Need house hunting advice! (long)

[ALXTTA 1]

Need some advice!
For the better part of the last 6 months I've been looking to buy a house. I'm currently renting an apartment (while my p's have been nice enough to let me continue to keep my TTA in their garage, only about 10 mins away.)
Although I'd prefer a single family house, my price range has me limited to a townhouse. I gave my agent 2 deal-breakers: it must have a garage (I really want to give my p's their garage back..) and some sort of yard (I'd like to get a small dog and also do some grilling.) Well, this has seemingly been an impossibility. I've looked at a good 30 places in 6 local suburbs, and not one has reasonably satisfied both items. Really the only ones with garages had "yards" that were ~12 sq ft concrete patios...no thanks!
So, the other night we go to look at one. While the layout took some getting used to, as it was totally different than every other one we'd seen, it really began to grow on me, and I thought it'd make excellent "bachelor pad" material while I'm still young and single for the next few years. I was just about hooked when we went out back to see the garage. My eyes lit up to see a 2-car garage....only to find that each one was split by 2 owners!!
So now I'm at a loss. I'm really getting frustrated with looking and not finding anything, and I'd be mad to let this one go and regret it. At the same time, I feel like I'd be constantly paranoid leaving the TTA in a shared garage. I can just picture the neighbors banging it with a bike, or accidently leaving the garage door open all night, or letting their 16 year old park their car, etc...
So I need your advice!! Am I being too nitpicky on an otherwise cool place? Or am I letting my frustration talk me into settling for something stupid??

 

[equalizer442]

i think duplexes are the best first houses but you will be hard pressed finding one with a garage.

the upside is the rent from your renter will pay a good chunk of your house payment and once its payed off you can go looking for a new/bigger house and rent out your side so that you would have 1500 a month comen in as extra income. the bad side is you have to deal with a renter liven 4 inches away from your front door.

other choices would be a down town loft in a old ware house (personally my dream) ive even found the warehouse i want to buy some day. true it would be pricey but you would have a 50 or so car garage/lounge/game room with a elevator to your bedroom.

i want to have my loft to cover about 1/2 of the "upstair floors" with a indoor deck on the lowest level of the loft overlooking the warehouse floor. i would have a firepole in the middle of the deck so that i could slide down in to the middle of a open space lounge surrounded by my collection of cars.

or if your really lucky you can find a rental property from the 20s that has a apartment above a garage.

 

[bigz]

Are you set on a certain area? Maybe if you broaden your search a little bit you can find an area that is less expensive and that will allow you to afford a single family home. I just bought my first place and decided to go with a house. If it wasn't for my big dog though I would have opted for a nice townhouse. I hate yard work and don't have alot of free time for home improvements which are two things that will definitely be required when owning a single family home. Good Luck!



Mike

 

[John Larkin]

It's not being too picky to get what you expect. However, you are the only judge of that. One thing that I found helpful was changing real estate agents. We had a real slug for our first one: no personality, non-committal, very little insight or opinion from him. We changed to another guy who was a buyer's dream. He talked to us like we were family and gave his opinion about value and neighborhoods freely (once he almost was a little too honest concerning demographics; I'll let you figure that comment out on your own). Regardless, we now own a home that is very satisfying to us, have great neighbors and all the amenities we were looking for.

Also look at the neighborhood from a seller's standpoint. Are there other properties in great numbers that are also for sale? If so, it could be a transient neighborhood, undesirable location, grossly overpriced or one of many that you'll be competing with down the road when you choose to sell. Even worse, it could be a high tax area or one that has poor community services. Bottom line, do your homework and comparison shop properties relative to one another weighing good points and bad. If you like the place, it's likely someone else will in the future.

 

[salvageV6]

Take the place with the good garage and 12 sq. ft. patio to grille on.

Then make sure they have enough common area land to walk and poop the dog.

Make sure you read the rules about dogs first especially the poop clauses.

Most "complexes" have common land with restricted use but walking on it usually isn't a problem.

 

[Gothmog]

Keep looking! you'll find exactly what you want..be patient

 

[Lee_Burough]

Change your aproach to finding the perfect property....

Keep looking....A modification of the search criteria your agent is using may be helpful, i.e., area, size, price range, numbers of bedrooms, bathrooms, garage. That type of thing can make a lot of difference in the properties that come up in a search. Go over each criteria your agent is using, it can make ALL the difference.

Another agent could help like has been suggested. Drive through neighborhoods you'd like to live in to find "For sale by owner" properties. I know that opens pandora's box in ways to get screwed, but as long as you use a real estate lawyer to review any contracts that may come up, you'll be covered

Remember, some day you're going to sell..prolly to somebady looking for the same things you're looking for now. A good decision now can make a lot of difference later on when it comes time to sell.

There is prolly a book at the book store that may help too.

 

[GN One Day...]

I agree with these guys. It's YOUR money, don't compromise. It's not like buying a toaster, where you get something you aren't quite happy with and it'll be ok. This is a house, get what you want. Be patient and wait for the right one to come along.

BTW, I'm in the same situation right now. The house with a 3 car garage is really tempting, but there are some "cons" to it that bring me back to reality. I'm really, really picky, so I know it may be a while. It's better than rushing into one just because it's there.

You may have already done this, but sit down and do a realistic budget. Figure out what you are comfortable with paying each month and go get pre-approved. With rates this low, a lot of people are able to buy more house than they thought possible. Match the monthly payment you come up with on your own to a payment with a good rate (don't forget to add taxes, insurance and PMI).

The longer you wait for the right house to come along, the more money you can save to put down on it and furnish it.

 

[olds443]

I also am in the middle of buying a house currently, actually at the end of it as escrow closes this week.
Everyone here had good advice. I would pretty much second it and say to know what you are looking for. For me it was a good size yard for the girlfriends husky/wolf mix, 2 car garage, 3 bedrooms and a nice neighborhood. We actually found all these things with a little help from our realtor and searching.
The first house we looked at had a nice yard and everything else but the layout was just odd. The main problem was the living room was narrow and long, like a hallway and the entrance to it was wierd. Also the neighborhood was ok but not great and it was right off a very busy road which seemed to be a shortcut for some people.
Others we looked at were too much (remeber to stay in your budget, YOUR budget not just what you qualify for as they seem to "overqualify" you at first.
Also, be sure to get a home inspection by a licensed home inspector before making the deal when you find the home you want, they will help to see potential and past problems that you may have missed.
In the end we are very happy and have what we wanted at this current time.

Don't settle for something you don't like now, get what you wan't/need. I can tell the garage thing really bugs you right now and if bugs you now it will continue to in the future and more. I know how we on this board love our cars and none of us would be able to deal with that situation for very long if at all. (Matter of fact my 72 Monte Carlo will be going directly into the garage where it has spent most of it's life as soon as we move
Also try a search on realtor.com. You can search by zip code, city etc. and surrounding radius. They are pretty accurate on current listings and don't usually have homes that have already sold still listed. Not a bad resource as most home are listed in a "MLS" (multiple listing service).
Good luck and if you have any questions email me.

 

[Weazel]

Some good advice here, and it's definitely YOUR money, so you know better than all what you want and are willing to pay. I bought my first place 3 years ago, and I had a great agent. I was a stubborn buyer, knowing exactly what I wanted to pay (which was less than what I could really afford, didn't wanna be house-poor). Anyway, after turning down a bunch of places with small yards, no garages, or weird layouts, my agent finally said "Will you let me show you 1 house that's a little out of what you wanna spend?" I reluctantly agreed. We pulled in on a little 3 br house with a big 2 car garage, way better maintained, and in a better neighborhood. Perfect tiny yard for entertaining, good full basement, blah blah blah. I offered on the spot and that's where I am right now.
What I'm saying is if you can't find the place that works for you, maybe you should look at places a LITTLE bit more $$$?? I'm definitely glad I did. I was worried about stretching myself too thin, but I can afford the place now no problem, and honestly wished I had maybe gone a little bigger.
With the rates how they are, and the fact that real estate generally appreciates over time, I don't think you'll regret playing it a LITTLE close to the dollar.
As for the places you looked at, a shared garage with no wall between the bays would be a huge no-no for me. The place with the 12sq ft. patio may work if you had a big common area. I have 2 big dogs and just a small yard, but thankfully there's a section of woods up the street for exercise.
Good luck and good decision buying a place now. I'm glad I did.

 

[ALXTTA 1]

Wow!! Thanks for all the great replies. As an update, I told my agent 'no' to the shared garage. I'm going to be second guessing myself until I find something else, but I think it was the right decision.
I have been checking realtor.com and forsalebyowner.com. Realtor.com is good although they do tend to leave things on there that are under contract. Forsalebyowner doesn't have much and a lot of the sellers are apparently on crack price-wise...(if anyone has a better site to suggest please let me know.)
Since we've started, we've bumped prices up by as much as almost $20k and I'm amazed at how little that improves things.
By the way, I should've mentioned that my agent is my best friend's mom ...so she's been very open and honest about everything.

 

[scottyb]

Don't settle if it doesn't have everything you want. Your requirements seem rather simple to me, but properties/prices may be significantly different there. If you settle you'll regret it some day.

My first place 3 bedrooms and an office, so I rented out the other 2 rooms. The renters did not have use of the garage (for cars or motorcycles). When I had 2 renters, their rent payed the mortgage. All renters were friends (except one). Just a thought.

I hope you are looking at places on your own also. An agent won't show you houses that they don't expect to generate a comission for them. I have never bought or sold a house that was listed, all were FSBO's. I had an agent who was my mom's friend when I looked for my first house. She showed me nothing but crap. The first FSBO I looked at on my own I negotiated on the spot. A listed property will have more inflation in the price because of the cost of the commission.

 

[Little6pack]

Take your time buying real estate.

some tips

Never allow the broker to take you to a place on a quiet SUNDAY.. INSIST on visiting during workday hours to see how busy the street is in morning or eve.

See how many screaming kids are around or thugs waiting to ruin your car.

Keep a calm head & check everything out cause the house can look good but still be a nickle & dime trap.
Unless you are handy ( REAL HANDY ) every little thing costs to have done or upgrade.

Spend more now & get a better upgrade.. going 20 or 30k above your range will make a big difference.

Think about renting rooms out in your house to those swedish bikini models O YEAH!