Even though we had 4 properties lined up to view we only made it to two of them, the early one and the late one. We missed those in between because they fell during child ferrying time and we got caught in traffic due to road works.
The first one; lovely aspect, great entertaining area and yard, room downstairs for a teenage brat but not a lot of room upstairs. It was kind of cramped but definitely liveable and we could of course make it work. Many people live in much smaller homes quite happily. The backyard was raised and in a heavy downpour we imagine that the area downstairs gets a wee bit waterlogged. The house was currently rented to tenants who had moved in not knowing the place would be placed on the market the week after they signed the lease. I felt sorry for them - I've been in their situation and they've got two small children so moving again so soon would be a major pain in the rear.
The second one; This was a lovely home and we could definitely see ourselves living in it. The backyard was perfect - mango tree, pool, lush lawns etc. It had plenty of room downstairs and had been finished off quite nicely. Upstairs was smallish but a lot more roomy than the one we'd seen this morning. It had been nicely decorated but not quite perfectly finished. 3 bedrooms up, a rumpus and another room downstairs. Large garage and garden storage shed. This one was a possibility. It was also tenanted and the tenants told a similar story - they had moved in believing the house was for sale OR lease. They signed a lease believing it to be end of story but no, they've put up with open home inspections since they moved in in December. He wasn't above pointing out all the things that are wrong with it which was great but I suspect his motive was to put people off so they could at least see out their lease before it sold. This house had an asking price of about $40 000 more than the one mentioned above.
In both cases we wondered why the tenants themselves didn't offer to buy the homes. The rent they were paying would be slightly less than their repayments would be. I only asked this of the tenants in the second house. He and his wife were both in the army and were probably getting their rent heavily subsidised. They told us they couldn't afford to buy. They were in their late twenties and expecting their first baby. Maybe they were right and the timing just doesn't work for them. I ask myself over and over why I hadn't offered to buy some of the homes I've lived in that have been put up for sale while I've been renting them - I wasn't ready to take that leap in that point in my life. On all of those occasions though I was a single parent and it all seemed too frightening for me.
The same real estate agent was handling both these homes. He obviously doesn't need to be pushing to make sales at the moment. While he was very nice and polite he seemed a little indifferent to me. He answered our questions but usually with one word answers. The second house apparently had a few offers in on it and we're not ready to "get in quick" as he suggested so this one will slip through our fingers - unless of course none of the current offers come to anything and it remains on the market.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Do I know anything yet?
Last night we met with the mortgage broker once again so she could explain all the different loan products available to us and what they would mean in terms of repayments, interest, up front costs etc. I can only say that I am still a little confused because the type of loan used can make a great difference to the repayment amounts. What is in our favour right now is that there has been an interest rate drop. If we'd taken a loan last week we would have been paying out $500 per month more than if we took one out tomorrow. We haven't yet applied for a loan but she recommends getting pre-approval to improve our negotiating power should we find a house we're interested in. She advised us to make sure we fully understood everything though before we even went ahead with pre-approval.
She explained how much of a difference to the market first home buyers with no deposit can make to the prices of homes. Those without a deposit have a greatly reduced borrowing capacity effectively driving them out of the market, at least here in Brisbane. But if everyone was to borrow without a deposit and they were the only buyers around the prices would be pushed back to a more realistic value. She does not recommend borrowing without any kind of deposit however.
I like this woman, she's gutsy and honest and has been in the business for many years. She's a single parent of four children and does not own her own home. She explained to us that she too did not want to be in a position of not being able to put food on the table for her children just to own a home. Her two eldest have now, just this year, left home meaning she could possibly afford to buy a home sometime this year because she wouldn't need something as large (and more expensive) with only two of them left at home. Apparently the fact that she does not own her own home puts a lot of people off because they don't believe she can understand how it works. As she explained, she doesn't need to own a home to understand it. She has advised many of her potential customers not to buy a home right when they've wanted to because she could see the kind of precarious situation they would be in if they did.
So, she's going to put a lot of information down on paper for us so we can see exactly how we would stand and what each different loan product would mean to us personally given our own unique circumstances. She didn't recommend to us the lenders that pay her the highest commission because in her opinion, they weren't right for us.
We gave her a glass of wine while she was here and we laughed a bit and shared our stories of raising teenage girls but what do I like most about her? Well, she doesn't wear power suits or make up, she uses a lap top that looks like it's seen better days, keys are missing and she has post it notes slapped all over it. Her reasoning - why dump something that still works just fine, it'll only take up precious land space. She's not at all pushy but knows her stuff inside out. She's the sort of person we could remain friends with even if we never buy a house.
So, we're still no closer to buying and we're still in no rush to do so. We'll do it if and when we feel we're completely ready. We'll continue to inspect homes so we can feel we have given ourselves an opportunity to know whether we're getting value for money. Tomorrow is Saturday and we have four homes lined up to inspect and already I'm exhausted by the prospect.
She explained how much of a difference to the market first home buyers with no deposit can make to the prices of homes. Those without a deposit have a greatly reduced borrowing capacity effectively driving them out of the market, at least here in Brisbane. But if everyone was to borrow without a deposit and they were the only buyers around the prices would be pushed back to a more realistic value. She does not recommend borrowing without any kind of deposit however.
I like this woman, she's gutsy and honest and has been in the business for many years. She's a single parent of four children and does not own her own home. She explained to us that she too did not want to be in a position of not being able to put food on the table for her children just to own a home. Her two eldest have now, just this year, left home meaning she could possibly afford to buy a home sometime this year because she wouldn't need something as large (and more expensive) with only two of them left at home. Apparently the fact that she does not own her own home puts a lot of people off because they don't believe she can understand how it works. As she explained, she doesn't need to own a home to understand it. She has advised many of her potential customers not to buy a home right when they've wanted to because she could see the kind of precarious situation they would be in if they did.
So, she's going to put a lot of information down on paper for us so we can see exactly how we would stand and what each different loan product would mean to us personally given our own unique circumstances. She didn't recommend to us the lenders that pay her the highest commission because in her opinion, they weren't right for us.
We gave her a glass of wine while she was here and we laughed a bit and shared our stories of raising teenage girls but what do I like most about her? Well, she doesn't wear power suits or make up, she uses a lap top that looks like it's seen better days, keys are missing and she has post it notes slapped all over it. Her reasoning - why dump something that still works just fine, it'll only take up precious land space. She's not at all pushy but knows her stuff inside out. She's the sort of person we could remain friends with even if we never buy a house.
So, we're still no closer to buying and we're still in no rush to do so. We'll do it if and when we feel we're completely ready. We'll continue to inspect homes so we can feel we have given ourselves an opportunity to know whether we're getting value for money. Tomorrow is Saturday and we have four homes lined up to inspect and already I'm exhausted by the prospect.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
How much will he make?
Today I realised I would have some spare time after finishing work and so called my new first best friend, Mr Real Estate Agent, to ask him if he could possibly arrange a viewing of the house with three offers on it. I told him I could make it there by 4.45PM. At first he said "oh no, there's no way I can make it there by then, I would be killing myself to get there". I told him that was fine, no big deal, I'd just try to make it to the open house Saturday then, even though the time clashes with my daughter's guitar lessons. Suddenly he backtracked - "let me just take another look at my diary".
There was a slight pause and then he came back and said "no, I can't make it by then but I could make it at 4.15PM". That didn't suit me and I said so. I had to pick up a kid from daycare and by the time I left work and did that there would be no way I'd make it to the house by then. He has such a knack of sounding so genuinely disappointed that I almost wanted to tell him that I would kill myself to make it there in time for him. I stopped myself from doing so and instead casually said that I'd just see him at open inspection. Of course he then told me that he would be able to meet me anytime Saturday if I couldn't make it to open inspection and all I had to do was call him and he'd come running. This man is so good I almost want to make him change his plans every day just to see how willing he really is to make a sale.
There was a slight pause and then he came back and said "no, I can't make it by then but I could make it at 4.15PM". That didn't suit me and I said so. I had to pick up a kid from daycare and by the time I left work and did that there would be no way I'd make it to the house by then. He has such a knack of sounding so genuinely disappointed that I almost wanted to tell him that I would kill myself to make it there in time for him. I stopped myself from doing so and instead casually said that I'd just see him at open inspection. Of course he then told me that he would be able to meet me anytime Saturday if I couldn't make it to open inspection and all I had to do was call him and he'd come running. This man is so good I almost want to make him change his plans every day just to see how willing he really is to make a sale.
My friend and I
Yesterday I had two calls from my new first best friend, Mr Real Estate Agent. The first time he left me a message while I was waiting in the ED to have the blood clot in my arm looked at - a result of a badly inserted cannula to deliver the IV anti-biotics I had a week ago.
I didn't bother to call him back, at least not immediately. I didn't get a chance to do it later either because he called me again about two hours after that first message. He wanted to know which night we had arranged to view this house that apparently already has three offers on it. I reminded him that we hadn't made any plans and that getting there weeknights was hard. He sounded genuinely upset, as though I had broken his heart because we wouldn't get to meet before the weekend. I almost wanted to give him a big hug through the phone and tell him it was all going to be ok. Poor baby!
What I did do however was tell him that if it looked like we'd be able to make it before the open house inspection on the weekend that we'd most certainly contact him. He seemed satisfied with this but somehow I still think I'll hear from him again before then. He's a man on a mission and he wants to make a sale ...soon!
Meanwhile, check out the beautiful decor in this home. My lovely friend Carla sent this link to me. I think she is just itching to get to something with a sledgehammer and she has her eyes on that bathroom!
I didn't bother to call him back, at least not immediately. I didn't get a chance to do it later either because he called me again about two hours after that first message. He wanted to know which night we had arranged to view this house that apparently already has three offers on it. I reminded him that we hadn't made any plans and that getting there weeknights was hard. He sounded genuinely upset, as though I had broken his heart because we wouldn't get to meet before the weekend. I almost wanted to give him a big hug through the phone and tell him it was all going to be ok. Poor baby!
What I did do however was tell him that if it looked like we'd be able to make it before the open house inspection on the weekend that we'd most certainly contact him. He seemed satisfied with this but somehow I still think I'll hear from him again before then. He's a man on a mission and he wants to make a sale ...soon!
Meanwhile, check out the beautiful decor in this home. My lovely friend Carla sent this link to me. I think she is just itching to get to something with a sledgehammer and she has her eyes on that bathroom!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Who are these people who sell property?
Now we have to learn how to deal with Real Estate agents and how to make the most of realestate.com.au. Right now there seem to be millions of houses for sale and if we were to try and look at each house that took our fancy or looked even slightly as though it fit our criteria we'd be doing nothing but looking at houses.
This morning, very early, before heading off to the gym prior to going to work I sat and trawled the real estate web site while sipping my cup of morning tea. I did what I always take as the easy option and just hit the "contact agent" link to ask when the next open house would be on three homes I was interested in seeing. Only one of the agents bothered to call me and he seemed very "enthusiastic". An American with a perfect explanation and response for everything. The house appears, by all the pictures, to be huge - five bedrooms, two bathrooms, 3 car garages, a brand new kitchen etc. I know by experience already that pictures can be deceiving so I'm not going to trust that the pictures tell the whole story. The agent informed me that there was indeed an open home this coming weekend. "Great" I said "see you there" believing that to be the end of the conversation. In his drawl he said oh so politely "Michelle, tell me what it is you're looking for in a house". I told him - we'd prefer it to be 3 bedrooms at least and with any luck, have a teenage retreat downstairs for a girl who likes to play several musical instruments very loudly. We also wanted it to be "ready to live in", decor unimportant but it had to need no immediate construction work done to it. That's something we have neither the time nor the money for right now. Functional and ugly we can live with and change as we go but falling down is not an option for us.
The agent, of course, quickly reminded me that the home I had enquired about had all of those features. This I already knew from it's description and I told him so. He kept me on the line by telling me he really prefers to do "private viewings" and just happened to have told the owner of the home "not to be home tonight" because he was showing some others through and asked me if I could make it then. Since weekday evenings are not good for us I politely declined. He kept pushing and then told me that the house already had three offers on it and it had only been on the market for three weeks and that with it being exactly what I want I'd have to be quick about getting in there and making an offer of at least "blah".
I agreed to try and meet him this evening and would call him later after I had spoken to my husband. I got busy with work and had not yet got around to calling Ben when the agent called me again only a couple of hours later. I almost had to tell him to shut up so I could hang up and call my husband as I had not yet had a chance to do so. Ben agreed to try to make it also but his work is unpredictable. I called the agent back and relayed this newest informatin to him. He sounded so pleased, as though it was the thing he'd been waiting to hear all his life.
Later, after I had collected the small one from kindy and arrived home Ben called me to tell me he just didn't think he'd get out of work in time so I called the lovely agent back to apologise and tell him it just wasn't going to work out for us tonight. He's my long lost friend now and even pretended to care when I whined about how much of a brat my kid had been during the drive home from kindy. He kind of reminded me of a real estate agent handling the sale of a home I once rented. He wanted to bring some potential buyers through at 7AM and to butter me up offered to drive my then 7 year old daughter to school. I didn't know this guy from a bar of soap and there was no way I was going to allow him to drive her to school. I did allow him to show the people through but I did alter our routine to accommodate them.
So situation is - Saturday, three homes to inspect, one kid to get to guitar lessons in amongst all that and another visit with the mortgage broker (on her first visit I was struck down by the side effects of a terrible infection and took almost nothing in). Then Sunday I have to jet off to the far north for work so house hunting will, thankfully, be on hold for a week.
I'll report back on the events of Saturday when they get here.
Oh and a PS to this is that just today alone I received over $1000 worth of bills in the post. That puts us one step behind when it comes to saving anything in the next few weeks.
This morning, very early, before heading off to the gym prior to going to work I sat and trawled the real estate web site while sipping my cup of morning tea. I did what I always take as the easy option and just hit the "contact agent" link to ask when the next open house would be on three homes I was interested in seeing. Only one of the agents bothered to call me and he seemed very "enthusiastic". An American with a perfect explanation and response for everything. The house appears, by all the pictures, to be huge - five bedrooms, two bathrooms, 3 car garages, a brand new kitchen etc. I know by experience already that pictures can be deceiving so I'm not going to trust that the pictures tell the whole story. The agent informed me that there was indeed an open home this coming weekend. "Great" I said "see you there" believing that to be the end of the conversation. In his drawl he said oh so politely "Michelle, tell me what it is you're looking for in a house". I told him - we'd prefer it to be 3 bedrooms at least and with any luck, have a teenage retreat downstairs for a girl who likes to play several musical instruments very loudly. We also wanted it to be "ready to live in", decor unimportant but it had to need no immediate construction work done to it. That's something we have neither the time nor the money for right now. Functional and ugly we can live with and change as we go but falling down is not an option for us.
The agent, of course, quickly reminded me that the home I had enquired about had all of those features. This I already knew from it's description and I told him so. He kept me on the line by telling me he really prefers to do "private viewings" and just happened to have told the owner of the home "not to be home tonight" because he was showing some others through and asked me if I could make it then. Since weekday evenings are not good for us I politely declined. He kept pushing and then told me that the house already had three offers on it and it had only been on the market for three weeks and that with it being exactly what I want I'd have to be quick about getting in there and making an offer of at least "blah".
I agreed to try and meet him this evening and would call him later after I had spoken to my husband. I got busy with work and had not yet got around to calling Ben when the agent called me again only a couple of hours later. I almost had to tell him to shut up so I could hang up and call my husband as I had not yet had a chance to do so. Ben agreed to try to make it also but his work is unpredictable. I called the agent back and relayed this newest informatin to him. He sounded so pleased, as though it was the thing he'd been waiting to hear all his life.
Later, after I had collected the small one from kindy and arrived home Ben called me to tell me he just didn't think he'd get out of work in time so I called the lovely agent back to apologise and tell him it just wasn't going to work out for us tonight. He's my long lost friend now and even pretended to care when I whined about how much of a brat my kid had been during the drive home from kindy. He kind of reminded me of a real estate agent handling the sale of a home I once rented. He wanted to bring some potential buyers through at 7AM and to butter me up offered to drive my then 7 year old daughter to school. I didn't know this guy from a bar of soap and there was no way I was going to allow him to drive her to school. I did allow him to show the people through but I did alter our routine to accommodate them.
So situation is - Saturday, three homes to inspect, one kid to get to guitar lessons in amongst all that and another visit with the mortgage broker (on her first visit I was struck down by the side effects of a terrible infection and took almost nothing in). Then Sunday I have to jet off to the far north for work so house hunting will, thankfully, be on hold for a week.
I'll report back on the events of Saturday when they get here.
Oh and a PS to this is that just today alone I received over $1000 worth of bills in the post. That puts us one step behind when it comes to saving anything in the next few weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)