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House buying frustrations
My fiance and I are in the process of looking for a new house in the DC metro area. I'm finding the entire process much more stressful and frustrating than I expected. There are a lot of foreclosures and short sales on the market - but many of them are in rundown neighborhoods or are themselves just plain rundown. We are willing to put some work into the house - but we don't have the money for significant repairs (foundation issues, extensive water damage, etc.).
It seems like any time anything decent comes on the market we are beat out by a bidder with bigger pockets or don't even get the chance to see it before it is under contract (this happened over the weekend to a property that was on the market for fewer than 48 hours!). I'm in a very fortunate position to be able to buy a house and am also lucky to be in no rush, but it can certainly be frustrating at times. Does any one else experience this? Is there a way to hunt for a house without constantly being let down?
Re: House buying frustrations
The only way to buy a house in this area without it taking a LONG time is to have a budget above the general price for the neighborhood where you're looking. That's just the way it is in this area. I'm actually surprised you're finding a lot of foreclosures (though not surprised they need work). DC is one of the few (the only?) areas to have had grown in the last few years. It took us a year to buy a house. We too weren't in a hurry, but weren't willing to buy something that needed a ton of work.
ETA: We put an offer on our house the DAY it went on the market. It was well priced in the perfect location for us and in good condition. Good houses don't sit in this area.
I'd have to agree. That's a pretty good way to put it.
What area are you looking in? There are some places that are heavier with foreclosures, but I don't really see a lot around here.
Our realtor does not even show foreclosures/shortsales anymore.
My recommendation would be to reallly know what you want and don't want. Learn your neighborhoods. Once you really know what you want, you will be amazed at how quickly you can come to decisions.
You need to be able to make a decision on the spot. When we bought two years ago, we had to go on our lunch breaks in order to see stuff immediately. Any well priced home goes very quickly.
We were outbid on two homes by investors with cash.
We had to pay asking price and no help with closing. That is just the way it is.
We looked at close to 40 homes before we finally found ours.
GL!
I think this is still a hard real estate market (especially if you are new to the area) because prices are high and there is no real 'deal' to be had if you are looking at close-in neighborhoods. Houses that are priced right and in good condition are going fast.
Sorry, it is stressful!
This is what I was going to say.
We're not in a hurry to buy a house, but I still look all the time, and there just hasn't been really anything worth my time out there. It's either priced right and needs too much work, or it's outrageously priced and over our budget.
Good houses are few and far between right now it seems. I could be ridiculously picky - but again, we're in no hurry, so we're not buying for the sake of needing a house - so i'm not willing to settle at this point.
We make the rockin' world go 'round.
I completely agree. When DH and I bought our house it had gone on the market that morning (saturday). We didn't really have time to think about putting an offer. We just did it on the spot and luckily we did because by the time the weekend was over there was 6 offers. We also literally gave them what they wanted - we offered full asking and no closing assistance. I wasn't happy having to do that but looking back I'm glad I did because then the house hunt was over. The only reason the sellers took our offer was because we didn't ask for closing help (one of the offers was asking but with closing).
Good houses in this area that are pretty much turn key are going to go very fast. Make sure you know your budget and stick to it. We ended up at the very TOP of our budget but to get in the area we wanted we knew that was going to be the case.
I don't know about the area you're looking, but I know in my general 'hood I'm starting to see more houses come on the market. The past 2 years or so it's been slim pickings but this level of inventory is similar to when we were looking.
maybe there's hope? hang in there.
ALL THIS
DH and I spent every Sunday cruising open houses for months just to get a feel for what was out there. When we finally settled on the neighborhood we wanted, it was simple for our RA to just keep tabs of any new listings there.
Because we'd seen so many houses in that neighborhood, we knew before walking into the house that, barring any huge issues, we'd be putting an offer down.
Incidentally, we also got out bid on one house and an owner simply refused another offer. It's just a long, hairy process that can suck - especially if you get emotions involved.
GL.
ALL THIS
DH and I spent every Sunday cruising open houses for months just to get a feel for what was out there. When we finally settled on the neighborhood we wanted, it was simple for our RA to just keep tabs of any new listings there.
Because we'd seen so many houses in that neighborhood, we knew before walking into the house that, barring any huge issues, we'd be putting an offer down.
Incidentally, we also got out bid on one house and an owner simply refused another offer. It's just a long, hairy process that can suck - especially if you get emotions involved.
GL.