I think it's "so cheap" because of the market in Scranton. Also, it's not necessarily huge. Listing had it at roughly 2600 sq ft I believe. I mean...that's big, but not necessarily old victorian mansion kinda big :)
Jim - are you guys in Scranton yet? If not, is it easy enough to get to from where you're at? I ask because you might not want to go for the "dream house" right away (especially without knowing the area well). When we moved from AZ to FL, I flew out to FL over a weekend to find a place. The idea was just to find a place that is "good enough" (and close to the office). We figured over the course of a year or two we'd get to know the various areas then we'd be able to make a decision about where we want to go for the longer-term house. Just looking at a listing online doesn't give you a lot of feedback about the area. When I met with the realtor out here (company I was going to work for had set us up), I asked her about a house I had seen online. It was an amazing looking house for a ridiculously cheap price. I showed her the listing and when she saw the name of the street, milk came out of her nose (which was impressive since she wasn't drinking milk at the time). Apparently it was in a total downtown ghetto crack dealing area. I didn't see a single crack whore in the photos on the online listing, but I did trust the realtor. Just something to bear in mind. A condo or small house (or even an apartment for just one more year) might be a better alternative to rushing into a long-term investment without knowing the playing field well enough. Charlie 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 > >> > >> > >> > >> > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Sams Teach Yourself Regular Expressions in 10 Minutes by Ben Forta http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=40 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:187518 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=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
