 620,000, which is already outside the budget. I have expressed several times to family that it needs more work but they say that finding a house that big is rare and work can always happen in the future. Is it worth it to make an offer and if so what offer should I make?
I'd be worried about the water damage, figure out what that is.
That said, both houses that we've owned were a bit dated, great condition and well maintained but older kitchens etc. That never bothered us as we just updated a little bit over time. Got nice houses in great neighborhoods with great schools and under average selling price. It's a choice though, some people like move in ready.
The owner says it's mostly cosmetic issue and he is willing to fix it before anyone else moves in.
I guess over time we can always update it as we go along too. The pros outweigh the cons with this house. Thanks
Does anyone have any experience with SoFi's mortgages?
The owner says it's mostly cosmetic issue and he is willing to fix it before anyone else moves in.
I give up trying to buy a home here in Southern California. I got pre-approved for 350K and there isn't a livable home even remotely close to that price in my area. Only a handful of small condos, and I'm sure as fuck not gonna pay that price for one. Fuck this housing market, fuck California, and fuck all the people that want to move here.
Is there a bathroom or tub above the stain? Yeah, it could have overflowed at one time and he just never painted it. Clearly you'll get an inspection though and I'd have the inspector look carefully at that area in particular.
Good luck
It's one of those that won't hurt to apply but if you have the underwriting requirements that they're looking for, you'll have little problem finding a similar loan through literally any other lender. The big catch is their offer of lender paid PMI, but looking at their rates today (and the rates listed on their site are always going to be quoted in the most ideal of scenarios), they're pricing in their costs as well. Even with PMI, I'd expect APRs to come in the same ballpark through other lenders.
I will say it's a clever marketing idea-- by listing your criteria as only wanting super-prime borrowers and customizing your underwriting criteria, you can feed the ego of your prospective borrower while minimizing risk by baking in your other costs into your quoted rate driven by their criteria.
If I were the owner, I'd say the exact same thing.
With visible water damage and a property cost that high, I wouldn't waive any contingencies and would want to hear exactly what my home inspector thinks (to the point where I would even consider a 2nd) and base my decisions accordingly. I'd rather be out the cost of an inspection than deal with potentially larger issues down the road.
As for the updating part, that I agree 100% updating over time is a viable strategy, especially buying in a desirable area. I would just want to make sure the rest is on solid footing.
Best of luck!
Hey all,
I am in the process of searching for homes in the Bowie, MD area and I found a very very nice one the wife and I liked. However, it had one potential issue:
Window Sill Pic
It seemingly has plants growing out of the window sill. Now, we are unfamiliar with this kind of thing. I've never seen it before. I called my father regarding it and his opinion is that it was something you'd want to get taken care of ASAP, however it probably isn't that big a deal and the ivy outside probably just grew up through the siding.
I was curious of the opinion here from anyone that might be a contractor, inspector or just knowledgeable with seeing something like this before in their home.
Should I even entertain giving an offer on this place if this was its only noticable issue?
Hey all,
I am in the process of searching for homes in the Bowie, MD area and I found a very very nice one the wife and I liked. However, it had one potential issue:
Window Sill Pic
It seemingly has plants growing out of the window sill. Now, we are unfamiliar with this kind of thing. I've never seen it before. I called my father regarding it and his opinion is that it was something you'd want to get taken care of ASAP, however it probably isn't that big a deal and the ivy outside probably just grew up through the siding.
I was curious of the opinion here from anyone that might be a contractor, inspector or just knowledgeable with seeing something like this before in their home.
Should I even entertain giving an offer on this place if this was its only noticable issue?
Besides creeping me out for some reason it's probably not a big deal by itself if the cause is obvious (looks like there's ivy growing outside the window). It does suggest however that the house has been vacant for some time which would be something I'd look into
Judging by the disclosure document I received (just in the last hour or so), it looks like it's an estate sale, so I'm guessing either the original owner died or was put in a home, etc.
And yes, the ivy outside is probably the culprit. Just wasn't sure it was worth throwing away $400 on an inspector to just tell me "Yep, you got a problem there. Pretty obvious". I realize they would obviously tell me more than that. Going to look a few more homes tomorrow before I make a decision, but it is still on the list of my most likely choices.
I give up trying to buy a home here in Southern California. I got pre-approved for 350K and there isn't a livable home even remotely close to that price in my area. Only a handful of small condos, and I'm sure as fuck not gonna pay that price for one. Fuck this housing market, fuck California, and fuck all the people that want to move here.
Always always always get your own inspection done. Always.
Just wanted to pop in here and say I'm under contract!
And thankfully not with the house that had plants growing out of the window sill
This is the one we ended up with:
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Bowie/13115-12th-St-20715/home/11124853
Super excited since this will be our first home! Crossing fingers regarding the inspector now
Not related to buying a home, but I don't think there's a thread for appliance related shit FOR your house!
Our washing machine inner drum is shot. Bearing or rod snapped. Of course it was the day we returned home from a 2 week vacation. That and our AC fan isn't spinning outside. So we have to figure out how to get 2 appliances taken care of.
The AC may be a simply fuse/capacitor, so I'm not worrying about that yet. However, the washing machine is a bummer. Anyone have any good resources or tips on what brands, what models, new/used, etc for shit like that?
Nothing more depressing than spending $1600 a month for a one bedroom apartment in NJ, and then looking at houses in the Charlotte area...
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4208-Hubbard-Rd-Charlotte-NC-28269/113989301_zpid/?fullpage=true
That would be a 750K+ house in my town up here.
Just wanted to pop in here and say I'm under contract!
And thankfully not with the house that had plants growing out of the window sill
This is the one we ended up with:
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Bowie/13115-12th-St-20715/home/11124853
Super excited since this will be our first home! Crossing fingers regarding the inspector now
Now that my kid is here, the next goal is to find a house in a very hot housing market (areas surrounding Denver) by August. I'm looking to have somewhere between $35-40K in savings, and spend roughly up to 60% of that on a down payment and closing costs. Finding anything in our area for under $300K is a pipe dream, so is this doable for a home in the range of $300-$350K?
Can it be done? Absolutely and in a number of different ways. I would definitely do the due diligence of searching for any local grants, 1st time homebuyer offers, etc etc. From there, depending on the location of the property, you could have finance options like FHA, USDA, etc. in addition to the more exotic conventional mortgages that will often fold in a 2nd loan to make the loan-to-value work.
Each one is going to have its own pricing quirks so, while cliche, I'd heavily recommend shopping for a mortgage rep you can trust. Also, I would look into any seasonality trends for Denver (Would the climate change this much? Here in NJ, April is our busiest time by leaps and bounds and the prices reflect that).
Again, no crystal ball here, but I do think rates are going to continue to rise, though not as fast as the last 12 months or so. If you're looking at mortgage calculators to estimate your payment, I'd guess an increase somewhere between a quarter and half point (maybe more?) between now and next summer.
Good luck!
Congrats! My company's HQ is right outside Bowie so I'm down there all the time and have several co-workers in the area. Always liked the area and seems like you've found a winner there. $370k seems like the high side of reasonable, but admittedly, there are others that know PG County much better than I do.
What's the opinion on Manufactured homes? There is a very nice one for sale in my area for a solid price. Has a garage, a pool, a decent size backyard, very nice quite neighborhood. It's not a mobile home park, just a community of homes that are manufactured. You own your land.
Buying one would actually be cheaper than renting an apartment.
how old is it? Whats the price?What's the opinion on Manufactured homes? There is a very nice one for sale in my area for a solid price. Has a garage, a pool, a decent size backyard, very nice quite neighborhood. It's not a mobile home park, just a community of homes that are manufactured. You own your land.
Buying one would actually be cheaper than renting an apartment.
depending on its age you can sell it when you want to move on for a decent amount. But your also not paying a whole lot when you buy them used.My biggest concern would be resale value
My wife and I had an offer accepted on a 1930's bungalow near downtown Indy a couple weeks ago. The inspection was last week and for an 80+ year old house, the list of issues was surprisingly short. My main concern is that the seller's disclosure said the roof was nine years old, but the inspection report pegged it at 15+. Per recommendation from the guy who did the inspection, I am having a couple different roofing specialists do independent inspections this week. Hopefully it's nothing too major (the inspector said he didn't see any water damage or anything in the attic, just some ratty-looking areas he was concerned about).
We got our current house on the market three days after our offer was accepted, and it sold within the week, so that's a weight off. If things don't work out with this house, we'll just move into an apartment for six months while we look for something else.
Third time's the charm. Put in an offer on a house in West Seattle. Pretty much at the upper limit of my budget but fucking hell clearly you need to be aggressive out here.