another cracked out update. . .
Dad wants me to make an offer on this place. Awesome. But I don't have 20% down cash right now. I have about 10%. My realtor is going to make some phone calls to see what we can do about that, considering that I am going to take out a no money down mortgage and that this place has no co-op board
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You want to make an offer about 5% less than the asking price. On $184,000 that's $9,200. Round up to $10 grand and offer $174,000. The seller will likely come back with a counter offer. A counter offer of $179,000 would be reasonable, anything more than $180,000 and you walk. Once you have a signed P&S (I believe in New York a P&S is called a Contract), you will then have the opportunity to get the home inspected (make sure you get an ASHI-certified inspector -- mine wasn't, and he didn't find a lot of the problems that I later found... but then again he saved me from buying an utter crap hole of a house). Expect to pay $300 to $500 for a home inspection (mine was $385). If the inspector finds trouble, get two or three WRITTEN estimates to fix each problem and go back to the seller with those estimates and deduct the average amount for each problem from the agreed-upon selling price. At this point the seller does not want to lose the sale and will come down (unless he's an asshole like the other house I almost bought... $30,000 of immediate work required verified by written estimates and he wouldn't come down a dime). If the seller doesn't play ball, you have the LEGAL right to walk on the sale at this point (at least, in Massachusetts you do).
Before you make an offer, find a real estate attorney to represent you in this transaction. Expect to pay $500 to $700 for this (mine was $525, but my impression of him was "I can't believe it's a law firm!").
Most importantly READ EVERYTHING YOU SIGN CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU SIGN IT, NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES. A good Realtor and a good lawyer will both have no problems with you doing this. If you don't understand something, ask to have it explained to you.
One thing that surprised me is that you will have to pay for the oil in the oil tank (if your new home has oil heat). The good news is you only have to pay what the previous owner paid for it which means you'll be paying March oil prices.
Take a look through my community, my_first_home, for further advice.
Good luck, and Godspeed.
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I called my realtor, and I offered $173K for this condo/co-op. This is only having 10% down right now, although once my mortgage broker comes back from being stranded on a freaking boat in the Bahamas, I know he will able to do something to the loan so that I can put a full 20% down. We'll see what happens.
Also, I just e-mailed my realtor with about 20 other MLS numbers for condos/co-ops in the South Shore. We'll see what happens.
In the words of my mom, "If it was meant to be, this deal will happen." In my case, my mom is usually right about her hunches. She still thinks everything will work out. :)
You seem to be quite knowledgable about all of this! Perhaps the singles' club meeting will turn into a "help Meg with finding a place that's reasonable!" session. :)
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The third house was the nightmare house with the asshole seller, the fourth was the one I bought (It was also the very first house I saw in this town, but I thought it was too high at the time. Since about a month and a half passed, they lowered their asking price twice and I was able to take advantage of that).
I had good practice at this. I can give you advice on anything you need.
Yes, I am a firm believer in "if it was meant to be it will happen." When I first looked at this house, I was all "GOD I LOVE THIS HOUSE! But the price is way too high!" Time fixed that.
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My parents have never owned a home or a condo. We have rented my entire life, but surprisingly enough, they know enough about the market and how to finagle things to the point where they can actually help. As you could imagine, financially, I'm on my own with this.
The thing with condos is that they MOVE. Typically, they don't stay on the market for more than two weeks. This particular condo that I WANT has been on the market for at least three, and that's mainly because of the kitchen and because of the fact that this old woman likes to show the place during a narrow time frame. I know we will be able to lower the asking price, but I still want to see other properties as I'm making an offer on the RVC place. I'm a single 25 (26 in December!!) year old teacher who is up for tenure this year, so I know that I'm a pretty stable financial bet. I don't mind going into a kitchen and tearing the damned thing to shreds--what else are retired firefighter daddies for? (Yes, he actually offered to get in there and tear the damned thing up and will help me install cabinets. SCORE!) :P
Time fixes everything, I believe. But do I practice what I preach? Definitely not. I think I am more impatient than most of my 3rd graders combined, and that's pretty difficult to top. (And yes, this happens to carry through every aspect of my life, whether in work, love--especially this!--or financial things.) If it was meant to be, it will be. You can't force things to be, no matter how much you want it to be.
And now, it is well past my bedtime. . .trying to "practice" waking up for next week is damned difficult!! Sigh.
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