just the other day I posted pictures of the kitchen my DH and I were hoping to be able to fix up. We felt so good about this house that we "bought" that I posted the pictures before we did the home inspection. Apparently, I got really ahead of myself but I was just so darned excited as was DH.
Anyway, the home inspector - who we trust very much because as some of you might remember this is our third attempt at buying a home - asked us if he should continue 30 minutes into the inspection because of the list of issues he found already.
So needless to say, we have walked away and are so very disappointed. I have actually never seen my DH become so emotional over an innate object before. He really loved this house, neighborhood and the potential of making it our own.
Oh well, onto the next one. Fortunately, I will be done my university exams as of tomorrow at 4:00 pm, so I can focus completely on the search (I am not sure my real estate agent is so thrilled with that because even with the stress of exams and papers, I ALWAYS found time to look houses and now I will have even more time:D)
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Well I'm glad I helped your cause.
Yes, in my experience, most schools will pass the kids because unless they are borderline, those last 4 weeks or so really don't make a lot of difference. by then they either have the grade or not. You might want to really have a chat with your local principal and see what can be arranged so you don't have to worry about it and can assure your friends it's okay. Seems to me that I would take my records with me and come end of the year would get my grades/pass from the new school. The only time that didn't work was high school because the AB system was so different than the Ont. system at the time and they had no way to grade courses they didn't offer here so I lost them and the credits for them. I was a bit PO'd but it worked out by just taking some extra credits my final year.
let me tell you how happy I am to hear moving at the end of the school year stinks DBD! I attempted to have this all done and finalized by the beginning of May - my DH was going to have to stay behind to finish his job but I wanted the kids and myself to be moved, for the exact reason you outlined! My friends thought I was crazy. NOt only that but we could get into baseball and soccer for the spring season, since we are not likely moving back to the neighborhood with left. My friends asked about the 'loss of learning' at school - my theory with that was that if you don't have it by May, you are likely not going to get it and June is rarely in school learning anyway!
I think I am going to print out your post DBD to show people that I am NOT crazy! IF the little emoticons were working there would be a bunch of clapping and bliss inserted here!!!!!!!
Wow, what province is this in? I can't believe a seller has till closing to produce that information. Here it is all up front when you list. How is a buyer supposed to make a considered offer if they don't have that info until the last minute? Doesn't seem very fair to me.
Here you don't have disclose everything but you sure do for some very specific things under 'known problems'. That would include things like Urea formaldehyde, seepage, former grow op, and such unless the house is listed 'as is'. roofs and other crazy stuff or anything the owner is unaware of is fair game.
When you are looking for a well maintained house I was told to try and get a house owned by a senior. Those are the folks who seem to really pay attention to the house vs the appearance. So the roof, foundation, furnace and such are usually where their money goes instead of updating the kitchen. What you have to watch is that the senior wasn't too far past that and in the phase where they let things go knowing they were not going to be in the house much longer but usually they are well kept houses.
If push does come to shove and you have to rent then buy later let me tell you that as a kid my dad got transferred a few times. I think I went to 7 different schools, my brother had to go through it 3 times more than I did.
They finally learned (way too late in my book) that moving at the end of the school year was a very bad idea when it came to my brother and I. I know people think it makes sense but it is so hard for the kid to move when school is out. Moving during the school year was much easier on us because we came in as the new kids when there weren't other new kids and the chaos of a new year in a new grade for everyone.
The key was we had enough time to make some friends before the summer holidays. I can't tell you how hard it was to leave all my friends and be stuck in a new place all summer not knowing anyone and the older I got the harder it was. I don't care how much parents think they can entertain their kids, once you pass a certain age hanging around with your parents all summer is equivalent to sticking pins in your eyes. The other truth is (as I discovered in a couple of moves) if you do manage to make a friend over the summer it's probably the kid no other kids like so they latch on to any new kid they see around and it's doubly hard to make new friends when school starts with the reputation of being the outcast's pal. Hard but true when it comes to kids.
My parents finally learned to move us at least by May so we had some time to get settled and make friends before the holidays. Most schools would give us our year by then since we had passing marks in other schools and only in my final year of high school was that a problem because switching provinces really screwed up my credits but I still preferred that to being 2 mos without knowing any one. The social stuff is just too key at that age.
Nancy - maybe you have mentioned it before and maybe I missed it, but where is it that you are moving to? Someone here might be able to help either finding a house - or knowing about one, or a good agent that they would use. Just a thought.
In the meantime, your story is getting to be book material and enjoyable reading! Sorry.:biglol:
my parents are there and we lived there for 20 years before moving two years ago so we do know the city very well.
my mom and dad are actually quite enjoying spending our money - lol!
there is one agent who seems to be pricing all of his listings unrealistically high - we put an offer in on one and the offer was based on three other houses that sold in the same area. He was personally offended and ripped a strip off of our agent. A week later he phoned to KSA and asked if we were still interested and told us the range the price needed to be in. We submitted an offer and again he ripped a strip off - such an unreasonable agent that now when we see he is the listing agent we don't want to look at the house! I have also told all of my friends of his unprofessional behaviour!
We will be renting if we can't find anything. The big problem I have with that is my kids' school. If we rent in a specific neighborhood then I feel we are limited to that area because I really don't want to have to change schools on my kids. Although kids are resilient, my oldest is going into grade 6 this year so the tween years are going to be difficult enough (he also hates change). so the renting stuff will be a very last resort.
fortunately time is on our side at the moment. unfortunately for you guys, you could be reading my rants and whines for awhile!:rolleyes:
You might want to consider renting in the short term so you are in the new city and more available to look at a moments notice when the new properties get listed. It's a PITA but less so than buying a house because you felt pressured to find something to move to.
I know how frustrating it is when people won't budge on their prices but I guess it is their right to do so no matter how stupid it seems when they have listed it to sell after all. I think these people mistakenly think that any upgrades they have done should be factored into the selling price, a realtor once told me it wasn't about how much you spend to get something done it was more about perceived value. If someone gets fleeced by a contractor they shouldn't expect to pass that on to the new buyer. Also some people don't seem to want to spend money on maintainance things like new windows or roofs because they won't be there to enjoy them but they also don't want to lower their selling price accordingly either. Some bought too high and expect to still make a profit now when prices have dropped. I suppose there isn't much that can be done when the sellers are just being stubborn and that is why you cannot get too emotional over a house purchase. It's better for negotiating too. ;) It's the sellers agent who should be having a chat with their client to make them wake up and smell the coffee since it is in the agents interest to get the house sold but again, if the seller is just being stubborn not much they can do either. They should be upfront with anyone going to look at a property and tell the prospective buyers agent the circumstances though.
Here's a personal story I can share that happened about 2 years ago, the house was the sort of ideal situation where the kitchen and bathrooms had been updated already but they wanted a fortune for it. An offer was presented that was realistic based on what other houses in the area were selling for but it was promptly rejected, the sellers didn't even negotiate. It was SO frustrating but they had put so much money into it that they expected to make all of it back. Except obviously no-one told them about over improving a home to make it unsellable. This house did not have granite countertops or any of that but I am guessing they went to a custom cabinet place rather than a big box store for the cabinetry. Two years later and 3 agents later that house is still up for sale and they have only come down $5K, but, it's their life and their loss.
Just a thought but do you have friends or anyone where you are moving to that could help you out in terms of previewing these places before you head over there?
we have a decently good realtor, although some things I am about to say may make it not seem so and we have had our frustrations with him and our selling agent . The realtos we have been dealing with selling/buying, say the property disclosure statement really means nothing and a home inspection is what really matters. I agree to a certain extent. One thing we learned with the last house deal, is the property disclosure statement needs to comeback with the accepted offer - what has been happening is the sellers have until closing day to produce it.
The first house we walked away from had window issues, plumbing issues, and roof issues. After those were fixed our fantastic home inspector said it would be a good solid house. All houses need upkeep and repairs - we certainly know that. However, the owners did not disclose any of the problems on the property disclosure statement. In other words, it felt they were being dishonest and further, they refused to come down in price to help cover the costs. As far as I was concerned, these issues should not have been let go for as long as they had been and therefore, what was lurking behind closed spaces once we did start fixing the problems! (we walked away from this house in February, it had gone on the market in Octoberish, it is still on the market and they have not lowered their price at all.)
The second house was completely our fault. no ifs. ands. or buts. We saw the issuess, but were really hoping they could be fixed. Of course the issues could be fixed, but the new hardwood, new kitchen, drywall, and new bathrooms all need to be ripped out to fix the issues. This house was on the market for less than two days when we put an offer in and was gone within a week of us walking away.
We have looked at a ton of houses - both through realtors and private home sales. These three houses looked pretty darn good compared to most of what we have seen. we did start very narrow in terms of what we wanted, but now have quite an exspanive view of what we would like. All it needs to be is a solid house, with good bones, in a good neighborhood, listed at a reasonable price - this is what is proving difficult. By the time we get to the city we are moving to, the houses that are priced properly and are quality products, are snapped up.
The world of real estate. oh so frustrating but oh so gratifying when you get what you want!
That's a shame after getting all excited. Is this the third time a house proved bad on inspection? If it is I would be seriously questioning the skills of the Realtor. When houses have been on the market a long time they often know what is up. Either the seller is unreasonable in their price or something is wrong with the house and that should be on record to save you even wasting time viewing it never mind hiring an inspector who can find those kind of major problems so quickly. A good Realtor can find out what has happened in houses that are stagnating on the market.
In other words that last house may have already had that issue show up and depending on the rules where you live, they usually have to disclose known problems. So now for instance, that seller must disclose the problems your inspector noted to other buyers before they make an offer. It's up to the Realtor to find those things out before showing. If there had ever been an inspection on that house they probably showed the same issues and the Realtor should have known. If it has been on the market that long with not one offer, something is wrong already and they still shouldn't have let you go that far with it probably.
Actually I wouldn't be too surprised if you could go after those sellers for knowingly not reporting asbestos. If there is any way to show they knew about it and didn't disclose you may be able to get all your costs back.
Disclosure is really important in most places and legally required. That's what happened when I purchased this house. The folks who had made an offer had an inspection done that was inflated to get them out of the deal (here you can only back out if the repairs are over something like 3% of the price). The seller was stuck with that report and had to reveal the summary page so when I came in knowing full well the problems were bogus and made an offer below list, they took it vs having to deal with the disclosure to others. You may want to check the laws where you are to see what is what in that regard.
Meanwhile those who won't lower their prices may be using the house as a tax write off so really don't care if they sell or not. Otherwise they are not very smart hanging on when prices won't support what they want and are going to be a pain to deal with.
I don't know, I avoid looking at houses that have been on the market very long because it's such a red flag that there is probably going to be a problem with the house or seller. There would have to be a massive price reduction to get me to take the time to look at one. If where you live is like most places there should be plenty of houses on the market that really want to sell so there is no reason for a Realtor to take you to hard sells.
our next house hunting trip is actually including houses below and above our ideal price.
what we are finding absolutely amazing is that people who have had their houses listed since last summer (and often the house is empty now) are not budging on their prices. when you do the comparables to the houses that have sold, the listed houses are overpriced and yet there is no willingness to move on price. knowing how much it was going to costs us to carry two houses for a couple of months was really high (and we are currently living without a mortgage) so I can not imagine the cost for carrying a house for longer.
If I were in your shoes I would prod your agent to investigate properties a little deeper before you all head out looking next time. Is it possible to look in a slightly higher price range? You have had more than your fair share of bad luck house hunting.
They have a rodent problem - which is a bigger issue than just getting rid of the mice. The addition does not have a cement pad under it but rather gravel so it will be impossible to get rid of the mouse droppings and they will continue to dig through the dirt and get in.
Finally, we are certain that permits were not obtained when the addition was put on or at least it wasn't inspected - plumbing and electrical issues....
this was after a 45 minute partial inspection...
we also are quite certain that they were not going to budge on agreed price because they were already 80 thousand below their starting price...
one good thing about these house deals falling apart, is we learn something new from each home inspection to look for in the next house. ( abit of an expense learning practice:cry:)
wowsers!!!! dont blame you, i would have walked away too. I think you did the right thing
smiles
janet
Arizona, we did think about it for a bit. However, one of the issues was the asbestos in the attic. The asbestos should have been removed when the addition was put. Geting rid of asbestos starts at $7500 and can go up expotentially from there and that is if you can find someone to remove it.
They have a rodent problem - which is a bigger issue than just getting rid of the mice. The addition does not have a cement pad under it but rather gravel so it will be impossible to get rid of the mouse droppings and they will continue to dig through the dirt and get in.
Finally, we are certain that permits were not obtained when the addition was put on or at least it wasn't inspected - plumbing and electrical issues....
this was after a 45 minute partial inspection...
we also are quite certain that they were not going to budge on agreed price because they were already 80 thousand below their starting price...
one good thing about these house deals falling apart, is we learn something new from each home inspection to look for in the next house. ( abit of an expense learning practice:cry:)
Were the things wrong really wrong or unfixable? maybe you could have countered back with a request for a price reduction.
Im so sorry this house didnt work out for you and your husband, but as they say if it doesnt feel right, then it likely isnt. Keep looking, the right one will come along.
smiles
janet
Nancy...Sorry to hear about your disappointment but as the old saying goes "things happen for a reason" It is better you found out that this house had problems before instead of after ..This house was not meant to be & the right one will come along....All the best in your house hunting:)
Sorry to hear it was not the right house for you after all. Something like that happened to us when we were looking at homes, only it was a case of a realtor snatching up a house that I found to be a really great deal. Our realtor was as choked as we were to find it was gone before we had a crack at an offer. In the end it worked out for the best though, as the house we have now is honestly much better for us. Hopefully things will turn out really well like that for you too.:)