Frustrated home buyer...

figaro · 06-18-2007, 06:49 PM

We are currently looking to buy a home in the western NJ/eastern PA area and I am so sick of looking at homes! I think that we have looked at least 40-50 homes since March and we are still in the rental! We have looked from southern NJ to northern NJ to eastern PA. Its not that we are picky, we want a 4 bed/2.5 bath with a basement for less than $400,000. We were originally wanted one with some land but that is not to be for now. We finally decided that we need to look at homes with 2 pictures in our head, the "For Now" house (as in this house is good but in 5-10 years we want to buy our Forever home) and of course the "Forever" home. We almost bought a house in PA that was the perfect size but it did not have the land we wanted. The problem was the garage floor over the basement may need to be replaced. Then there was the house that we did put a bid on, then interest rates jumped up and the house and tax payment would have been almost $3000 a month!

We are looking at another house tomorrow night, it would be the "For now" house for us. It did not take us this long the last time we bought a home in 1999.

Keep your fingers crossed!

auburnchick · 06-19-2007, 01:01 AM

I'm sure your new home is there somewhere. Perhaps the owner's just haven't put your dream home on the market yet. God's timing is perfect...

Good luck!

Inis · 06-19-2007, 05:48 AM

figaro, we're in the same boat -- only our house has sold and we MUST find a new one PRONTO!

We almost put in a bid on an old, old house, but someone beat us to it. Turns out that the foundation is so bad that the house is un-insurable! That would be an awful position to be in.

Be diligent. You'll find the right place.

HamburgKnitter · 06-19-2007, 07:35 AM

Hope you find your perfect house soon!

My husband and I bought our house early last year....definitely our forever home. Funnily enough, it doesn't meet half the "requirements" we had decided on when we started house-hunting. It's waaaay smaller than we wanted, it's actually a duplex (and I swore I would never ever buy a duplex), etc. etc. But we looked at it anyway because of the area it is in and as soon as we walked upstairs and saw the gorgeous view out of the window (overlooking the river Elbe and all the ships going by) we knew that THIS WAS IT. We're very happy here and nothing will get me to move. So keep an open mind and try to enjoy the house-hunting. Are you under any kind of time pressure? We weren't, which really helped.....

figaro · 06-19-2007, 01:37 PM

Thanks for the replies!

HamburgKnitter, I am not sure if you could say we are under pressure. We are currently renting a house that is for sale but even the selling agent for this house said is won't sell fast because the homeowner overpriced it. (it is a 4 bed/2.5 bath on almost 5 acres BUT over 4.5 of those acres are not usable, they are on a steep hill loaded with trees for $500,000) I think that I am just not liking living in a rental after owning a house for 6 years.

And we did start opening up our options, we would prefer a house with 4 bedrooms but if it has 3 and a full basement then we will look at it.

JoeE · 06-19-2007, 02:52 PM

YIKES! For those of us in the Midwest, $400K seems like it should buy you just about whatever your heart desires. I spent about one fourth that amount on my current home with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a basement (creepy and dark, but still a basement), and frankly, that seemed a little pricey to me at the time. I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

I hope you find exactly what you're looking for! Summer is probably a good time to look, isn't it? Kids out of school and all that...

Joe

wiredqs · 06-19-2007, 03:26 PM

I'm in California, $400K is 2B/1B in a bad part of town..no land, just concrete and a chain link fence.

figaro · 06-19-2007, 03:34 PM

wiredqs-what part of CA are you in? I was born and raised in northern CA up by the OR border then moved to San Diego County (talk about opposites!) and we lived there for about 6-7 years. When we bought our home in northern SD County, we paid $217,000 in '99 for a 3 bed/1 bath home but it had a great yard. Big compared to the size new homes have now.

Stiney · 06-19-2007, 03:58 PM

I grew up in Bergen County, NJ, one of the nation's richest counties. In 2005, just before the bottom started falling out of the real estate boom, we sold our house and my grandfather's house and bought a bigger house in town. G-pa's house was a 3 bedroom, dated ranch. 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, finished basement, decent size land, 1 car garage. He'd bought in the 60's for like $20,000 or something. It sold for $467,000.

Our house went for $500,000-something. 3 bedroom bi-level, 1 car garage, we'd done a fair bit of work so it was much more modern, not as much land.

We bought a 4 bedroom bi-level, 2 car garage, above ground pool...over $800,000.

NJ is crazy expensive. Figaro, just be glad you weren't buying in 2005.

Prices have dropped.

I hope you find something soon.

figaro · 06-19-2007, 04:06 PM

Quote:

We bought a 4 bedroom bi-level, 2 car garage, above ground pool...over $800,000.

When did you buy this house? Is it here in NJ?