Lord help me for posting this in the Pit...
- Thread starter LuckyDuck
- Start date
If you're ok with it being livable but not perfect, your options open way up. If you don't want any projects ("turnkey") it gets a bit tougher and you gotta jump when it's good enough. If you can, it's worth it to wait and get the house in the neighborhood or area you want, even if it's not perfect. An honest conversation about deal breakers needs to be had. We compromised on a lot of stuff, but not on our vetos.
A good realtor and loan agent take out a lot of the heartburn. The realtor will give you the subtle head shake if the house/neighborhood is questionable, knows the market to keep your offer competitive, and has a good local inspector, insurance agent, and anything else you may need a phone call away. A good loan agent keeps your shit on time, runs a couple different numbers if you need it, and can go a long way to making it happen. Ours even called the listing realtor to vouch for our funding quality.
Some sellers balk at a VA loan, I'd guess because of the inspection strictness. Some people still prefer a local bank for the loan. It may cause you to lose an offer, that's ok, it wasn't meant to be.
You can still shop loans even after you get pre-approved and start looking.
A down payment is only one part of it- remember you need cash to close and as soon as you own it, you're on the hook when the AC takes a shit a month later. Don't burn out your emergency fund.
If you buy an old house, you're going to have old house problems. Not a single thing in our 1920s house is level or square, save maybe the kitchen countertop. If you get a new build, you're going to have new build problems. Don't use the builder's/sellers recommended inspector, find your own and pay for the good inspection.
Fuck an HOA. Not even once. We have a historical society/historic neighborhood and that's bad enough.
Minimum one shitter per permanent resident.
A good realtor and loan agent take out a lot of the heartburn. The realtor will give you the subtle head shake if the house/neighborhood is questionable, knows the market to keep your offer competitive, and has a good local inspector, insurance agent, and anything else you may need a phone call away. A good loan agent keeps your shit on time, runs a couple different numbers if you need it, and can go a long way to making it happen. Ours even called the listing realtor to vouch for our funding quality.
Some sellers balk at a VA loan, I'd guess because of the inspection strictness. Some people still prefer a local bank for the loan. It may cause you to lose an offer, that's ok, it wasn't meant to be.
You can still shop loans even after you get pre-approved and start looking.
A down payment is only one part of it- remember you need cash to close and as soon as you own it, you're on the hook when the AC takes a shit a month later. Don't burn out your emergency fund.
If you buy an old house, you're going to have old house problems. Not a single thing in our 1920s house is level or square, save maybe the kitchen countertop. If you get a new build, you're going to have new build problems. Don't use the builder's/sellers recommended inspector, find your own and pay for the good inspection.
Fuck an HOA. Not even once. We have a historical society/historic neighborhood and that's bad enough.
Minimum one shitter per permanent resident.
Pump in the basement.
Generator hookup.
1200sf shop with dedicated 200 amp service.
4 bedroom 2.5 bath.
For sale now. Only problem is it's in IL.
Interesting. Is the hand pump set up to suck water through the electric pump when the power is off and supply water to the house piping ?
There was some fantastic suggestions provided in this thread and I just wanted to offer a sincere thank you to all that posted. It certainly gave me some new things to consider and look for, hopefully it'll help someone else going through the same effort in this market.
Greatly appreciate everyone taking some of their time to share their experiences here, as mentioned before, it's just incredibly overwhelming going down this path. Every little bit of experience shared helps.
-LD
Greatly appreciate everyone taking some of their time to share their experiences here, as mentioned before, it's just incredibly overwhelming going down this path. Every little bit of experience shared helps.
-LD
THe last house I bought, the wife and I had our list of requirements, things that were very, very important to us. Then from there we had to choose what to compromise on. Me being me, I would have been fine with a single wide on 100+ acres of great land. My wife, wanted a little more. I think the key is finding a house that meets SOME of the requirements for both of you, and the things it doesn't meet, you're willing to do without. You don't want to find a place you love, and she just tolerates, it's better to have something that works adequately for BOTH of you because then it doesn't become a point of argument at any point.
Just my 2 cents.
Branden
Yep. Our well is shallow enough the hand pump has no problem pulling water through the electric pump. That pump is designed to fill pressure tanks.
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