So we found *the* house!
 

We've contacted the realtor and are waiting for a call back... we found this house online and went by and saw it and it's awesome! The back gate was open so we went on back and looked in all the windows on the first floor.

I am so stoked! It's got everything we want and is in the neighborhood we wanted and is totally in our budget. It's a foreclosure, tax appraised @ $118k.

4 bedroom
2.10 bath
1,932 square feet
$83,900 !!!

We're going to go check it out with the realtor, and if all is well we're making an offer. So we could totally be in by mid January or early February!

What do you think?

it's filthy. why wouldn't they clean it before taking pictures?

looks very awesome. please please please put down enough equity (15-20%) or you might get fucked.

the grass is dead

the carpet on the stairs, sarah, seriously :erm:

I like it, but it looks like it might just be a really big garage from the front.
Those trees are nice, too.

other than that its a nice lookin house

Texas housing prices have actually been staying steady and even slowly rising in some areas while the rest of the country has been plummeting. Texas housing prices could very easily start to fall, and if you don't have enough equity to cover the change in the price of your house when it falls, it's a bad situation. How much of a financial strain would it be on you guys to put down 15-20%?

Where I live that house would be 400,000 dollars.

do it. for exactly that reason. the market is great for buying right now. when it resolves itself your house will bring in so much money for you (including tax breaks)

Well, just make sure you guys have a little savings set aside and aren't living paycheck to paycheck when you move in.

and I don't know why ya'll are giving such shit about the appearance, all it needs is a little sprucing up

it looks like someone took a shit on the stairs, and then their shit took a shit on the stairs

$83000 for a house

you could buy 4 of those and still be in a better position than me

its a great starter home. check the neighborhood tho. if you have a bunch of geriatrics around keep in mind its harder to sell, when its time, a house with stairs to older folks

LOL - do you really think a 2000 sf house is going to ever fall below $90k?

cool find sarah!!! its amazing what a cleaning service can do, you both are obviously able to see past a few minor cosmetic things and you're getting a great deal because of it. i'm sure you'll get it fixed up really nicely

a lot of the house in cali weren't supposed to fall either and a bunch of people lost their ass. you never know, that neighborhood could have a major price drop.

california is insanely overpriced. california has appreciated 300 - 500% in the past 20 years. texas is cheap and hasn't appreciated much and it costs almost that much to build a new house. unlikely they'd be out financially unless the dollar crumbles completely and then we're all in trouble

yeah that looks like it could be really nice after a really, really, really thorough cleaning. congrats!

A lot of financial advisors (including ones here in Texas that I've heard) reccomend 15-20% equity no matter what situation. JEST SAYIN

ITSA FIXER UPPER

you won't have to pay mortgage insurance if you put down more than 20%. the interest rate you get will probably be better depending on your credit scores, etc.

that is one inexpensive house. the deposit i put down on the house i bought recently is more than double the total cost of it. and the sq ftage is about the same. living here is expensive :(

i wouldn't buy a house now in any area unless it's somewhere established + traditionally solid (not a development) where real estate prices have continued to rise despite the current subprime mortgage problems. ideally, also somewhere where the average mortgage is a large enough loan so it's not as affected by all the current baloney. and you're sure you'll hold onto it for at least 3 years, 5 preferably.

PS http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mtg/20010601b.asp

this site has pretty decent overall info actually

quite a few people will take out a second loan at a higher rate for the difference between 20% and what they can afford to avoid paying PMI

What;s with you guys? That's a really nice house

$83,900 !!

you can't get a 1 bedroom apartment round here for that...and I don't even live in the City =(

America seems to be dirt cheap for housing....or at least from what I have seen comparitively

lol @ TuralyonW3 itt