Yah, but the thing is - it's not cheap in that market - a market where you can get a decent house for under 100,000. (That's been totally impossible here for about 5 years.)
My house actually had a faulty foundation. But, the sellers put the money in escrow to replace it. Sweet. On 12/13/05, G <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > 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 > >> > >> > >> > >> > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Get help! 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