First of all, if that house was in Madison, it would be at least twice the cost, if not three times. I'm quite jealous.
That being said, that speaks a lot to the differences in housing markets. I did a very quick search on this site: http://www.northeastpamls.com/content/SearchForProperties.asp That house is the the 3rd most expensive house currently on the market in Dickson City. I'd be very cautious. While for you, coming from the Boston market, that doesn't really seem all the expensive. But, it would appear that in this market it's one of the high-end homes. That means that should you want to sell it in the future, getting your money back out of it might be a challenge. That's probably also one of the reasons you're not being taken seriously. I know if I contacted a realtor about one of the high-end houses here (million-plus), they'd just laugh and point me at something more reasonable. As to how long closing takes and costs and all that jazz, it really depends. You can put a contingency on your offer that you don't want to close until X date. The seller can counter with their preferred date. Generally, you're talking a minimum of 30 days before closing. Closing costs will depend partially on your financing. Are you pre-approved? It helps to be pre-approved, if you want your offer to be taken seriously. Also, how familiar with the area are you? I might be particularly cautious, but I'd probably rent first to determine which neighborhood really fits my personality before I'd buy a house. For example, here in Madison, the East side has a very different feel than the West side. We joke about it, but I know I fit in better on the East side. I so wouldn't want to own a house on the West side. -d On 12/12/05, Jim Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > We were planning on moving in the summer (after my son is out of school) > but > my wife has found her "perfect house". Now we're not sure how to proceed. > > The house is a gorgeous old Victorian. Quite a notch larger than we > really > need, but with plenty of room for family. It had a new roof in 90 and a > new > furnace in 97. From the (few and small) pictures it looks to have been > very > well maintained and kept up. It's only 11 miles from my new office and is > a > 50'x165' lot (so it's got to have a sizable yard). > > Here's the listing: > http://www.scrantonpamls.com/scr/maildoc/CAAa003v0.html > > It's at the upper zone of our "comfort" limit (where the monthly costs of > the house won't be much more than the monthly costs we have with rent > right > now). I would have like something lower (much lower actually) but we can > definitely afford it without worry and my wife is in complete LOVE with > it. > > When we called real estate agents on the listing they treated us as if > this > were a suggestion - something to inform looks at other houses. That would > be fine but they didn't seem to take our interest in THIS house very > seriously. > > (One woman sent us this listing as well: > http://www.scrantonpamls.com/scr/maildoc/a006_w.html which makes me think > she wasn't taking us seriously... these two places just aren't in the same > class.) > > So any ideas on how to proceed. I don't want to lose the place just > because > the agents aren't paying us enough attention. I'm tempted to make a bid > outright (preferably, of course, pending inspection and a visit or two) > just > to make sure that we get a chance to on it if there are other bidders. At > the same time I'd love to push the sale off for another four months... > > Anyway... what do you think a decent opening offer is? I've never done > this > before - I don't want to be insulting but at the same time I don't want to > spend more than I need to. > > Since the house is listed at $175,000 I'd be thinking anyplace from 150 to > 160 as an opening bid. What do you think? > > Also how long does the process usually take (in our case the longer the > better) and how much should we expect to pay out in closing costs? > > Thanks in advance - and wish us luck! > > Jim Davis > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:187511 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
