I'm poor

[Markola]

I liked the part about waiting until the particular neighborhood “moved you.” Congrats! Also, your kind of story is why I tend to be in the camp that includes home equity in net worth calculations. There is a lot of potential happiness utility in that asset, even though it’s not super-liquid.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Congrats! So glad to hear this! I do hope it's a fairly new house since you are waiving inspections. And being a cash buyer...it sure makes things easier to negotiate!

 

[walkinwood]

Congratulations! Good luck.
You write very well & I always enjoy reading your posts.

 

[NW-Bound]

because I bought a new (to me) house Friday...

Congrats. You did all the preliminary work to identify your needs. And if you find something that works for you, you don't want to haggle for the last $10K and risk not getting it.

About the housing market, it is indeed hot. A couple of houses on my street went on the market a couple of months ago, and they were sold in 1 week or less.

I do not know if the sellers got the offer they wanted, but one of the houses got sold so quick the realtor had not had a chance to put up the sign in the front yard. In fact, we only learned the house was on sale because we happened to see the realtor taking photos of the house when we were on our daily walk. Then, saw a moving van shortly after that.

 

[Scrapr]

Congrats! So glad to hear this! I do hope it's a fairly new house since you are waiving inspections. And being a cash buyer...it sure makes things easier to negotiate!

The home is 13 years old. Our company has worked for the builder for over 25 years. (won't do squat for a warranty repair though....I will give them a hard time though) This builder built the first 5 or 6 phases. In this development they are the preferred homes. The master developer brought in the National builders afterward & it shows. Our company won't work for them & I won't live in one of their homes.

If something shows up I have enough contacts to get the work done at non retail pricing. At some point I think I will change out the fiberglass shower for a tile shower. I will find a slow time in the market to get that done. The seller will still have the standard RE disclosure to do. So I will look at that closely

I think being a cash buyer swung the deal to me. And saved $25k too

 

[rkser]

Congrats !! wishing you happiness in your newer house

 

[HI Bill]

Congrats! Hope you find the perfect puppy to match the home! We're going through this right now...liquidating $500K in invested assets for a downpayment, to be partially replaced when we sell the current home. It's disconcerting, to say the least, especially when you've always been in accumulation mode.

 

[socca]

I transferred the money from Vanguard to my checking account this morning. And watched my total funds go way down. Poor me.

Congrats on your (future) new home.

Not many folks manage their personal finances as if they were running a business, but for those that do, buying a house merely moves money from one asset bucket to another. For example, the basis (not estimated market value) of my house appears on the socca balance sheet.

Being 'house poor' is a well-known phenomenon, and may or may not apply in your case. A few decades ago when I bought my first house, the standard advice for first-time buyers was, "Buy more house than you can afford." The expectation was that salary & benefits would grow over time, making the house more affordable. I ignored that advice back then with good results.

P.S. The woman who I was dating back then was also the loan officer who originated the $100k mortgage on my first house. She commented that my loan approval was a "no brainer." Note to others contemplating this strategy for getting a loan approved: don't date your loan officer.

 

[fancy free]

congratulations!

 

[ivinsfan]

Wishing you many happy days in your new home.....

 

[GravitySucks]

On the plus side, being temporarially poor is a great excuse to make a pot of beans and pork scrap.

 

[Scrapr]

On the plus side, being temporarially poor is a great excuse to make a pot of beans and pork scrap.

cue the 4 Yorkshire men

https://youtu.be/VKHFZBUTA4k?t=22

We were poor but we were 'appy...because we were poor

You had a 'ouse? We lived in 1 room...26 of us

 

[Bamaman]

Sounds great. Sometimes things happen because they're just meant to be. This may be one of those situations.

 

[Freedom2021]

CONGRATULATIONS! I love it when a plan comes together - enjoy your new place ~ life

 

[Eucerin]

It's hard to get everything on the list but I think you got most and major items on the list, well done!!
Congrats! and enjoy the next stage of life!!

 

[travelover]

...........About the housing market, it is indeed hot. A couple of houses on my street went on the market a couple of months ago, and they were sold in 1 week or less.............

It is crazy. My SIL is an appraiser and when he saw the pandemic coming in January, he almost did not complete a purchase of his own home as he was sure once it hit he'd be basically out of a job. Between the refinances and sales, he has been working night and day.

 

[REWahoo]

About the housing market, it is indeed hot. A couple of houses on my street went on the market a couple of months ago, and they were sold in 1 week or less.

Similar situation here.

Our rural subdivision (110 lots) currently has 6 new homes under construction. That's about the same number that were built in the subdivision over the last 10 years.

The subdivision next to us had a home sold in under a week, for more than the listing price. Selling for above list is almost unheard of in these parts.

I just looked at my zip code on Realtor.com. It shows 24 single family houses for sale and 10 of them are under contract.

Yep, definitely a hot market.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

Congrats. You did all the preliminary work to identify your needs. And if you find something that works for you, you don't want to haggle for the last $10K and risk not getting it.

About the housing market, it is indeed hot. A couple of houses on my street went on the market a couple of months ago, and they were sold in 1 week or less.

I do not know if the sellers got the offer they wanted, but one of the houses got sold so quick the realtor had not had a chance to put up the sign in the front yard. In fact, we only learned the house was on sale because we happened to see the realtor taking photos of the house when we were on our daily walk. Then, saw a moving van shortly after that.

Yep same here in the Midwest. We are not used to seeing this kind of housing market good but at the same time scary.

 

[Retired Expat]

We just put down 10% today on a new home for us. Yeah at closing assets move but Net Worth isn’t really affected. Still hard at first to see savings drop. When we sell current house it will be better

After doing the contract signing we went to lunch to celebrate but knowing how much we were spending opted for a cheapo meal. Couldn’t help it!

Congratulations on the new home and next phase!

 

[W2R]

I just looked at my zip code on Realtor.com. It shows 24 single family houses for sale and 10 of them are under contract.

Yep, definitely a hot market.

After reading that, I thought surely it CAN'T be that bad here. So I decided to check my 5x10 block neighborhood. But realtor dot com shows 8 single family houses are for sale in my neighborhood, and 6 of them are under contract! This is just nuts!

Also, the prices are beyond insane here lately. I am SO glad that I am not looking for a house right now. I have been in my "Dream Home" for five years now, and I never want to live anywhere else ever again.

 

[Scrapr]

We just put down 10% today on a new home for us. Yeah at closing assets move but Net Worth isn’t really affected. Still hard at first to see savings drop. When we sell current house it will be better

After doing the contract signing we went to lunch to celebrate but knowing how much we were spending opted for a cheapo meal. Couldn’t help it!

Congratulations on the new home and next phase!

ehhh, the money was in cash anyway so not missing out on the big stock market day today. I can play the [-]commodities[/-] housing market for a few months and make double the stock market! Just like tulips!

Walked the house today and was figuring out what I'm going to change. bath fans (I like quiet ones), kitchen under counter lights, video doorbell, paint the exterir fencing. I don't think my firepit is going to fit the space. Plus it's a bear to move. China hutch may not fit. Paint on the south side of the house needs done. Will think about Spring for that.

Good thing i came in under on the price (the cold hard reality is setting in)

Met the neighbor behind in the alley. She was nice. Told us a little about the previous owners

 

[kimcdougc]

We moved to our 20 year old dream home in March of this year. Governor put in the stay at home orders for covid 5 days after we moved in. We love it. Needs updates but we are on a lake lot. Not many people get 90% of what they want in a home. Lucky you. Enjoy and congratulations!

 

[SpinDoctorTX]

Congratulations, Scrapr- what an exciting time for you! Finding a ready to move in 90%er is really good, so I imagine you'll be very happy there. We also moved into a mixed neighborhood (all ages, all races- a mix similar to Houston's population), and are glad we did.

Friends of our moved to a 55 & older subdivision near Austin, and they are expected to attend on average at least 1 funeral a month for neighbors who have died. That would be so depressing to me. I also thought that most of the folks that lived there are snooty- we attended an event in their clubhouse. Lots of humble-bragging and just outright bragging goes on plus regular none of their business gossip. Ugh! We would never fit in there.

 

[Scrapr]

LOL at move in ready. I made another trip to look longer at the home. It is ready to move in. But i have some changes I want to make. Personal preferences. The big one is changing out the fiberglass shower for a tile shower, 2 shower heads.And as long as you are in there heated tile floor in the bathroom.

I have coffee at a ROMEO group in the neighborhood. First thing when I went Friday...I heard you bought a house. Word gets around. The group meets about a block away

Here is my list broken down by trade:

Electrician
Under Cab lights kitchen
Bath & Laundry fans timer switch (4?)
Ring/Nest doorbell
Side camera?
Tile warmer outlet

Plumber
Kitchen sink/Faucet
Side grass water?
Shower valves & heads (2)

Demo
Shower
Master Bath floor
Kitchen sink?

Gary Vacu Flo
Central vac

Painter
House
Handrail

Javier
Sod in side yard
Stain side fence interior

Tile guy (Envision)
Tile shower Master
Heated tile floor Master Bath

Trim Carp (Guy)
Closet system Master
Doors on kitchen pantry?
Laundry cabinets

Lewis Audio Visual
TV & Sonos system
Hook up
Downstairs?
MBR

 

[pacergal]

Thats a good sized list!
But it will make this more into your 100%wish list dream home
Enjoy