Our Dream House :)

[mrsnightengale11 (WavyGlass)]

Originally we had planned on just asking for less and not asking for repairs or inspections (planned to do that after for our own benefit).. However family butted in and had a hissy when they found out, so we listened to them.. Going forward we won't be allowing them in enough to get us to second guess our decisions. It's just hard to get them to back off, we're first time buyers, and in our 20's. So they seem to think we are incapable of making a sound decision.

[SynrG]

Originally we had planned on just asking for less and not asking for repairs or inspections (planned to do that after for our own benefit).. However family butted in and had a hissy when they found out, so we listened to them.. Going forward we won't be allowing them in enough to get us to second guess our decisions. It's just hard to get them to back off, we're first time buyers, and in our 20's. So they seem to think we are incapable of making a sound decision.

Your family is absolutely right about asking for a home inspection prior to purchase. And make sure you get an inspector who's familiar with -- and likes -- old houses. The four hours I spent with the home inspector gave me a ton of information about our house, along with the peace of mind that we weren't taking on a lost cause. If you don't get a home inspection before you've bought the house you may end up with problems you never planned on and spending money you don't have.

Asking for repairs (if necessary) is your choice. I'd probably go in with a lower offer based on necessary repairs because I'd rather do things myself and know they're done to my standards. But you need to know if the house needs a new roof; that your joists won't support that big whirlpool tub you wanted to install; that the floor you wanted to refinish won't take another sanding; whether your gutter system is adequate for your roof area; and that, regardless of the presence of GFCI outlets, the lack of a ground wire means your wiring really isn't up to code.

Your age doesn't make you incapable of a sound decision, but making a decision without all of the available information -- the kind you'll get from a good home inspector -- is ill-advised at any age.

Lorree

[Don M]

Lorree is right but also know that the inspector can only tell you as much as he can see or test. He's not going to tear into walls or ceilings so there may be many problems still lurking within the structure that you will only discover later. He can test for properly grounded outlets but if they are not he may not know that the outlets are wired into hidden knob & tube. Buyer beware! The inspector will have a disclaimer that says he is not responsible for hidden problems.

[historicalwork]

I would echo other comments about getting a reliable home inspector with experience in older houses. I found buying our first old house a frustrating process. I think most everybody does. For good or bad, we had used a home inspector on a house we didn't end up buying. But I was glad we had the home inspector lined up already for the next one. If you haven't already, work on finding one now. Then you will be ready. No, they don't find everything and they wont guarantee anything. But there is still a lot of value in having someone go through the home - they will see things you don't. I was a bit paranoid and did the regular home inspection, air quality, radon, and termite inspection. Overkill? Maybe. But I would say it's worth it.

We also lucked out with our old house purchase because the house was empty. Even after the inspector came out, I went back out to the house with the realtor to look around again and again. Take a second look at things - there will be so much you miss. It's true, the inspectors will only go so far. I laughed when I had a termite inspection. The guy walked around the basement for like two minutes and walked out. I asked if he was going to get started and he said he was done already. They look for various signs, etc - that I get. But the inspection is almost a joke. I called back another guy and said I didn't want an inspection but rather I wanted an hour of his time to thoroughly check the place over. You have to drive these things - because I can't disagree that the inspection can be a bit of a racket. That's why I would encourage you to find an inspector with a solid background and who comes from reliable recommendations.

I would also say I learned the value of a good realtor. I guess that sound obvious. But we learned the hard way that not all realtors are good at advising on old houses (some don't have a clue) and not all are good at negotiations. You need someone that can help balance the emotion of wanting to buy the house of your dreams with the reality of real estate transactions. It's all about how eager you are to buy and how eager they are to sell. You have to be willing to walk away or pay the price (so to speak). Some sellers won't care about your needs and would rather (as you encountered) take a cash sale and move on because that's what the market allows. Others may be willing to deal because they are in debt, paying a double mortgage, the house isn't otherwise selling, etc.

When we sold our last house we had already moved to our new old house. And we debated renting versus selling our other. So we put it up for sale at a price that we felt would be worth selling and that's where we kept it. If we didn't get that price we were going to rent. A prospective buyer gave us the asking price and then wanted concessions to fix things. Frankly, we weren't that motivated to do much because we could have walked away from the sale. Now, in buying our new old house, we really wanted it. And we probably gave more than we should have. Luckily, I think we were as eager to buy as the sellers were to sell. In the end, I believe it worked out on both sides. So it just to depends.

Lastly, if I may, I like the idea of asking for a discount to cover the costs. But be careful that you'll be able to fix those things after your in. You may not have the money to fix important things. A bad counter top, a leaking shower, or a broken window may not be a big deal. But a bad roof, leaky basement, or some other problem might cost you more than you know and with your new mortgage and everything else that goes along with a new house you might not have the funds. See if you can get rough estimates for bigger items so you know what you're in for. You might regret not getting something taken care of from the start.

This may all be stuff you've heard or read. So I don't mean to lecture. I just wanted to share just a little bit of what we went through. I feel your pain! I'm sure in the end you'll find the right home.

[mrsnightengale11 (WavyGlass)]

I guess I should clarify a bit about the inspection.
My husband spent his youth working on an older home, and often does work on homes with his father during the summer months. I grew up with parents who did all their own work, and often involved us kids in it. Currently my mother works on homes for a living (but was out with the flu for the tours of this house). So for us repairs (even a complete gut) isn't a crazy task, nor is the financial burden all that great for us. We intended originally to still get an inspection to see if we had missed anything in our other viewings, but never intended to ask them to fix anything, or make the sale contingent on it. That part was something we were pressured into by extended family. As well as asking for repairs.
I do definitely understand the wisdom in checking out a house thoroughly though.

Right now it seems our biggest hurdle is all the investors with cash coming out of the woodwork. Two other houses we tried to see this week sold the day they listed

[Kansas.1911]

I am so sorry to hear that you are up against investors with cash. You seem like great candidates for owner-occupied homes. There is one out there for you.

[Gothichome]

Mrsnightengale, sorry you lost such a nice house. But as others have mentioned there will be others. We looked at quite a few old homes on our search some good($), some bad ($$$)and other down right disasters ($$$$$$$). When we found gothichome we didn't bother with home inspectors, just did a dam good look and made an offer. We went into the search knowing we would need to spend money, so it came down to just how much do we want to spend after purchase.

[mrsnightengale11 (WavyGlass)]

Well we saw 6 homes today. The first one we saw was pretty interesting. They kept it up pretty nicely, it wouldn't need much work at all. The only downside to it being that it was in a shadier part of town, and had practically no yard. My husband and I adore it though, so we'll be keeping it in consideration.

The second appeared to have most likely been used for some illegal activities (thinking a brothel), simply because the way they set it up, and added tons of weird little rooms in the basement lol. My husband X'd it off the list before we were there too long.

The third was a huge Victorian that was being sold as an estate. It had original everything, the sucky part was recently the children of the woman who had owned it, decided they no longer wanted to pay for the utilities. So rather then consult the realtor or the estate lawyer they just simply stopped paying them and had it all shut off... Needless to say it appears every pipe and radiator in the home burst It wouldn't be so bad however they want too much for it considering it will have to be completely stripped and new everything run for it. We're gonna keep an eye on it, but will probably end up passing.

The fourth home was another Victorian, though a bit more on the modest side. They did some weird things to a couple door ways (tried to make them smaller), a bathroom (tried adding a shower), and the back porch (attempted to enclose it). Otherwise it wasn't too horrible. We did make a kool discovery in the attic though. There was an small servants bedroom it looks like up there. Just a small modestly finished room off to the corner. It was also kinda neat to see the original wall paper up there in spots where the paint wore away. The biggest issue I think that house had was the multiple garages and sheds on the average city sized lot. It was kinda strange in that respect.

The fifth home I'm not sure on the style of home, however it was a lot simpler then the others. It wasn't too bad of shape, but the current owners did some strange renovations that didn't make much sense at all. My husband was also pretty bummed there was no garage.

The 6th we looked at was actually a 70's raised ranch. Not really our cup of tea but it was in my fathers neighborhood which is a nice part of town and generally way out of our price range. After seeing it we realized why the price was so low for the area. They had some foundation issues, and a huge leak in the roof where they attempted to put their own solar panel up. The rooms were also barely big enough for twin size beds.

So all in all we saw some interesting homes, made some kool discoveries and had some fun. Didn't really find anything to knock our socks off, but at least we know there's still a chance our gem is out there.

[mjt]

The second appeared to have most likely been used for some illegal activities (thinking a brothel), simply because the way they set it up, and added tons of weird little rooms in the basement lol. My husband X'd it off the list before we were there too long.

Perhaps illegal activities, or perhaps not.

We looked at quite a few houses before finding our current one. Several we looked at had areas chopped up into tiny rooms barely big enough for a twin bed and a nightstand. Turns out some of them were being used as halfway houses and others by the Archdioces.

[mrsnightengale11 (WavyGlass)]

So I got a message tonight from my realtor that the seller of the estate home called her and asked if we would buy the house if they dropped it another $10,000. To be honest I'm kinda surprised that they went out of their way make us an offer, not what usually happens. Then again it has been on the market almost a year, and just sustained serious water damage thanks to their neglect.

My husband and I are seriously considering it, if their willing to come down an additional $10,000 or so. I will admit it is a good bit more then we intended to take on, both in repairs and in size. However my family seems pretty confident that if we all pitched in and spread the work out we'd have a livable home without to much cost or time. We're going to see it again in a few days and really fine tooth comb it to assess what we're really working at for repairs.