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  1. #1
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    Unhappy House Hunting Blues

    Just a little vent. DH and I are ready for our own place. We had been renting for a few years, then we moved in with his mom to mutually save a little money after I lost my job and DH's dad and grandpop passed away. Along the way, we had a baby, MIL got promoted to full time and DH also got a promotion, so we no longer "need" the arrangement financially and in all honesty, it's run it's course on our end. Still, we have a limited budget and have now looked at everything currently available in our price range in our desired areas. I am one of those people that once I decide to do something, I want it done. I have already started packing up little things around here, but everything we've seen is either too much of a fixer-upper, or has one or two things that are just total deal breakers (like no storage, an upstairs that makes you feel like you are Alice in Wonderland who took the pill that turns you into a giant, a kitchen from the 1920s, leaky roof and the list goes on. One reeked so bad of dog hair and cigarette smoke we all got headaches. The smell penetrated every crevice) . So far after speaking to our friends it seems like it's not that unusual for it to be a long process, but I guess I was just hoping we'd get lucky and find something more quickly. So, for now, I'm singing the house hunting blues. And I'm sure once we find something I'll be singing the home owner's blues, haha, but at least it will be our own place.
    ~M.~

    All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.
    11 Trips to WDW
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    Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers, and me.

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  3. #2
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    Completely understand this feeling. I loved house hunting at first and then I started to worry that nothing would feel right-- and then suddenly we found our place! It could be that back to school time is not a great time to find new listings. People are busy prepping for school now, and might put off listing for a few weeks? Fingers crossed for some new market action soon. The right place is out there. Somewhere.
    Sherri
    Next: Aulani Celebration 10/2018 (50th)
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  4. #3
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    Default Same here

    The same seems to be the case in our area. While we aren't looking it really seems like a seller's market. The very nice homes in our area have been snatched up quickly while three neglected homes in our neighborhood are sitting on the market...

    Give it a few weeks and try again
    Janet, aka JanetMegan


    Scrapbooking-There is a fine line between a mental illness and a hobby.

  5. #4
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    I am in that boat with you, Maryanne! Our area is very similar. We rent from my DBF's parents who live next door and it's time to get out. But, we need something that is mostly move-in ready and in the same school district where the kids go. Unfortunately houses that have space for 3 bedrooms and somewhere for DBF to set up his work space (not necessarily a bedroom but room for a desk that's not in our room) is either in a shambles or way out of our range. The taxes here are outrageous as well, which puts even more stress on our meager budget.

    Luckily, market prices tend to come down in the fall and winter. I hope you find something soon!
    ~Nikki~
    Last Trip: February 2024
    Next Trips: April 2024

  6. #5
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    Hang in there and take your time. With it being the biggest purchase decision most of us will ever make it's better to get it right than to get house-fever and buy the wrong place because you feel like you have to get something right away.

  7. #6
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    We purchased our house from former smokers and it reeked! I found that when we took down the drapes and cleaned the floors and other surfaces the smell went away...thank goodness.

    Good luck in the hunt! Don't get discouraged.
    1980 Disneyland
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  8. #7
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    Maryanne, as I think I said when we got to meet at the Phillies game, it takes time. It seems like fun when you start, but it gets old quickly. You may want to expand to a couple of other townships, such as mine. Also, are you set on a single family home, or are you willing to look at townhomes? Many are as big as houses. I have an end unit with 3 bedrooms and a downstairs study and 2 1/2 baths for almost 2100 square feet of living space. I also have an unfinished basement which is not included in that 2100 square feet. I have a lot of neighbors with young children as they want to take advantage of the fantastic school district. Best thing is my development does NOT have a homeowners' association, so no one telling you that your door or mailbox can be only certain colors, etc. You have to take care of your own yard, but I hired someone who takes care of it for $25 a week and my yard looks awesome!
    Christine ºoº

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  9. #8
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    I went through this last year. The first house reeked of smoke. The real deal breaker was the flooring. Each room had a different floor....all in need of repair. The kitchen needed updating. The asking price was way too high and she would not come down.

    The second house was nice but needed a kitchen update and add a dishwasher....very reasonable price. The third house was move in ready. I put in an offer, for quite a bit lower than asking. I was turned down, but not because of price. The owner couldn't be out by the time I needed to be in.....the house is still for sale.

    I bought the second house for less than asking. I did the kitchen remodel....new cabinets, added a pantry with 4 pull out shelves, added a dishwasher and new range, microwave and fridge. It all worked out in the end.

    Good luck with your search.
    Marci

    Many visits. Live 20 minutes from the parks.
    Work at Universal Studios in Diagon Alley. Ollivanders/ wand magic.

  10. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by SBETigg View Post
    People are busy prepping for school now, and might put off listing for a few weeks? Fingers crossed for some new market action soon. The right place is out there. Somewhere.
    Here's hoping!!! I really wanted to be into our own place by Christmas, but I realize I just can't set goals like that. I just have to make the best of the situation while we continue to look for the right place.
    Quote Originally Posted by JanetMegan View Post
    The same seems to be the case in our area. While we aren't looking it really seems like a seller's market. The very nice homes in our area have been snatched up quickly while three neglected homes in our neighborhood are sitting on the market...
    I agree that it's more of a seller's market, despite our realtor arguing otherwise. The homes that are available have been on the market a long time. A few houses that we looked at but weren't sure about or just weren't quite right were bought by someone else shortly thereafter.
    Quote Originally Posted by BriarRose0708 View Post
    I am in that boat with you, Maryanne! Our area is very similar. We rent from my DBF's parents who live next door and it's time to get out. But, we need something that is mostly move-in ready and in the same school district where the kids go. Unfortunately houses that have space for 3 bedrooms and somewhere for DBF to set up his work space (not necessarily a bedroom but room for a desk that's not in our room) is either in a shambles or way out of our range. The taxes here are outrageous as well, which puts even more stress on our meager budget.

    Luckily, market prices tend to come down in the fall and winter. I hope you find something soon!
    I hope you find something too. It does sound like a very similar situation! And taxes around here are no joke either. I go cross eyed sometimes when I see the taxes.

    Quote Originally Posted by dnickels View Post
    Hang in there and take your time. With it being the biggest purchase decision most of us will ever make it's better to get it right than to get house-fever and buy the wrong place because you feel like you have to get something right away.
    The voice of reason. This is why my husband is the perfect foil to me, as this is exactly his view point. We have seen a few houses that I would've put an offer in but he noticed a lot of things I didn't in my house-fever mode and made me realize they weren't right for us.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ms. Mode View Post
    We purchased our house from former smokers and it reeked! I found that when we took down the drapes and cleaned the floors and other surfaces the smell went away...thank goodness.
    I'm glad it worked out for you. This house definitely would've needed all carpets replaced, new paint in every room, thorough hvac cleaning etc. And with half of my family having asthma I just was too nervous. There were other things with it too that weren't quite what we wanted. But the smell was hard to overcome.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hammer View Post
    Maryanne, as I think I said when we got to meet at the Phillies game, it takes time. It seems like fun when you start, but it gets old quickly. You may want to expand to a couple of other townships, such as mine. Also, are you set on a single family home, or are you willing to look at townhomes? Many are as big as houses. I have an end unit with 3 bedrooms and a downstairs study and 2 1/2 baths for almost 2100 square feet of living space. I also have an unfinished basement which is not included in that 2100 square feet. I have a lot of neighbors with young children as they want to take advantage of the fantastic school district. Best thing is my development does NOT have a homeowners' association, so no one telling you that your door or mailbox can be only certain colors, etc. You have to take care of your own yard, but I hired someone who takes care of it for $25 a week and my yard looks awesome!
    Christine, if you want can you message me on Facebook and let me know what community you are in? We actually did start looking into town houses. As long as we can fence in the yard for the dog we are totally open to town houses. We have looked at a few already that were part of HOA's but again they weren't quite right... We are expanding a little but can't go too far away from my mom.

    Quote Originally Posted by Disney4us2 View Post
    I bought the second house for less than asking. I did the kitchen remodel....new cabinets, added a pantry with 4 pull out shelves, added a dishwasher and new range, microwave and fridge. It all worked out in the end.

    Good luck with your search.
    I don't mind a little updating. If everything else was fine, I can deal with wood paneling and an outdated kitchen for a bit until we can update. I can see past a lot of things. Maybe it's all the HGTV I watch, hah!
    ~M.~

    All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.
    11 Trips to WDW
    1 Trip to Disneyland
    Many more to come
    Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers, and me.

  11. #10
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    Maryanne, just a few suggestions that might work for you. I don't know the area where you live but here are a few things that helped us.
    Think outside the box. Sometimes new builds can be more cost effective in the long run with no remodeling to be done. Builders can have promotions that can be a huge benefit with financing or upgrades for little or no extra cost.
    If you submit an offer and it gets turned down, don't be discouraged. The best thing that ever happened was a house we wanted and we refused their counter offer when they wouldn't allow a home inspection. How fishy was that. Later it dawned me that it was also located 20minutes from the nearest supermarket.
    HGTV can really be a hazard sometimes. Just how many first time buyers can realistically afford granite, stainless steel and hard wood floors.
    Hang in there, the home you are meant to have is out there. It takes time and a lot of work to find it though.
    KAY

    DVC MEMBER - OKW & HHI
    First trip to WDW - Dec, 2005
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  12. #11
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    When we decided to move out of our old house to a larger home and more desirable location it took us about 2 years. We saw every house that went on the market in our price range (even a little over, sometimes a lot over ) in our desired location. We had decided that this maybe wasn't going to happen for us (prices were going up and we were getting priced out) and then we saw a house that we fell in love with - prices was right, great location, good layout etc.
    it will happen it just takes time. Focus on the bones of the house, remember to look past th cosmetic -it can be changed.
    Mar'14 DCL..Nov '13 POP..Jan '13 CBR..Mar'12 Swan/Dolphin..Nov '11 Universal/legoland, one night @ WDW..Oct '10 POP..April '09 Swan/Dolphin..Jan '09 AKL..Apr'08 offsite..Jan/Feb '08 offsite..Dec '08 HiltonHeadResort..Oct '07 Pop.. July '07 VB..May '07 DCL.Oct '06 FtWcabins.May '06 POP.Jan '06 POFQ

  13. #12
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    Like others have said, don't get discouraged! If you have a good real estate agent, they'll keep bringing you good possibilities. If you don't feel your real estate agent is working hard enough for you, don't hesitate to switch. Good luck!
    Susanne

  14. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by PirateLover View Post
    Just a little vent. DH and I are ready for our own place. We had been renting for a few years, then we moved in with his mom to mutually save a little money after I lost my job and DH's dad and grandpop passed away. Along the way, we had a baby, MIL got promoted to full time and DH also got a promotion, so we no longer "need" the arrangement financially and in all honesty, it's run it's course on our end. Still, we have a limited budget and have now looked at everything currently available in our price range in our desired areas. I am one of those people that once I decide to do something, I want it done. I have already started packing up little things around here, but everything we've seen is either too much of a fixer-upper, or has one or two things that are just total deal breakers (like no storage, an upstairs that makes you feel like you are Alice in Wonderland who took the pill that turns you into a giant, a kitchen from the 1920s, leaky roof and the list goes on. One reeked so bad of dog hair and cigarette smoke we all got headaches. The smell penetrated every crevice) . So far after speaking to our friends it seems like it's not that unusual for it to be a long process, but I guess I was just hoping we'd get lucky and find something more quickly. So, for now, I'm singing the house hunting blues. And I'm sure once we find something I'll be singing the home owner's blues, haha, but at least it will be our own place.

    Where are you looking?
    Rita (aka NJGIRL)

  15. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheDuckRocks View Post
    HGTV can really be a hazard sometimes. Just how many first time buyers can realistically afford granite, stainless steel and hard wood floors.
    I was just thinking the same thing the other day. I watch a lot of the House Hunters and am amazed at what these people expect for the money they want to pay. They expect the houses to have been completely updated in the last year or two with top end amenities, but want to pay low end prices. Remodeling a kitchen can easily cost $50, 000 with all of those upgrades that they expect.
    Rita (aka NJGIRL)

  16. #15
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    Right I'm not expecting to get something totally finished for cheap. But, we can't afford a total fixer upper. I need something in between. I can deal with wood paneling, and a slightly outdated kitchen. But if I need to do a full overhaul that's not very attractive to me right now.
    Rita- we both work in Cherry Hill and are looking there as well as Marlton and Mount Laurel. Burlington County taxes are a little better on the whole, but it's further out from my mom who is our primary babysitter, but she is also needed by my dad on a daily basis so we want to stay relatively close to them (in Philly). We dabbled with Washington township but it really doesn't make sense for DH's work (Wegmans). There are no stores close by. Mile wise it isn't far but 42/295 can be brutal.
    ~M.~

    All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.
    11 Trips to WDW
    1 Trip to Disneyland
    Many more to come
    Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection, the lovers, the dreamers, and me.

  17. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by PirateLover View Post
    Right I'm not expecting to get something totally finished for cheap. But, we can't afford a total fixer upper. I need something in between. I can deal with wood paneling, and a slightly outdated kitchen. But if I need to do a full overhaul that's not very attractive to me right now.
    Rita- we both work in Cherry Hill and are looking there as well as Marlton and Mount Laurel. Burlington County taxes are a little better on the whole, but it's further out from my mom who is our primary babysitter, but she is also needed by my dad on a daily basis so we want to stay relatively close to them (in Philly). We dabbled with Washington township but it really doesn't make sense for DH's work (Wegmans). There are no stores close by. Mile wise it isn't far but 42/295 can be brutal.
    I understand and wasn't talking about you when I made the House Hunter comment. I just laugh every time I watch it and they say "The kitchen doesn't have granite counter tops or stainless steel appliances" or "the bathroom looks like it is from 1990". Do these people realize that not all people remodel their homes every 10 years.

    The reason I ask you where you where looking because you can get a lot of house in my area, but it looks like it is too far for you. My sister lives Fox Chase and it take us about an hour and 15 mins to get there from my house. We are about 20- 25 mins from Washington Twp.
    Rita (aka NJGIRL)

  18. #17
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    I wish you the best of luck. I agree that HGTV can give a false since of hope. Because of HGTV, I thought selling a house would be a piece of cake. It actually wasn't that difficult getting the house ready for show, but the stress involved once going on the market is never fully relayed on those shows.

    As a side note, I LOVE Wegmans! We don't have them down here in the south where we live. My husband works in NJ and a couple of years ago I visited my first Wegmans and fell-in-love! Now, every time I travel with him to NJ, Wegmans in Woodbridge is one of my first stops.
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  19. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheVBs View Post
    Like others have said, don't get discouraged! If you have a good real estate agent, they'll keep bringing you good possibilities. If you don't feel your real estate agent is working hard enough for you, don't hesitate to switch. Good luck!
    That is great advice! My house selling/buying process took longer than it should because my first realtor wasn't any good. I went with a well known but local realtor thinking that would be better and I like to support local business. However, when it comes to real estate, you really pays to work with the a large company. Once I switched to Weichert, my condo received many more showings because it was properly marketed. Also, my realtor would find out about places coming on the market and would get me in to see them quickly.

    In comparing Marlton to Mount Laurel, both towns are very similar. I chose Mount Laurel because the taxes were about $1,500-$2,000 less in MT. Laurel for the same size house. Both schools systems are great, so I didn't see the reason to pay the extra taxes.
    Christine ºoº

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  20. #19
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    Don't give up!!!! You will find the "right" house.

    We bought a cute starter home that we outgrew after 13 years and 2 kids, and I KNEW WHAT I WAS AND WAS NOT PUTTING UP WITH if we did do a move.

    We put our house on the market, and it did take 6 months to sell, but in that time I looked at..... 53 houses. Yes, 53 of them.
    Some with formica so old it had the gold swirl ingrained in it for the kitchen counter, some with mold smells so strong from the basement it gave me an instant headache. Some so hot because of no air what so ever, and electric so old, my hair dryer would blow a fuse...
    Then...I found the perfect home for us, in a great neighborhood, and it had everything on our wish list, we bought it!!!
    I never looked back!
    Keep at it!!!
    Just a side note...I live in Northern NJ, and housing is pricey. For my $500K budget I was not getting big open kitchens with granite and high end appliances, open floor plans and new bathrooms. That is my reality. My sturdy cape was built in 1959, and one of our bathrooms has original tile. Grey and pink baby!!! I updated the sink, and vanity, and new paint and accessories.

    Julie
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    Summer 2018... WE ARE BACK!!!
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  21. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by BriarRose0708 View Post
    I am in that boat with you, Maryanne! Our area is very similar. We rent from my DBF's parents who live next door and it's time to get out. But, we need something that is mostly move-in ready and in the same school district where the kids go. Unfortunately houses that have space for 3 bedrooms and somewhere for DBF to set up his work space (not necessarily a bedroom but room for a desk that's not in our room) is either in a shambles or way out of our range. The taxes here are outrageous as well, which puts even more stress on our meager budget.

    Luckily, market prices tend to come down in the fall and winter. I hope you find something soon!

    I DO NOT miss paying those Lansing taxes at all. We pay 1/3 of that now in GA.
    Good luck with your house hunting!!
    TRACEY
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