Home Purchase Negotiation Thread (1 Viewer)

[Otis]

Oat, anything good in here? We're moving soon too.

Not really GB. I'll fax you with anything interesting.

I appreciate it, let me put a new roll of thermal paper in.It sucks you have to spend that much for a decent house. $400k around here gets you a mansion in a lot of areas.

Jesus. Double that here for decent, depending on the area.We were initially looking to stay in NYC -- perhaps buy in Queens for example. For the commute, diversity, interesting things to do, etc. We saw a house asking 995k that was literally falling apart. The doorknob came off in my hand as we exited. There is no way this house is up to code. It was a dump. Floors and doorways sagging. You name it. It needs to be knocked down. A MILLION DOLLARS. And it wasn't a huge house either. In that neighborhood, you need to spend 1.5M for something just decent.5-10 more minutes out from there on the LIRR into Long Island gets you into something more reasonable, like where we were looking, but even there you have to spend 800-900 for something we would like. And those aren't the :mansions: -- those go for well over a million.Effin New York...

 

[tommyGunZ]

Well, got a call back from the broker. They are refusing to move down and are staying at their current number. As the wife and I said, it was a stretch for us to buy now anyway, so this may be a blessing in disguise in that it gives us time to stock up some more down payment etc., and then perhaps even opens up some more expensive homes to us. Additionally, we're considering selling our apartment now and just getting out into the rental market in the area of this house -- neither one of us has ever lived there, and so it seems like a good idea to test the waters for a bit before buying. Not to mention we will save a CRAPLOAD of money.

Oh, and this NYTimes article is pretty timely... link

I think you'll be VERY happy at this result in 2-3 years. Marriage and kid(s) is enough change for the Oat man recently - no need to get handcuffed to a piece of RE that could cost you 100K+ to get out of 3-5 years from now.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

Oat, anything good in here? We're moving soon too.

Not really GB. I'll fax you with anything interesting.

I appreciate it, let me put a new roll of thermal paper in.It sucks you have to spend that much for a decent house. $400k around here gets you a mansion in a lot of areas.

Jesus. Double that here for decent, depending on the area.We were initially looking to stay in NYC -- perhaps buy in Queens for example. For the commute, diversity, interesting things to do, etc. We saw a house asking 995k that was literally falling apart. The doorknob came off in my hand as we exited. There is no way this house is up to code. It was a dump. Floors and doorways sagging. You name it. It needs to be knocked down. A MILLION DOLLARS. And it wasn't a huge house either. In that neighborhood, you need to spend 1.5M for something just decent.

5-10 more minutes out from there on the LIRR into Long Island gets you into something more reasonable, like where we were looking, but even there you have to spend 800-900 for something we would like. And those aren't the :mansions: -- those go for well over a million.

Effin New York...

Wow.We've been looking for about a year now. We need to get Cal in good school district. Private school isn't cutting it.

Here are two houses we are considering:

House 1

House 2

 

[Otis]

Oat, anything good in here? We're moving soon too.

Not really GB. I'll fax you with anything interesting.

I appreciate it, let me put a new roll of thermal paper in.It sucks you have to spend that much for a decent house. $400k around here gets you a mansion in a lot of areas.

Jesus. Double that here for decent, depending on the area.We were initially looking to stay in NYC -- perhaps buy in Queens for example. For the commute, diversity, interesting things to do, etc. We saw a house asking 995k that was literally falling apart. The doorknob came off in my hand as we exited. There is no way this house is up to code. It was a dump. Floors and doorways sagging. You name it. It needs to be knocked down. A MILLION DOLLARS. And it wasn't a huge house either. In that neighborhood, you need to spend 1.5M for something just decent.

5-10 more minutes out from there on the LIRR into Long Island gets you into something more reasonable, like where we were looking, but even there you have to spend 800-900 for something we would like. And those aren't the :mansions: -- those go for well over a million.

Effin New York...

Wow.We've been looking for about a year now. We need to get Cal in good school district. Private school isn't cutting it.

Here are two houses we are considering:

House 1

House 2

Jesus. 3000 sq ft homes? That second one in particular looks a lot like some of the new constructions in Douglaston (the part of Queens we are considering) -- that home in Douglaston is easily $1.5M. Bordering on 2M depending on which section.

I hate you all.

 

[Otis]

Well, got a call back from the broker. They are refusing to move down and are staying at their current number. As the wife and I said, it was a stretch for us to buy now anyway, so this may be a blessing in disguise in that it gives us time to stock up some more down payment etc., and then perhaps even opens up some more expensive homes to us. Additionally, we're considering selling our apartment now and just getting out into the rental market in the area of this house -- neither one of us has ever lived there, and so it seems like a good idea to test the waters for a bit before buying. Not to mention we will save a CRAPLOAD of money.

Oh, and this NYTimes article is pretty timely... link

I think you'll be VERY happy at this result in 2-3 years. Marriage and kid(s) is enough change for the Oat man recently - no need to get handcuffed to a piece of RE that could cost you 100K+ to get out of 3-5 years from now.

I think this is right. We're almost relieved with the result in retrospect.

 

[Dragons]

Wow.

We've been looking for about a year now. We need to get Cal in good school district. Private school isn't cutting it.

Here are two houses we are considering:

House 1

House 2

Jesus. 3000 sq ft homes? That second one in particular looks a lot like some of the new constructions in Douglaston (the part of Queens we are considering) -- that home in Douglaston is easily $1.5M. Bordering on 2M depending on which section.

I hate you all.

How long is the commute from LI?Ever considered Metro North?

 

[Otis]

Wow.

We've been looking for about a year now. We need to get Cal in good school district. Private school isn't cutting it.

Here are two houses we are considering:

House 1

House 2

Jesus. 3000 sq ft homes? That second one in particular looks a lot like some of the new constructions in Douglaston (the part of Queens we are considering) -- that home in Douglaston is easily $1.5M. Bordering on 2M depending on which section.

I hate you all.

How long is the commute from LI?Ever considered Metro North?

Commute from the areas we are looking at would be about 35 minutes on the LIRR. (That's not far out -- there are plenty of towns much further out than that). From there you need to get from Penn Station to your office (for me about 10-15 minutes).Metro North is meh, only because we don't really have interest in living in Westchester.

 

[Orange&Blue]

Wow.

We've been looking for about a year now. We need to get Cal in good school district. Private school isn't cutting it.

Here are two houses we are considering:

House 1

House 2

Jesus. 3000 sq ft homes? That second one in particular looks a lot like some of the new constructions in Douglaston (the part of Queens we are considering) -- that home in Douglaston is easily $1.5M. Bordering on 2M depending on which section.

I hate you all.

Holy crap...I'm looking at some 3000 sq foot homes with 1/2 an acre and thinking that $275,000 is a bit much.

 

[gianmarco]

Oat, anything good in here? We're moving soon too.

Not really GB. I'll fax you with anything interesting.

I appreciate it, let me put a new roll of thermal paper in.It sucks you have to spend that much for a decent house. $400k around here gets you a mansion in a lot of areas.

Jesus. Double that here for decent, depending on the area.We were initially looking to stay in NYC -- perhaps buy in Queens for example. For the commute, diversity, interesting things to do, etc. We saw a house asking 995k that was literally falling apart. The doorknob came off in my hand as we exited. There is no way this house is up to code. It was a dump. Floors and doorways sagging. You name it. It needs to be knocked down. A MILLION DOLLARS. And it wasn't a huge house either. In that neighborhood, you need to spend 1.5M for something just decent.

5-10 more minutes out from there on the LIRR into Long Island gets you into something more reasonable, like where we were looking, but even there you have to spend 800-900 for something we would like. And those aren't the :mansions: -- those go for well over a million.

Effin New York...

Wow.We've been looking for about a year now. We need to get Cal in good school district. Private school isn't cutting it.

Here are two houses we are considering:

House 1

House 2

Why so far west? Why not Ladue or Clayton if looking for good schools?

 

[culdeus]

Can I hijack this too?

I need a translation in realtor to realtor speak to english.

House is listed for 425k bought for 450k.

I did talk to the listing agent. The Seller's divorce is final and now the wife has possession of the property. She is not in a huge hurry to move however, she does want to move on with her life. She will be renting something in the area. She does have to answer to the husband which is good and there is no bank involvement. She will not be taking any contingency since she is ready to

move.

The listing agent said they have 3 other potential buyers all having trouble selling their current home, this is the reason the seller does not want to take a contingency.



*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();I will say that I internet stalked the living hell out of these people yesterday. I feel dirty.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

Why so far west? Why not Ladue or Clayton if looking for good schools?

My office is in Earth City so it wouldn't be too different than Clayton but both are too expensive for my tastes. Right now I'm debt free but I'll take a hit on my current house. I would prefer to take as small of a loan as possible out. Plus we did quite a bit of research on school districts and we have been told by several experts this area is one of the best.A quick zillow search brought up this house as the closest to what I want to spend. The two house's I linked are 10x better IMO and they are asking 60-100k less.

I will say it has never been our plan to move across the river. Hell, we both love our house now. I guess we'll see how it goes.

ETA

For edit. I must have been huffing nail polish.

 

[Battles]

Can I hijack this too?

I need a translation in realtor to realtor speak to english.

House is listed for 425k bought for 450k.

I did talk to the listing agent. The Seller's divorce is final and now the wife has possession of the property. She is not in a huge hurry to move however, she does want to move on with her life. She will be renting something in the area. She does have to answer to the husband which is good and there is no bank involvement. She will not be taking any contingency since she is ready to

move.

The listing agent said they have 3 other potential buyers all having trouble selling their current home, this is the reason the seller does not want to take a contingency.
*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

I will say that I internet stalked the living hell out of these people yesterday. I feel dirty.

?Translation: They put it on the market in order to split it 50/50 in the divorce. Sale didn't go through, so the wife is using it till it's sold. The wife will eventually figure out that she needs the cash to live the lifestyle that her former husband once gave her.

All their offers are contingent on the offering people selling their own homes first. Since those people and everyone else can't get financing, except "moneybags" culdeus, a preapprove offer will take it off the market quickly.

Is that good?

 

[culdeus]

Can I hijack this too?

I need a translation in realtor to realtor speak to english.

House is listed for 425k bought for 450k.

I did talk to the listing agent. The Seller's divorce is final and now the wife has possession of the property. She is not in a huge hurry to move however, she does want to move on with her life. She will be renting something in the area. She does have to answer to the husband which is good and there is no bank involvement. She will not be taking any contingency since she is ready to

move.

The listing agent said they have 3 other potential buyers all having trouble selling their current home, this is the reason the seller does not want to take a contingency.
*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***

");document.close();

I will say that I internet stalked the living hell out of these people yesterday. I feel dirty.

?Translation: They put it on the market in order to split it 50/50 in the divorce. Sale didn't go through, so the wife is using it till it's sold. The wife will eventually figure out that she needs the cash to live the lifestyle that her former husband once gave her.

All their offers are contingent on the offering people selling their own homes first. Since those people and everyone else can't get financing, except "moneybags" culdeus, a preapprove offer will take it off the market quickly.

Is that good?

She's a physical therapist, he's a real estate accountant (with a vespa). I doubt she needs the cash. If it's in her name free and clear does she still have to split it 50/50?

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Otis would maybe like my 3200 sq ft + 1800 sq. ft. basement four car garage house at 1/2 the price he is currently looking at. I can see Pikes Peak, Long's Peak, and Mount Evans. I am minutes from sailing and golf and less than two hours from world class skiing.

 

[El Floppo]

Ever looked at Maplewood NJ? Partners from an old firm of mine all lived there (including one gay couple), as well a gb from gradschool who, I think, is like-minded to you (similar concerns about wanting to live in a more mulitcultural-economic environment.

 

[Sarnoff]

http://trulia.movity.com/rentvsbuy/

NYC... much better to rent...

 

[Otis]

Otis would maybe like my 3200 sq ft + 1800 sq. ft. basement four car garage house at 1/2 the price he is currently looking at. I can see Pikes Peak, Long's Peak, and Mount Evans. I am minutes from sailing and golf and less than two hours from world class skiing.

Sigh.

 

[El Floppo]

SLB and the rest of you non-NYCers... you would be shocked at what 250-400k gets you here. And by shocked, I mean disgusted. Pretty much a studio apartment- and not even a really nice studio apartment.

 

[Otis]

SLB and the rest of you non-NYCers... you would be shocked at what 250-400k gets you here. And by shocked, I mean disgusted. Pretty much a studio apartment- and not even a really nice studio apartment.

This.My Brooklyn apartment -- it's a good apartment, in a nice building, but under 1200 square feet and requires a nearly 1,000 a month common charge as well -- probably fetches 600k. It's nothing fancy mind you, not at all.The more I look at numbers, the more nauseous it makes me to realize the premium I pay to live in NYC. As a young single man I was capitalizing on being here, so arguably it was worth it. Now? Eesh.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

SLB and the rest of you non-NYCers... you would be shocked at what 250-400k gets you here. And by shocked, I mean disgusted. Pretty much a studio apartment- and not even a really nice studio apartment.

This.My Brooklyn apartment -- it's a good apartment, in a nice building, but under 1200 square feet and requires a nearly 1,000 a month common charge as well -- probably fetches 600k. It's nothing fancy mind you, not at all.The more I look at numbers, the more nauseous it makes me to realize the premium I pay to live in NYC. As a young single man I was capitalizing on being here, so arguably it was worth it. Now? Eesh.

Not shocked at all. I don't know how you guys do it. Heck, my current house is 2500 square feet plus a full basement and I don't have enough room.I know NY is awesome and all but do you guys ever consider moving to some place where you can get more for your buck?

 

[Otis]

SLB and the rest of you non-NYCers... you would be shocked at what 250-400k gets you here. And by shocked, I mean disgusted. Pretty much a studio apartment- and not even a really nice studio apartment.

This.My Brooklyn apartment -- it's a good apartment, in a nice building, but under 1200 square feet and requires a nearly 1,000 a month common charge as well -- probably fetches 600k. It's nothing fancy mind you, not at all.The more I look at numbers, the more nauseous it makes me to realize the premium I pay to live in NYC. As a young single man I was capitalizing on being here, so arguably it was worth it. Now? Eesh.

Not shocked at all. I don't know how you guys do it. Heck, my current house is 2500 square feet plus a full basement and I don't have enough room.I know NY is awesome and all but do you guys ever consider moving to some place where you can get more for your buck?

All the time GB. The catch is that my wife and I were born and raised in the area. We're close with our families. We could never leave. My career is here too, though that could be moved.But I think the people who move here from other cities and stay here are out of their minds.

 

[El Floppo]

SLB and the rest of you non-NYCers... you would be shocked at what 250-400k gets you here. And by shocked, I mean disgusted. Pretty much a studio apartment- and not even a really nice studio apartment.

This.My Brooklyn apartment -- it's a good apartment, in a nice building, but under 1200 square feet and requires a nearly 1,000 a month common charge as well -- probably fetches 600k. It's nothing fancy mind you, not at all.The more I look at numbers, the more nauseous it makes me to realize the premium I pay to live in NYC. As a young single man I was capitalizing on being here, so arguably it was worth it. Now? Eesh.

Not shocked at all. I don't know how you guys do it. Heck, my current house is 2500 square feet plus a full basement and I don't have enough room.I know NY is awesome and all but do you guys ever consider moving to some place where you can get more for your buck?

If not for my wife, I would've left long ago... and I genuinely love the city.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

The catch is that my wife and I were born and raised in the area. We're close with our families. We could never leave.

Man do I understand this.

If not for my wife, I would've left long ago... and I genuinely love the city.

I sense a trend.

 

[Otis]

The catch is that my wife and I were born and raised in the area. We're close with our families. We could never leave.

Man do I understand this.

If not for my wife, I would've left long ago... and I genuinely love the city.

I sense a trend.

To be fair, I'd also make a bunch less money if I lived somewhere else. Here I make more -- I pay a bunch more for housing, but, aside from that, for things that aren't local expenses, I make out well when comparing salary to price. I'd probably do better somewhere else on the whole given how overpriced real estate is here, but who knows.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Well, got a call back from the broker. They are refusing to move down and are staying at their current number. As the wife and I said, it was a stretch for us to buy now anyway, so this may be a blessing in disguise in that it gives us time to stock up some more down payment etc., and then perhaps even opens up some more expensive homes to us. Additionally, we're considering selling our apartment now and just getting out into the rental market in the area of this house -- neither one of us has ever lived there, and so it seems like a good idea to test the waters for a bit before buying. Not to mention we will save a CRAPLOAD of money.

Oh, and this NYTimes article is pretty timely... link

Eight of the 20 cities in the index fell to new lows for this cycle, including Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Portland, Ore.; Miami; Seattle; and Tampa, Fla. Only a handful of places — essentially California and Washington, D.C. — saw prices rise.

I feel pretty fortunate to have found something like I did for below market value. I'm supposed to close on Friday if the sellers ge the water issue fixed but I think where I bought already hit its bottom. Looks like you can probably look around for the next 18-36 months and have the best of both worlds as you shop near the bottom, and also have some patience when choosing the place you feel that is perfect for you. I had ten days on the ground to find a house, I really wish I would have had more time. But the market was prime for a buy and the interest rates were low so I felt it was better to jump in than wait and move again. The biggest part of it is that this is my 12th move since 1990 and I just don't have the energy to move again for at least ten years (unless something really great comes my way in NYC/Italy/Detroit). I've had it with moving, it is really stressful especially given the miles between moves (probably average 2500 over those 11 moves).

 

[Doctor Detroit]

Wow.

We've been looking for about a year now. We need to get Cal in good school district. Private school isn't cutting it.

Here are two houses we are considering:

House 1

House 2

Jesus. 3000 sq ft homes? That second one in particular looks a lot like some of the new constructions in Douglaston (the part of Queens we are considering) -- that home in Douglaston is easily $1.5M. Bordering on 2M depending on which section.

I hate you all.

Holy crap...I'm looking at some 3000 sq foot homes with 1/2 an acre and thinking that $275,000 is a bit much.

Yeah its relative. People in NYC doing your job probably make a lot more money and you don't have subway access to the greatest city in the world. I can get a 4000 sq foot house with a helo pad and the helicopter in San Angelo Texas for 200k but it doesn't mean I'd be happy living in that hell hole for the rest of my life in a great house.

 

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

This.

My Brooklyn apartment -- it's a good apartment, in a nice building, but under 1200 square feet and requires a nearly 1,000 a month common charge as well -- probably fetches 600k. It's nothing fancy mind you, not at all.

The more I look at numbers, the more nauseous it makes me to realize the premium I pay to live in NYC. As a young single man I was capitalizing on being here, so arguably it was worth it. Now? Eesh.

Maybe $400,000 somewhere else and one of these ?

 

[Dragons]

Wow.

We've been looking for about a year now. We need to get Cal in good school district. Private school isn't cutting it.

Here are two houses we are considering:

House 1

House 2

Jesus. 3000 sq ft homes? That second one in particular looks a lot like some of the new constructions in Douglaston (the part of Queens we are considering) -- that home in Douglaston is easily $1.5M. Bordering on 2M depending on which section.

I hate you all.

How long is the commute from LI?Ever considered Metro North?

Commute from the areas we are looking at would be about 35 minutes on the LIRR. (That's not far out -- there are plenty of towns much further out than that). From there you need to get from Penn Station to your office (for me about 10-15 minutes).Metro North is meh, only because we don't really have interest in living in Westchester.

I was thinking something in your price range in Westport, but if you'll only have a 35 min commute on the LIRR, that's probably too far.

 

[Orange&Blue]

Otis would maybe like my 3200 sq ft + 1800 sq. ft. basement four car garage house at 1/2 the price he is currently looking at. I can see Pikes Peak, Long's Peak, and Mount Evans. I am minutes from sailing and golf and less than two hours from world class skiing.

I assume you are talking about Chatfield lake?

 

[El Floppo]

I was thinking something in your price range in Westport, but if you'll only have a 35 min commute on the LIRR, that's probably too far.

Hmmmmm... ever since we went to a party at some school friends of our kid's "country house" in CT somewhere, the wife's been talking about it as an option.I know nothing about CT- what's it like to live there? I have a feeling I could get some work in Greenwich if pressed.

(a college friend had a place in Westport where a group of us partied one weekend... and by place, I mean chateau. the house on the property that seemed right was actually the caretaker's "cottage"- which was bigger than my folks' house. I had no idea the chick came from that much money or that CT had that kind of money there :naive

eta: btw- wihtout looking too closely, that house looks nice- freaking dreamy compared to Stuy Town.

 

[GDogg]

The agent that helped my wife and I with our purchase told us a year ago to put your best offer forward and walk away if its not accepted.

In our area, 5 to 10 offers come in on the better houses within a couple of days of it going on the market (this is still the case as the house next to ours sold two days after it was listed a month ago). His take was that, in such a climate, it's best not to get into a bidding war and, as long as the house is priced appropriately (as the houses we put offers in were), offers below asking will be rejected with no counter.

And, I also find it disgusting that $350-400K can get you a 3000 sq. ft. house. The same size house here costs 1.1M and up.

 

[El Floppo]

The agent that helped my wife and I with our purchase told us a year ago to put your best offer forward and walk away if its not accepted. In our area, 5 to 10 offers come in on the better houses within a couple of days of it going on the market (this is still the case as the house next to ours sold two days after it was listed a month ago). His take was that, in such a climate, it's best not to get into a bidding war and, as long as the house is priced appropriately (as the houses we put offers in were), offers below asking will be rejected with no counter.And, I also find it disgusting that $350-400K can get you a 3000 sq. ft. house. The same size house here costs 1.1M and up.

here = where? SF Bay area?

 

[Tiny Dancer]

I feel pretty fortunate to have found something like I did for below market value. I'm supposed to close on Friday if the sellers ge the water issue fixed but I think where I bought already hit its bottom.

What city did you end up buying in?

 

[Tiny Dancer]

I know nothing about CT- what's it like to live there? I have a feeling I could get some work in Greenwich if pressed.

I grew up in Stamford. It was pretty nice.

 

[GDogg]

The agent that helped my wife and I with our purchase told us a year ago to put your best offer forward and walk away if its not accepted. In our area, 5 to 10 offers come in on the better houses within a couple of days of it going on the market (this is still the case as the house next to ours sold two days after it was listed a month ago). His take was that, in such a climate, it's best not to get into a bidding war and, as long as the house is priced appropriately (as the houses we put offers in were), offers below asking will be rejected with no counter.And, I also find it disgusting that $350-400K can get you a 3000 sq. ft. house. The same size house here costs 1.1M and up.

here = where? SF Bay area?

No. L.A. County, beach cities.

 

[Doctor Detroit]

I feel pretty fortunate to have found something like I did for below market value. I'm supposed to close on Friday if the sellers ge the water issue fixed but I think where I bought already hit its bottom.

What city did you end up buying in?

Annapolis

 

[Dragons]

I was thinking something in your price range in Westport, but if you'll only have a 35 min commute on the LIRR, that's probably too far.

Hmmmmm... ever since we went to a party at some school friends of our kid's "country house" in CT somewhere, the wife's been talking about it as an option.I know nothing about CT- what's it like to live there? I have a feeling I could get some work in Greenwich if pressed.

(a college friend had a place in Westport where a group of us partied one weekend... and by place, I mean chateau. the house on the property that seemed right was actually the caretaker's "cottage"- which was bigger than my folks' house. I had no idea the chick came from that much money or that CT had that kind of money there :naive

eta: btw- wihtout looking too closely, that house looks nice- freaking dreamy compared to Stuy Town.

I know it's all perspective, but I laugh when people call Connecticut 'country'. My wife's brother lives in Port Washington, and they feel the same way. I've lived all over, from Los Angeles to small town Wisconsin. To me, the I-95 corridor feels more like suburban living in the outskirts of any city than it does country. Country, to me, is this or this.Although, I think a lot of open land has filled in over the past 20-30 years (I've been here 12, it was full when I got here), so it may be more a phrase from the past. A lot of the money in CT is because of NYC. Westport is commutable to Manhattan, so the prices rise in value accordingly. You can move a little further into the 'country' and get a similar size house on a similar lot in the $500,000 range. Or you can stay on the Metro North line and get a 2 bdrm ~1200 sq ft. house on 1/8 acre in Milford for ~$275k. Although, I'll accept $265k from any FBG.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

Why so far west? Why not Ladue or Clayton if looking for good schools?

My office is in Earth City so it wouldn't be too different than Clayton but both are too expensive for my tastes. Right now I'm debt free but I'll take a hit on my current house. I would prefer to take as small of a loan as possible out. Plus we did quite a bit of research on school districts and we have been told by several experts this area is one of the best.A quick zillow search brought up this house as the closest to what I want to spend. The two house's I linked are 10x better IMO and they are asking 60-100k less.

I will say it has never been our plan to move across the river. Hell, we both love our house now. I guess we'll see how it goes.

ETA

For edit. I must have been huffing nail polish.

I had an appointment out in the Dardenne area today and it was on 3/10 of a mile farther to my office than I am now from my house. That's good.Otis, check out what you can get for a little less than a million around here. Plus you are only about a 5-10 minute cab ride to several casinos, a couple of micro breweries and plenty of bars and restaurants.

 

[RudiStein]

Why so far west? Why not Ladue or Clayton if looking for good schools?

My office is in Earth City so it wouldn't be too different than Clayton but both are too expensive for my tastes. Right now I'm debt free but I'll take a hit on my current house. I would prefer to take as small of a loan as possible out. Plus we did quite a bit of research on school districts and we have been told by several experts this area is one of the best.A quick zillow search brought up this house as the closest to what I want to spend. The two house's I linked are 10x better IMO and they are asking 60-100k less.

I will say it has never been our plan to move across the river. Hell, we both love our house now. I guess we'll see how it goes.

ETA

For edit. I must have been huffing nail polish.

I had an appointment out in the Dardenne area today and it was on 3/10 of a mile farther to my office than I am now from my house. That's good.Otis, check out what you can get for a little less than a million around here. Plus you are only about a 5-10 minute cab ride to several casinos, a couple of micro breweries and plenty of bars and restaurants.

Comparable in my area.Of course that means you have to live here.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

Why so far west? Why not Ladue or Clayton if looking for good schools?

My office is in Earth City so it wouldn't be too different than Clayton but both are too expensive for my tastes. Right now I'm debt free but I'll take a hit on my current house. I would prefer to take as small of a loan as possible out. Plus we did quite a bit of research on school districts and we have been told by several experts this area is one of the best.A quick zillow search brought up this house as the closest to what I want to spend. The two house's I linked are 10x better IMO and they are asking 60-100k less.

I will say it has never been our plan to move across the river. Hell, we both love our house now. I guess we'll see how it goes.

ETA

For edit. I must have been huffing nail polish.

I had an appointment out in the Dardenne area today and it was on 3/10 of a mile farther to my office than I am now from my house. That's good.Otis, check out what you can get for a little less than a million around here. Plus you are only about a 5-10 minute cab ride to several casinos, a couple of micro breweries and plenty of bars and restaurants.

Comparable in my area.Of course that means you have to live here.

Very cool. If my wife and kids don't shape up soon, I may buy that place.

 

[Otis]

I hate you all.

When we were house hunting we were dying to get inside this one, which looked like a decent deal:

Link

There's a reason there are no pics of the inside. Also, it's two blocks from a major street, a busy/annoying area, and, oh, literally falling apart. Literally. The house was built around 1920 and I can assure you little has been done to maintain it since then. uke:

 

[RudiStein]

I hate you all.

When we were house hunting we were dying to get inside this one, which looked like a decent deal:

Link

There's a reason there are no pics of the inside. Also, it's two blocks from a major street, a busy/annoying area, and, oh, literally falling apart. Literally. The house was built around 1920 and I can assure you little has been done to maintain it since then. uke:

"Old World Charm" None of your neighbors speak English and many have the plague.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

:X

I hate you all.

When we were house hunting we were dying to get inside this one, which looked like a decent deal:

Link

There's a reason there are no pics of the inside. Also, it's two blocks from a major street, a busy/annoying area, and, oh, literally falling apart. Literally. The house was built around 1920 and I can assure you little has been done to maintain it since then. uke:

 

[Dragons]

Why so far west? Why not Ladue or Clayton if looking for good schools?

My office is in Earth City so it wouldn't be too different than Clayton but both are too expensive for my tastes. Right now I'm debt free but I'll take a hit on my current house. I would prefer to take as small of a loan as possible out. Plus we did quite a bit of research on school districts and we have been told by several experts this area is one of the best.A quick zillow search brought up this house as the closest to what I want to spend. The two house's I linked are 10x better IMO and they are asking 60-100k less.

I will say it has never been our plan to move across the river. Hell, we both love our house now. I guess we'll see how it goes.

ETA

For edit. I must have been huffing nail polish.

I had an appointment out in the Dardenne area today and it was on 3/10 of a mile farther to my office than I am now from my house. That's good.Otis, check out what you can get for a little less than a million around here. Plus you are only about a 5-10 minute cab ride to several casinos, a couple of micro breweries and plenty of bars and restaurants.

Comparable in my area.Of course that means you have to live here.

It's cool to see million dollar homes around the country, but I figure I should clarify that the house I posted is a reasonable option for Otis while keeping his day job which allows him to afford the mortgage.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Otis would maybe like my 3200 sq ft + 1800 sq. ft. basement four car garage house at 1/2 the price he is currently looking at. I can see Pikes Peak, Long's Peak, and Mount Evans. I am minutes from sailing and golf and less than two hours from world class skiing.

I assume you are talking about Chatfield lake?

I am out east. Between Cherry Creek Res and Aurora Res., closer to Aurora.

 

[Tuco]

Since Otis decided to wait, I won't feel bad hijacking.

I put an offer an a short sale today. Listing price is $519 and I offered $500. House would probably get appraised for $550, and I would pay it. Neighboring houses were going in the high 6's a year or two ago. I'm interested to see how this plays out. Any short sale experience in the past year? I did a search and didn't find anything recent.

 

[culdeus]

Since Otis decided to wait, I won't feel bad hijacking.I put an offer an a short sale today. Listing price is $519 and I offered $500. House would probably get appraised for $550, and I would pay it. Neighboring houses were going in the high 6's a year or two ago. I'm interested to see how this plays out. Any short sale experience in the past year? I did a search and didn't find anything recent.

How much short is it? The short sale thing is a total YMMV thing and can vary house to house even inside the same bank branch. Bottom line is that the closing could be a mess and could unwind on you at any time for any reason. If it is a short sale try to push to close ASAP and do it with a cash offer and not a contingency. I'm probably making an offer on the house I linked earlier by the end of the week. As an fun note I got my new ARM rate for this year. 2.5% I'm being paid to live in my house now.

 

[gianmarco]

Why so far west? Why not Ladue or Clayton if looking for good schools?

My office is in Earth City so it wouldn't be too different than Clayton but both are too expensive for my tastes. Right now I'm debt free but I'll take a hit on my current house. I would prefer to take as small of a loan as possible out. Plus we did quite a bit of research on school districts and we have been told by several experts this area is one of the best.A quick zillow search brought up this house as the closest to what I want to spend. The two house's I linked are 10x better IMO and they are asking 60-100k less.

I will say it has never been our plan to move across the river. Hell, we both love our house now. I guess we'll see how it goes.

ETA

For edit. I must have been huffing nail polish.

I had an appointment out in the Dardenne area today and it was on 3/10 of a mile farther to my office than I am now from my house. That's good.Otis, check out what you can get for a little less than a million around here. Plus you are only about a 5-10 minute cab ride to several casinos, a couple of micro breweries and plenty of bars and restaurants.

That's a sweet house. If it were a little closer to work, I'd probably move there.

SLB, go find me something similar close to 64 in Ladue and I'll even let you come visit once or twice.

 

[jon_mx]

Since Otis decided to wait, I won't feel bad hijacking.I put an offer an a short sale today. Listing price is $519 and I offered $500. House would probably get appraised for $550, and I would pay it. Neighboring houses were going in the high 6's a year or two ago. I'm interested to see how this plays out. Any short sale experience in the past year? I did a search and didn't find anything recent.

I would come in way lower than that on a Short Sale. The bank will jump on that offer in a heartbeat, unless it is a big bank, and then it will sit on someones desk for 30 days before it goes to a committee, which will then be another 2 weeks before it is accepted and by that time you will have moved on.

 

[Orange&Blue]

Since Otis decided to wait, I won't feel bad hijacking.

I put an offer an a short sale today. Listing price is $519 and I offered $500. House would probably get appraised for $550, and I would pay it. Neighboring houses were going in the high 6's a year or two ago. I'm interested to see how this plays out. Any short sale experience in the past year? I did a search and didn't find anything recent.

I would come in way lower than that on a Short Sale. The bank will jump on that offer in a heartbeat, unless it is a big bank, and then it will sit on someones desk for 30 days before it goes to a committee, which will then be another 2 weeks before it is accepted and by that time you will have moved on.

On short sales I would offer probably 90% of list at most, depending on what needs to be done.For example this house I've been looking at I would probably offer 85% for since it needs a roof and flooring.