House-buying Woes

[*NikkiBell*]

Here we go yet again. Time for a house-buying vent.

I started hunting for a house closer to work at the end of May. Right now, I commute 45-60 one way to work everyday. On nights when there's late meetings or conferences, that's pretty rough after such a long day. I have a recommended realtor, pre-approval, amazing credit, and a closing attorney already lined up. We've seen dozens of houses and I'm excited to move into a wonderful area with extremely low taxes for our state.

Here's my rap sheet so far...

House #1 - Loved it. Perfect layout and 3 1/2 minutes from work. Two bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and two baths. Already vacant. Put bid in immediately. Got out bid and couldn't beat that price.

House #2 - Enormous house with an extra room making the total three plus kitchen, family room, dining room, living room, and two and a half baths. Already vacant. Motivated seller. 3 1/2 minutes from work (same development as first house). Got pre-approval and attorney. Was told that it was a shoe-in as seller was having financial problems. Put bid in. Started picking out paint and furniture. Seller disappeared for a week. Finally found seller who decided he wants at least $20K more all of a sudden. Not possible.

House #3 - Great unit with a two car garage, two bedrooms, and two and a half baths. 5-6 minutes from work. Put bid in. Seller goes on vacation....

Meanwhile...House #4 - Identical unit to House #3, but with amazing upgrades and significantly cheaper price. Immediately contact to put bid in. Turns out it was a staged sale. The closing is tomorrow. GROWL.

Back to House #3...seller returns from vacation. My agent finds out they overpaid for this house and have no equity. They are reluctant to drop the price as a result and expect me to overpay. Sorry, not happening.

So here I am back to square one. There's no chance of moving before the new school year starts. Each time I lose on one of these bids, it stings, but I'm getting used to it.

I heard the Marriott off of the highway is nice and has immediate availability.

 

[NC Belle]

You must be patient and be like Cinderella. You never know when the right shoe, or in your case...house, will fit and change your life in a way that you never thought be possible.

Lots of pixie dust and patience

 

[gkrykewy]

Your patience will pay off. It's looking likely that home prices will start heading further down this fall.

 

[Quacktatty]

I looked at 21 houses before I found the right one, you'll get there eventually. Just keep looking.

 

[Phoenixblue]

Yikes.
Sorry for the hard times finding a house.

We were house hunting a few years ago . . . and it took us a bit also.
We were trying to find a house while I was pregnant and that we could live with my mom in. We started hunting in Feb. in Fairbanks, AK . . . it was -40! It took us six months and one baby before we found a place. And then the sellers agent was freaky - used delaying tactics on getting us the contact because he couldn't get his clients act together.

Your house is out there, don't give up! , ,

 

[auroralark]

I'm sorry you're having such problems trying to buy a house! You'd think in this economy, people would be more willing to take an offer...I'm sure most of them will regret it in the end. (I know my MIL regretted not taking the first offer she got.) You will find something! We looked at a TON of houses put at least 5 or 6 bids in and were extremely discouraged/unhappy by the time we finally found something. House hunting seems like such a fun thing, but... Anyway, keep at it. The right house is out there!

 

[sjsjbrook]

You will find the perfect house, just be patient.

Here is my story.

We looked and loved house, found out there was going to be multiple offers so we went with the asking price (way overpriced at the time too).

Offers were presented and sent back and asked us to wave our conditions, one being the house inspection - so of course warning bells went off in my head, so we said no.

Did I mention I knew the seller



So the other people got the house for $10 grand less than our offer.

Fast Forward 3 months later, to the closing date.

They arrive at the door at 8am expecting to move in even though everything hasn't closed yet. The house the people were moving too was trashed by students, so they couldn't move into their new home.

It was a total nightmare for the sellers. Of course if they would have sold to us

We ended up finding our home 3 months later and are happy (even though the blackout happened the day everything closed),, but that is another story.


So hang in there, all will work out in the end.

 

[bigmoonmullen]

I heard the Marriott off of the highway is nice and has immediate availability.

Nikki, You would get alot of points this way but yipes... Here is some PD to ward off the evil spirits preventing you from finding and closing on your dream home.

Good Luck,

Mark

 

[mainegal]

It is supposed to be a buyer's market, but no one told the sellers!

I ma on the other side.
Eventually, we will get Mom's house in South Jersey ready and on the market. Already, my brother and sister are disappointed the real estate agents we have talked to put a lower asking price on it. I am more the motivated seller of an estate sale house. Any profit we get on the house split four ways is money we did not have before. The house I lived in for almost thirty years - I am ready to let it go.

 

[mjaclyn]

UGH... Sounds like the nightmare DH and I went through a few years ago trying to buy a house. We were outbid a bunch of times even when we offered asking price (this was before the market plunged of course)... people were coming in with cash offers after us, so even though we were pre-approved with more than enough money down, we still couldn't beat them. Looking back I really wish I had just waited because we ended up buying at the top of the market... a raised ranch which, although is VERY nice, I absolutely did not want. I love colonial, Victorian and Cape Cod style houses... a raised ranch was the last on my list. At the time I thought the prices would just keep going up and up so I wanted to get into something fast. If we had waited I could have saved a bundle and gotten what I really wanted. Of course, you're at the opposite end of the spectrum right now, lol. The prices are great compared to what they were five years ago. That's the good news. The bad news unfortunately, is that it doesn't get much easier once you're offer is accepted. Then comes the waiting, and inspections, and lawyers, and paperwork...which seems to take years. Maybe if you find something that's already vacant it won't be so long for you. Sending pixie dust your way!! I hope you find what you're looking for without it stressing you out too much!!

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I hear ya on that. I had a closing date of August 10th for the one house. Grrr.

 

[princessbride6205]

Sorry to hear about your house-buying issues.
We had the opposite experience. Bought at the top of the market in spring 2006 with no issues, completely smooth sailing. Sigh - but now we regret buying. We definitely rushed into purchasing (did our research, had finances in order, but still had this deadline in our head). Hopefully there is a better house out there for you, that will make up for all the annoying issues.

 

[disneym2m]

I am so sorry you have to go through this mess. I have been there and done that like so many others.

But look at it this way...maybe it is a sign that these houses and you aren't meant for one another. That THE house is out there waiting patiently for you. I tend to believe things happen for a reason, so may be in your case there are hidden reasons.

Good luck and don't worry you WILL find YOUR house very soon.

 

[Cherinva]

Keep your chin up....I went through something like that when I was looking to buy the one I have. I was selling my current home (since everyone moved out and I didn't want a large home by myself)...every time I saw a nice smaller home, someone beat me out on a contract. I just kept thinking over and over...my house is not on the market yet....sure enough when I was within 2 days of the date of "having to have a contract on a new house" (so that I could have the closings back to back) I looked on the real estate site at 9am and there was my house. I called my agent and she was at that minute sending me an email about the same place. She got me in that afternoon, and by 5pm the sellers had a solid contract.

Now, here's the funny part...I bought a small home for just me and the dogs....my girls were out on their own..and my boyfriend moved into an apartment to have his own space...ok...good.....1 year later, my girls moved back home and this time brought a dog with them, and 2 years ago, my boyfriend got laid off from his job..and after several months of not finding another job, he gave up the apartment and moved back in with me.....now I don't have a house big enough...we are stepping all over each other...go figure.

I refuse to sell this one, so we will just have to deal with it until the girls move back out...which could be happening in the next year or so.

Best of luck to you....when the time is right...your house will come available.

 

[kab407]

Nikki- unfortunately where you are looking is one of the most desirable areas of NJ. Just ride it out. I looked for close to two years before I finally found my TH. Places I looked at were either overpriced or needed too much work for the prices. Inspections uncovered things what resulted in me pulling out of the deal. I got into several bidding wars, all of which I swear were started by the real estate agents, not the sellers. I can't tell you how many times I was ready to toss in the towel. Know what your must haves are and stick to them. I held out and ended up with my ideal home.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

Doesn't it completely stink when you have a plan in your head and real life just doesn't cooperate?! I echo the sentiments of other posters, hang in there and have faith that the right house will come along In the meantime, try to enjoy the fun of looking at houses ...

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

My sister and her then DH (he's an soon to be X husband now) were looking at houses in MD around 10 years ago. They got outbid so many times they quit keeping count.

It took them 6 months but they finally found a subdivision they liked and and were able to get a house built on it just the way they wanted it.

We looked at over 30 houses in our county before we found one we liked that didn't have alot of problems. It still needs some work but we are slowly doing it. We almost got outbid on it but the homeowners went to China on vacation, signed our contract and faxed it back an hour before they got the 2nd higher offer. It sure was close!

Hang in there. The right house that you won't get outbid on will turn up.