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The New "Home Improvement" Thread


The Dude

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1 minute ago, Xander said:

Found out how good an investment a good home inspector is. Finally got an accepted offer on a house, guy bought it last year and made a few renos but really left the basics crumbling beneath the surface.

 

One of the oil tanks is leaking onto the concrete floor underneath it. It's above ground and could possibly fit through the door, but that's an immediate change that would need to be made.

The boiler is ancient and looks completely unserviced, another immediate update needed.

The roof was redone, but they decided to paint over the gutters and let the leaks continue.

The plumbing is super sketchy, and there's even a bathroom below the septic. Plus the septic looks difficult to access to test or mantain.

Several holes in roof support beams where critters and animals could get in and live.

Bees nest in a hole in the deck.

The support structures of the deck are poorly done, and a few spots could cause major issues if we were entertaining lots of people out there.

That's just on the surface, who knows what's underneath all that? Best $300 I ever spent to decide on the spot to walk away and not even try to negotiate down.

Not sure where you are looking but how are you finding the market right now? Everyone is still telling us to wait it out as prices "will drop" (finding this hard to believe honestly)

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4 minutes ago, Xander said:

Found out how good an investment a good home inspector is. Finally got an accepted offer on a house, guy bought it last year and made a few renos but really left the basics crumbling beneath the surface.

 

One of the oil tanks is leaking onto the concrete floor underneath it. It's above ground and could possibly fit through the door, but that's an immediate change that would need to be made.

The boiler is ancient and looks completely unserviced, another immediate update needed.

The roof was redone, but they decided to paint over the gutters and let the leaks continue.

The plumbing is super sketchy, and there's even a bathroom below the septic. Plus the septic looks difficult to access to test or mantain.

Several holes in roof support beams where critters and animals could get in and live.

Bees nest in a hole in the deck.

The support structures of the deck are poorly done, and a few spots could cause major issues if we were entertaining lots of people out there.

Kitchen was done lazily. The granite is uneven, the fridge is lopsided, there's cabinetry falling off after just being lazily screwed in.

That's just on the surface, who knows what's underneath all that? Best $300 I ever spent to decide on the spot to walk away and not even try to negotiate down.

Yep. And if any seller is trying to get you to waive the inspection, run the other way - do not buy that house. 

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1 minute ago, siddious said:

Not sure where you are looking but how are you finding the market right now? Everyone is still telling us to wait it out as prices "will drop" (finding this hard to believe honestly)

We're looking in Westchester and Putnam counties and the market sucks. Houses are going from "listed" to "inspection done" in a week. Heck, we made our offer on this property three-four days after it got listed. It's such a sellers market right now because they have multiple offers on their property and if one falls through, there's several more folks lined up to buy.

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1 minute ago, Morphinity said:

Yep. And if any seller is trying to get you to waive the inspection, run the other way - do not buy that house. 

As we were packing up, my wife and I went to our realtor to tell them we're out, and no amount of credits could get us to buy this house.

It helped all three sets of our parents were there (both moms and dads and our aunt and uncle lol) whispering in our ears not to go through with it and that it'd be a money pit.

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1 minute ago, Xander said:

We're looking in Westchester and Putnam counties and the market sucks. Houses are going from "listed" to "inspection done" in a week. Heck, we made our offer on this property three-four days after it got listed. It's such a sellers market right now because they have multiple offers on their property and if one falls through, there's several more folks lined up to buy.

Yea I hear you- we haven't started officially looking but I am seeing stuff on zillow appear and disappear quickly. Was really hoping to buy by December but I am starting to think this wont happen.

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Wait for the eviction crisis to play out. Inventory should increase as people sell their homes rather than lose them to the bank or for foreclosures to become a more lucrative option for the investment crowd. 

Don't expect pre-pandemic pricing, but I could see a 10% softening.

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12 minutes ago, Dave said:

Wait for the eviction crisis to play out. Inventory should increase as people sell their homes rather than lose them to the bank or for foreclosures to become a more lucrative option for the investment crowd. 

Don't expect pre-pandemic pricing, but I could see a 10% softening.

Which sucks, because pre-pandemic we had a slew of choices and could've lived in any of the towns we're looking at. Now, we're getting priced out of even the middle-of-the-road ones. Houses we could afford and still live well are now out of our price range. It's bonkers.

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15 minutes ago, Dave said:

Wait for the eviction crisis to play out. Inventory should increase as people sell their homes rather than lose them to the bank or for foreclosures to become a more lucrative option for the investment crowd. 

Don't expect pre-pandemic pricing, but I could see a 10% softening.

Thats why I am skeptical about waiting. Prices never really go down in NY though I do agree right now its ridiculous. otherwise good advice.

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Just now, Xander said:

Which sucks, because pre-pandemic we had a slew of choices and could've lived in any of the towns we're looking at. Now, we're getting priced out of even the middle-of-the-road ones. Houses we could afford and still live well are now out of our price range. It's bonkers.

I'm in the same boat, and I've decided to do the following:

1 - Exactly as Dave said - wait out the market. The current market is a combination of the building scene never recovering post-2008, a lack of supply both in raw materials and homes, and protections in place around evictions. Two of those things will change soon.

2 - I'm putting away the delta between my rent and my anticipated mortgage every month as if I were paying it. It's going to some debt for the interim, but in a few months, it'll be headed to my down payment or some repairs that are needed with more immediacy. It's a good habit to build, and it'll make sure I'm more competitive once the market opens back up.

3 - I'm embracing some flexibility. I hadn't really considered a townhouse or a condo, but I'm thinking they're on the table when we start looking again. We wanted to skip past the "starter home" phase, but it's really much closer to what we need, especially in planned communities.

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6 minutes ago, G1000 said:

I'm in the same boat, and I've decided to do the following:

1 - Exactly as Dave said - wait out the market. The current market is a combination of the building scene never recovering post-2008, a lack of supply both in raw materials and homes, and protections in place around evictions. Two of those things will change soon.

2 - I'm putting away the delta between my rent and my anticipated mortgage every month as if I were paying it. It's going to some debt for the interim, but in a few months, it'll be headed to my down payment or some repairs that are needed with more immediacy. It's a good habit to build, and it'll make sure I'm more competitive once the market opens back up.

3 - I'm embracing some flexibility. I hadn't really considered a townhouse or a condo, but I'm thinking they're on the table when we start looking again. We wanted to skip past the "starter home" phase, but it's really much closer to what we need, especially in planned communities.

I guess that's where we're struggling. We want to do our forever-home now, but it might not be feasible in this market. Still, I'm nervous about a starter home (i.e. 2-bedroom options) in this market because it's something we'd sell in 5-10 years when we need a bigger space, and who knows if the market will be better than what it is now. 9/10 times I'd say yes, but this is that 10th iteration where it truly might not be due to the unprecedented circumstances we're in.

That said I'm totally cool with townhomes since I grew up in one myself, but even those are selling for stupid prices.

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5 minutes ago, Xander said:

I guess that's where we're struggling. We want to do our forever-home now, but it might not be feasible in this market. Still, I'm nervous about a starter home (i.e. 2-bedroom options) in this market because it's something we'd sell in 5-10 years when we need a bigger space, and who knows if the market will be better than what it is now. 9/10 times I'd say yes, but this is that 10th iteration where it truly might not be due to the unprecedented circumstances we're in.

That said I'm totally cool with townhomes since I grew up in one myself, but even those are selling for stupid prices.

So we wanted the same, and where we landed is "2+den starter = fine" 

We also make enough that if we ended up in a true starter situation, we'd be able to aggressively pay it off and profit off it, even if we needed to move again in 5-10 years (which given our track record is quite likely)

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/21/2021 at 6:17 PM, SaveByRichter35 said:

Paver job FINALLY started yesterday.  I'm going to be stuck seeding almost a month later than I would have liked to.  After 2 days the back patio is almost done.  Pending weather tomorrow they start on the front stoop demolition while a few of the guys finish the patio and fire pit.

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Edited by SaveByRichter35
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34 minutes ago, CCCP said:

I dig the firepit. I love the log burning pits, not a fan of gas ones people put in. Cant beat thr smell and crackle of burning wood. 

Thanks, the actual pit still has to be built up.  That ring is just where it is going.  They stopped working on that the past three days.  Wednesday that started the demolition of the front stoop.  Today they finished it up until about 90%.  Some finishing touches for that still.  Monday the driveway demolition starts as well as tying up loose ends for the front stoop and patio.  I believe they will also start our front garden wall.  Exciting times.  My wife and I were pretty damn furious that it took almost 20 weeks after being quoted 3-6 back in May.  The work they're doing is really making it worth the wait.  Its coming out better than we could have imagined.

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