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The House Searching / Buying/ Building Thread

We placed our condo on the market Monday and have our first showing tomorrow. Moving to Florida, Orlando area. We have some family there.

There is a ton of new & pre-owned inventory and we are looking over both options. Connecticut is not real estate friendly right now but we priced it to move. Like to get south before next snow/ice storm.
 
Here's a depressing thought: My buddy just bought a place (yay for him!). The depressing part? It's over an hour and fifteen from the office on the best of days, is barely 1100 square feet including the garage and still cost nearly $400k. Ick.

I wonder what Atlanta is like. They seem to have a lot of tech jobs
 
Super Tuna said:
Here's a depressing thought: My buddy just bought a place (yay for him!). The depressing part? It's over an hour and fifteen from the office on the best of days, is barely 1100 square feet including the garage and still cost nearly $400k. Ick.

I wonder what Atlanta is like. They seem to have a lot of tech jobs
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That is crazy! I'm buying 37 acres and planning to build a 2,000 or so square foot house and a shop... and still be out less than 200k for everything.
 
KellyBo said:
When we built our house, I told OG that I wanted to oversee the entire thing myself and that we would save a bunch of money if he would agree. He didn't want any part of it but I am a "do-it-yourself" not afraid of anything type of lady. I told him I would handle hiring all the subs, making sure they are paid, and would oversee all the construction. I got the construction loan and researched myself to death. Since I was a business manager, I knew a lot about bidding out jobs, insurance, etc. The house was built, right on target with our budget, and on time. I even learned how to install real hardwood floors with the help of my brother-in-law. I've never worked so hard in my life but the house turned out really nice and I was a proud lady. I spent the next year landscaping and decorating. Now I just play golf. Haha.
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You're hired. You can sleep in the car on-site. :bulgy-eyes:
 
mward2002 said:
You might not be totally SOL. Depending on how your agent structured the contract, he/she may have included a contingent upon sale of current home addendum to the contract. If they didn't, you still have to be approved for your new mortgage. If your debt to income ratio doesn't fall within certain percentages, you could get declined and then you wouldn't be able to buy that other home. Your escrow deposit then kind of is 50/50 if you get it back or not. If you lose a few grand though, but aren't stuck with two mortgages, it might be worth the money. I'd speak with your mortgage person and your agent to see what your options are.
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Thanks for the advice! My buddy is a lawyer and he's going to look over everything for me so I will be sure to ask him that.
 
ghsace said:
Thanks for the advice! My buddy is a lawyer and he's going to look over everything for me so I will be sure to ask him that.
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No problem man. Granted your real estate law is different than mine, some stuff is still the same process. He should be able to help you out though fairly easily if you get in a sticky situation.
 
I built my house 8 years ago, 6000 Square ft. with everything we need on the ground floor and the rest of it can be shut down to save energy or can be opened up as the kids and grand kids come and go. I'm kind of a methodical do it yourself putzer, just finished off the garage last winter, drywall, big screen tv, workshop, nice set up. Headed down the basement and did a bedroom, bathroom, shower, weight room - exercise area and bar this year. Some I do myself, some I do trade off's with clients and friends. I am fortunate enough to still live in the town I grew up in and have a lot of friends and contacts you just can't get when you move around. It is on a great par 5 and there are 2 golf courses in the development. I had a 5,10 and 15 year plan and am cruising right along on schedule! Couldn't be happier! My advice to the young guys is to try to stay out of debt, just cruise along, be patient and pay cash for the extras.
 
We got our land surveyed and the title search started this week. Still working out the financing details and then we should be good to go. By sometime in January, I should be out on the land clearing out a place for the drive and the building site.
The neighbor across the street from the land is a logger and has a dozer, so I'm hoping I can hire him to do a little work for me.
 
It appears we have joined the club. We made an offer on a nice Ranch style home on 2 acres last Saturday. It was a low ball offer just to see if we could get away with it and they accepted our offer. We've been packing, clearing out old stuff, throwing out the junk we have collected and generally getting our place ready to put on the market tomorrow all week! How much stuff can two people hoard over 7 years!?!?!?!? Now we just have to hope our place sells in the next 6 months to give us a chance to buy it.
 
Johnboy12.5 said:
It appears we have joined the club. We made an offer on a nice Ranch style home on 2 acres last Saturday. It was a low ball offer just to see if we could get away with it and they accepted our offer. We've been packing, clearing out old stuff, throwing out the junk we have collected and generally getting our place ready to put on the market tomorrow all week! How much stuff can two people hoard over 7 years!?!?!?!? Now we just have to hope our place sells in the next 6 months to give us a chance to buy it.
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Good luck with selling your home and moving to the new place!
 
MY wife and I made an offer on a home over the weekend. It is on 1/2 acre sitting on the shores of Lake Tapps. It has a dock, boat lift, 2 sea doo lifts, and was remodled in 2009. The lake is a summer mecca of wakeboarding, waterskiing, fishing, and all around vacation style living. Super excited, but we have to try and sell or rent our current house as well. Lots of work ahead to get this done (and some risk). But it is the area we want to be in, and it is a short sale so we are buying it at a bargain price.
 
You say offer, does that mean it was accepted or you still waiting to find out? That is awesome tomahawk! I know you've had a crazy couple of years and wish the best for both you and your wife. Sounds like a great place to be!
 
Johnboy12.5 said:
It appears we have joined the club. We made an offer on a nice Ranch style home on 2 acres last Saturday. It was a low ball offer just to see if we could get away with it and they accepted our offer. We've been packing, clearing out old stuff, throwing out the junk we have collected and generally getting our place ready to put on the market tomorrow all week! How much stuff can two people hoard over 7 years!?!?!?!? Now we just have to hope our place sells in the next 6 months to give us a chance to buy it.
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Congrats Johnboy...nothing will show you how much crap you've accumulated like moving.
 
Nate said:
You say offer, does that mean it was accepted or you still waiting to find out? That is awesome tomahawk! I know you've had a crazy couple of years and wish the best for both you and your wife. Sounds like a great place to be!
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Well it is a short sale, so there are alot of hoops to jump through with the bank. The bank has to officially accept an offer and it takes longer to seal it anytime the banks get involved to this extent. Thanks for the well wishes Nate.
 
That place sounds amazing Tomahawk! I hope the bank clears it quickly for you.
 
tomahawk18 said:
MY wife and I made an offer on a home over the weekend. It is on 1/2 acre sitting on the shores of Lake Tapps. It has a dock, boat lift, 2 sea doo lifts, and was remodled in 2009. The lake is a summer mecca of wakeboarding, waterskiing, fishing, and all around vacation style living. Super excited, but we have to try and sell or rent our current house as well. Lots of work ahead to get this done (and some risk). But it is the area we want to be in, and it is a short sale so we are buying it at a bargain price.
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Good luck man, the house sounds great and I love that you are making the move to live where you really want to .
 
adwillingham said:
Congrats Johnboy...nothing will show you how much crap you've accumulated like moving.
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thanks all.....our house is ready to show after a week of cleaning and de-cluttering. Now we sit and wait..... Good luck to anyone else crazy enough to try this!
 
My wife and I will close on our land today.
We went out and walked over part of it on Monday. It's got great potential but is going to take a lot of work and quite a few years for the the land to mature into a nice homesite.
It's in a great location so I'm looking forward to it.
 
Congrats Arkie.....pretty country there in Arkansas, even if you do have the Hogs in your state. :bashful:
 
My wife and I have been trying to sell our house for a year now. Sucky time for it. Her grandparents are getting older and will be selling their house, as well. Once we manage that, we (my wife and I) are going to buy a house w/ a 2nd driveway and a downstairs that can be made in to an apartment for her grandparents to live in.

Some people came and looked at our house over the weekend and seemed interested. Wish us luck!
 
Is the US market still pretty rough?
 
The house is getting closer. Brick is almost done, cabinets are being built, paint and flooring is being ordered, granite is ready to go. Drywalling and insulation is done. I will get some pics for yall here in a few minutes.
 
ripper said:
Is the US market still pretty rough?
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In most locations yes. My wife and I are scheduled to close on the sale of our home next weds and all signs are still pointing to it closing as scheduled. Our house was on the market for 4 months. Had about 20 showings and accepted the 3rd offer we received. Buyers are out there, but their confidence seems to be shaky at best.
 
ddxu said:
In most locations yes. My wife and I are scheduled to close on the sale of our home next weds and all signs are still pointing to it closing as scheduled. Our house was on the market for 4 months. Had about 20 showings and accepted the 3rd offer we received. Buyers are out there, but their confidence seems to be shaky at best.
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Congrats on the sale! So really its a buyers market right now?
 
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