45 posts tagged “house hunting”

Ever since we saw this house (#4) I feel more and more like we can overcome the things we didn't like and really make it our home.  My initial concerns were the small master bedroom, tiny master bedroom closets, and needing-an-update master bath.  At first, my solution was to gut the shower and create my own makeshift closet/ironing station in the attic.... nothing too involved or too costly.

After some thought, I have an even better (scary, is the word Adam would use) alternative.  The guest bedroom is 18' x 11' - a good sized room.  It shares a wall with the master bedroom - the man's closet and guest bedroom closet are on this wall.  I was thinking that we take about 2-3 feet from the guest bedroom, since it is so big, and expand that closet to a walk-in.  My woman's-closet shares a wall with the master bathroom.  Why not knock out the closet and expand the bathroom?  Genius, pure genius.....  You can see why this remodel would frighten Adam. In my defense, a larger, redone master bathroom and a walk-in closet would certainly add to the value of the house...... 

Our other concern was that the house is located on a busy-ish street.  However, both the master bedroom and large guest bedroom are out the (quiet) back of the house -- so, less of an issue, maybe.... 

Adam is going to see 3-4 places without me, while I slog through earnings season.  If he doesn't see anything that jumps out at him, we will revist the Haverford Ave house and see if my plan is logical..... 

Realtor #3:  Houses 1-4

#1 - Tudor House: Very cool looking stone tudor on a very small lot (0.14 acre) with the neighboring house practically on top of you.  It was also on the corner of a very busy intersection.  We knew before we even walked in that this house wasn't for us.  It had an in-law suite, which I thought was interesting - I thought it might work for an au-pair.  Apparently, they converted what was once a doctor's office into a mini-apartment.  The inside needed lots of work - the dated wallpapering (which was on the ceilings too) was frightening.  We would have need an extra 100K to spruce that thing up.  No getting around the location or the lot size, no matter how much money we had to give it a much-needed face lift. 

#2 - Delaware Ave Remodel: Adam and I have seen enough shoddy contract work from our Graduate Hospital-search to know that we were not fans of this house.  There were just too many things to overcome, including weird bonus space/rooms - one behind the fireplace (they must have closed in a porch) and wacky converted attic rooms that would only be appropriate for midgets., It also had a weird layout on the second floor and a small master bath and itty bitty closets,

#3 - Tulip House: I got a good vibe from this house before we walked in.  Gorgeous plot of land, great landscaping, gorgeous tulips (on steroids) in the front, and a fabulous slate porch with trellus - I was also intrigued by the photo of the desk/window nock, which ended up being a part of master bedroom.  This was a 75 year old house that had been remodelled.  The basement had a low ceiling and icky, cheap flooring.  Adam wasn't a fan of the kitchen.  I was bummed about the two small bedrooms with small closet - no good place for an au-pair.  The master bathroom was not remodeled and would have needed a lot of work.  It was a disappointment because it had a great layout for entertaining and a phenomenal backyard in a great neighborhood. 

#4 - Haverford House: The jouse was right on Haverford Ave, but had these large (and I mean BIG) shrubs in the front that completely hid the road - you can't tell in the first photo - it must have been taking standing in the scrubs.  The entrance to the garage was actually in the back of the house and it had a nice patio.  Garage didn't connect into the house though.  On the first floor was a small living room, a nice dining room, the kitchen and a half bath.  We were concerned at first that the living room was too small, but the basement was finished (bottom photo), making the small living room a non-issue - nice half bath in the basement as well.  The 2 bedrooms on the second floor were a good size for an au-pair and the hall bath was in good shape as well.  Master bedroom was small, with little closets and a hurting bathroom.  The toilet & sink, and floor had been redone, but the tile and the shower were awful and would have needed to be our first remodel project.  The closets were teeny.  They converted the attic (slanted ceilings) into an office.  I would have converted half of the attic into my closet/ironing area.  Its location on Haverford Ave was the biggest drawback, then the master bath, and the non-connecting garage.... definitely a house to be keeping in mind though, as we continue our search.

Our Realtor was better in person than he's been over the phone, but he talks to much and was keeping us in places longer than we wanted to be.  I don't need to talk everything to death for places that we aren't liking.  We'll have to make more of an effort to keep the pace faster going forward.  We had been debating finding someone else, but this guy seems to know what he is doing -- definitely more experienced than our nightmare of a realtor the first time around. 

Adam will be taking the reigns from here.  He's much more particular, so it makes sense for him to be doing the legwork.  I'm swamped at work and have a harder time leaving at 5:15pm to go see places after work anyway.  It's too bad that I'm not a better judge of what he would like, because I have more vacation days and could have easily taken a day or two (or some half days) off from work to go see a slew of houses all at once.  I could have then had Adam circle back to the keepers..... 

The search continues..... Adam will be going out again one day next week for Round 2.

So, we got a referal from a friend for a PA 'burb realtor.  I traded phone calls with him for about a week until I reached him (including a wacky call that Adam received at 9pm on Saturday night when I was in FL - who calls at that hour?).  Finally, last Wednesday or Thursday, we spoke in person.  Weird guy, but I can't really put my finger on it. 

It took him until Sunday afternoon to get around to sending us some listings that met our criteria.  He sent about 27 and there were 5 good ones and another handful of places that we could have an open mind about.  I sent him an email at 9am this morning with our selections.  It is now 7pm and I have yet to hear from him.  What the heck?  We told him we were available on Tues & Thurs evening this week to see places.  Since I haven't heard from him yet, its probably safe to assume that seeing places tomorrow is out of the question. 

We have dealt with two other realtors from our last house-search-stint.  Both were extremely prompt in sending us listings (its not like it is a difficult task) and quickly responding once we communicated the places we were interested in seeing. 

Not getting a good vibe from this guy.  Zero reason for him not calling or responding to my email during the business day.  Since we didn't get a good vibe from him to begin with, I think we are just going to bail and find ourselves another realtor. 

Adam went to check out that townhouse in Ardmore on Sunday, but the Open House, which was supposed to be going on, was cancelling that morning.  Lovely.  Also, Adam said that the place didn't really look like the photos - so it seems there is some real estate mis-representation going on.  How is it that our business is so regulated and in real estate its not unethical to put photos up for a place that aren't the place that is being sold??? 

Adam liked the neighborhood and thought the place was still worth checking out....  Looks like my dream of the process being easy this time has already crashed and burned. 

I never know what to make of things like this.....  we're not really looking at new construction anymore, so it doesn't directly impact our house hunt... facts like this make the market even more skittish though.  THEN, I read something like this, that gives the opposite viewpoint - who the heck knows!!!

U.S. March housing starts down 11.9% to 947,000

Last update: 8:30 a.m. EDT April 16, 2008

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - New construction of U.S. houses plunged to the lowest level in 17 years in March, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday. Starts fell 11.9% in March to a seasonally adjusted 947,000 annualized units weaker than the 988,000 pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. This is the lowest level of starts since March 1991. Starts are dpwn 36.5% year-on-year. Starts of new single-family homes fell by 5.7% to 680,000 in March, while starts of large apartment units fell 24.6% to 267,000. Building permits, a leading indicator of housing construction, fell 5.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 927,000. This is the lowest level of permits since April 1991.

I CAN"T LIVE IN THIS APARTMENT ANYMORE!!!   I've been feeling this way for awhile....  the last time I reached my breaking point was in February and with the CFA looming and the big water conference ahead of me, we thought it best to put off any decision for the time being.  Well, now the conference is over, I'm not sitting for the CFA (a whole other story -- have I mentioned my workload recently?), AND we are getting slapped with a $300/month fee for being month-to-month.  Time to move.  I'm sick of the noise, the location, hassles with the loading dock/security people... It's over..... AND, with summer upon us, we're going to be dealing with the lack of A/C - incredibly hot summer air that suffocates us - we're already starting to feel it.

So, we decided we would start looking at places at Open Houses.  IF, we found a place we liked, in PA, on our own - Adam's dad, who is a lawyer and has his realtor license, could act as our buying agent and save us the 3% fee.  We (well, I) ended up feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of finding open houses to go to.  The newspaper was awful, and didn't provide MLS #s or addresses, so you had to track the listings down online.  Online, it wasn't easy to distinguish what houses were hosting Open Houses. 

Also, we've been going back and forth between renting in the city for another year or buying in the burbs - PA or NJ.  Tons and tons of options - almost overwhelmingly so.  We decided to just bite the bullet and get a realtor.  There's a reason they get a fee and it would be helpful to have someone tracking down stuff for us... 

Murphy's Law - today, I'm procrastinating at work (REALLY SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN!) and I stumbled upon a phenomenal townhouse that is hosting an Open House on Sunday and is only slightly above what we are willing to spend.  In a perfect world, Adam checks it out at the Open House and falls in love with it, we ask his dad to help put a low bid in on the place, and we get it!!!  I'm dreaming - I know... No way things will go that smoothy - with our luck?  It doesn't hurt to dream - actually, if I'm going to dream, I wish we could have THIS house that is just a "SMIDGE" out of our price range (yeah right!).   

So, with Adam's work/life straightened out, it looks like we go back to debating BUY vs. LEASE.  I believe our lease is up in March.... I guess we'll start looking again early next year.  With all the jack-hammering lately, I'm ready to move!  Of course, the construction next door should be done by then.  

I was on a real estate website last week and was surprised that some of the houses we had been looking at back in February/March are still on the market, most of them at full price.  I'm shocked that with the housing market the way it is, these developers wouldn't be willing to forego some profit in the interest for getting the house sold/flipped (all those mortgage payments they've been making this whole time must be adding up).  We're coming in to winter, its not like there will be a lot of demand in December/January. 

The developer we were dealing with hasn't sold a SINGLE UNIT.  Wow.  Are we lucky we didn't buy, or what!  Our unit is still for sale 10K above where we had agreed to buy it, but he has brought some of the other units down between 50K-90K.  And, from what I can tell, nothing has sold on that entire block -- over 30 units.  Did we dodge a bullet, or what??? 

Last night I visited a friend in the burbs -- an hour commute to her house -- I'm so spoiled living across the street from work!!!  She lives in a nice development and the 'real" commute, using the train, isn't nearly as long as the drive I had yesterday.  Adam has a work friend that lives in a nice area in South Jersey too.  Adam isn't too keen on Philly real estate, so I think we'll probably start looking in the suburbs.  For me, its a toss-up between Jersey or PA suburbs. 

We've got plenty of time to debate the merits of both..... 

The article below just hit the wire.  Can't believe we dodged such a bullet by not buying that townhouse... just think, if the HVAC in that place had been sound, we would have bought, AT THE TIPPY TOP OF THE MARKET.  None of those units have sold and neither have the ones across the street, as best we can tell.... that means we would have been the only people on the block.  A constant reminder that we were the only idiots who bought... Phew!

July pending home sales index falls 12.2%

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Contract signings on existing homes fell by 12.2% in July -- the largest drop since the pending homes sales index started in 2001, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. The index hit its lowest level since September 2001. The index had gained 5% in June. Pending sales are 16.1% below July 2006. A decrease in pending home sales was seen in all four major regions of the United States, the group said. In July, pending sales fell 13.1% in the Midwest and 6.6% in the South. Pending sales fell 20.8% in the West and 12.2% in the Northeast.

Adam and I saw a house last Wednesday and had been on the fence how we should proceed.  The house was about 100K over what we had agreed to buy the Kimball house for.  Big increase, I know.  And this house had already come down about 50K from its original listing price.  I have been continually pushing our upper range up to see just how much it would cost for us to find a house that we LOVE.  And, my mom had said he could have a loan, which would have made this feasible.  This house was new construction 2 years ago - it was part of 16 units known as Quincy Court and this was the first resale.  Based on the price the current owner had gotten it at, he must have been one of the first to sell.  His initial listing price, which was $175,000 over what he had paid for it, was much too high.  Even at the adjusted listing price, he was going to net about $120,000 - not too shabby for a two year investment. 

Pros: 3,000 square feet, with garage and a logical layout.  Nice kitchen.  Tons and tons of storage.  Gated backyard (very safe).  Two large guest bedrooms.  Taxes of $129/annually -- can you believe that?!?

Cons: Walk-in Master Closet could barely be considered a Walk-in.  Master bathroom was tiny and only had one sink.  Carpeting on the second & third floor.  No recessed lighting.  Walls were very banged up and would all need to be repainted.  Odd/illogical lightswitch situation.

So, we couldn't decide if our expectations were unreasonable or what.  Lots of cons were things that the Kimball house had, for 100K less.... granted, that house was only 2,000 square feet.  We were debating have my mom come down and look at it. 

Well, I spoke to our realtor today, who I get the feeling is getting frustrated by how picky we are, and we learned that the house sold.  So, that's that.... I guess we don't have to worry about if we want to buy it or not.