House Hunting

[Lynn LeFey]

My husband and I have been together for... uhh... forever? Well, okay, since like 1998. Wow. Yeah. 16 years. We moved into an apartment together, things went great, then a second and third apartment.

Then, five years ago, a little house. Very little, like 850 sq feet. Even that would be enough space if the cellar were dry, or we had a reasonable place to put a storage shed.

But we've kind of outgrown it, and our finances are looking okay. Oh, yeah, and there's the whole crazy neighbor with a pit bull that keeps attacking us...

So, we're back on the market for a new home. This one, five years ago, cost us about $75K. Our price range is a little higher now... around $95K max. That might not sound like a big difference (or maybe it does) but it apparently makes a WORLD of difference as to what you get.

Yesterday we looked at 4 houses. Of those, we only eliminated one from the running completely. So everyone knows, the difference between 'Cellar' and 'Basement' around here is that you can access a basement without leaving the house. Our current house has a Cellar.

House 1 is small (925sqft), has a wet cellar, recently rehabbed, with not much storage in the house, but has a HUGE garage (34' by 24') and sits on a half acre lot in a neighborhood full of equally far-spaced neighbors.

House 2 is a bit larger (1032sqft), a fairly dry basement, nice residential neighborhood, 1 car garage, back yard with a privacy fence on a standard size lot (150' x 50')

House 3 is larger still (1150sqft), almost completely dry basement, okay neighborhood, no garage, back yard with privacy fence on standard size lot. It is also literally one block over from where we live now, so we might still run into our current idiot neighbor.

The first time we did this house hunt, we were scraping by to come up with the funds for down payment, inspection, closing costs, all that. Our friends actually bought us paint to repaint some of the rooms before we moved in. And another got us a lawn mower. We had to buy the gas stove and refrigerator from 'Big Franks Used Appliances'. We were REALLY scraping by.

This time is different. We have pretty much perfect credit rating, so we'll be able to put down 5% up front, and get a non-FHA loan (at an insanely low 3.75%. Yes, fixed), which means if items don't pass inspection, we can decide if we still wish to purchase. We can handle closing costs and can certainly afford paint.

So, I guess this goes to the old saying "I would rather light a candle than curse the darkness" in regard to my neighbor situation. The neighbor's teenage daughter said to me the other day "Why don't you just move if you don't like it?" to which I said "You can't 'just move'."

Except... we looked at the numbers, and we can. So we will. ASAP.

[gregozedobe]

Except... we looked at the numbers, and we can. So we will. ASAP.

Sounds like an excellent plan    Just research neighbours etc to make sure there isn't another "idiot neghbour" close by.

[Chako]

 

[Grathr]

Sounds like a great solution to the whole idiot neighbour with angry dog problem. Atleast for you.


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[Grant Lamontagne]

Moving up in life is always a good choice, especially if it means you can be rid of that idiot neighbor.  I wish you the best of luck with the new place, whichever you choose.

Def

[Aloha]

"Light" that candle Lynn!  It's great you are in a position to move and into a larger home as well.  I do hope you find the right house for you with a dry basement   .   

[Syph007]

When I was looking I was interested in lot size and hence space from neighbours more than house sq footage.  Out lot is 120ft frontage and our house is only 950 sq ft.  This is a 1950s neighborhood so the lot sizes were divided up better than the new build areas where houses are 3 ft apart.  My neighbours houses are 20 ft away on either side and that suits me fine.

Good luck shopping lynn!  See if you can meet the new neighbors before buying!

[Lynn LeFey]

We met the next door neighbor on the third property last night after we walked over to take a look again (since that place was only a block away) and had a good long chat. He's been there for 40 years, and knows everyone in the neighborhood, and gave us the rundown. It was like cracking open a history book of the street. What I had intended to be a friendly hello and maybe a few minutes of chatting turned into about an hour.

[Cupboard]

If you got on with him and had a long chat with him effectively out of the blue, I'd move there.

It's not so much about the house as the full experience.

[derekmac]

I wish you and your hubby the absolute best of luck with your house search!!  If it was me looking, that 34x24' garage would make me  and lean towards that.

It doesn't hurt to go knocking on doors of the houses around the properties you are interested in.  Introduce yourselves and say you are interested in purchasing (point to house) and you were wondering what the neighborhood is like.  If the people are friendly, than that's a plus, if not, it might be best to steer clear.

[RimfireNZ]

Congrats on the decision Lynn and good luck house hunting. Get away from that neighbor before she gives you grey hairs! I know how frustrating bad neighbors can be.

I can't believe you can buy a house for $100k over there... half a million doesn't get you much in a 40+ mile circle around Auckland. I might have to come to the US!

Let us know how you get on.

[Lynn LeFey]

If it was me looking, that 34x24' garage would make me  and lean towards that.

I have told hubby that the property would give me a perfect place in which to construct a 'Tiny Home' in a dry environment. Or repair our broken Futon frame. Or any number of awesome things. He seems unfazed by my arguments.

Rimfire... most of the places around us are more expensive, but $150k can get a pretty good place. I was thinking Aukland was bigger than St. Louis, but if I take the whole metro area, it's about 3 million. But understand the area isn't exactly the hot growth region of the U.S. Still, yeah, you're kind of getting screwed on property prices there. 

EDIT: also, Our current house only cost $75K.

[Aloha]

Congrats on the decision Lynn and good luck house hunting. Get away from that neighbor before she gives you grey hairs! I know how frustrating bad neighbors can be.

I can't believe you can buy a house for $100k over there... half a million doesn't get you much in a 40+ mile circle around Auckland. I might have to come to the US!

Let us know how you get on.

Here in California home prices are still high.  A quarter million gets you a home in the high crime areas.  That garage sounds awesome Lynn.   

[ironraven]

Rimfire, the prices are high there because you live on an island- everything has to be imported on an island. Even the land. 

Wet cellar, sounds like a bad plan. The drier the cellar/basement is, the better- moisture gets up into the main part of the house, into the wood, and attracts all kind creepies and crawlies and biteys. But you already know that.

[Monrogue]

Good luck to you and your husband in the house hunting process.  It must be exciting to know you are in the financial position to do so, and I pray you have a much better neighbor experience

[MadPlumbarian]

My husband and I have been together for... uhh... forever? Well, okay, since like 1998. Wow. Yeah. 16 years. We moved into an apartment together, things went great, then a second and third apartment.

No way that's soo cool, I met my wife the same year, 98! We also did the same thing but also upgraded at the same time, we started in this cute little "3 room" apt, just a room, kitchen/dinning and bathroom, but then moved and bumped up to a 4 room, kitchen/dinning, den/bed, bed, and bath, then after having our first kid move to a 6 room, 2 bed, Living room, dinning, kit, and bathroom! Then bought our first house and had our second kid, this time with 10 rooms, not including the attic or basement, we swore we would never move AGAIN but after problems we've downsize and gone back to apts, the wife and I want to go back to a mini place(one of these 200-300sqft) but can't do so until we kick the kids out!

Anyway, best of luck with your house search, and please keep us all up to date! JR

[Syph007]

Congrats on the decision Lynn and good luck house hunting. Get away from that neighbor before she gives you grey hairs! I know how frustrating bad neighbors can be.

I can't believe you can buy a house for $100k over there... half a million doesn't get you much in a 40+ mile circle around Auckland. I might have to come to the US!

Let us know how you get on.

Here in California home prices are still high.  A quarter million gets you a home in the high crime areas.  That garage sounds awesome Lynn.   

Where I live in Southern Ontario avg house prices are 350k which is nuts to me. I dont know how first time buyers can do it.

Although in Toronto you probably have to blow well over 750k to get something decent.  We bought small and affordable.  I liked the idea of a small mortgage that if the smurf hit the fan and only one of us was working we could afford to live.  Most of my friends have mortgages double what mine is, and Im ok being in a small house with small mortgage , and small stress.

Now where I grew up in the north my parents house was valued at $35K.    Moving 700km south really effects the prices. 

[derekmac]

Congrats on the decision Lynn and good luck house hunting. Get away from that neighbor before she gives you grey hairs! I know how frustrating bad neighbors can be.

I can't believe you can buy a house for $100k over there... half a million doesn't get you much in a 40+ mile circle around Auckland. I might have to come to the US!

Let us know how you get on.

Here in California home prices are still high.  A quarter million gets you a home in the high crime areas.  That garage sounds awesome Lynn.   

Where I live in Southern Ontario avg house prices are 350k which is nuts to me. I dont know how first time buyers can do it.

Although in Toronto you probably have to blow well over 750k to get something decent.  We bought small and affordable.  I liked the idea of a small mortgage that if the smurf hit the fan and only one of us was working we could afford to live.  Most of my friends have mortgages double what mine is, and Im ok being in a small house with small mortgage , and small stress.

Now where I grew up in the north my parents house was valued at $35K.    Moving 700km south really effects the prices. 

My wife is from Brampton, and the house prices there are crazy!  Of course, they are crazy just about everywhere.  There are a few empty lots left in our subdivision, and they want $70,000 for them!!  They're not big lots either, only 9-10,000 sq.ft!

It's exciting being able to get a new place, but I despise moving!!  It's funny, my wife and I started going together in 98 as well. 

We moved into our first apartment in 2002 I think, but we didn't really care for apartment life as we both grew up in houses with yards.  After that, we moved into a mobile home in a nice park.  The trailer was only a few years old, and it was great for just the two of us.  It was OK with one kid, but too small with too.  We went from that to a 1200sq.ft two story semi.  We were all quite happy there, and lived there for a couple of years, until my grandmother took sick.  They needed to move in town to be closer to the hospital, and we bought their house from them.

Keep us posted on how the hunting goes.

[Whoey]

House prices baffle me.

[Chako]

I may not live in a big fancy house, but it is all paid for. I made sure to go small and something I could pay off in short order. I lived in rentals when growing up and vowed to never do that when I got older. As for housing prices, they never seem to go down.

[Lynn LeFey]

Well, this evening, we finished looking at the last two places on our list, and eliminated them both. Tomorrow, we'll put a bid on our top pick.

[gregozedobe]

..... Tomorrow, we'll put a bid on our top pick.

Good Luck, I hope it works out for you (but if you miss out on this one, I'm sure there are plenty of other houses without any horrible neighbours) 

[detron]

I may not live in a big fancy house, but it is all paid for. I made sure to go small and something I could pay off in short order. I lived in rentals when growing up and vowed to never do that when I got older. As for housing prices, they never seem to go down.

that is so true,  except I bought my house right before the economic collapse in 2008.  my house value went down 30% real fast. 

it does not matter since I am not looking to sell, but if I were, it would really hurt

[detron]

Lynn,  keep us posted, and good luck

[derekmac]

I may not live in a big fancy house, but it is all paid for. I made sure to go small and something I could pay off in short order. I lived in rentals when growing up and vowed to never do that when I got older. As for housing prices, they never seem to go down.

that is so true,  except I bought my house right before the economic collapse in 2008.  my house value went down 30% real fast. 

it does not matter since I am not looking to sell, but if I were, it would really hurt

Ouch!  Luckily, we haven't had a crash yet (knock on wood), and prices keep going up.  This is good for selling, but I feel bad for first time home buyers trying to get something.

[Lynn LeFey]

that is so true,  except I bought my house right before the economic collapse in 2008.  my house value went down 30% real fast. 

That's a horrible situation. We got in this place once things had more or less bottomed out.

I'm spending the day today going over comps and coming up with what I think the new place is worth. We'll meet with our real estate agent tonight, and make our offer. We're in a pretty strong bargaining position, since there are other places we can move long to if this one doesn't work out.

[detron]

that is so true,  except I bought my house right before the economic collapse in 2008.  my house value went down 30% real fast. 

That's a horrible situation. We got in this place once things had more or less bottomed out.

I'm spending the day today going over comps and coming up with what I think the new place is worth. We'll meet with our real estate agent tonight, and make our offer. We're in a pretty strong bargaining position, since there are other places we can move long to if this one doesn't work out.

on the bright side we are not looking to move, I wish the taxes would go down with the value, but it did not change.

[Lynn LeFey]

Negotiations on the price of the place we're looking at are going well, and we hope to be settled on a price by tomorrow. It'll be $87-88,000.

Then on to inspections.

[Aloha]

Negotiations on the price of the place we're looking at are going well, and we hope to be settled on a price by tomorrow. It'll be $87-88,000.

Then on to inspections.

  Hoping for the best. 

[derekmac]

Best of luck Lynn, I'll have my fingers crossed for you and hubby!