Buying A House: C or D?

not worth it if more time and resources only gets you what's on the left tbh

And believe it or not, that guy's a professional landscaper.

Sailor, you should counter-offer $216k. And then buy a boat.

original listing $239k
offered $220k
counteroffer $236k

Based on recent sales in the area, was your offer solid? Because that seller seems unwilling to really play ball.

they're probably underwater

Hadn't thought of that, but it's a definite possibility.

Definitely buy a boat then.

A+

seller listed the house at $289k(?!?!) last year and dropped the price a couple times last summer. The house is only 1500sq ft on a very small lot (which we liked; manageable size); similar houses nearby are all larger, newer & on larger lots, usually in the $190k-$215k range. The seller has done some nice improvements & it's in great, move-in ready condition -- just seems like they feel entitled to get a certain price out of it? Seller's realtor says they upgrading to a larger seaside house down the road so I dunno what the deal is

My yard's on the right.

Can't speak for where you live, but local officials in California are urging homeowners to let their grass go brown due to the severe drought conditions we've been experiencing for months. So for me, my brown lawn is a badge of honor. :)

Sorry, that really sucks for you, but if they're okay letting the house sit around for, what's now, in excess of a year while they wait for a few precious thousand dollars, then fuck 'em.

xp obvs

I just don't get the planted grass, especially when they're first stuck out there like throw rugs and you feel like you could hide a spare key under the lawn or some other Bugs Bunny scenario where he lifts up the whole yard.

We are not in a drought. In fact, it's flooding again in the eastern agri part of the state. The other day in the rain, the kids and I drove past our neighbors' place where the sprinklers were busy adding fuel to the fire.

From this house, I might see poorer folks walking down the street on the way to the bus

jesus heck America

Idly browsing houses in the Fens on Rightmove at the moment. Ridiculously, the cost of a mortgage on a place like this:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-31029903.html

plus renovation costs, plus £600 a month in train fares would still work out cheaper than a one-bed flat in most parts of London i'd be interested in. Heck of a commute to London but Cambridge is only half an hour away.

Loving the exterior of that one, but there's a lot of updating to be done on the inside.

There is, but that appeals to me i think. I would like the chance to completely renovate somewhere to my own specification. There's a chance i've been reading too many interior design books recently, though.

no such thing as too many

Looks good! Except I have an aversion to front doors opening into living room.
Renovating is very rewarding but be prepared for most of your budget to go into "boring" stuff like re-plumbing, re-plastering, repairing windows, flooring etc before you get to the fun stuff.
If you don't need/want to move walls around that's a bonus - no floor plan on rightmove :(
Currently launching into doing our "new" place (been here 18 months) and did extensive renovations in the last place. We did save for 5 years before doing the last one.

also you could move in and live in it without needing to renovate asap

Don't front doors lead into like 98% of all living rooms?

Some places have a formal foyer (probably more than 2%, even).

Hallways, we have them. But that looks like it used to be a shopfront?

Ah, I hear ya. Like this:

http://photos3.crye-leike.com/photos/littlerock/4/1/CARMLS10375341b.jpg

so: we told the sellers' broker that we were not interesting in their counteroffer and said we were looking elsewhere

within a week the seller came back with a MUCH better counter, slightly higher than we would have liked but within our budget, firm price

we went for it

p&s agreement signed, getting the deposit together

inspections next week?

shit what is happening

!

wau yay

any of you wanna buy my house? I remodeled the bedroom and bathroom and a new stoop/porch deck but will let it go for $2k over my purchase price

Sorry, I don't think I can swing two houses at the same time.

Just found out I sailed through the underwriting process with flying colors. I close on July 31st! Wowee wow!!! I'm about to own a house.

:DDDD yay!!!

we just had serious damage to our inside ceiling from a freak rainstorm that came at the absolute worst moment in our re-roofing process :(

the contractor will fix it, but I am not happy today.

oh and congrats JF, hopefully nothing like that ever happens to you.

Sorry to hear! (And yeah, I hope not.)

congrats JF!

i am just now wrapping my head around all the closing and associated costs etc. and whooooooeee i am white knuckling thru waves of anxiety right now

you will make it through

want to fake timeshare? we could house swap for a weekend sometime

Congrats and good luck.

Also once you own a house, and end up with a bunch of small things that individually would take an afternoon or maybe a weekend to finish, for the love of god just fix the damn things when you have a chance and do not wait until you decide to buy a new place and have to suddenly do all the work on your old house in four weeks before you rent it out or sell it. Just don't do it.

do not wait until you decide to buy a new place and have to suddenly do all the work on your old house in four weeks

Nightmare material ^^^

It's mine now. I'm a homeowner. Now I can bitch about property tax like an adult!

*like button*

nice!

we had one more terrifying rain scare last night, I had to get up and throw towels down, but it was just a summer shower and it only leaked in one spot (which is all wood, no drywall). they are almost done rebuilding the eaves.

huzzah! good stuff JF

our home inspection turned up some troublesome stuff -- electrical stuff like extension cords used as permanent wiring, corrosion on the panel, also the roof turned out to be in rough shape -- so it started to look like a money pit. we're bailing. disappointed but also a bit relieved and grateful for the learning opportunity.

Holy shit, is this what the Austin housing market has come to? http://www.austinhomesearch.com/homes-for-sale/TX/Austin/78702/2410-E-11th-118932966#_

Wow, that's getting almost California level. Really good area?

Single lot for sale - Great opportunity and has a great view. Home on property has "good bones" but most likely a tear down.

lol that's fucking hilarious

$315,000

what a fuckin joke