prospective house

nadams

Looking at this place, pictures are attached.

It's a 2br, has living room, dining room, kitchen, and bath downstairs. No upstairs bath. Approx 1054sq ft, with partial basement and attached carport.

Dimensions of rooms,

Living room - 10'3x14'11
Dining Room - 11'9x14'5
Kitchen - 9'10x11'9
Bath - 5'4x6'3
Bed1 - 11'10x11'7
Bed2 - 10'2x14'11

What do you guys think? It needs some inside work, but most of it is cosmetic and I can take care of it or live with it.

It's listed for $43,900, and I made a full-price offer on it, contingent on them adding heat to the upstairs and fixing some windows that have issues. All in all about $1500 in repairs.

schwarcw

Not bad for a starter. Owning is always better than renting. Since you're not worried about school district, etc. that's a plus. Small yards are good, low maintenance, etc. Make sure you get them to fix the mentioned items. I would have offered them 93% of asking price, which is about the average sale/asking price ratio. It's a buyer's market right now, you have a lot of leverage. If they balk at anything, tell them you'll have to think about it. Call later and withdraw your offer. They'll come back to you.

Good luck Noah!

Dennis Gardner

No fear of getting lost in the bathroom....;) ..........I hope the deal goes the way you want.

disneyjoe7

Nice starter, can I ask where that is city or town wise?

nadams

I was going to make a lower offer, but I'm also asking for 3% seller's assist, so that gets factored in, too.

Steve- It's in Berwick, PA. It's not the best part of town, but it's a far cry from the worst!

Polk65

How does the roof look?

hearingimpared

nadams wrote:

I was going to make a lower offer, but I'm also asking for 3% seller's assist, so that gets factored in, too.

Steve- It's in Berwick, PA. It's not the best part of town, but it's a far cry from the worst!

I'm familiar with the area, good price a starter. Carl is right it is definitely a buyers market especially in PA . . .if the seller doesn't do exactly as you've requested lower your price by atleast 5% that is still staying reasonable with the 3% settlement help. Don't forget to get a really reputable home inspector to go over the house with a fine tooth comb. I Thank God that we had an inspector that really stood by his work. Our brand new heating system wasn't keeping the house warm. Our inspector came back in and upgraded the electric heat on the heat pump (heat pumps suck BTW) and billed the sellers for the parts & labor.

How much are your real estate taxes?

disneyjoe7

Heatpumps don't suck I love them, but they don't work when the temp outside is too low. If under 32f then you need to be working on emergency heat system. My heatpump works 98% but if I need it then my emergency system is electric this will be 6 times more electric then when my HP is working.

schwarcw

disneyjoe7 wrote:

Heatpumps don't suck I love them, but they don't work when the temp outside is too low. .

Right now it's in the single digits here in PA. Heats pumps here aren't the best option because you have to have a supplemental heater sized to heat the whole house. The investment in a heat pump takes about ten years or more to pay back. Noah will probably be long gone into a bigger home by then.

Carl

F1nut

That's a $350,000 house in my area. No, I'm not kidding.

RuSsMaN

Polkfest PA 2008? Living room has stellar audio dimensions, as does the 2nd bedroom.

Oh yeah babe.

F1nut

Good idea, Russ.

hearingimpared

disneyjoe7 wrote:

Heatpumps don't suck I love them, but they don't work when the temp outside is too low. If under 32f then you need to be working on emergency heat system. My heatpump works 98% but if I need it then my emergency system is electric this will be 6 times more electric then when my HP is working.

Steve I think HPs were designed for the warmer climate regions. The problem here is that it can stay in the 30s for weeks at a time and the heat pump goes into defrost mode regularly and when it does, it blows cold air for two to five minutes. The good thing about having an all electric house is that I only get charged 9 kilowatthrs for every 13 that I use. It's some kind of special federal incentive program t o have all electric homes.

BaggedLancer

F1nut wrote:

That's a $350,000 house in my area. No, I'm not kidding.

Easily 350-400k in my area as well. Nice little starter. My question on a house like that, in an area like that where the house is only worth $44,000, how would you go about upgrading the house but still staying reasonable so you don't put more money into the house than you could get back?

For instance, you buy the house for 44k, redo the kitchen for say 10k(new floor, cabinets, appliances, plumbing, electrical should cost around that). Basically you just increased to 54k. Now the house needs a new roof, another 4k, now you are at 58k. How do you go about upgrading a house like that, never understood how they hold their value.

Rivrrat

I see a lot of updating that needs to be done, but with some smart purchasing and DIY, it can be done pretty cheaply.

I'd probably blow out that wall between the kitchen and the living room (or at least make it a huge arch) as part of a kitchen downstairs redo. Stock cabs and counters from HD or Lowes should be a pretty cheap option for a kitchen remodel.

And paint goes a long way to freshening things up.

disneyjoe7

schwarcw wrote:

Right now it's in the single digits here in PA. Heats pumps here aren't the best option because you have to have a supplemental heater sized to heat the whole house. The investment in a heat pump takes about ten years or more to pay back. Noah will probably be long gone into a bigger home by then.

Carl

You guy's are 100% correct with HP's, I wouldn't have one too far up north or anywhere where it gets in the 30's or below for more then a couple of hours. My thinking Delaware was ok for a HP but I not 100% about the climate there. I wouldn't think a HP would work in mid PA, I would like an oil fired baseboard heat system myself.

wingnut4772

F1nut wrote:

That's a $350,000 house in my area. No, I'm not kidding.

Yep. Here too... When I saw the price I was shocked.:eek: You can't even buy a trailer here for that. Good luck. Ownership is a whole new world.

beardog03

wingnut4772 wrote:

Yep. Here too... When I saw the price I was shocked.:eek: You can't even buy a trailer here for that. Good luck. Ownership is a whole new world.

Florida...California...

I can hardly rent a space for my boat/motorhome for that much a year !

by the way...boat is for sale !!

Rivrrat

350 where I'm at buys 2400sq ft with a big pool, in a neighborhood with doctors, lawers, and other professional types.

There's one for sale right down the steet. I'd like a neighbor with a louder system than mine.

PolkWannabie

$43.9 unfortunately wouldn't buy a decent dog house here ... especially when property with nothing on it is ~$200k / acre ...

nadams

Thanks for the ideas, guys. The heat is gas hot air, which is a big plus. Like I said, there is a lot of cosmetic work to be done... and every room in the original section of the house is paneled over the plaster, so that may come down (especially in the audio rooms!).

I'm thinking the SDA's are going to live in the living room

The main house roof is pretty good, the inspector I brough in said no issues there. But all the auxiliary roofs would need replaced in the next few years. No issues there, as the sq footage on those is minimal, and I can do that myself. I'm thinking that a few years down the road, that carport will be torn down and replaced with a full garage. I think I'll at least sheet the walls with something more than that plastic crap.

I still haven't heard from them about my offer, though, so I don't know that I have it, yet!

And, it may seem like 20 yo is young to be buying a house, but when I look at a $400 mortage payment, or a $400 rent payment, it's easy for me to see which I'd rather have. They have my mortgage estimated at right around $400, including taxes and insurance escrow. Taxes on this property are listed at $918/year

PolkThug

It would be fun to fix up. Just make sure the roof is solid.

nadams

PolkThug wrote:

It would be fun to fix up. Just make sure the roof is solid.

The main house roof looks good. I was up in the attic with the inspector, and the sheeting looks much newer, so it was replaced not too long ago. All in all, nothing in the house really scared me. I wouldn't even be concerned with the heat, but it's required by the bank to have the upstairs heated.

PolkWannabie

$918 in Real Estate Taxes ??? ... Arghhh ... Can you save the house next door for me ?

Rivrrat

And, it may seem like 20 yo is young to be buying a house

I knew someone that did it. I got my first one at 27, and wished I had bought earlier.

scottvamp

I bought my first house brand new at 23 years old, right at 1000sf. Second morgage and loans, did alot of improvment. But after 9 years, a small house was a small house and i was lucky to break even.
But same as Rivrrat, you can buy a mansion for $350k here and thats with prices tripleing in the last 5 years. Of cousre, low paying job area.

MrNightly

You can never jump in to buy a house too soon, IMO. I have 2 houses, and I'm only 25. Got my first one at 21.

Just check the foundation. That can be a killer if it's cracked or about to cause problems. Almost everything else, (HVAC, ELEC, WINDOWS, Walls, kitchen bath...) can be fixed yourself, with relatively low costs. What do houses in that area comp out at in "Like New" condition? I might consider that too, for resale value... or rental value if you don't sell and go that route.

Regardless, a nice new kitchen, a wall here or there moved, and a new bathroom, paint and new flooring, you'll be set for a while!

Good luck

hearingimpared

PolkWannabie wrote:

$918 in Real Estate Taxes ??? ... Arghhh ... Can you save the house next door for me ?

Yeah man Jersey RE taxes are rediculous. My brother-in-law's taxes went from $5200 to $7500 per year in Mechantville NJ. My house was appraised at $214,000 my RE & School taxes are $898 per year that is one of the main reasons we moved here.

There is a house down the street up for sale by REMAX, do you want me to put a good word in for you?

hearingimpared

nadams wrote:

And, it may seem like 20 yo is young to be buying a house, but when I look at a $400 mortage payment, or a $400 rent payment, it's easy for me to see which I'd rather have. They have my mortgage estimated at right around $400, including taxes and insurance escrow. Taxes on this property are listed at $918/year

Never to young to buy a home. I was 23 when I purchased my first home back in 1980 in Bridgeport PA. . .$49,000 for a Cape Cod. Real Estate usually only goes up in value.

madmax

F1nut wrote:

That's a $350,000 house in my area. No, I'm not kidding.

I know, I'm living in it...
madmax

scottvamp

madmax wrote:

I know, I'm living in it...
madmax

Wow, those prices are insane unless you make over 6 digets a year......:eek: