a few months ago my wife and i started looking for a house to buy so we wouldn't be throwing money away on rent for the next 5+ years while we are stationed here at ft. lewis. our budget was fairly limited due to our low income so there weren't very many homes that fit our criteria as well as our price range, so we decided to wait for a little while and see what came along in a few months. a couple of weeks ago our real estate agent sent me a listing that he thought would be perfect for us. when we looked at it online we weren't very impressed, but we decided to go look at it anyway. to say the least, the pictures do not do this house justice. the original price the house was listed at was $210,000; but it is now up for $200,000.

here is the listing: http://locator.nwmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi....3D&KeyRid=1

we submitted an offer last tuesday which consisted of $195,000 with the seller paying $5,000 in closing costs and throwing in some furniture items. they countered with $199,000 with $5,000 closing and the furniture. our final offer, which was accepted tonight, was $200,000 with $5,000 closing, the furniture, and a 1 year home warrenty.

 

Nice! Good luck with it.

I'm sure the tib will love the garage lol.

 

having a garage with a shop is going to be great. i'll be able to tear down my other engine and get it ready to swap and i won't have to worry about shop fees. the yard is also one of the big selling points since we have a couple of rather large dogs.

 

Good luck with the purchase! fing02.gif Gotta love the garage!!

 

Sounds like it worked out for you.

One thing to consider is looking at the homes around that one that are/have been for sale. You pretty much got the house for $165-170/sq. ft. (buying price/sq. ft.). Ask your realtor, or do some homework on your own to see what the averages homes in that area are selling for ( $/sq. ft. ). It sounds like you got a good deal, around 7% off the asking price.

Having the sellers pay closing cost is big as well, because that's cash that has to be paid up front (can sometimes be rolled into mortgage payment).

The home had trouble selling before you bought it, but you shouldn't feel that 5 years from now it'll have the same problems. The economy will be a huge factor, as well as the time of year and the work you put into it. In my opinion, the best/easiest way to increase your ability to resell it would be to "spice up" the outside of the house - paint it, do landscaping, give it a clean/fresh look.

The house looks great - garage is definitely a plus! Congratulations on your purchase, hope everything goes smoothly in the move-in!! Is the house a corner lot? That adds a lot of value as well

 

Majik is right. Some little things can make a huge diffrence in resale of a home. The thing to rember when you are doing renos with thoughts of resale is quality over quanity. Don't do 100 things and have them all look like hell. Pick a project, learn to do it right (if you don't already) Then move on to the next one and spread them out so that your last 6 months in town aren't late nights and every weekend chained to the house reno projects. That way you get to enjoy the fruits of your labour a little too...good luck and if you have questions PM me (I am a journeyman plumber, electrician and steam fitter) if I can help you in any of those areas...

 

Congrats!!! it's a nice place and you've got a great deal.

I wish the house prices in my area are that cheap

 

thanks for all the support ya'll. the house is in really great shape inside, although you can't tell from the pictures. there's only a few minor things that need to be worked on over the next few years. the inside trims need to be worked on, the kitchen cabinets need to be repainted (oak cab. that were painted), the carpet needs to be replaced in the near future. the outside of the house is decent. the yard has some places where sewer work was probably done, the outside paint needs redone, and a few other small things that will only cost us some sweat. all in all, we are very pleased with this house.

the prices of houses in our area are outrageous. this is one of the few "cheap" places that we found that we really liked. most of the houses that really met our criteria were $250,000 and up.

 

wow --- that's high. Nashvile prices run about $100 per sq. ft.... but you can find a 3,000 sq. ft. house for just over $200,000 if you look hard enough.

It's weird to see how home prices are sooo different in one area vs. another.

 

yeah, ft. lewis has one of the highest housing allowances from across the country. and even with a high housing allowance, most people are still coming out of pocket for a lot of expenses. if my wife wasn't working, there's no way we'd be able to afford buying a house.