Also; if you rent it now you can cover +a bit on your mortgage then you are going to have a down payment in 6-10 months anyway which seems like a doable thing.
Also; if you rent it now you can cover +a bit on your mortgage then you are going to have a down payment in 6-10 months anyway which seems like a doable thing.
Finally heard at least SOMETHING back from her via email... that she was out of town (in Cinci) and she'd get in touch with me later today, presumabl when she gets back...
So, she at least in general knows what's going on, but still have to have a not-so-fun conversation with her most likely later on today. I'm rather glad there's a cruise-in tonight & a car show tomorrow that I'm taking the D to, those I'm sure I'll enjoy and should counter the bad vibes from all of this nicely.
chandlerGTi wrote: Also; if you rent it now you can cover +a bit on your mortgage then you are going to have a down payment in 6-10 months anyway which seems like a doable thing.
I've done a bit of looking into some of the rental management places around here just out of curiousity. The one that I found that actually quoted fees and such up front charges about 10% of the rent as their fee. To break even on the house's mortgage after their fees, I'd have to charge about $950/month in rent. That's probably a bit low for a 1,700 sq ft, 3-bedroom house. More reasonable would probably be $1,250-$1,300.
Assuming the higher of those, minus the rental agency fees and the mortgage, would net me about $300/month. Assuming nothing major went wrong and needed to be fixed and ate into the profit, in 10 months that would be $3,000.
Even assuming I drop the price of the house down to $125k and sell it there, I'd be getting roughly $15k back after commision (no clue what closing costs and fees would be...)- so it would take 50 months or a bit over 4 years to make as much toward a down payment as selling the house would. Even if I could clear $500/month profit, it would still take 2 1/2 years. And there's the additional concern that if something change with work and we have to move, I'd have TWO houses to deal with selling (or renting I suppose...).
Well; sorta. If you want to make money off the rental and use it for your down payment that probably won't work; however, you can add that $300 to the +- $1000 your shelling out now each month to go toward a down payment.
Been thinking of selling my place. Reading makes me not want to use a regular realtor, not only for the reasons given here but also the large sales cut they get.
kitchens and bathrooms sell houses and they are the 2 most dated rooms in your place.
Ashyukun wrote: I've done a bit of looking into some of the rental management places around here just out of curiousity. The one that I found that actually quoted fees and such up front charges about 10% of the rent as their fee. To break even on the house's mortgage after their fees, I'd have to charge about $950/month in rent. That's probably a bit low for a 1,700 sq ft, 3-bedroom house. More reasonable would probably be $1,250-$1,300...
And under the new mortgage rules, thank you Mr. Dodd & Mr. Frank, you can't count the income from your brand new rental cause you haven't been doing that for long enough to have a history. And then there are also LTV requirements on the house you are renting before you can count the income so basically it means you have to qualify for a new home and count the old house payment. Most can't.
Realtor never got back in touch with me Friday after saying she would, and didn't hear anything over the weekend (which was no real surprise). Since I prefer to enjoy my weekends as much as I can (and spent most of Saturday down at a big cruise-in) I didn't push the issue, but will be calling her back up if I don't hear anything by this afternoon.
Had an interesting comment from a friend from church when I was talking about this over lunch with some of them- he said that he'd always heard that a totally empty house made it look like the seller was desperate and that people were more likely to low-ball you because they figured if you weren't living there that it was just costing you money and you'd want to get rid of it more. Slightly more insightful friend responded, "Well, at least he would be getting BIDS on it...". :P
patgizz wrote: kitchens and bathrooms sell houses and they are the 2 most dated rooms in your place.
There have already been a number of comments and suggestions about the bathroom, some of which I'm hoping to try and implement (most likely candidate at the moment is trying to re-color the rose-pink tile to white).
Looking at the picture(s) of the kitchen, what thoughts/recommendations does anyone have for the kitchen? With the exception of the oven, all of the appliances in the kitchen have been replaced over the course of my living there. The fridge is less than a year old, and was largely purchased with looking toward selling the house in mind. I can't totally remodel either the kitchen or the bathroom (well- I can't really afford to, more accurately), but if there are specific things that can be addressed without breaking the bank I'd definitely look into trying to do them.
Topics like these make me think there is room in the Realtor job market for people who want to work and are knowledgeable.
My mom was a realtor for like 7 years, and really enjoyed it, but she said that being recently divorced single parent made getting child car very difficult, and that selling houses today is not like it used to be.
The problem with being a realtor is that you are in a cyclical industry with low barriers of entry, so people jump into the industry on the up and then can't feed their families if things go bad.
Plus, a lot of home owners don't want to hear the truth about their abode and just go with the sleazoid who give them the highest valuation of the house to get the listing, then pressures the sellers to lower the price to reasonable levels when he's got the locked in.
Think of it as a variant of the car sales person - to us car guys, most of them are a horror show, but the great unwashed don't know any better and the only thing that counts is selling them by all means possible at the end of the day.
Not saying that there is no room for a good realtor (we spent an awful lot of time trying to pick a good, experienced one) but there might not be as much room as we'd like to believe.
I imagine that it has changed considerably with the internet and all the information available to EVERYONE that bothers to do any searching with sites like Zillow that will even give you history of sales prices and such so you don't really NEED as realtor as much in looking to find a house. Even when it comes to selling a house I wouldn't be surprised if realtors were less nescessary since most people do much of their searching online now and some sites include For Sale By Owner listings alongside the traditional realtor-listed houses.
Called up the realtor after work, and she claims she sent a form for me to sign (presumably to cancel the contract) on Friday night, and is going to re-send it when she wasn't on the road. Will have to see if that comes through or not. Was a surprisingly civil conversation- I'm halfway wondering if she's not happy to not have to deal with trying to sell my house as well, which given how little she'd apparently tried wouldn't surprise me THAT much. If that was the case though, I wish she'd just said that she was too busy and referred me to someone else in the FIRST place.
Oh, well. Hope that form shows up and that it's what I'm expecting so I can get cracking on the changes and getting it relisted...
Your place looks clean!
I know that when I bought my house, I didn't make my decision to buy it based soley base on what the seller had done to it. I based it on my vision for how I wanted it to look. Kind of like a blank slate for me to make it how I wanted. I see your place as a real good opportunity for that.
Your place likely wouldn't last for than a few weeks on the MLS here imo. Market must be a lot different there.
Again, if you couldn't tell in my previous post, I'm not a fan of realtors in general. There are more lazy ones than hard working ones imo.
From page 2:
-put strait board above kitchen sink
-paint kitchen cupboards a dark color
-put pendant lights over sink
-put on a smaller tile light color back splash
BoxheadTim wrote: Not saying that there is no room for a good realtor (we spent an awful lot of time trying to pick a good, experienced one) but there might not be as much room as we'd like to believe.
I have a friend who is a realtor. I call her a parasite 
I think, for the most part, they provide a service that is not really required. People think they need one, so they get one. That's just how it's done.
Now, I'll admit that when we moved an hour away, we enlisted the services of one that was local to the area, to help find us a home. Actually, it was three, and if I'd had to pay them anything out of my pocket, I wouldn't have been happy.
drainoil wrote: Your place looks clean! I know that when I bought my house, I didn't make my decision to buy it based soley base on what the seller had done to it. I based it on my vision for how I wanted it to look. Kind of like a blank slate for me to make it how I wanted. I see your place as a real good opportunity for that. Your place likely wouldn't last for than a few weeks on the MLS here imo. Market must be a lot different there. Again, if you couldn't tell in my previous post, I'm not a fan of realtors in general. There are more lazy ones than hard working ones imo.
Thanks! We put a lot of effort into getting it cleaned up and looking as close to it did when I bought it 8 years ago. Honestly, that it has lasted this long without even an offer is the largest part of why I'm ditching the current agent because the market HERE is also moving pretty fast- we've seen numerous other places we've been interested in ourselves sell in less than a week, so we KNOW houses are selling in general...
clownkiller wrote: From page 2: -put strait board above kitchen sink -paint kitchen cupboards a dark color -put pendant lights over sink -put on a smaller tile light color back splash
By 'strait board', I assume you mean replacing the arched/carved one at the top near the ceiling with a plain piece of wood?
The GF and I have discussed things that can be done in the kitchen, and her emphatic argument is that the number one biggest problem with the kitchen is the old (likely original) lineoleum floor, and that without putting down new flooring putting in a backsplash or the likes isn't going to help much. The current to choice is to get simulated travertine vinyl tiles and put them over the linoleum, though we're still considering having the linoleum removed and new vinyl put down.
On the cabinets, refinishing/painting them is an option, though doing it right will obviously take a good bit of work stripping them down and then painting or staining them darker. Regardless, I plan to either repaint the current hardware to better match the stainless appliances or outright replace the hardware with new stainless/nickel hardware. Putting in a backsplash will be kind of tricky for me to do since there is already tile between the top of the countertop and the bottom of the cabinets, so I'll have to remove a row of tiles to put in an offsetting-colored backsplash.
I got the form from the realtor last night- but it's not quite as simple and straightforward as I might like it to be. Besides all the information on the house address, seller, and agent the bulk of it reads as follows:
Listing broker hereby releases and discharges seller(s) from any and al claims he or she may have against seller(s) under the terms of the Exclusive Right to Sell Contract set forth above and further agrees to hold seller(s) harmless thereon, except that the seller(s) agrees to pay the listing broker a commission, as set forth in paragraph 2 of the listing contract referred to above, on any sale made within ___________________ days (protection period) after the date hereof if made to a purchaser to whom the listing broker or any other broker has shown said property during the shortened term of the listing contract. If, during said protection period, seller(s) enter into a new Exclusive Right to Sell Contract or exclusive listing contract with a licensed broker and a sale is thereafter made, the terms of the new listing contract shall control the payment of a commission.
The first thing I emailed the agent back and asked was what should go in the blank for the duration of the 'protection period', and her response was 180 days (the length of the original contract). I emailed her back asking whether that shouldn't be the remainder of the original 180 days (about 75 at this point), and to confirm that the whole 'protection period' thing only applied to potential buyers who had been shown the house during the time before ditching the original contract (i.e., if I list it myself and someone comes and looks at it and buys it, she doesn't still get the commission on it).
Once that is cleared up though, I can sign the release and get to work...
Whether it's a new 180 or the balance, neither does you any favors. You want a clean break. This is not that. Maybe offer 30 days if you want to be nice. Otherwise, chalk it up to newfound wisdom and let the original contract expire.
IMO, etc.
Personally, I wouldn't be happy to sign the document with that clause in it - you'll end up paying her for the work that she apparently isn't willing to do and I'd consider that unacceptable. Especially as you're basically firing her because she didn't do her job.
If the clause is what I'm interpreting it as- that if anyone (of the like 10 people so far...) who has been shown the house comes back and buys it that she gets the commission for it- I don't think that I'm going to be able to much argue with that given that listing was under her and she would have gotten the commission if they'd bought it right after viewing it. I don't LIKE it- but I don't think I'm going to be able to argue much against the presence of that clause.
It sounds like if I get another realtor that lists it themselves, the new contract will supercede the existing one and she'd not get anything... so if the GF's landlord is willing to help us out (hopefully at a reduced commission...), then a new contract after signing the release will knock the old agent completely out of the picture.
Well, form is sent back to her. Imagine it will be processed tomorrow and the listing will come down... don't know how I'll get the keys back yet, but am not TOO concerned about that. Time to shift back to 'spend all my free time at the house working on it' mode...
So, we went to Home Depot last night and looked through a lot of different things and figured out exactly what we're going to do in the kitchen & bathroom. The kitchen will get the bulk of the work done to it:
Ordered a Cabinet Refinishing Kit to strip and refinish the cabinets to make them solidly darker and more modern looking. Cost (kit plus other supplies): ~$100
Will probably replace the board over the sink when I'm refinishing the cabinets. GF liked the idea of replacing the over-sink light with mini-pendants, so am trying to track down some that I actually like. Cost: Hope to keep around $50
Will either replace or repaint the hardware so it's stainless/brushed nickel. The current hardware is kind of an antique brass and jus doesn't match the stainless appliances well. Ideally I'll replace it, but since the cabinets are 50ish years old I'm not certain that I can easily find new hardware that will fit- should find out this evening. Cost: $40 if replacing, $15 if repainting
Put down vinyl tile over the ancient linoleum floor. I can't find the exact tile online to link to, but it's 12" square self-adhesive vinyl tile with a beige sandstone pattern. A co-worker just installed something similar so I can get most of the tools from him as well as some pointers. Guestimating the size of the room, Cost: $200
The bathroom is actually only initially going to get two things done to it...
Hopefully there will be enough in the cabinet refinishing kit to also refinish the bathroom vanity so it looks more modern and not as tired out. Cost: Already included in kitchen. Maybe $15 or so if I also replace the hardware...
Main thing though will be using a Rustoleum Tile Refinishing Kit to turn all the rose-pink tile in the bathroom white. GF and I disagree on whether to keep the blue tile accents- I think they'd look good accenting the white, she disagrees and thinks there's already enough blue without them. Most of what I've read has said that using and HVLP sprayer when doing walls with this stuff is best, so that cost would have to be accounted for as well. Cost without the sprayer: $80, Cost with it: $200?
So taking the high-end estimates, all of this should cost around $650 and a few weeks' time. Unfortunately, the next few weekends are shot so it will likely take longer than I'd like, but hopefully by mid-August it will all be done and I'll have the house back up- likely at a bit of a reduced price... 
Some friends have used the countertop/cabinet transformation kit and the results were great. Hard work, but great results.
My house had an older bathroom, and the tile had the slightest of a pink hue. I left the tile alone, but painted the bathroom a boring tan khaki color which brought out more of the white and subdued the pink, used those square foot adhesive tiles from Lowes in a dark brown "slate" looking finish, and installed a new vanity and toilet and mirror, and siliconed around everything at the floor. Looked very fresh, clean, new and boring and non-offensive to anyone.
mattmacklind wrote: Some friends have used the countertop/cabinet transformation kit and the results were great. Hard work, but great results. My house had an older bathroom, and the tile had the slightest of a pink hue. I left the tile alone, but painted the bathroom a boring tan khaki color which brought out more of the white and subdued the pink, used those square foot adhesive tiles from Lowes in a dark brown "slate" looking finish, and installed a new vanity and toilet and mirror, and siliconed around everything at the floor. Looked very fresh, clean, new and boring and non-offensive to anyone.
The before/after pictures people have posted in their reviews on the Home Depot page definitely make it look like the cabinet kit should work well, though I don't doubt it will be a lot of work. Good to hear some direct experience with how it comes out though.
Unfortunately, the tile in my bathroom is FAR from a 'slight' pink hue- it's full-blown rose-colored pink. I'd considered repainting the painted portions of the walls white and seeing what that did, but frankly I think the pink tile is the biggest problem and has always been MY biggest issue with that bathroom. I'm a bit nervous for how well the tile refinishing kit will work, but the reviews on it are overwhelmingly positive with a LOT of ways to make sure it works well that people figured out when using it themselves...
The bathroom floor is something of an issue of contention between the GF and I. It's not very much area at all and I think that the linoleum, like that of the kitchen, is rather dated and that we should put down adhesive tiles- probably either white or something close to it to keep the room bright- over the linoleum. Would probably take less than a full box of the tiles to do it. The GF thinks that it looks fine and that the kind of 'pebbled' pattern with mostly white but some pink and blue will look just fine with the refinished walls. I'm withholding final judgement on it until after the wall tiles are done- if it looks good enough with the white tile walls I'll not do anything, but I'm betting that it will look dull and dingy and I'll have an easier time convincing the GF that it needs to be covered.
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