Buying my first house!!

mike_k

Member
Dec 5, 2011
242
Good info in this thread and some not so good :wink: i worked in the origination's side of the company i work with for a while so when it comes to closing time if you have any questions let me know
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
TB360 said:
Well, not all 3bdrm/2bath homes are worth 88K. It's all about Real Estate 101, location, location, location.

88k isn't quite a downpayment here with .25 acres. Maybe way up in the sticks.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Location is key... My house is not selling at 120K where it is, but in my hometown it would be snatched up for 200K pert quick like.

I review appraisals all over IN. Land is 1500/AC some places and 50K/AC in others but if I put the pictures side by side you would swear it was the same piece of land.
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
Funny thing, they are still building houses around me and sure the prices came down but the quality of everything is substantially less all around plus the basements don't come finished. In other words sure they are cheaper but right in line with the finished product.
 

TollKeeper

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Supporting Donor
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Dec 3, 2011
8,228
Brighton, CO
Well after banking delays, a denial on my first loan (after already being qualified), and re-applying with a second bank, I close on the house Tuesday/Wednesday.

I am still not sure I am looking foward to this. I own the home I am living in now, but its a mobile home, so it doesnt count. This is a Home Home, with no park management breathing down your neck because your car leaks (yes, my park does this).

Will just have to see how it goes.. I am happy the house is still standing after all the fires out there.

So... 2884 Squre foot. 11761 Squre foot land. Built in 1978. NO Covenants or HOA. Paying 162, plus half of the bank fees.

The front of the house..

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Backyard..

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Master Bedroom (shitty pic)

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Bedroom 2

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Bedroom 3

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Bedroom 4

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Bedroom 5

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Bedroom and Vault (concrete lined)

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Living Room

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Kitchen

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Dining Room

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Garage

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Basement

Basement.jpg
 

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Busterbrown

Member
Dec 4, 2011
253
TollKeeper said:
Well after banking delays, a denial on my first loan (after already being qualified), and re-applying with a second bank, I close on the house Tuesday/Wednesday.

I am still not sure I am looking foward to this. I own the home I am living in now, but its a mobile home, so it doesnt count. This is a Home Home, with no park management breathing down your neck because your car leaks (yes, my park does this).

Will just have to see how it goes.. I am happy the house is still standing after all the fires out there.

So... 2884 Squre foot. 11761 Squre foot land. Built in 1978. NO Covenants or HOA. Paying 162, plus half of the bank fees.

Congrats on the home. The house looks like it needs some updating though. We moved in to our new home last month with 3800 Sqft of living space. Built in 1979, no HOA, but a somewhat restrictive township to deal with for pulling permits. Projects (I wouldn't have thought about before moving in) have now presented themselves. If you're like me, plan to make daily trips to Lowes or HD the first couple of weeks. I practically lived there. This weeks project: tear down and installation of a new garden shed.
 

Hatchet

Member
Nov 21, 2011
2,405
Congrats Toll. Which room is mine? lol
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
Glad you got it done. Regardless of anything else, owning your own home is a good feeling.
 

blazinlow89

Member
Jan 25, 2012
2,088
Congrats man, It is pretty damn stressful dealing with all of the crap getting it all done, but once your done its all good. Like Busterbrown said you will become very good friends with the people at your local hardware store, we know most of the employees first names and life stories.

I like that I am not the only one who got a 70's era house, but with no HOA and some land it is so worth it. Not to mention that alot of the new homes around here are built in less than a month and you will pay 250-400k+ depending on the neighborhood, and community. All of that and you are lucky to get .20 acres of land, you can smell what your neighbor burped up for dinner.

Also not to through this thread further for a loop, this area is ridiculous. We had a good buffer against major home value drop, some areas more than others. You cannot touch a 3 bdrm 2 bath house here for under 150k as a foreclosure with a need for alot of work. If you want a decent sized house you need to to go to the 200-250k range and land is crazy, 50-75k for 1 acre within 1/2 mile of the water, 5 acres will run you 100k+. most 5 acre lots get turned into a subdivision.
 

TollKeeper

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Dec 3, 2011
8,228
Brighton, CO
I am not sure if its a good feeling or not.. I still dont have any keys to it. I know the address, and have done a walk thru. But that was 6 months ago!

On top of that, with my mom passing, my grandmother fading fast at 98 years old, my grandfather thinking he still 27 (at 98 years old).. I have not really had time for emotions, or how to sort them out. My wife is worried about me, and that I might just snap. She is hoping that me getting to my home (the mountains of Colorado), that I might just let it out, and have the time to greave about sort out whats going on inside.
 

TollKeeper

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Dec 3, 2011
8,228
Brighton, CO
Jkust said:
Funny thing, they are still building houses around me and sure the prices came down but the quality of everything is substantially less all around plus the basements don't come finished. In other words sure they are cheaper but right in line with the finished product.

This is part of a main reason I didnt want to buy new, althou my agent had tried to get me to..

In new houses, Garages are smaller, brick is hardly used, and foundations seem to crack, and settle oddly, more frequently.

I wanted something that was done settleing, had a good sized garage, with options. Nothing new gave me that without a MAJOR incurrsion of money I did not have.
 

Jkust

Member
Dec 4, 2011
946
TollKeeper said:
This is part of a main reason I didnt want to buy new, althou my agent had tried to get me to..

In new houses, Garages are smaller, brick is hardly used, and foundations seem to crack, and settle oddly, more frequently.

I wanted something that was done settleing, had a good sized garage, with options. Nothing new gave me that without a MAJOR incurrsion of money I did not have.

Agreed except for the smaller garages. We've got a triple but now the third stall of all the new houses around here is always 2 deep and a lot wider. My biggest beef with my house is garage size.
 

TollKeeper

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Dec 3, 2011
8,228
Brighton, CO
I have plans for either 3 wide, or 2 deep. I am thinking that 2 deep, on the double garage would suit my needs nicely.
 

TollKeeper

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Dec 3, 2011
8,228
Brighton, CO
Revisiting an old thread here.

Been in the house 7 years now. Havent missed one payment.

I took out 2 bathroms, and combined them into one big one. Dropped 45k into that (marble, cabinets, therapy tub, large glass lined shower, etc). The roof repair I had planned never happened, a windstorm and insurance took care of that, and than hail 3 years later.

We put in new floors in 2 of the upstairs bedrooms, the hallway, and the dining room is next week. Bought some nice appliances for the kitchen and laundry room (washer and dryer are PURPLE!).

The neighbors have been a god sent. You remember the old days when a new family moved into your neighborhood, and complete strangers came over with house warming gifts, and your first meal in your new home.. That happened to me, restored some of my faith in humanity.

The kicker is that the homes value, i purchased at 162k, it now has a market value of 477k, and taxes are the murdering point now! But I have equity of more than I could have imagined at this point. Real estate agents have literally been knocking on my door asking, and some begging me to sell.

Job may be transferring me later this year, and that equity is going to go a long way into buying a house, and being completely debt free.

Certainly been a roller coaster. Mom died just before we moved, G-Ma died shortly after, cousin died shortly after that, G-Pa died shortly after that. Watching my G-Pa go downhill was not a fun event.

My son being born has been a interesting event for me. Never saw myself as a Father or Dad figure... But here I am!
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,736
Tampa Bay Area, FL
That's awesome how much your home value has gone up over the years. I'm only 2 years into mine, but the value has gone up a bit so far.
 
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TollKeeper

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Dec 3, 2011
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Brighton, CO
Awesome... Yes. Lucky is the better term. I purchased the house literally as the market hit rock bottom. I bought a house that I could have never afforded normally. I took a gamble, and I went all in, and some how I came out holding a royal flush. Not going to complain about that.

If I have a complaint, I bought entirely to much house. I dont need 6 bedrooms.. But I have them. If this job transfer goes thru, will be looking to downsize.... A little
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,736
Tampa Bay Area, FL
I dont need 6 bedrooms..

Yeah, unless you have a lot of kids, and/or in-laws living with you, that's a LOT of house to maintain. I've got 3 bedrooms, and it's just me, so it works out nicely. 1 guest room, and an office. I've got a pretty long wish list of upgrades I'd like to do, but will have to take my time.
 

TollKeeper

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Dec 3, 2011
8,228
Brighton, CO
True.. The original idea was to have my G-Pa move in with us, but after his wife died (my G-Ma), and his grandson (my cousin), he just went downhill faster than we could keep up. He had just given up.

Then we were going to have my wifes G-Ma move in with us after her husband passed. But she decided to move in with my MIL.

Its just me, my wife, and our son. Master bedroom for us, 1 room for Son, 1 room for office, and 1 room for wifes crafting room. And we could easily combine office and crafting room.

No more kids. 1 and done! I keep threatening to go to the Vet... Havent done it yet. But I will if she starts talking about having another. But even she doesnt want to go thru that again. We are not young anymore. I turn 43 this year, and she turns 40.

List of upgrades... game room with Foosball table and pool table and dart board and a ping pong table, theater room with a HTPC, a couple pinball machines. These rooms already exist, just need to equip them. Its literally just a big empty room right now, except for the ping pong table.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,736
Tampa Bay Area, FL
When I told my parents the news about my house, my mom immediately claimed the guest room as her own, half jokingly. She's wanted to relocate back to FL from AZ for some time now, but isn't able to. Other than a 2.5 year period, since college I've always lived solo. Last year I let my sister move in for about 10 months since she was pregnant and struggling. Mom came to visit for a few months to help out, so my house was packed. Coulda used some of those extra rooms you have :laugh:

The game room sounds cool, if I had a 4th bedroom, I'd probably do something similar. I mostly play racing games on my PS4, and have a pretty simple racing rig since it has to be easily stored in the living room and not take up a lot of space. I wouldn't mind having a more serious setup, and put 3 curved screen TVs on a mount, to give a surround view sort of feel.

From time to time, I still keep tabs on those R710/R720 offerings on Ebay. I both thank and curse you for that. I usually don't look at the auctions, but I happened to see an R710: 2x 2.5 ghz 6 Cores, 32GB RAM. Ended up going for under $100 out the door, with only 1 bid on it. :duh: I think I have all of the cables for my HTPC ran through the attic that I'll need, barring a drastic change in my current setup. Had a friend over, and he suggested I move the cable box, PS4 and surround sound receiver into the server closet after I get the rack put in, run an IR repeater, and get those components out of the living room. Hate it when friends feed your mod bug.
 

TollKeeper

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Dec 3, 2011
8,228
Brighton, CO
Hint: Dont buy unless you are fully able to commit. The hard drives can be expensive as hell!

I wont be doing the curved screen, but we already prepped a wall for a 120" screen, should be nice. The theater I have planned will cost right at 12g, before we even buy furniture. Speakers, amp, receiver, Roku HD premier, projector, wiring, etc. Already have its own dedicated power run. But money is a bit tight with the new baby and mom being a at home mommy.

My biggest concern.. Spiders. We have some house guests staying with us for a time, they lost their house in Missouri. And apparently, I have a spider problem. Time to call Terminix?
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,736
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Setting up a RAID the way I want it, is gonna be a pretty penny for sure. Just gonna have to pinch some pennies and set aside funds for that. I just had a hard drive failure recently, but luckily the most important stuff was backed up elsewhere.

I've had pretty good success with DIY bug control. Had been using some Ortho products in the past, my dad recommended Talstar, as it's something recommended to him by a professional some years back. My sister had a big jug of it when she moved in, and left it with me, so I've been using that once every 6 months around the perimeter of the house, along baseboards in the interior, and anywhere else I want treated. I have a 3 gallon tank sprayer, that I fitted with a bike tire valve. So I can pressurize it with my air compressor in seconds, instead of hand pumping it. Pretty quick and easy, any time I happen to see bugs in the house, they're either dead or well on their way.

A 120" screen would be pretty sweet. How many speakers you thinking of putting up in your theater setup? I treated myself to a new 65" when I moved in, rotated the 55" I had before to bedroom duty, which worked out well since the master bedroom is kinda long, and the TV is a bit far from the bed. Ceiling mounted the living room TV in front of the fireplace I'll never use, which freed up a lot of floor space. Kinda wishing I splurged and went with a 75" though.

I finally went back and read through your whole thread. :book: Whew what a roller coaster ride that was!
 

TollKeeper

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Dec 3, 2011
8,228
Brighton, CO
For the front right and left, and rear right and left I was going to go with some Definitive Technology BP-9040ST, with some Definitive Technology A90 speaker tops. Definitive Technology SR9040BP left/right center channels. Front and rear center channels will be some Definitive Technology CS-9040HD. A Marantz 11.2 HEOS Receiver/Amp Model AV7705. And lastly, a Sony VPLVW295ES Projector.

No subs in this build. There are 4 powered subs, 1 in each floor speaker. I will have more bass than I will ever need. The speakers come to a total bill of 3600. 2200 for the receiver. 5000 for the projector.

Go big or go home LOL! The A90 Speakers tops may be overkill, wont know until I get the reflective angle, which I wont know until I figure out seat placement.
 
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TollKeeper

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Dec 3, 2011
8,228
Brighton, CO
Year 8 update!

House will be paid off by the end of the year... And thats about it really. I still need to do some painting, spackling, and carpet replacement. Wife wants to start a "at home business".. But has been very slow on getting it started even with tons of support from me.

Inheriting a piece of the family cabin has also been interesting, and unexpected. My fathers passing was not anything anyone saw coming. He had a Cerebral Hemorrhage, and had started recovering. Covid hit, and his "support group" was shoved out of the hospital, and he took a turn when he didnt get the daily stimulation he had been getting.

I am realizing I am a pack rat of sorts. Really need to start cleaning things out.
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,736
Tampa Bay Area, FL
Sorry to hear about the turn your dad took, our whole health care system is getting its boat rocked for sure. That's awesome you're getting your house paid off quickly. I would love to be able to do that. Maybe once I solar panels are paid off, I can divert some of that money to my mortgage. Won't be able to touch your pace though.

Now the real question is, does your mod bug wake up once that mortgage is paid off? :undecided: :goodevil:
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,912
Ottawa, ON
Sorry to hear about your dad. My mom also passed away just before the madness so I know what it was like.

I also wish I was done with my mortgage. That would be like having another salary. Someday....

I'm also a bad pack rat. Need to do a purge.
 
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