kind of excited..

Well, since you'd just have to re-do JJ's room in the new house, you might be able to put off redecorating. Of course you can't leave it half-painted or anything like that, but there's no need to have it perfect either.

I'm with Karen. Go for it! I think you have plenty of time.

The room being finished would be part of the agreement. So it has to be done.

I am looking at two houses Sat. The first one I think is ugly..and too much money for how ugly it is. The second one is over our budget at $109,000. but we could try to talk them down depending on what the inside is like.

There is another one that we are waiting to get an appt to see, it is a lower price. The owner is presently living in the home, and the agent said it needs some work. I don't really want to have to do a bunch of stuff to it, but I guess it depends what "needs some work" means. If it's painting, replacing a carpet, fine. If it's ripping out cupboards, walls, major plumbing, heating, roof issues then not a chance. The area of town is nice, the surrounding houses are nice. So we are trying to get in to see that one asap.

I'll bet "needs some work" means the big stuff. Carpet and paint falls under "needs some updating", I believe. Good luck!

We just found out the house for $109,000. has a newly remodeled kitchen, livingroom and diningroom..so even though it's a little more than we are willing to spend if we like it, it doesn't mean we can't start out offering at $80,000. and hope we can meet in the middle at $90,000. I can tell that this one will go fast because of the neighborhood it's in and the remodeling that's been done. I am going to look at a few houses tomorrow. One of them it's a friend of a friend's house for sale and then the two on Sat. Some for next week as well. I have sent some e-mails to some realty companies about some that I was interested in that I had some questions about before I even wanted to see them and I am waiting to hear back from those.

This is the listing that I am interested which we will be looking at tomorrow.
http://www.progressiverealty.net/detail.asp?key=17102

We think they may take as low as $90,000 but we are willing to go $100,000. We don't want to unless we HAVE to. Three rooms are newly remodeled as I mentioned above. However I don't believe it will be as fancy as those houses in other links I listed above. But one of those doesn't show or list a garage. One is further away than we really wanted.

This one is located on a nice street, in a nice area of town. To some of you by looking at the room sizes it may be small, but the bedrooms are bigger than any of my bedrooms here. The living room in the listing is smaller, but considering the office desk/computer and treadmill is in my current living room, and if we were to get this house Kris would use one of the bedrooms for an office and that stuff would go in there. I really will just need room for our couch, chair, end tables, and television..

As big as some of the others are, after careful consideration we don't want to go huge. As Lori mentioned I have to take into consideration that this is the home I will be most likely living in during my retirement years. I don't want a huge house to contend with. It is bigger than what I am in now even though the living room and kitchen are a tiny bit smaller I will be gaining a dining room, and a seperate laundry area.

Love that one, Kelly. I have a real soft spot for bungalow houses. I don't think the rooms sound all that small, and it says there's an enclosed porch off the kitchen. You'll love that in the summer. Also, if that's a big rock in the front yard near the mailbox - I want! I continue to ask DH for a big rock for my yard.

I am amazed at the housing prices there. I like it , it's not tiny,but I wonder if the Sq footage is total, or heated/cooled?

I also like the proximity to the neighbors houses, they aren't 3 feet apart.
Lori, I also want a rock, and keep threatening to put one in the back of the truck.

KellyM wrote: it doesn't mean we can't start out offering at $80,000. and hope we can meet in the middle at $90,000.

I missed this post earlier. I don't know if it's wise to put in such a low bid, especially if you like the house. If I were the seller I would be pissed, especially after putting money into a remodel. Meeting in the middle of those bids would put you at 94,500, and even that is still asking them to knock almost $15K off their asking price.

I'll find out tomorrow if that square footage is all usable sq footage or not. I have looked at every realtor site in Aroostook County, even the For Sale by Owner site for the local area. I've driven around town looking for realtor signs..posted on my facebook about looking for a house. This one seems to fit the bill for all of us on what we know about it. Now to see how we feel about the inside.
I am going to look at a different one today. The price is good, it's cute on the outside, but I don't care for the street area it's in..it's not bad, but the neighboring houses are questionable as far as they aren't quite as well kept. I certainly want to be careful about who my neighbors are.

It has already been reduced, they may just want out quickly and take a bid, OR they may be at their rock bottom price. It's a toss up as to which could happen.
You never know, their "remodeled with taste" might not be your taste...

OMG Lori!! I just noticed your avatar! I WANT YOUR PUP!! SO cute

I think it was on the market and he might not have been getting any bites so he took it off, remodeled and re-listed..because this was not on their website the other day..and the way the realtor was talking made it sound like it just became available. If we look at it and are interested, we certainly don't want to piss him off and have him refuse to counter offer. We are willing to pay $100,000 but no more, we'd probably gladly pay $95,000. We were just worried if we came in offering too high that we won't be able to work him down to $95,000. Would starting at $85,000. be too insulting?

KellyM wrote:OMG Lori!! I just noticed your avatar! I WANT YOUR PUP!! SO cute

I think she's the cutest little beagle ever, but she doesn't photograph well. She hates having her picture taken and drops her head and walks towards you as soon as she sees you looking at her through the lens. DH took this with a new camera lens and it is without a doubt the best we've ever taken of her. From the angle of the picture I can tell that he surprised her as he was walking up the back porch steps. I really wish she hadn't been wearing the collar for the invisible fence, but she was outside and she always has it on outside.

It's been so long since we've had to play the real estate game. LOL The last time we bought, we were making a very big move and negotiated mainly by asking that their washer and dryer stay so we didn't have to move the ones from our old house.

Usually if you offer less than asking you have some reasoning behind your bid. Sometimes it's because the house needs extensive work, sometimes it's to bring it in line with whatever price comparable houses are going for. Maybe your agent can help you out with a starting point based on what he or she knows about their circumstances.

KellyM wrote:Wow, we just got a call earlier. The perspective buyer for our place wants to close by Apr 1st! That doesn't give me much time. I still have JJ's room that I barely even started redecorating to finish, homeschool JJ and go looking for houses along with the regular house stuff. It's a little scary. When I bought this place I am in right now, it was a friend of mine that I bought it from so it was all very relaxed, we both went into the bank together and we used the same bank. Everything went very smoothly and easily and nothing was rushed. This is a very different experience for me, and my husbands blood pressure went up just discussing stuff this evening. I have to call tomorrow and start making appointments for next week.

You have to close by April 1st to qualify for the first time home buyer credit I think. Have you spoken to the bank to get prequalified yet? You can start the process before you have settled on a house. That way you know the amount they will approve you for and it will close quicker because the work is already underway with the bank.

Good idea, that way you know how much you can spend, and how much your note will be even.

And the seller will know that your offer is a good one and the bank will see you through the sale.

Kris has an appointment with the bank Monday. I went driving around town looking at a ton of properties. I looked at the ones that we will be going to tomorrow. But I think I have found my house! That Washington St one is gorgeous on the outside. The picture is blurry and doesn't show much. However in person it's beautiful! It has the pretty textured shingles which give it character and is just beautiful . The color is a dark spicy mustard. It makes me feel like it reflects me. After looking at it I think we will start at $90,000. which up here is nothing to sneeze at.

I hope it's just as great on the inside, Kelly. I do love that one.

If I end up getting it, I will take better pictures of the outside and post it. It also has stained glass at the top of what I am assuming is the living room window that faces the road.

Um, don't know about there, but the Banks won't be open Monday..MLK day.

Take lots of pics, we wanna see.

Hmm, maybe the person he was making an appt with wasn't thinking either? Or maybe he meant Tues and Wed instead of Mon and Tues. Anyway he took two days off in a row to meet with loan officers from two different banks.

Nope, TD Banknorth is open on Martin Luther King Day...I asked Kris when he got home and he said that when the loan officer said Monday he said"Isn't that a holiday?" and the loan officer said that they were open that day...

How did thehouses look inside, Kelly? I'm just so curious now!