potential house buy
ok, so here is an interesting situation. As many of you may know, I've been in the market for a house on and off for the past 3 years. I happen to mention this at Max's a week ago and Jamian, one of my favorite bar tenders, mentions that he needs to sell his house since he just bought a single family house. He has two kids, and is planning on adopting a third next year.
After getting some good reviews from a couple of the other bartenders, Kevin and I decide to use our Friday off to check it out. It is a townhouse, that has a single car garage, 3 bedrooms, and 2.5 baths. A very nice desk, a finished patio below it, real granite countertops, a 3 story bumpout providing a nice dining area and large master bath make this a very nice place from the inside.
Unfortunately, the backyard faces a common area surrounded by many other houses. There is very little visitor parking (practically none). The front faces the large backyards of single family houses, but does not look directly into any of those houses.
Jamian started at 317,000, but when he found out that I wasn't working with an agent, and that we could avoid agent fees dropped it to 312,000. (I haven't negotiated price with him at all). I tell him I will think about it, and that I still want to look at other places in the area.
Later that day, the house officially went on the market through his agent. (apparantly Jamian knows the guy pretty well, and if I were to be the buyer, we wouldn't have to deal with the agent)
Today, I call several listing agents about other houses, and I recognize the name of one guy that I was calling (Tim). I asked him if he was selling Jamian's house, and he says yes. He tells me that he already has two offers for the place (only 5 days on the market so far). I ask him about the house I was calling about, and he said he would be able to show it to me next week after his people finished painting the interior, but he compares it to Jamian's house saying it is not nearly as nice.
I message Jamian back telling him what I had found out from his agent, and he emails saying 310,000 and that he would prefer to sell to me.
So, what is going on?
I am guessing the two offers were low balling it. But by how much? The other thing is that I consider Jamian to be a friend, and I would hate to drive a bargain with him. I know that the house I really wanted to see in the same area was sold and people were moving in when I drove by it a second time (less than a week later) and that the average price for townhouses in that area go from 280,00 all the way to 340,000. And a lot of those do not have a garage.
This place is impeccable, has an AMAZING kitchen, and a really nice master bath. A deck, a finished patio, garage... this place is really nice. The only thing against it is the non woods behind it, and Jamian says that the neighbors accross the street who do back up to woods have worse mosquito problems in the summer. And the backyard drops off so is not really usable while his just opens up to a community area, but still has nice shrubs that offer privacy.
Should I take the 310?
Here is another thing to consider. With a 310,00 selling price, I would have to borrow 250,000. At todays interest rate, with a 30 year fixed, I am looking at 1550 in mortgage payments. That is on top of my 1000 mortgage payment for my condo. 2550 a month. Then there is taxes, bills, the need to buy a car, etc. My spending would have to be seriously lowered. Even with a roommate.
But I feel like this is a really good opportunity.
After getting some good reviews from a couple of the other bartenders, Kevin and I decide to use our Friday off to check it out. It is a townhouse, that has a single car garage, 3 bedrooms, and 2.5 baths. A very nice desk, a finished patio below it, real granite countertops, a 3 story bumpout providing a nice dining area and large master bath make this a very nice place from the inside.
Unfortunately, the backyard faces a common area surrounded by many other houses. There is very little visitor parking (practically none). The front faces the large backyards of single family houses, but does not look directly into any of those houses.
Jamian started at 317,000, but when he found out that I wasn't working with an agent, and that we could avoid agent fees dropped it to 312,000. (I haven't negotiated price with him at all). I tell him I will think about it, and that I still want to look at other places in the area.
Later that day, the house officially went on the market through his agent. (apparantly Jamian knows the guy pretty well, and if I were to be the buyer, we wouldn't have to deal with the agent)
Today, I call several listing agents about other houses, and I recognize the name of one guy that I was calling (Tim). I asked him if he was selling Jamian's house, and he says yes. He tells me that he already has two offers for the place (only 5 days on the market so far). I ask him about the house I was calling about, and he said he would be able to show it to me next week after his people finished painting the interior, but he compares it to Jamian's house saying it is not nearly as nice.
I message Jamian back telling him what I had found out from his agent, and he emails saying 310,000 and that he would prefer to sell to me.
So, what is going on?
I am guessing the two offers were low balling it. But by how much? The other thing is that I consider Jamian to be a friend, and I would hate to drive a bargain with him. I know that the house I really wanted to see in the same area was sold and people were moving in when I drove by it a second time (less than a week later) and that the average price for townhouses in that area go from 280,00 all the way to 340,000. And a lot of those do not have a garage.
This place is impeccable, has an AMAZING kitchen, and a really nice master bath. A deck, a finished patio, garage... this place is really nice. The only thing against it is the non woods behind it, and Jamian says that the neighbors accross the street who do back up to woods have worse mosquito problems in the summer. And the backyard drops off so is not really usable while his just opens up to a community area, but still has nice shrubs that offer privacy.
Should I take the 310?
Here is another thing to consider. With a 310,00 selling price, I would have to borrow 250,000. At todays interest rate, with a 30 year fixed, I am looking at 1550 in mortgage payments. That is on top of my 1000 mortgage payment for my condo. 2550 a month. Then there is taxes, bills, the need to buy a car, etc. My spending would have to be seriously lowered. Even with a roommate.
But I feel like this is a really good opportunity.