Latest installment: My house search saga

[ha98ed14]

If you've been following my story, and either :hysterical: at my plight or :crying:with me, this latest installment is for you:

So on the house I REALLY wanted (short sale), the bank that holds the lien came back and asked for a $10K increase in the price agreed to by the sellers and us. And the seller wants us to put up money towards paying off their second mortgage which has now gone into collections so that the second mortgage holder will release their hold on the property. Plus we have to pay all our own closing costs. We can't afford the price increase; we were already at the top of our price range. I love the house; it is in immaculate condition, but parting with all that cash leaves us with nothing. So, bye bye house! It was a lovely dream.

The day we get all this news, a funny thing happens. Remember that original house that we were in escrow on and the deal fell through because the house did not appraise? Well, it came back on the market. Apparently it fell out of escrow with other buyers. So they called us and wanted to know if we were still interested. It happened on the SAME day. I was so fed up, I blurted out, "Sure, why the heck not!" So we made an offer for $20 less than our original offer and asking them to pay all our closing costs. They agreed. They in this case is a bank that repo'd it from someone. It needs tons of work. I told DH last night, if he wants to do this, *HE* is doing it. I have too much other stuff on my plate. I am not scrubbing or painting or doing anything except picking out the colors I want. He agreed. So we are going round two on the house we were originally in escrow on. Our agent tells us that there has been much more activity in the market so there will be more comparable properties on which to base an assessment. I am not holding my breathe, but that is the latest news.

[egoldber]

Good luck?

I will say that I think you and DH should think long and hard about buying a fixer upper if you don't have the time and energy to put into it. I forget now which house was what, but unless it is basically liveable as is, I wouldn't do it.

[elektra]

What a rollercoaster!
So is the "original" house the one that has the Tuscan finishes that were ok but just not what you wanted?
Hopefullly it's not a complete renovation for the sake of your sanity. Although you'll probably love the final product if you can survive the process.
Maybe you and DD will be in for some long bike rides with that trailer as your DH is doing the house, yah? ;)

[arivecchi]

Good luck?

I will say that I think you and DH should think long and hard about buying a fixer upper if you don't have the time and energy to put into it. I forget now which house was what, but unless it is basically liveable as is, I wouldn't do it.
:yeahthat:

[Drag0nflygirl]

$20.00 less or $20K less? There's a big upside to this - you won't have to live with somebody elses choices. You get to make the place entirely yours. As far as the other place - DH and I have had a lot of luck just saying no to requests like that. Sometimes it's easier for the seller to take a hit than find a new buyer.

[ha98ed14]

What a rollercoaster!
So is the "original" house the one that has the Tuscan finishes that were ok but just not what you wanted?
Hopefullly it's not a complete renovation for the sake of your sanity. Although you'll probably love the final product if you can survive the process.
Maybe you and DD will be in for some long bike rides with that trailer as your DH is doing the house, yah? ;)

Lol! No! Thank God! This is not the one with the "Roman Bath" in it. No, this is the one before that. It is a pretty generic looking cape cod with an attached garage off to one side.

As for Beth & ariveraz's thoughts that we should not do this; I have tried that argument. It is true that *I* don't have time for it, but DH does. Or at least he thinks he does. He works FT, but he gets home by 4:30. We live 5 blocks from his school. And he really only has to bring work home around report card time, which is three times a year. I am the one who feels spread too thin. I decided to go back to school FT when I thought the whole house thing would not work out. I would not have committed to this program if I thought we were moving. Anyway, I had it out with DH and we agreed that it was his project an I would be staying in our apartment until the house was livable. I tried to convince him why this was not a good idea, but what it really boils down to is that it is not a good idea *FOR ME,* but for DH, it is a fabulous idea. He is very handy and looks forward to projects like this. So, by continually telling him no, I am just holding him hostage to my angst that it will be he11 to make it livable, and that just doesn't seem fair: to assume he is not competent to make it happen without me having to be in control. Did I mention I am a control freak? Anyway, that is my rationale. We did think and talk about it ad nauseam, and this is where we arrived. There is no guarentee this is going to work out. This house has a propensity for falling out if escrow.

The offer was for $20K less, not $20.00.

[egoldber]

When you do projects, do he get them done? In a timely way? If he has done this in the past, then that is a good sign.

But it is not realistic that you will not have to help. Depending on what you are remodeling, he will need help lifting things, holding things while he hammers/screws/saws/measures, etc. It is hard to do home remodel projects without help. They are also noisy and messy.

I'm not saying don't buy it, but if you are expecting to do NOTHING that is simply not realistic.

[arivecchi]

I've taken a few knocks buying and selling houses as some of you know and here's my advice: the house has to either be perfect when you move in if it is at the top of your budget or you have to decide that you will be there a long enough time that you will be able to update it in order to be able to sell it and break even or make a bit of $$$ (you must also have the budget to update it or get it at a discount so you can put the money in without going above fair market value). We bought our current house thinking we would be here a long time and would be able to update the kitchen and baths and that is now not happening. Guess what is holding up the sale? The kitchen and baths. I for one, will not buy something that is not new or completely updated because I know we will not do the updates ourselves. Just know your capabilities and limits. It is too big a purchase to screw up like I did. Just my 2 cents. Good luck with your decision.

[ha98ed14]

When you do projects, do he get them done? In a timely way? If he has done this in the past, then that is a good sign.

But it is not realistic that you will not have to help. Depending on what you are remodeling, he will need help lifting things, holding things while he hammers/screws/saws/measures, etc. It is hard to do home remodel projects without help. They are also noisy and messy.

I'm not saying don't buy it, but if you are expecting to do NOTHING that is simply not realistic.

Thanks for the input. That is probably good advice. Of course, he says I won't have to do anything, but realistically, I know I will be there some weekends. That is ok. I just can't do it in the evenings. Thankfully DH does have a good record of finishing projects. He does a lot of woodworking and some metal work and people have paid him to make them things, so he knows how to work on a deadline. I am not deluded to think it will be a walk in the park. I will probably be back here B-ing about how awful it is. Anyway, we'll see how it plays out, the real estate deal, that is. It still has to appraise, etc.