You know, this is what caught my eye too....why is the house so cheap? It looks huge.
I'd go over the house with a fine tooth comb before I got too serious about it. If it's too good to be true, it probably is. Pay special attention to the foundation. When I was house hunting a few years ago, we'd find BEAUTIFUL homes that seemed way too cheap. In every instance, the foundation was fubar....and that should be a deal killer. > 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:5:187515 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
