Comments on: Signs You Bought The Wrong House: 5 Ways to Avoid a Mistake

By: One Frugal Girl

One Frugal Girl — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 04:33:02 +0000

In reply to Linda. I'm sorry to read this comment. I've known friends who were cheated by builders like this as well. I do believe in karma, so hopefully he will get what he deserves eventually.

By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 15:38:05 +0000

We bought in a rush because we were living with my mother til we found a house. The twin home we bought was being built by an unscrupulous builder who had cheap labor on a “high end” build and it had many short cuts, mistakes, and outright things not finished. Disaster. We learned the hard way. He acted like the nicest guy in town. Close and then he’ll finish. He’s still doing it. Sellers market but , I think people are on to him. He had to drop the prices on his finished houses that aren’t selling. What goes around comes around!

By: One Frugal Girl

One Frugal Girl — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 18:47:46 +0000

In reply to olga. Congratulations on finding the perfect house. You give me hope that the right one is waiting right around the corner. I feel the same way about the second house that we bought -- a small beach house that seems to check off all the boxes for how we like to live. Now we just need to find that magic again!

By: One Frugal Girl

One Frugal Girl — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 18:45:45 +0000

In reply to Budget Life List. Our realtor provided the same advice. She said we should never give the listing agent a higher amount than we bid. I wanted one preapproval letter that could be used for any housing offer. She suggested contacting the bank for the highest number and then asking them to modify the letter whenever we make an offer less than that. Thanks for your comment.

By: MW

MW — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 19:31:27 +0000

As a parent and someone who works in education, I certainly appreciate your emphasis on good schools. When we were looking for houses, that was an important factor in our search, too. That being said, it’s important to understand that school ratings through sites like GreatSchools and Niche tend to be biased against ethnically and socioeconomically diverse schools. Those ratings can, in fact, lead to a vicious cycle where more affluent and/or white people (in particular) choose other schools, thus “dooming” the local school to be plagued by lower achievement, fewer resources, less involved parents, etc.

This Chalkbeat story from 2019 has more information on this pattern: https://www.chalkbeat.org/2019/12/5/21121858/looking-for-a-home-you-ve-seen-greatschools-ratings-here-s-how-they-nudge-families-toward-schools-wi

I’ve seen this happen in my own community, as outlined in this post from a friend who has rolled up his sleeves to have a positive impact on his local school: https://sduptownnews.com/hidden-in-the-heart-of-north-park-thomas-jefferson-elementary/

By: Budget Life List

Budget Life List — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 02:49:12 +0000

Good for you to spot a dud and move on.

It’s funny because we had a similar instance in Billings, it sounded too familiar down to the dirt pile and easement. We backed out too and rented. It was a smart move because we ended up moving a year later and bought something better.

One tip we use is having a preapproval letter with a number we are comfortable with. Sure the money-making bank says we can afford a house worth half a million dollars but we don’t want the relator or anyone else to know that! Instead, we request a smaller number, one that gives our budget some breathing room.

Good luck with the house hunt!

By: olga

olga — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 11:46:24 +0000

We are so fortunate to find and buy the house we loved from the first sight – and still do. One and only we looked at, and it’s a dream, emotionally, and via checking all the major boxes. Same was with previous house before we moved to a new city/state. There’s nothing we don’t like, and a few things were fixed/updated/remodeled to make it our own and even better than we imagined. Yes, don’t buy the wrong house, it sucks to live and dread coming home. Best of luck.

By: One Frugal Girl

One Frugal Girl — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 17:51:33 +0000

In reply to Accidentally Retired. Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone. I knew it was the wrong house when that sense of relief washed over me. Now, if I could just find the right one!

By: Accidentally Retired

Accidentally Retired — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 04:09:44 +0000

Good call trusting your gut! I always know that I made the right decision when I get a sense of relief, real physical relief when I make a decision. I felt the same way when I decided to engineer my exit!

By: One Frugal Girl

One Frugal Girl — Sun, 28 Mar 2021 01:02:22 +0000

In reply to revanche @ a gai shan life.

I’m so glad we were able to back away from a house we don’t love. I spent too many years disliking our current house. I bought it under different circumstances, but I don’t ever want to be in that situation again! We were lucky that other issues came up and those issues were insurmountable.

I am so happy to read about JB’s love for your new little one. Our kids still adore each other and I hope yours do too.