The Search Continues

I’ve been house hunting for several weeks in a soft housing market. There are a lot of homes for sale and they aren’t selling quickly, mainly because sellers are listing their homes for more than the market will currently bear. Phoenix real estate values have decreased over the past year while the previous three years saw record gains. Sellers are still holding on to the fantasy of making a huge profit at the expense of the buyer, but this mentality is costing them time and money. I’ve seen more than a few listings where sellers refuse to accept an offer below asking price on homes that have been on the market for six months.

I’ve made offers on three homes in the past three weeks. The first offer was verbally accepted but the seller did not return the contract. When my agent called to inquire what the delay was, we were told they had received a higher offer. I wasn’t willing to be involved in a bidding war so I declined. Two weeks later, that home is still an active listing, so I think I was told a little white lie.

My second offer was accepted and we moved on to the inspection phase. The house is 50 years old but it was completely remodeled so everything was shiny and new inside. The home inspector went over every inch of the place and discovered that all was not well beneath the shiny veneer. Apparently the remodel was not completed by a licensed contractor and there are major structural and electrical problems. Add to that a termite infestation which was improperly treated last fall and it was enough to turn my stomach. We got away from that property as quickly as possible.

I made an offer on a third home just yesterday and received a counter offer this morning. The seller was only willing to come down $1,000 in price, which to my mind isn’t much of a counter offer. The home has been on the market for 41 days and counting, so maybe they’ll get nervous enough to take my offer seriously in a few weeks.

I’m in no hurry.

House Hunting Blues

In the past week, I’ve been out with my real estate agent three times and have visited about a dozen homes. Add to that the home listings that I’ve waded through online to come up with just those twelve, and I’ve considered a shit load of houses this week.

There was one home that I could definitely see myself living in, so I decided to make an offer. My agent called the seller’s agent who said they had an offer on the property already. Her reply was to keep us in mind if the current offer didn’t work out. This is how civilized real estate negotiations are handled, but the seller’s agent wasn’t too keen on playing by the rules. He immediately said he would refuse the current offer if we could beat it by X amount. I said I could and my agent had a verbal acceptance of my offer within minutes. We began discussing the offer contract but the seller’s agent called back and said I needed to add another several thousand dollars to the price in order to get the house.

Wait a minute! He had just accepted my offer, and moments later wanted more money. Sorry, I’m not going to have my chain yanked. Either honor the offer you accepted a few minutes ago or go away. So, he went away.

First thing the next morning, the seller’s agent called and said the original offer I made was good enough, so I got together with my agent and put the offer in writing. We only gave the seller 24 hours to respond, thinking that the shorter the time-frame was the less time he and his agent had to try to find a higher bidder.

Twenty-four hours came and went and I still hadn’t heard from my agent. After 30 hours I broke down and called her. She had heard from the seller’s agent who said he needed until the next morning to finish his end of the paperwork, so we should expect an acceptance by morning. That turned out to be almost 48 hours, which was too long. This morning my agent called and said the seller had a higher offer on the table and it was almost 10 percent higher than my offer. Consider my chain yanked once again.

I know exactly how far I can stretch our budget to afford a home; my husband and I are not wealthy people but we live a nice, upper-middle class existence. To have some stranger tempt me with a home in my price range only to try to get me involved in a bidding war is infuriating! I steamed for a few minutes, brooded for an hour and then hit the MLS search again.

Better luck next week.

Here We Go Again

So the other night hubby says to me, “You know, I’d really like a bigger den…and maybe a garage.”

Crap.

Looks like it’s time to go house hunting.

Let me explain my reluctance in looking for a house. I’m quite content in my current apartment; the neighbors are quiet, the grounds are well kept, my rent didn’t increase when we renewed our lease, and the neighborhood has everything I need without being overly-commercial. I’ve lived in plenty of apartments, but this is the nicest one so far.

Our first home was lovely; however, after buying it, we had a string of bad luck. My husband lost his job while we were in the process of moving out of our apartment and into the house we had just closed on days before. Within a year of buying the house, both my mother-in-law and son had passed away.

Rationally I know the house didn’t kill my family members or cause my husband to be “down-sized”. I don’t believe in bad luck; it was simply a series of unfortunate events (sorry Lemony Snicket). Random chance, not karma or bad luck, is the reason for my past troubles.

My rational mind knows these things, and yet the thought of looking for a new house gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Sure, I’d like to have a bigger den, a guest room and maybe a small yard, but I’m fine where I am. Apartments have their beneficial qualities, such as not having to fix anything yourself, and the ability to move on short notice. Try doing that with a house.

But the local housing market has settled down and interest rates are still fairly low, so this is probably as good a time as any to buy a house. It doesn’t hurt to look, and since we’re happy in this apartment, we’ll be less likely to rush into a less-than-stellar home purchase.

Here’s hoping for a series of fortunate events.

Interlopers

I’m going to start answering the door with a gun in my hands. Twice in the past week, my day has been interrupted by some random person ringing my door bell and saying “I’m not here to sell you anything”; which means they are totally here to sell me something.

I live in a gated community, and yet these maggots manage to get in and annoy the residents of my complex. Okay, mainly they annoy me but I’m sure they annoy others as well. There is a sign at the gate saying No Trespassing, No Soliciting. When I point this out to the interlopers at my door they just smile and shrug.

I think if I were to answer the door with, (Insert sound of racking the slide here) “Can I help you?” I wouldn’t have to say anything more.

Maybe next time.