buying a house and the bidding got a wee bit emotional this weekend.

[DBL]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

They raised their own counter offer for no good reason. If their original counter offer was $10K higher I would have had no problem with it...

I was suggesting to pay the original price, which is what they are probably looking for. I agree that you shouldn't pay their inflated offer.

Paying more because it is only $50/month is poor financial planning. I may pay more, I may not, but it will not be for that reason.

This depends. You say the house is worth more than they are asking. If that is the case, then it would only be poor financial planning on your part to lose out on the deal, especially over $50 per month on a $700k house.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: Mwilding
We offered X
They countered at Y
We countered at (X+Y)/2
They countered at Y + $10K
I said screw you, I am back to X
I then cooled down and said that our (X+y)/2 offer stands for 5 days

What you orignially posted looked more like this:

We offered X
They countered at Y
We countered at (X+Y)/2
They countered at Y + $10K
I said screw you, I am to X - 10K
Thus the split the difference offer is (X-10K + Y+10K) / 2 = (X+Y)/2

I interpreted it as (x+y)/2 - 10k, which may have been equivalent to X based on his post. That would be if they were $20k apart with their initial offers.

Originally posted by: HomeBrewerDude

i hope you didn't shoot yourself in the foot there.

Well, he can't let his attachment to the house force him to pay more than he wants for it... there are plenty of other houses out there.

 

[GasX]

bump for the update!

 

[WhiteKnight]

Congrats, man! :beer: I hope that the inspection and everything goes well. Welcome to GR!

 

[ThePresence]

Congrats! :beer:

 

[austin316]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Spikesoldier
what city? and how much did you offer for that place?

It's in Glen Ridge, NJ
Asking price is $699,900

$700,000. That price seems outrageous for a house like that. Or are home prices in NJ around that price? Around here you could build a huge home in an excellent area for that price.

 

[welst10]

Nice! good luck with inspection.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: austin316

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Spikesoldier
what city? and how much did you offer for that place?

It's in Glen Ridge, NJ
Asking price is $699,900

$700,000. That price seems outrageous for a house like that. Or are home prices in NJ around that price? Around here you could build a huge home in an excellent area for that price.

The houses on that street sell for ~$500K to ~$2 million. It's a very nice house on a corner lot 1 block from the country club. We are going to do VERY well when we sell it.

 

[austin316]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: austin316

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Spikesoldier
what city? and how much did you offer for that place?

It's in Glen Ridge, NJ
Asking price is $699,900

$700,000. That price seems outrageous for a house like that. Or are home prices in NJ around that price? Around here you could build a huge home in an excellent area for that price.

The houses on that street sell for ~$500K to ~$2 million. It's a very nice house on a corner lot 1 block from the country club. We are going to do VERY well when we sell it.

sounds great then. kudos for investing in real estate.

 

[Darkstar757]

600 gradn damm

makes me fell like ill never have the american dream

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: austin316

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: austin316

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Spikesoldier
what city? and how much did you offer for that place?

It's in Glen Ridge, NJ
Asking price is $699,900

$700,000. That price seems outrageous for a house like that. Or are home prices in NJ around that price? Around here you could build a huge home in an excellent area for that price.

The houses on that street sell for ~$500K to ~$2 million. It's a very nice house on a corner lot 1 block from the country club. We are going to do VERY well when we sell it.

sounds great then. kudos for investing in real estate.

Why do you expect the value to rise? Just curious.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: austin316

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: austin316

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Spikesoldier
what city? and how much did you offer for that place?

It's in Glen Ridge, NJ
Asking price is $699,900

$700,000. That price seems outrageous for a house like that. Or are home prices in NJ around that price? Around here you could build a huge home in an excellent area for that price.

The houses on that street sell for ~$500K to ~$2 million. It's a very nice house on a corner lot 1 block from the country club. We are going to do VERY well when we sell it.

sounds great then. kudos for investing in real estate.

Why do you expect the value to rise? Just curious.

buy low sell high....

seriously though, we got a good price and are going to make some improvements...

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: austin316

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: austin316

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Spikesoldier
what city? and how much did you offer for that place?

It's in Glen Ridge, NJ
Asking price is $699,900

$700,000. That price seems outrageous for a house like that. Or are home prices in NJ around that price? Around here you could build a huge home in an excellent area for that price.

The houses on that street sell for ~$500K to ~$2 million. It's a very nice house on a corner lot 1 block from the country club. We are going to do VERY well when we sell it.

sounds great then. kudos for investing in real estate.

Why do you expect the value to rise? Just curious.

buy low sell high....

seriously though, we got a good price and are going to make some improvements...

Everyone wants to buy low and sell high, but the market doesn't always allow for that. Improvements cost money too, why do you assume that you will be able to sell it for more than you put into it? I know next to nothing about real estate, but I'm geuinely curious how one goes about figuring these things out.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: ThePresenceEveryone wants to buy low and sell high, but the market doesn't always allow for that. Improvements cost money too, why do you assume that you will be able to sell it for more than you put into it? I know next to nothing about real estate, but I'm geuinely curious how one goes about figuring these things out.

Some improvements add value cost effectively and some don't.

Install an above ground pool and your kids will love you and a lot of potential buyers will not.
Replace 20 year old kitchen appliances - instant ROI
Make architectural changes that are marvelously functional for YOU and ruin the appeal of the original design - bad idea
Make changes that update an old house to modern lifestyles without changing the overall design - good idea
Take a neglected yard and take care of it - instant money in your pocket

et cetera...

It is all about having a feel for the market... You have to position yourself for a rising market and protect yourself from a downward market.

 

[lsman]

I drive pass the area to work off 280 to bloomfield.
I don't understand why some houses are million house while a few blocks away, houses are like falling apart....

Same happen to down town area of Plainfield, Next town N. Plainfield has some nice house.

 

[WhiteKnight]

Originally posted by: lsman
I drive pass the area to work off 280 to bloomfield.
I don't understand why some houses are million house while a few blocks away, houses are like falling apart....

Same happen to down town area of Plainfield, Next town N. Plainfield has some nice house.

Because the falling down houses are in Montclair and Bloomfield. When you drive on Bloomfield Avenue you're only in Glen Ridge for about 200 yards and you can't even see any houses from there except for the one street of multi-family homes in the entire town.

 

Looks like a very nice early 20th century, post WW1 house.

 

[Thegonagle]

Beautiful house. The 50's bathroom with the yellow tile could go away though. The upstairs bathroom with the clawfoot tub looks more tasteful, but that could go too, in the name of functionality.

Looks like steam heat with a return line, right? (Not hot water?) Good luck with that--I hope you have a modern boiler in there, for the sake of your energy bill. And good luck cooling the place. It kind of sucks when there's no forced air system to add central air to, and you need to pick and choose spaces to cool with window units. (Electrical must be somewhat up to date to handle a battery of window A/Cs.)

Originally posted by: Rob9874
$700K home? They'd love you over on the P&N board!

Why? (I don't really get it. If it's a democrat/republican thing, you can't make assumptions, because I've met plenty of wealthy democrats.)

One could do worse for the price even in Minneapolis. (We're an "over-valued" marketplace here at the moment, but it depends heavily on the area. Near the lakes in southwest Minneapolis is where you'd see a house like that with a large lot for that kind of money.)

 

[WhiteKnight]

Also, as for the real estate prices in the area, I realize that nothing is guaranteed, but I think that buying a home in this town is a really solid investment. A nice, smaller house that was in piece of crap shape right across the street from my parents (same town as OP) went for $320k. The next-door, similarly sized one that was in great shape went for $420. Hell, my parents house is worth about that much now and they got it for $45k. Of course that was 25 years ago...

 

[welst10]

I know a guy who bought a house in short hills, nj for 150,000 30 years ago now it's worth 1.5M.

 

[WhiteKnight]

Originally posted by: welst10
I know a guy who bought a house in short hills, nj for 150,000 30 years ago now it's worth 1.5M.

Another spectacular area.

 

[lsman]

Originally posted by: WhiteKnight

Originally posted by: lsman
I drive pass the area to work off 280 to bloomfield.
I don't understand why some houses are million house while a few blocks away, houses are like falling apart....

Same happen to down town area of Plainfield, Next town N. Plainfield has some nice house.

Because the falling down houses are in Montclair and Bloomfield. When you drive on Bloomfield Avenue you're only in Glen Ridge for about 200 yards and you can't even see any houses from there except for the one street of multi-family homes in the entire town.

I take Eagle Rock Ave and Washington Ave. May be its West Orange then.

 

[WhiteKnight]

Originally posted by: lsman

Originally posted by: WhiteKnight

Originally posted by: lsman
I drive pass the area to work off 280 to bloomfield.
I don't understand why some houses are million house while a few blocks away, houses are like falling apart....

Same happen to down town area of Plainfield, Next town N. Plainfield has some nice house.

Because the falling down houses are in Montclair and Bloomfield. When you drive on Bloomfield Avenue you're only in Glen Ridge for about 200 yards and you can't even see any houses from there except for the one street of multi-family homes in the entire town.

I take Eagle Rock Ave and Washington Ave. May be its West Orange then.

Yeah, that's probably West Orange. Bloomfield Avenue runs all the way from Newark up into the Caldwells.

 

[lsman]

Originally posted by: WhiteKnight

Originally posted by: welst10
I know a guy who bought a house in short hills, nj for 150,000 30 years ago now it's worth 1.5M.

Another spectacular area.

Millburn, nice school system and high price / high demand in Essex county. ppl there actually line up to go on bus (to NYC)

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
Beautiful house. The 50's bathroom with the yellow tile could go away though. The upstairs bathroom with the clawfoot tub looks more tasteful, but that could go too, in the name of functionality.

The second floor bath is horrible and my wife was sworn not to ever step foot in the shower. The master BR has a half bath and so we are going to reconfigure the second floor as follows:

Lose 1 of the 4 2nd floor bedrooms and create a master suite with dressing room and master bath. Update common bathroom. Refinish floors. The third floor will not be changed any time soon other than possibly refinishing the floors.

Looks like steam heat with a return line, right? (Not hot water?) Good luck with that--I hope you have a modern boiler in there, for the sake of your energy bill. And good luck cooling the place. It kind of sucks when there's no forced air system to add central air to, and you need to pick and choose spaces to cool with window units. (Electrical must be somewhat up to date to handle a battery of window A/Cs.)

The boiler is new and central air was installed a few years ago (huge bonus!). The A/C units have their own breaker box and the rest of the house is on a 200A circuit.