New Home for Abilene Grip Works?

toolman · 03-15-2007, 05:46 PM

Well Guys, I'm officially in the middle of that great cesspool known as "contact negotiations". After renting for 15+ years and being stuck in a one-bedroom apt. for the last 4, we've decided to buy a house. The one we want is 1465 sq. ft. with 2 bd, 1 ba, fireplace, pool, and approx. 1000 sq. feet of garage\shop space for $71,900. The only drawback is dealing with slimy-a**ed mortgage brokers and realtors. What ever happened to folks agreeing on a price and signing the papers? Geez, in the space of two days, the interest rate has gone from 5.99% to 6.5% to 6.625%with varying reasons as to why. I'm about 4 months behind on grip orders so the shop is a much needed addition and I'd really enjoy lounging on the deck by the pool drinking beer. As it stands, I'm going to be standing with my back to the wall in prison because I killed my mortgage guy!

trapfreek · 03-15-2007, 06:09 PM

Sounds like a good deal on the house though. With the garage thats about $29 per sq ft. Most places property goes for a lot more..

troy2000 · 03-15-2007, 06:16 PM

In Riverside County where I live, which is considered the boondocks next to the Los Angeles area, the median price for a house has been over 400 thousand dollars for the last two years.

My mother-in-law paid cash for a house down the road in Murrieta last year, and her taxes are over 8,000 dollars a year: more than my mortgage. If I had to do it today, I couldn't buy a house to save my soul.

The only people the market helps are those who bought a house twenty or thirty years ago; they can cash out, take the money out of state somewhere, and retire in style.

toolman · 03-15-2007, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troy2000

In Riverside County where I live, which is considered the boondocks next to the Los Angeles area, the median price for a house has been over 400 thousand dollars for the last two years.
My mother-in-law paid cash for a house down the road in Murrieta last year, and her taxes are over 8,000 dollars a year: more than my mortgage. If I had to do it today, I couldn't buy a house to save my soul.
The only people the market helps are those who bought a house twenty or thirty years ago; they can cash out, take the money out of state somewhere, and retire in style.

I feel your pain! I honestly don't know how you guys do it in those areas. We are fortunate to live where we do. Two years ago, you could buy a decent, liveable 1300-1700 sq. ft. house around here for 30-40K. Since the whole "Flip That House" krap started, the only house you can find under 50K is one that most folks would'nt use as a dog house. One house that we looked at was a 3 bd,(because they enclosed the garage), 1 1\2 ba, on a small lot that would've appraised @ around $45K last year and they're asking $83,000-and they'll get it due to the market. I saw an article in USA Today last year about
mobile homes around L.A. selling for $1,000,000+. That's not crazy-it's just stupid.

troy2000 · 03-15-2007, 07:20 PM

Sounds like you're managing to catch the wave, instead of being left behind. If you had waited much longer, you may have been stuck as a renter.

To tell the truth, I'd kill anyone I had to if I could get a thousand square feet of workshop for $71,900, even without a house attached to it. Congratulations.

I got my mortgage the easy(?) way: I married it, along with my wife and stepson, seventeen years ago.

I shudder to think what it would cost me now to get an acre and a half with a four-bedroom house on it, even though the house is less than impressive. It started out as a 30x30 ft, two-bedroom cottage in 1940, and it's had multiple dubious additions over the years.

My younger son told me a few years ago, "you know, Dad, the only thing keeping this house up is the termites holding hands..."

toolman · 03-15-2007, 07:35 PM

Well Troy, if all goes well, maybe you can come to Tx. and drink a cold one by the pool some day! Heck, we can stand on opposite side of the pool aqnd throw rocks at one another while debating Bush V. Clinton.

trapfreek · 03-15-2007, 07:39 PM

I guess i'm in the middle of that Krap cause thats what I do is flip houses. Our area (Southern IN) sounds about like yours, Tool man, however if you go right across the river into Louisville you will pay at least 30% more for the same house in some areas. We like to buy around 50k and fix up to sell under 100K They have sold well in that price range.

toolman · 03-15-2007, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trapfreek

I guess i'm in the middle of that Krap cause thats what I do is flip houses. Our area (Southern IN) sounds about like yours, Tool man, however if you go right across the river into Louisville you will pay at least 30% more for the same house in some areas. We like to buy around 50k and fix up to sell under 100K They have sold well in that price range.

That's O.K., the problem is, ever since the show started, every hairy-leg out there with a few bucks in his pocket has been buying all of the affordable homes. Our area is not very well known for high wages-we used to be an oil-field town with an Air-Force base until the oil-field crashed in the early 80's. Then we were a town struggling to survive. Recently, we've experienced a building\growth spurt with new buildings and businesses coming in but there are still mostly blue-collar\service workers looking for pre-owned homes. We were looking for something that needed a bit of work but was liveable so we could personalize it at a reasonable cost. Most homes we found had already been remodeled and were out of our price-range or needed a full remodel to be liveable. I know there is money to be made flipping homes but it is hurting those just looking for affordable housing.

frozentorso · 03-15-2007, 09:50 PM

See TexasLending.com, a division of Aspire Financial: Welcome They're in Dallas and where I re-fi'd. Good people and fast if you've got the credit. Sometimes just starting to walk away from a lender will rattle their cage. You may be getting shakin down. Come July you can come east 2 hours(if you can drive like me) and we'll both stand in my pool and throw rocks at Troy, Troy willin of course.

03-15-2007, 05:46 PM	#1
toolman Mr. Fixit Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: abilene,tx Posts: 5,582 Blog Entries: 22	New Home for Abilene Grip Works? Well Guys, I'm officially in the middle of that great cesspool known as "contact negotiations". After renting for 15+ years and being stuck in a one-bedroom apt. for the last 4, we've decided to buy a house. The one we want is 1465 sq. ft. with 2 bd, 1 ba, fireplace, pool, and approx. 1000 sq. feet of garage\shop space for $71,900. The only drawback is dealing with slimy-a**ed mortgage brokers and realtors. What ever happened to folks agreeing on a price and signing the papers? Geez, in the space of two days, the interest rate has gone from 5.99% to 6.5% to 6.625%with varying reasons as to why. I'm about 4 months behind on grip orders so the shop is a much needed addition and I'd really enjoy lounging on the deck by the pool drinking beer. As it stands, I'm going to be standing with my back to the wall in prison because I killed my mortgage guy! __________________ Don't be messin' with my gun!

03-15-2007, 06:16 PM	#3
troy2000 Resident Armed Liberal Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 9,476 Images: 9	In Riverside County where I live, which is considered the boondocks next to the Los Angeles area, the median price for a house has been over 400 thousand dollars for the last two years. My mother-in-law paid cash for a house down the road in Murrieta last year, and her taxes are over 8,000 dollars a year: more than my mortgage. If I had to do it today, I couldn't buy a house to save my soul. The only people the market helps are those who bought a house twenty or thirty years ago; they can cash out, take the money out of state somewhere, and retire in style. __________________ If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. -Anatole France

03-15-2007, 07:20 PM	#5
troy2000 Resident Armed Liberal Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 9,476 Images: 9	Good luck getting your house, toolman Sounds like you're managing to catch the wave, instead of being left behind. If you had waited much longer, you may have been stuck as a renter. To tell the truth, I'd kill anyone I had to if I could get a thousand square feet of workshop for $71,900, even without a house attached to it. Congratulations. I got my mortgage the easy(?) way: I married it, along with my wife and stepson, seventeen years ago. I shudder to think what it would cost me now to get an acre and a half with a four-bedroom house on it, even though the house is less than impressive. It started out as a 30x30 ft, two-bedroom cottage in 1940, and it's had multiple dubious additions over the years. My younger son told me a few years ago, "you know, Dad, the only thing keeping this house up is the termites holding hands..." __________________ If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. -Anatole France

03-15-2007, 07:35 PM	#6
toolman Mr. Fixit Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: abilene,tx Posts: 5,582 Blog Entries: 22	Well Troy, if all goes well, maybe you can come to Tx. and drink a cold one by the pool some day! Heck, we can stand on opposite side of the pool aqnd throw rocks at one another while debating Bush V. Clinton. __________________ Don't be messin' with my gun!

03-15-2007, 09:50 PM	#9
frozentorso Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: North East Texas Posts: 592	See TexasLending.com, a division of Aspire Financial: Welcome They're in Dallas and where I re-fi'd. Good people and fast if you've got the credit. Sometimes just starting to walk away from a lender will rattle their cage. You may be getting shakin down. Come July you can come east 2 hours(if you can drive like me) and we'll both stand in my pool and throw rocks at Troy, Troy willin of course. __________________ "I'm your huckleberry. Thats just my game!"

03-15-2007, 06:09 PM	#2
trapfreek Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Indiana Posts: 491	Sounds like a good deal on the house though. With the garage thats about $29 per sq ft. Most places property goes for a lot more..

03-15-2007, 07:39 PM	#7
trapfreek Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Indiana Posts: 491	I guess i'm in the middle of that Krap cause thats what I do is flip houses. Our area (Southern IN) sounds about like yours, Tool man, however if you go right across the river into Louisville you will pay at least 30% more for the same house in some areas. We like to buy around 50k and fix up to sell under 100K They have sold well in that price range.