House Search
Ξ August 13th, 2008 | → | ∇ Blog |
Rosie and I have been on a house search for a while now. At this point we’ve reviewed hundreds of homes and have been to dozens of open houses. I LOVE shopping for homes. Sure I’m worried about not finding just the right one and ending up living on my mothers couch, but I’m still a little optimistic. So, here are things I’ve learned from experience at this point.
1) the asking price is not the sale price. lowball as much as you can. they will always make a counter offer.
2) if you work with a real estate agent, the agent will show you EVERYTHING that hasn’t moved in quite a while. Meaning, either the asking price is to high or the home isn’t someplace where most people would want to live. You really have to look on-line on your own and send the MLS numbers of what you want to see to the agent that works for you. Other then getting appointments to see the houses, the agent is kind of useless.
3) You wouldn’t believe what some people show (open houses). Some people are completely insane. We’ve seen some dirty houses. And in terms of household repairs .. we can tell the difference between fixing something on the cheap and doing it right. If you’re going to take shortcuts on stuff I can see, I don’t even WANT to know about the wiring or plumbing. Forget it, it’s probably going to be a money pit.
4) unrealistic expectations. Yeah, I know its your home and you want to make as much as you can from it. That being said, I see the sign in sheet on open houses. It’s me and like, one other name on the list. Your house has been listed for MONTHS on-line. Sure the real estate agents say other people are looking at it, but the truth is in THIS market you’re probably not getting a lot of offers. I can’t speak for 6 months ago, but right now there aren’t a lot of people out there buying. SO .. come to your senses and price the home according to the market.
5) forclosures. if anyone can figure this out, let me know. Your real estate agent can help you with this, but if its something you want to persue on your own, good luck. When I’ve heard about homes in forclosure, I’ve called the banks that have leanes on the house, yet nobody seems able to tell me who/what/when/where to get the house in question
6) mortgages - Everyone’s rate is the same. I have whats considered a “very high” credit score. Rosie has the second highest one that one loan officer has ever seen. It doesn’t help get us a lower rate. It’s a freekin’ sham. I went to a number of banks and I went to www.lendingtree.com, and everyones rates were about the same. Nobody is doing me any favors. I reckon if you stick to a Chase, Citi Mortgage, or a trusted broker, you’ll do fine.
So .. here are some valuable links to help in your home search:
MLS LI
Mortgage Calculator (don’t forget to figure in taxes)
Listing Book
LI School Information
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