LuvMyTSX

So, after many months of waiting to hear about an offer we put on a house back in April, the bank finally told our agent they're ready to deal.

Problem is, there are 5 offers on the table other than ours. Apparently, they want to put us all in a bidding war. I have a feeling that they've been jerking us around the last few months and have just been waiting for other offers to come in so they could play games with us. They kept telling us that they didn't have power of attorney from the homeowner, who supposedly ran away from his problems and went back to Nigeria. Btw, this house has been on the market since April 2008!

If this bidding war were the only issue, I'd say screw it and give it our best shot (obviously not going over our max price). However, the owner of the house next door is nuts. Apparently, he has had some issues and his house was either in foreclosure, or pre-foreclosure, or some nonsense. Anyway, he is not maintaining the house and has actually made an enormous trash heap in his driveway and part of the yard. I'm talking hot water heater, rolls of carpet, and a bunch of other random crap. I sense a rat infestation.... The neighbors on the other side even put up a fence to create some separation. I honestly can't believe the health department has not forced him to clean up his act. It's THAT bad. And the grass is not being mowed, either.

So we decided to pull out of the games on this house. We really can't afford a bidding war anyway, and the psycho neighbor just pushed us over the edge (not to mention the $13k in property taxes).

We have 6 other houses to look at on Friday. 5 are brand new, and most are in new neighborhoods with other models and lots available. We'll see how it goes, but at this point, I am not hopeful. We've been looking for a year now and can't find the right place.

I just want this over with. Preferably before the market really starts to come back and we see more of these bidding wars. We aren't in any position to play.

LuvMyTSX

And just to clear things up, the house we were interested in is being maintained, even though no one is currently living there. Even the grass is being mowed. It kills me that the neighbor is being such a dick. This is a great house and I fell in love with it the second we pulled up to it.

Will Y.

Sorry to hear; G/L with the other houses.
Your realtor probably told you to never fall in love with a house you want to buy-- fall in love after closing!
You can always improve or renovate a house to fit you better, but not move it from the neighborhood (or jerk-trash neighbors)-- location, location, location...

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Maybe the neighbor has someone that they want to buy the house and is purposely trying to scare buyers away.

LuvMyTSX

Ugh....I know. It's just that we'd seen sooooo many houses and I was so tired of being disappointed time and time again. This house was just so pretty inside and out, I couldn't help myself from falling for it. We'd also just come from a really creepy foreclosure that needed a ton of work, so this place looked like a shiny gem.

But rest assured, I have learned my lesson. I'm not even excited in the tiniest bit to go another round on Friday. I'm actually kind of dreading it, because choices are really dwindling, and after this trip, there is not much else out there to see. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but my expectations are pretty low.

ankur914

In chicago suburbs, you can give a phone call to the village, and they will come out and post a violation notice giving the disgusting neighbor 5 days to clean up his act, or get fined. And it stays anonymous. Maybe you can take some sort of action like that? I would check with the village hall first. Like you said, its a recipe for rodents and no city/town/village wants that.

In buffalo grove, the city would come out and mow people's lawns that let it grow beyond a certain height (6 inches? 8? i forget ) and they would then send a ridiculous bill to the home owner, something like 200 dollars.

chill_dog

Yeah, unless you have considerable resources, searching for a home sucks. Don't let this one setback get you down, though; you will find another house you really like that works for you. I'm not patient by any stretch of the imagination, but this is one of those times in life you really have to have some (I'm in a very similar boat as you right now). From what you describe, it sounds like that neighbor is bad news; you're probably better off. Even if he eventaully left, given the condition the house/yard has gone to, just imagine what would move in...most likely someone like him who found those conditions acceptable.

As for calling the city, we have something like that here, too. You call up and they come immediately (surprisingly). They're very strict with enforcement, as long as somebody calls to report the problem.

timmahh

Move to California we have plenty of inventory.

LuvMyTSX

I think the neighbors on the other side of the crazy guy did call about him, but I'm not positive. Maybe I'll check on that, but at this point, I think we're done with the house anyway. If the ones on Friday don't work out, maybe we'll reconsider. My other half has pretty much made up his mind, though.

It's very unfortunate, because it's a very nice neighborhood where all the other houses are well-kept. I can imagine the rest of the neighbors are very displeased with the situation. The people we spoke with were eager to get someone new in the house and were very happy to have us interested. No one wants empty houses in the neighborhood, especially if one is a junkyard.

LuvMyTSX

Oh Lord. My boyfriend drove by the house today to check on things. The house next door is in the same condition it was before, only the grass is even longer. It's taller than him in some spots. And now there are little trees and weeds growing out of the trash heap. The paver driveway, once beautiful, has weeds growing in the seams.

I hate to think what the inground pool looks like. Probably infested with mosquitos.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

I know you said you love the house, but it sounds like a sign.

I think you made the right move by pulling out. Let it be someone else's headache. What good is it living in a house you love if you get stressed out by the area where you live. There is still a lot of inventory out there... and things are only going to get worse the next several months... so be patient... you'll find what you're looking for!!

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

hey luv... just take your time... the right house will come around and it will be truly perfect.. don't settle and neighbors that are a pain are a real headache... don't put urself in that situation no matter how good the house is... like someone said, you can always change things about the house but not where it sits and who it is sitting around...

my uncle across the street seems to have wars with his neighbors next and behind his property... they are so nosy at what he does and the renovations he does... every little thing he does they want to tell him how to do it!!! my opinion is that he is making his house so much nicer than theirs, they are jealous that their houses don't stack up in value to his... it didn't help that i moved in right across the street because im doing alot too...

LuvMyTSX

Yep. I keep telling myself it's not worth it. Just trying to get the house out of my head. If only it were in a different neighborhood.

Maybe we'll find something tomorrow.

LuvMyTSX

It looks as though my indifference to Friday's showings paid off. We found 4 very good possibilities and are planning on submitting an offer for one next week. Our agent is on vacation this week, so we have some time to kill. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this one works out. Oh, and it turned out this one is yet another short sale. We didn't know that prior to Friday. Supposedly, this listing agent is better versed in short sales, so hopefully it'll have a better outcome than the last one. Everything is checking out ok so far, just need to know if there are any other offers on the table.

chill_dog

Good to hear.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Awesome. Good luck!!!!

LuvMyTSX

Still waiting. It's a long week.

Our agent will be back from vacation Mon or Tues, but the papers won't be signed till Wed. anyway. I would have preferred to not wait almost 2 weeks to put in the offer, but nothing we can do about it. I've been doing some legwork on a couple of the other options in the meantime, just in case this one doesn't work out.

MR1

Just curious, why do you have to wait? Doesn't your agent have a coworker that covers for him? Or is there someone else in his office to write the offer and perhaps share commission?

LuvMyTSX

I don't think she wants to share commission. She didn't offer to have anyone fill in, and my boyfriend didn't push for it. He's the one actually buying the house, so I didn't push it. Personally, I would have asked, but it's not my decision.

LuvMyTSX

We put in an offer last Wednesday and heard back today. The bank countered with full price. We are going to counter with $10k more than our original offer, and that is our final offer. We are walking if they don't accept it.

At least it didn't take 5 months to hear back this time. It was much quicker than I expected, actually. Less than a week is pretty good from what I've heard about short sales/bank owned homes.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

best of luck luv...

LuvMyTSX

It sucks, but I'm prepared to let this one go. It's a beautiful house, but it doesn't look like it's gonna work out.

I just don't understand the greed from the bank. I understand that they want to get as much money as possible, but it's not as if we offered $100k below asking price.

Gfaze

How far apart is your offer from what the bank wants?

chill_dog

Or more importantly, how far apart is your offer from what the bank needs? In other words, how much is owed on the house and how does that compare to your offer?

LuvMyTSX

Don't know how much they need, but the original offer was $40k (slightly <10%) less than asking price. The counter offer just put in yesterday is $30k under.

Part of the reason we went a bit lower is because the house is missing a few items yet, such as all lighting fixtures throughout the house, as well bathroom mirrors. Plus there are two plumbing leaks that will need to be fixed in the bathrooms and ceiling below. And there is no landscaping. It's bare bones because the owners ran out of money. They even went with laminate counter tops instead of granite, which should normally be in a house of this price range. So they were super low on funds at the end.

chill_dog

Laminate counters in a $400k+ house . If the house is priced comparably to others in the neighborhood, despite it's condition, I'd say your offer was fair. Addressing the things you listed, including replacing the counters, could easily run $30k (if you don't do any of the work yourselves).

LuvMyTSX

Under "normal" circumstances, this house would be over $500k. It's massive, and beautifully done, minus the counter tops and other things I mentioned. It's a short sale, hence the low price. It's still a steal at $430k, but we don't want to pay that much.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Not sure I'd knock the laminate counters too much. My parents sold their house for ~$430k and it was 45 years old with laminate counters and many other things which could have used an update.

Now, down here you'd never see laminate counters/floors in a house of that price range, but in older homes in Westchester County, it was commonplace.

Anyway, good luck Luv. I agree with Chill_Dog that your offer seemed spot on. You would think the bank would just be happy to get the asset off of their books. If you threaten to walk and they do not have much action on the house, don't be surprised if they get back to you. If you've moved on... their loss.

As I've been saying the last few months... the pendulum has swung from conservative to stupid...

Keep at it and you'll get what you want!!

Street Spirit

Have you looked at/put any offers in on regular homes? ...Meaning, regular old homes up for sale by the owner/realtor, who are just looking to relocate and purchase another home? I can understand the deals to be had on all of these foreclosed properties, but aren't you guys just tired of looking? Seems like forever.... and all the hassle of trying to strike a deal with these banks seems exhausting. Are you really saving that much by going this stressful route? Can't deals be had on regular sales as well? Not meant sarcastically, but just honestly curious if continuing to go this route is really going to be worth it in the long run (unless you're in no rush to actually move). Haven't you been looking at least a year by now?

Gfaze

My realtors (husband & wife) said they could show me short sales but that they are very frustrating to work with because the banks are trying to get as much as possible. If they don't like any of the offers, they pull the house off the market. They had seen offers not being responded to for months at a time. Many times the offers were turned down so the buyer's time was wasted waiting for a response. If you're tired of househunting only to be shot down by a bank over and over you might consider looking for non-short sale homes.

LuvMyTSX

We've been looking at everything since day 1, not just short sales. Just haven't been able to find much of anything we like, until now. We have a few more options that are not short sales. We'll be moving onto those other options if this house doesn't pan out.