House Hunt Thread #3

[Jeff '79]

Again Will, you need to play poker with the landlord.
Tell him the truth. You can't find a suitable home and you need to be on a month to month lease.
Tell him that if you can't have one, you have a line on a couple of other apartments, through your realtor, but you'd rather not move until you have to. It could be three months, it could be never.
See what he says.
He'll let you stay.

[Will]

Originally Posted by Jeff '79

Go on a month to month lease.
You pay your rent on time, the landlord knows it, sure money in his pocket is nice for him, so he WILL do that.
As a landlord, I sure would do it, just to delay the finding a new tenant thing.

He wants to sell.

Of course, before he rented to us, he was trying to sell with no bites for over a year.

[Will]

But that doesn't mean he wouldn't get lucky this time.

And if someone decided to buy while we were month to month, we'd be ROYALLY screwed because there's nothing else to rent.

[Will]

Another option I could consider, which would probably prove fruitless, is have the realtor make a lowball offer for me on the Mansion house we looked at on day one that is listed at $369,000, down from the $500,000 owner paid for it.

Based on Realtor's house appraising at $84.24 per sq ft, the Mansion would appraise around $310,000. As much as it looks like a costly proposition in upkeep, maybe if we lucked out and the divorcee said yes, it would be worth it to get a freaking mansion for 300 bones.



I seriously doubt owner does anything other than laugh though at an offer of $310,000

Search For Homes - Search Homes For Sale in Barnwell,Blackville,Williston,Elko,Allendale,Hampton,Bambert,Denmark,Orangeburg, SC

[Will]

LOL. Sellers telling my realtor they never had a problem with the basement.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Will

LOL. Sellers telling my realtor they never had a problem with the basement.

Never had a problem = water never got higher than 2' in the basement. We had a full basement when we lived up north when I was a kid. NO water, ever, and we didn't have a sump pump. I do recall my parents did have a dehumidifier that they occasionally ran though.

I'm with others here, the house is old, there will be problems.

[Will]

F*** this gay earth.

[09CTSV]

There are a few things you can do to eliminate the water in the basement. There is a company around here called Healthy Spaces which put perimeter drains in the basements or crawl spaces. They bust up the concrete put in a drain, seal the outside walls and put it all back together. A friend at work had their basement done for around 12K. If his outside french drain would plug he'd get water in the finished basement. After the repairs we had over 6 inches of rain in a week and he did not have a drop in the basement. The sump pump is concealed and had a battery back up system in the event of a power failure.
Comments about it looks like waste I don't buy. My grandparents lived on Saginaw Bay in Michigan. For about a year their basement would have 1 or two inches of water at times due to the high lake level. The cinder bricks looks just like the photo's. We put the perimeter drains in and no more issues. This was with sandy soil up there.
Good luck.

[Broken Wind]

HOly Christ. NOt only no, but **** no.

[Will]

YHGTBKM. Mansion owner will consider offer of $310,000.

IF current buyer under contract isn't pleased w/ inspection results this Friday.

That's right, it's been on the market for over THREE YEARS, so OF COURSE there's now, at the perfect time, a buyer.

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[78SA]

Good luck. Seems like just a few years ago there were houses for sale everywhere.

[Will]

Considering looking at a home that will need A TON of remodeling.

Across the street and a few yards down the street from us, there's a 3500 sq ft. monstrosity for sale, listed at $250,000 on a local realtor's site.

It was built in 1979 and it's the original owner in it.

NO interior pics and a few weeks ago when I asked my realtor in passing if she knew what the inside was like she indicated it was out of date.

It's also ugly as sin on the outside, BUT looks clean/structurally in great shape.

Only simple thing I can think of would be to paint the siding a non-ugly color that matches well with the brick. Maybe a forest green or something?

Since it's on the other side of the street, we'd also no longer have a gold course view.

But the listing does indicate it has some hardwood flooring, so as long as it's not damaged we wouldn't need to redo all flooring. And maybe it wouldn't need an entire kitchen remodel - if the cabinetry is white or stained wood and in decent shape, maybe we could get away with just new countertops and appliances.

Ditto bathrooms.

Maybe if there are no structural issues or repairs needed in the crawl space or attic, and we could get it cheap enough, the sq. ft. would be worth having to do some remodeling???







Blue dot house is our current rental.

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Will

Considering looking at a home that will need A TON of remodeling.

Across the street and a few yards down the street from us, there's a 3500 sq ft. monstrosity for sale, listed at $250,000 on a local realtor's site.

It was built in 1979 and it's the original owner in it.

NO interior pics and a few weeks ago when I asked my realtor in passing if she knew what the inside was like she indicated it was out of date.

It's also ugly as sin on the outside, BUT looks clean/structurally in great shape.

Only simple thing I can think of would be to paint the siding a non-ugly color that matches well with the brick. Maybe a forest green or something?

Since it's on the other side of the street, we'd also no longer have a gold course view.

But the listing does indicate it has some hardwood flooring, so as long as it's not damaged we wouldn't need to redo all flooring. And maybe it wouldn't need an entire kitchen remodel - if the cabinetry is white or stained wood and in decent shape, maybe we could get away with just new countertops and appliances.

Ditto bathrooms.

Maybe if there are no structural issues or repairs needed in the crawl space or attic, and we could get it cheap enough, the sq. ft. would be worth having to do some remodeling???







Blue dot house is our current rental.

Looks like a winner to me, need maybe ten grand in kitchen crap..../etc.....funny about the aerial shots, all the houses grayed out like that in front for the one you looking at....wonder why?? seems stupid to ME....

[Jeff '79]

Originally Posted by mrvette

Looks like a winner to me, need maybe ten grand in kitchen crap..../etc.....funny about the aerial shots, all the houses grayed out like that in front for the one you looking at....wonder why?? seems stupid to ME....

That would be a prime candidate for these two.

She can make that facade look like a modern house. She's good.

[DAB]

i've built 2 kitchens from scratch. last one i only needed my table saw and simple hand tools.

want a lesson?

16x11, cabinets cost us about $7k.

[Jeff '79]

Originally Posted by Jeff '79

That would be a prime candidate for these two.
Attachment 10615
She can make that facade look like a modern house. She's good.

This house was identical to that one.
What a difference, Hu?
The interior was amazing too.
I wish that I could turn you on to the episode. It was from this season, I can tell you that.

[DAB]

my 2 cents on house buying:

you get what you pay for. don't pay for looks, pay for performance.

get a house in a good location, that has the space you want, that is laid out in a reasonable manner, and that has decent systems (good roof, water tight exterior, good insulation, adequate electrical/mechanical/plumbing/HVAC systems).

everything else is cosmetic and fairly easy to replace or update.

old kitchen and bath cabinets? you can buy new, make new (my method), or just freshen them up.

our current house had a crappy kitchen, we made it work until i replaced it. we didn't starve in the interim. no storage space, no counter space, an oven that had no regulation (off or high), one burner that worked. fixable.

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by DAB

my 2 cents on house buying:

you get what you pay for. don't pay for looks, pay for performance.

get a house in a good location, that has the space you want, that is laid out in a reasonable manner, and that has decent systems (good roof, water tight exterior, good insulation, adequate electrical/mechanical/plumbing/HVAC systems).

everything else is cosmetic and fairly easy to replace or update.

old kitchen and bath cabinets? you can buy new, make new (my method), or just freshen them up.

our current house had a crappy kitchen, we made it work until i replaced it. we didn't starve in the interim. no storage space, no counter space, an oven that had no regulation (off or high), one burner that worked. fixable.

That's the stuff that's difficult or impossible to change.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by MrPeabody

That's the stuff that's difficult or impossible to change.

i might have given this a bit of thought over the years. particularly after inspecting several thousand properties all over the country.

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by DAB

i might have given this a bit of thought over the years. particularly after inspecting several thousand properties all over the country.

As you know, last year we downsized to a mobile home half the size of out previous home. The main thing that made it practical and tolerable was the location.

Another few things I would add to that hard or impossible to change list is neighbors, crime stats and school districts. I always go around and meet the neighbors before I buy a house. Also check the Megan's Law website for registered sex offenders in the area. I hate competition.