Otter househunters and homeowners

MikeCee · 09-24-2009, 10:51 PM

how long did it take you to find the house you wanted? this seems like a frustrating process.

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gramicci101 · 09-24-2009, 10:52 PM

How long have you been looking?

Pearl Jam · 09-24-2009, 10:52 PM

26 years.

MikeCee · 09-24-2009, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gramicci101

How long have you been looking?

2-3 months. looked online through every house in 3 large school districts. driven by at least 25 of them. toured 10+. made offers on 2.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pearl Jam

26 years.

liar.

SuperSixFour · 09-24-2009, 10:55 PM

2nd ****ty thread.

jms · 09-24-2009, 10:56 PM

A solid 5 months before putting in the offer.

gramicci101 · 09-24-2009, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperSixFour

2nd ****ty thread.

Go play with your tinker toys. Come back when the idea of buying a house actually applies to you.

SuperSixFour · 09-24-2009, 10:58 PM

>7 years probably.

MikeCee · 09-24-2009, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jms

A solid 5 months before putting in the offer.

there are houses everywhere. literally. how hard should this be?

MikeCee · 09-24-2009, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperSixFour

2nd ****ty thread.

technically, this was my first ****ty thread (tonight).

Pearl Jam · 09-24-2009, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeCee

liar.

No really, it took until I was 26 to find the house I wanted.

taxcider · 09-24-2009, 11:01 PM

A month of seriously looking online beforehand, and it was the 3rd house we saw in person. We were relocating, and didn't have time to screw around - but it's a swell house in a nice neighborhood, and we only paid about 2K more than we should have.

VietGuy · 09-24-2009, 11:02 PM

7 months non stop....have had several contracts fall through. It gets old very fast.

MikeCee · 09-24-2009, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VietGuy

7 months non stop....have had several contracts fall through. It gets old very fast.

why did they fall through? inspections?

chicakms · 09-24-2009, 11:04 PM

My brother just bought his first house he's been looking for a few years but he's picky he wanted a 2 car garage and had trouble finding one in his price range. The house he bought is a real fixer upper and with him working 3 jobs guess who's doing the work while he's working? Me and my parents. So much friggen work the lady who had it was a total pig and a cat person.

Anyone know how to get smells out of a house the windows and baking soda aren't working. My mom said he needs to rip down all the drapes and shades the lady left behind and rip up one hall carpet. Any other suggestions?

jms · 09-24-2009, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeCee

there are houses everywhere. literally. how hard should this be?

Choosy mothers choose Jif. I knew what I wanted, and I didnt want to compromise. Oddly enough, one of the first I looked at was the one I wound up buying.

Looked great in the web listing, drove by it and hated it. Put it back on the list months later and had my agent show it to me. The others didnt match up, so I went back and put in an offer.

zimmermamc · 09-24-2009, 11:08 PM

Took about a month. We probably looked at 30-40 houses before we found one we settled on.

NJSwamplands · 09-24-2009, 11:08 PM

one time 3 months

another 1 day

another 1 day

this is actual looking versus months of internet looking

MikeCee · 09-24-2009, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicakms

My brother just bought his first house he's been looking for a few years but he's picky he wanted a 2 car garage and had trouble finding one in his price range. The house he bought is a real fixer upper and with him working 3 jobs guess who's doing the work while he's working? Me and my parents. So much friggen work the lady who had it was a total pig and a cat person.

Anyone know how to get smells out of a house the windows and baking soda aren't working. My mom said he needs to rip down all the drapes and shades the lady left behind and rip up one hall carpet. Any other suggestions?

at first i was like, your brother doesn't seem responsible enough for a house. then i was like, yep, you and your mom are taking care of it for him.

when does it end?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jms

Choosy mothers choose Jif. I knew what I wanted, and I didnt want to compromise. Oddly enough, one of the first I looked at was the one I wound up buying.

Looked great in the web listing, drove by it and hated it. Put it back on the list months later and had my agent show it to me. The others didnt match up, so I went back and put in an offer.

what changed?

Quote:

Originally Posted by zimmermamc

Took about a month. We probably looked at 30-40 houses before we found one we settled on.

perhaps i'm not working hard enough here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJSwamplands

one time 3 months

another 1 day

another 1 day

this is actual looking versus months of internet looking

you own a lot of houses.

Mike Wevrick · 09-24-2009, 11:12 PM

Almost a year for our 1st house; several months for the 2nd.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicakms

Anyone know how to get smells out of a house the windows and baking soda aren't working. My mom said he needs to rip down all the drapes and shades the lady left behind and rip up one hall carpet. Any other suggestions?

Your mom is right; ideally everything should be junked down to bare walls/windows/floors. Also, go to a pet store and buy some "Natures Miracle" or similar product designed to treat pet odors.

TGC · 09-24-2009, 11:13 PM

1 day of looking at houses and a few weeks, maybe a month, of looking at houses online. I wasn't able to buy until the week I started looking at houses, so even if I saw a great one online in the weeks prior, I'd of been SOL.

2nd house I looked at had all of the features we wanted in our first home, so we put an offer in 10 days later and was accepted.

Our next home, 7-10 years out, will be built to our specs to ensure we get exactly what we want.

soobaloo · 09-24-2009, 11:13 PM

We are taking a break from looking at houses all summer. We're just disgusted with the prices for the quality of homes in our area...

Jessie James · 09-24-2009, 11:17 PM

We looked at 50+ houses over the course of 2-3 months. For the first month we did nothing but look and research and learn what the houses were supposed to be like. The second month we started to nail down exactly what we wanted. We found one house we liked, waited a week, and then got beat out when they showcased it. Finally we made an offer on a house and got lucky as the house was under contract (we did not know) but the buyers financing fell through the day we put our offer in so they just picked us up and continued on.

Tip: The two houses we put offers on had lockboxes that did not work, so we found an open window and crawled through. We figured no one else could get in, and in most cases we were right - we were pretty much the only people who put an offer in on the second house. So ... a little B&E goes a long way.

jms · 09-24-2009, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeCee

what changed?

Having fewer headaches. This one has all I need. 2 car garage, pool, roof was a year old, newer AC unit, big property, all hardwood floors. Just needed a gas furnace and HW heater. Replaced those in the first 6 months.

The other places didn't shape up as well. Complete ****boxes in comparison for the same price.

skateboy16 · 09-24-2009, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zimmermamc

Took about a month. We probably looked at 30-40 houses before we found one we settled on.

we didn't look at that many, but found sometimes you never find the "perfect house", but pretty close. what's keeping you from jumping in? Too big, too small, not enough land, too old, fixer upper, suicide in the bathroom?

09-24-2009, 10:51 PM	#1
MikeCee Scooby Specialist Member#: 136687 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: CnW, he's a snarky little Vehicle: bee otch	Otter househunters and homeowners how long did it take you to find the house you wanted? this seems like a frustrating process. * Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

09-24-2009, 11:13 PM	#21
TGC Scooby Newbie Member#: 16255 Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: 35.527N, 97.525W Vehicle: 2002 WRX 2004 Mazda 3 5dr	1 day of looking at houses and a few weeks, maybe a month, of looking at houses online. I wasn't able to buy until the week I started looking at houses, so even if I saw a great one online in the weeks prior, I'd of been SOL. 2nd house I looked at had all of the features we wanted in our first home, so we put an offer in 10 days later and was accepted. Our next home, 7-10 years out, will be built to our specs to ensure we get exactly what we want. Last edited by TGC; 09-24-2009 at 11:37 PM.

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09-24-2009, 10:52 PM	#2
gramicci101 Scooby Newbie Member#: 64763 Join Date: Jun 2004 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Delawhere? Vehicle: The cake is a lie.	How long have you been looking?

09-24-2009, 10:52 PM	#3
Pearl Jam Scooby Specialist Member#: 145180 Join Date: Apr 2007 Chapter/Region: NESIC Location: Rhode Island Vehicle: 2004 WRX - mailboxed 89 Camry for sale.	26 years.

09-24-2009, 10:55 PM	#5
SuperSixFour Scooby Newbie Member#: 173739 Join Date: Mar 2008	2nd ****ty thread.

09-24-2009, 10:56 PM	#6
jms Scooby Newbie Member#: 43489 Join Date: Sep 2003 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Vehicle: More barbarism you animals! - Ripper_AWD	A solid 5 months before putting in the offer.

09-24-2009, 10:58 PM	#8
SuperSixFour Scooby Newbie Member#: 173739 Join Date: Mar 2008	>7 years probably.

09-24-2009, 11:01 PM	#12
taxcider NASIOC Supporter Member#: 6837 Join Date: May 2001 Chapter/Region: South East Location: Elbow deep in parietal cortex. Vehicle: 92 Melba Toast 04 Stinky Lucy	A month of seriously looking online beforehand, and it was the 3rd house we saw in person. We were relocating, and didn't have time to screw around - but it's a swell house in a nice neighborhood, and we only paid about 2K more than we should have.

09-24-2009, 11:02 PM	#13
VietGuy Scooby Newbie Member#: 128994 Join Date: Oct 2006 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Washington, DC Vehicle: 2008 Subaru STi Silver	7 months non stop....have had several contracts fall through. It gets old very fast.

09-24-2009, 11:04 PM	#15
chicakms Scooby Specialist Member#: 183449 Join Date: Jun 2008 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Location: New Jersey Vehicle: 2008 Legacy Elite Quartz Silver Metallic	My brother just bought his first house he's been looking for a few years but he's picky he wanted a 2 car garage and had trouble finding one in his price range. The house he bought is a real fixer upper and with him working 3 jobs guess who's doing the work while he's working? Me and my parents. So much friggen work the lady who had it was a total pig and a cat person. Anyone know how to get smells out of a house the windows and baking soda aren't working. My mom said he needs to rip down all the drapes and shades the lady left behind and rip up one hall carpet. Any other suggestions?

09-24-2009, 11:08 PM	#17
zimmermamc NASIOC Supporter Member#: 63542 Join Date: Jun 2004 Chapter/Region: TXIC Location: Austin Vehicle: 05 STI 98 2.5 RS	Took about a month. We probably looked at 30-40 houses before we found one we settled on.

09-24-2009, 11:08 PM	#18
NJSwamplands Scooby Newbie Member#: 97227 Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: fuggin turkey™	one time 3 months another 1 day another 1 day this is actual looking versus months of internet looking

09-24-2009, 11:13 PM	#22
soobaloo Scooby Newbie Member#: 156670 Join Date: Aug 2007 Chapter/Region: MWSOC Location: cowboyland Vehicle: 04 STi scratches	We are taking a break from looking at houses all summer. We're just disgusted with the prices for the quality of homes in our area...

09-24-2009, 11:17 PM	#23
Jessie James Scooby Specialist Member#: 2072 Join Date: Aug 2000 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Sterling, VA	We looked at 50+ houses over the course of 2-3 months. For the first month we did nothing but look and research and learn what the houses were supposed to be like. The second month we started to nail down exactly what we wanted. We found one house we liked, waited a week, and then got beat out when they showcased it. Finally we made an offer on a house and got lucky as the house was under contract (we did not know) but the buyers financing fell through the day we put our offer in so they just picked us up and continued on. Tip: The two houses we put offers on had lockboxes that did not work, so we found an open window and crawled through. We figured no one else could get in, and in most cases we were right - we were pretty much the only people who put an offer in on the second house. So ... a little B&E goes a long way.