We did it. We're buying a house!

Carole

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Yesterday we bit the bullet. Apartment living, as "quaint" as it may be, is becoming very tiresome. This is the first apartment we have lived in since we were in Orlando several years ago. Since then, we've rented houses until we moved here.

We decided that living in an apartment was fine for just the two of us. We'd save money, get the heck out of busy Knoxville and there would be less upkeep. Hard to worry about upkeep on something you don't own, right? Also, my older son lives with us now. It's a little bit of a tight squeeze.

Lately, this apartment complex is really going to the dogs. Two nights ago I was sound asleep only to wake up to actual, for real, honest-to-goodness gunshots and a woman SCREAMING outside my building. Niiiiiice. I jumped up and called 911 and the cops were here before I put the phone back onto the cradle. That was good. Cops everywhere. Spotlights everywhere. In and out of all the buildings here, the cops were here for hours. I heard that they eventually arrested someone. Don't know anything beyond that.

So now we are really going to buy a house. We contacted Wells Fargo to start the preapproval process for a mortgage and we have a real estate agent looking high and low for a house for us.

Wish me luck and advice is welcomed!
 

alleycat

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The best advice is probably just to be patient. And not put an offer on a house that's "almost right" because you're tired of looking.
 

Carole

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That's exactly how we're looking at it. We have been looking recently, but very casually. When I see a listing on the MLS, I'll call my realtor and she'll show it to us. Nothing remotely worth our time so far.

You'd think that with the weather up here, a garage would be something pretty common. Nope. It's very difficult to find a house with a garage. Sometimes, you'll find a house that used to have a garage but now it's a "rec room". Sorry, but I like the idea of a garage. We have the ExploDer *erm, Explorer*, two Jeeps and my son's car. It'd be nice to be able to have a garage for at least one of those vehicles!
 

SC Harrison

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Make sure you check under the house and look at the joyces and sub-flooring. I was being shown an amazing 4 br brick ranch that was selling for a song. When I walked through the dining room, the china in the hutch seemed to be rattling a little too much, so I went under the house to see what was holding up the floor. Believe it or not, they had used 2x4 floor joyces, and these little things were warped and buckling all over the place.

Hasta la vista, baby.
 

clockwork

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Take your time and don't be afraid to peek inside closets and ask questions like, "How come you're moving? Why do you only bring us here for two minutes at a time? And what's that smell?"
 

Unique

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It's amazing the things you find when you go remodeling .... ahem. (right, Carole?) ;)

Good luck with your search.
 

KTC

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Awesome, Carole! You will not be sorry. Congrats and happy hunting!
 

kikazaru

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The old adage "location, location, location" is true. You can always change something about the house, but there is nothing you can do about the pig farm across the road, the airport runway in your back yard, or the crack house on the corner. It is always the best policy to buy the worst house on a good block, than it is to buy the best house on a bad block.

Make sure that you have a "sale dependant upon building inspection" clause. I'm not sure what they charge, but good inspectors go thru the building from foundation to shingles and it is money well spent if they can save you from finding out that the house has termites or that the roof will come off in a breeze.

My advice would be to go in with a camera so that you can remember what you saw, and a tape measure to measure rooms. Homes that are crowded, pasted with busy wallpaper or decorated with lots of frou frou stuff seem smaller than they really are. Smells can be trapped in carpets - which can be cleaned or ripped out - so think of that if you see a home that might do but the smell is off putting. Our last home we bought, smelled like cat pee but after the carpet was ripped up and hardwood floors revealed it was great. Overlook the bad decor and remember, paint is the cheapest and the most dramatic thing you can do and wood panelling can be papered over with a liner and then painted.

Good luck and have fun!:)
 

A. Hamilton

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How exciting, best wishes on your search.
 

rhymegirl

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Good for you, Carole!

We lived on the third floor of a tenement building for 12 years. Five rooms, five people. A real tight squeeze.

Buying a house was so great. I had a list of things that must be satisfied. If the house/location had everything on the list and the price was right, that's the one we'd buy.

Yes, I agree with asking questions. Test things out, too. Turn on the faucets, etc. And ask about things the owners might be taking with them. I had assumed certain items would STAY here, but they took them instead. They even took one of the trees outside!
 

PeeDee

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Carole, I think you must live in my apartment building. That sounds about right. You know it's time to leave when you're on a first-name basis with the two cops in the K-9 Unit, and not because you've been arrested.

There's something surreal about heading out the door, zipping up your jacket, checking your cell phone, waving to the cops on their way in, turning left, going for a walk........

We're moving in two weeks, but only to another apartment. I'm envious of you. We want house pictures when you get it!
 

PeeDee

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robeiae said:
You did it. You are buying a house. And you bit the bullet. Wow.

All in the same day? :D

Och. Genius. Why didn't I think of that? Points for Rob.

Hey, you should post pictures of every house you're considering on the forums, and then we'll decide for you which house you should buy. It'll work great.
 

PattiTheWicked

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Congrats, Carole! It's a big step, but worth the hassle if you can find the house that's right for you. Everyone here has given great advice -- don't settle for something that's any less than what you want!
 

PeeDee

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kpmcneil22 said:
Also, when you are close to signing, make sure you spend some time meeting the neighbors. I suggest knocking on doors and introducing yourself, driving by on Friday/Saturday night around midnight to see if the street is quiet or throwing parties, paying attention to how fast people drive up and down the street, etc.

If all is quiet, then break into someone's car, or throw a brick through your neighbor's window. Then, hide around the corner and time how long it takes the cops to show up. That will provide you with valuable information.
 

eldragon

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Congratulations! I thought your title was "We Did it. We're buying a horse!"


Don't wait for a realtor to find your house, go look online yourself.

You can start with realtor.com and if you're lucky, you'll find a better, local realtors site like the MLS.

You can also look for repos - Hud, VA or bank repos - and all the information is had for free online. Each state is different, though, so it's kind of hard to point you to yours.

I found our last two properties myself, without the help of an agent. When I liked the sound of something, I drove by and if I liked it enough to see inside - I'd just call the listing agent.

But I've sold property without an agent, and I'm pretty good with all of it.


Still - I really enjoy looking for our property.

If I hadn't have been deligently looking for 5 years - I never would have found our 115 year old 3000 square foot house - on 5 acres with two huge ponds, in the country - for $91K.


It took 5 years of looking almost daily - to find this deal, and then I had to be on it.
 

PeeDee

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eldragon said:
If I hadn't have been deligently looking for 5 years - I never would have found our 115 year old 3000 square foot house - on 5 acres with two huge ponds, in the country - for $91K.

Waitwaitwaitwait....they want money...?

I'm outta here!
 

Carole

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Lots of good advice here. Thanks. And Rob ---> Pthbbbt! *grin*

We're looking for an old house. New construction is definitely not up our alley...if we did, indeed, have an alley. There's a FAB house - 2 1/2 stories plus walk-in basement. It's a little over 100 years old. Brick. FABU. Thing is, the ID10T Patrol divided up the property and the main house sits on a lot the size of a postage stamp. Guess what's on the other lots. Go on, guess. Single-wide trailers - all rentals. Guess that's why it's going for under $50,000.

This is turning into a frustrating game pretty quick. I found the most incredible house a couple of weeks ago when we were just casually looking. Wooded lot, backed up to the mountain. Not another house in sight. 2,000 sq. ft., 2 stories, 3 working fireplaces, oak floors, huge kitchen, separate dining room, marvelous structure. $68,000!!! Before we could even view it, we found out it was under contract. Rats! Well, the thing stayed online as available. So I inquired again. Still under contract. Yesterday I inquired again, thinking that if it was still in the MLS as "available", maybe the contract fell through. Nope. Argh! (insert pitiful voice) I loveded that house. *snif* It wasn't a superficial kinda love, either. True, we never really had a chance to meet, but I loveded it just the same. *snif*snif*

Onward and foreward, right? There's a house out there for us. As God is my witness, I shall not go homeownership-less again!!
 
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Carole

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This is the 2 1/2 story brick. It's actually down to $40,000 now. It was divided into a duplex several years ago. That would be corrected. If I could stand the trailer aspect of the location, that is.

brick.jpg
 

Carole

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this is another. It's on a huge farm, but only 4 acres come with the house. You can't tell a lot about it from this photo, but the LOCATION!!!! Awesome! The asking price for this one is $66,000.

farm.jpg