Holy crap! H and I went to look at houses again this weekend (third time with a REA). We found ahouse in a really great area, with a huge (fenced!) yard, awesome deck. It's just a little outdated, but we don't mind swapping out some carpet and appliances.
We talked about it for awhile, and put in an offer today! I can't believe this is real. haha
I'll work on saving some pictures and uploading them... but if anyone wants the link, let me know. (I don't want to post it, but I'll PM it)
I'm also pretty open about money, lol. The house was listed at $133k (GREAT price). We offered $129 with seller-paid closing costs. We also found out that the price had been dropped $15 only a week ago (it was listed at $149k last fall, too.)
CROSS YOUR FINGERS FOR US!
Re: We just offered on a house!
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That's pretty awesome! I hope you get it. That's exactly what our house was listed at (133k) and we offered 129k with seller paid closing, too!
I'm absolutely obsessed with looking at houses, so if you don't mind, I would love to see pics. I think I check realtor.com every other day for a new listing even though H and I aren't buying another house for a while. I just like to see what my money will get me in a few years lol
oh, screw it. I don't know how to PM on here. (NEWBIE ALERT) haha.
Here's the link. I'll probably take it down tomorrow.
**link removed, but let me know if you want me to PM it to you **
We're planning on doing the FHA 203(k) loan so we can update the (orange!) carpet and appliances. We originally wanted to spend about $150k, so we have room to do so updates.
Eat.Drink.BeMarried. Blog.
Steph, it's great! You have so much land, and mature trees. It's pretty awesome! Just needs a few updates, but you can definitely do that overtime. Looks great!
That's cool that you can roll in the updates to your loan, too. So you're not out all the money right now. Fingers crossed
BTW, to send a PM, click the "Contact+" button underneath the post of the person you want to PM and it pops up with a menu to PM someone.
Books read in 2012: 21/50
PAL/TTCAL welcome
<a href="http://s773.photobucket.com/albums/yy18/LoveOfMikesLife/?action=viewI am amazed, too!
Congrats, Steph! You will have to keep us posted on how it goes and how the decorating and updating goes
Congrats Steph- that is very exciting. Where in BP is that? I was around 40th and Upton so I am sort of famililar with BP. The lot looks great and the house has a lot of potential. I'm sure with updated finishes and some paint it will be yours before not time.
Make sure you have an inspection and do feel like you can add that to the negotiations if you find anything out of whack. I can help with estimates of some items if you wonder what some repairs might cost since I've been thru a lot of that myself in the area as I'm sure your REA can too.
You better get yourself a riding lawnmower to take care of that huge lot!
It's just south of Edenburgh Golf Course, Bella- does that help?
YES. Let me know if you have any ideas. The whole upstairs is 950ish sq ft (including the linoleum kitchen and tile bathroom.) We're thinking about $5k for good carpet, hoping that's a high estimate. We were told about $5/sqft to be safe for rough guesses, though.
Thanks everyone! I'll of course keep you updated as we look at more stuff.
I don't think we want to do hardwood floors upstairs in the living room and bedrooms, but we might look at that for the kitchen and hallway at least.
Eat.Drink.BeMarried. Blog.
Neither can we! FWIW, this is definitely a little further out into the suburbs. We currently rent closer into the city, which is where we originally started our housing search. For that same size house, with a lot of about 0.10 acres (i.e. nothing), it would be closer to $250-$275. This house is only about 20 minutes away, and look how much more we get! Totally worth the little commute.
Eat.Drink.BeMarried. Blog.
I'm taking this as a good sign
Did they accept right away or counter at all?
Eat.Drink.BeMarried. Blog.
We asked for $2500 in seller paid closing. They countered with $2000 in seller paid closing, but kept all other conditions the same. We weren't going to fret over $500, so we accepted their counter.
And since you posted about carpet... we're actually redoing our carpet and vinyl in the entire house in two weeks. The house is 1072 sq ft, and the total cost for carpet + vinyl is going to be $4100. That includes padding, tear out, appliance removal, furniture moving, etc. Obviously it's cheaper if you tear it out and move furniture yourself. The carpet was $12.99 a sq yard ($1.44 sq ft), and the padding was another $1.44 sq ft. I did research, and it said to use a 8# pad so that it lasts longer so that's what we bought. Vinyl was $8.99 a sq yard ($1 sq ft). Hope that helps
HOLY CRAP! They accepted our offer!!!!
(Now we're thinking we should have offered less. ha.)
Eat.Drink.BeMarried. Blog.
Congrats - how exciting! Good luck with inspection, closing, etc. Moving into your own home is such an awesome feeling! I'd love to see the link if you dont mind PMing me
Congrats again!
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YGPM!
Eat.Drink.BeMarried. Blog.
Woot!! Congrats!!
Good luck with everything!!
That's a bit north of where I was, but that area looks nice by the golf course.
I think that estimate for carpet is pretty good. There are variables with how much you do yourself or not. If you are pretty handy you can end up saving a ton. My DH is an electrician and his BF is a plumber, I cannot tell you how much money that has ended up saving me over the years. Carpet isn't too bad to install youself if it's just a single room, but no way would I attempt stairs! I've installed slate tile and mosaic tile, refinished wood floors, put in pedestal sinks and new plumbing and faucets. Most of that stuff is reasonably easy to do. It's the electrical and gas repairs that are very expensive if they show up on your inspection. Roof and window replacement is also very costly if you end up finding that out. How exciting!!!
I think in this market (mpls/st.paul) most sellers will jump at a chance to get close to their asking since it's such a stagnant market. I'm super excited they accepted your offer. Keep us posted.