After a year of house-hunting, about to give up (Pines/West Miramar) (Plantation: bank owned, short sales)

[desperatelyseekinghouse]

Well, my husband and I have been house-hunting in the Pines/West Miramar area for over a year now and are feeling ready to give up.

Having served our country my husband is eligible for a VA loan, and being first-time homebuyers we want to use that option afforded us. Since most of the houses on the market today are bank owned, it is presently quite a challenge for us because the banks will accept cash offers over our VA loan.

We have had no less than 10 offers rejected. Each time the house has sold for within 5K of what we're offering, sometimes even under what we've offered. We have excellent credit, plenty of cash for closing, etc. But, we just can't seem to get a house offer accepted. Our most recent offer was the SECOND time we'd bid on a house, the first time they rejected us and went with someone else, the deal fell thru. That offer was 23K over asking (we almost always offer over asking).

With people out there willing to make 100% cash offers, and banks taking those offers over ours we feel defeated and like we just can't win/compete in this market. The worst part is when everyone says "how can you not find a house, it's a buyers market". Yeah, a buyers market if you are an investor or someone who has 100% cash.

I'm just very frustrated. A year is a long time to be waiting for a house. We've had boxes in our garage, ready for the move for 15 months! We are ready to give up and bow out of the market. We did that in 2005, the last time we tried to buy a house, and it served us well. I'm just afraid that now is the time to buy and quitting will hurt us financially in the future. But, then again, if we stay in it I'm not sure what we can do differently to get an offer accepted.

Any thoughts/recommendations? Anyone else going through the same issue?

[rkumar3]

I feel sorry for you but I do know very well how hard it is to get a bank owned home with anything other than cash or a conventional loan (20% down). But believe me when I say this, it is possible to get a good deal without paying 100% cash. The only thing is, you will probably not get the 'real steal deal' but something may need some work... On the other hand, have tried to purchase a non bank-owned home ie. 'a regular sale'. I know bank owned deals are usually better but every now and then there are sellers who put realistic prices on their house.

BTW, I recently lost 2 houses in West Miramar as well where my client put 20K above asking, offered 25% down and had over 750 credit score. So it is tough but doable!

[heydade]

There lies your problem...you are going for bank owned properties. Stick with non-distressed properties where homeowners are selling outright with no short sales involved. Then things will start turning your way. Seriousely, make sure to call the realtor that is selling the home and ask if it's 1.short sale (run) 2.bank owned/foreclosure (run faster)

Good luck !

[tallrick]

There are investors who are stupid enough to buy these homes looking to make a profit. When they lose money for a year or two the deals will be back. If you can save money do it and convert it to a commodity like gold or silver. When hyperinflation hits it will only take 40-50 ounces of gold to buy a nice median priced home. Those investors will not be finding suitable tenants to rent those homes to, or suitable buyers to make a profit because the jobs here pay too little and are scarce.

[desperatelyseekinghouse]

Thanks for the advice - we have made offers on 2 personally owned homes. But, in those cases, after the offer we found out they owed more than the house would ever appraise at so they needed someone who was paying cash so appraisal (and market value) wasn't an issue. We would love to not get a bank-owned home, but they are very few and far between (at least ones that are priced at market value). We are not looking for a "steal", just a house at market value. We have yet another offer out right now on a house that is owned by a person but they have it listed about 75K above the neighborhood price so I am not hopeful that it will come to fruition. But, we are trying to stay hopeful, and stay in the game. Wish us luck!

[AttilaLaczko]

There could be several things going on here... first, stop looking at bank-owned homes, they are not available unless you have cash. The myth of REOs is that they will provide a cheap source of homes. Instead, they have become the domain of investors.

What about normal or short sales? These will be your source for a home, next - price. If you are looking for a home with very little down, and asking for large concessions from the seller, you will less successful.

If you have a large deposit, and are expecting less concessions, you will be more successful. Purchasing a home without much cash is difficult, period.

Area, are you focused on one area too much? What about cities outside this area, can you fit others into consideration?

Is your price range correct... have you been looking in the right places? Sit down with your realtor and regroup. Rethink the ownership part if you are short on cash, because in the end, if you are buying with the very last penny on hand and you are scraping by with the monthly bills once you are in a home, then maybe you should put home ownership on the shelf. Read or listen to the Automatic Millionaire - Homeowner. Its a great volume of advice about buying, owning and handling home ownership.

If you are stessing this, then its time to sit back, clear your mind and reconsider what you are doing, how you have put your lives on hold. This sounds to be stressful because it has possibly consumed your life, for too long. That stress is not worth putting on yourselves. If you have a realtor, then let that person do the work, the searching and reporting. Have properties sent to you once a week, and review once a week, NOT EVERYDAY!

Then, go out there and live your life, and make this a fraction of it, but not the part that runs the living of it.

[rammagen]

we brought our house with a va loan a while ago (13 Years) in Plantation have done a addition and redoing the roof and little things to put the house back on the market in the 6 months or so. I also used a VA lone and will be reusing it again. The key this is since we have been in the home and will be asking a fair price (Hey the place is not perfect the pool and fence will need to be redone) but the roof/interior and exterior are in better then average shape in a decent neighbor hood (off of the north side of peters rd)I would have no problem going with a decent offer with someone with VA so if you can find a similar situation. The difference between market value and what we owe is decent enough that banks would not care and eventually it falls to the seller. Try to find a VA group that is where I will end up listing my house to other vets.

[desperatelyseekinghouse]

Well, I'm so excited to report that we're actually under contract! We "stumbled" on a FSBO house in our first choice neighborhood. Went to see it, it was the exact floorplan we wanted. So, we asked them if they would be willing to work with our buyer's agent (she's been working with us for a year so we felt she deserved to be in on the deal, plus we weren't comfortable doing this on our own), they agreed and we're under contract!

Very excited and hoping all goes smoothly until closing next month.

[harttogo]

Wow, thats terrific. Good luck.

[fauve]

that's terrific!


keep us posted!