Bid on a house today.

**ohiopiper** · 30th August 10, 10:07 PM

My wife and I have been shopping around for a new house. Decided to buy rather than keep renting, so I got my stuff in order and applied for a V.A. loan.

Found two houses that made it to the top of our lists, my #1 pick was her #2 and vise versa. My first choice got smacked down when we saw the utility bills. It was a 110 year old victorian with little to no insulation and the gas bill was pushing $3,000 a year. So we went with her first pick (my second choice), a 1968 split level.

It a foreclosure, appraised at $135,000 and the bank initially wanted $108,000for it. Two weeks went by and they came down to $98,900. I offered them $79,900 and they get to fix the shingles for me. We'll see if they bite.

Our current neighborhood has gone to **** and we have two kids, six years and one year. Gotta get them to a better scholl and neighborhood.

Good wishes and prayers would be appreciated.

**Woodsman** · 30th August 10, 10:14 PM

Good luck on your bid for your new house. It can be such an anxious process. I hope your new neighborhood offers even more opportunities to wear a kilt and meet friends for your family.

**Cygnus** · 30th August 10, 10:32 PM

Best of luck, ohiopiper!

I've been wanting to take advantage of the lower prices, but around here homes are still almost all out of my price range; thankfully we rent in a pretty good neighborhood.

Maybe a move to Ohio is in order?

I sincerely hope it works out for you and your family!

**The Thing** · 31st August 10, 03:39 AM

Best of luck,

It's a fantastic time to buy, not such a good time to sell unless you are in Australia

or Canada.
Anyway best of luck and I hope you get your dream.

**artificer** · 31st August 10, 04:46 AM

Good luck!

I hate the stress of buying a home. You probably deserve a dram of something nice.

**Mike_Oettle** · 31st August 10, 05:19 AM

Good luck, Piper.
For the first 4½ years of our marriage we rented. After we had been living in our current house for two years, the landlord said he wanted to sell.
We have never regretted buying it, 29 years later.
A colleague of mine living in the same suburb rented for 20 years, and realised at the end of it that he had nothing to show for 20 years’ rent!
We ought to have paid the house off by next year.
Regards,
Mike

**Mipi** · 31st August 10, 05:24 AM

Good luck! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and your Family.

**ohiopiper** · 3rd September 10, 12:28 AM

The bank counter-offered today (yesterday, it's late now).

They agreed to pay closing costs, but didn't move on the roof or price.

Since options that are 1) suitable for my family and 2) affordable for me are somwhat limited, I'll go back to them with a bit more money for purchase and also offer money for the fixing of the roof.

Buying on a V.A. (veterans' Administration) loan means I have to get the roof fixed before closing. The only way for that to happen is if the bank does it, since they own it right now. So we'll see what can be arranged. I'm sure anything can be done, but at what price is yet to be decided.

**auld argonian** · 3rd September 10, 05:17 AM

After 20 years of wrestling with the problems of a 1913 house designed by a notable Prairie School architect, I fall back on the title of a book written by the comedian, Alan King:

Anybody Who Owns His Own House Deserves It!

...and it is NOT meant as encouragement...

But it is a great thing to do...you will NEVER have to worry about what to do with any spare time that you might find you have on your hands.

My first advice: kill the lawn and plant a dry garden.

Really.

We have a guy around here that I affectionately refer to as "The Rock Man" who lives on a block full of verdant, perfect lawns with poodle-bush evergreens and he has a yard covered with stones and driftwood. He is my hero.

Seriously, though, best of luck on it.

Best

AA

**artificer** · 3rd September 10, 05:30 AM

Originally Posted by auld argonian

Anybody Who Owns His Own House Deserves It!

...and it is NOT meant as encouragement...

AA

Too true!
I own a flat roofed house that was designed by a local architectural firm in homage to the Frank Lloyd Wright's Usonian school of design.

There are some seriously weird touches in the way some of the systems were designed.

When I first had the duct-work cleaned, I actually had to explain the system to the managing cleaner. He told me that my HVAC was the d@mnedest thing he'd ever seen, and he'd been cleaning furnaces and ducts for almost 30 years!