Some major adulting today.

[Southpaw]

I put an offer on a townhouse today. And I'm kind of freaking out. :yikes:

The good things - it's cheap, less than 10 minutes from work, there's a big park at the end of the street that will be good for off leash dog stuff, there's a nice yard in front where I could easily have a tie out for pottying (or even put a little fence up if allowed?), and it seems like a nice/quiet neighborhood.

The scary things.... it needs some TLC on the inside. Which, when I saw this place online, I was completely uninterested due to that. The fantastic location is mostly the only reason I even gave it a chance. But most things just look cosmetic and my family is pretty confident that with some updates, we can make the inside as great as the outside. I've also never lived alone before so that's a little terrifying.

Excited and scared! And starting to realize that now I should like... start buying things that one would need to live. I have some silverware and a couple plastic cups so far opcorn:

 

[PerformanceDog]

I put an offer on a townhouse today. And I'm kind of freaking out. :yikes:

The good things - it's cheap, less than 10 minutes from work, there's a big park at the end of the street that will be good for off leash dog stuff, there's a nice yard in front where I could easily have a tie out for pottying (or even put a little fence up if allowed?), and it seems like a nice/quiet neighborhood.

The scary things.... it needs some TLC on the inside. Which, when I saw this place online, I was completely uninterested due to that. The fantastic location is mostly the only reason I even gave it a chance. But most things just look cosmetic and my family is pretty confident that with some updates, we can make the inside as great as the outside. I've also never lived alone before so that's a little terrifying.

Excited and scared! And starting to realize that now I should like... start buying things that one would need to live. I have some silverware and a couple plastic cups so far opcorn:

This is so exciting! What city is it in? And does it allow you to have all the dogs? I know I will be looking for an apt/townhome that allows dogs as a temporary place in about a year and a half while I plan on looking for a house.

 

[meepitsmeagan]

EEK! So exciting! Good luck!

 

[Southpaw]

It's in Eagan I know they allow pets I just don't know yet if there are any restrictions, but in the beginning it'll just be Juno and my cat so I'm assuming that's fine. And then maybe another dog down the road. But there policies are something I definitely need to look at and honestly if there's something weird about pets that could be a deal breaker for me.

 

[Fran27]

Exciting! My only advice is to get as much done as possible before moving in, or it will never get done...

 

[amberdyan]

So exciting! Congrats : )

 

[stardogs]

Check on the HOA rules ASAP. Some have some really odd ones, including pets. I know when my parents bought a town house a few years ago there were restrictions on number and type of animals in each unit.

 

[release the hounds]

It's in Eagan I know they allow pets I just don't know yet if there are any restrictions, but in the beginning it'll just be Juno and my cat so I'm assuming that's fine. And then maybe another dog down the road. But there policies are something I definitely need to look at and honestly if there's something weird about pets that could be a deal breaker for me.

If you currently have animals, or adding more or different ones in the future are really important to you, you must know what the rules are before putting down the offer.

Not that you can't back out, but it can be expensive Them not disclosing it was a methlab is one thing and easy to get out of. You not knowing what animals you could bring in or keep is another and an offer to buy is a legally binding contract if they accept it.

The rules really do vary by location, so I'd get on top of that ASAP.

 

[Paviche]

That is SO exciting! Congrats!

 

[Romy]

Also, don't buy stuff for a house until you actually get the house! If you spend too much of your cash reserves it can actually make you ineligible for financing at the last second.

 

[ACooper]

This is definitely a very exciting time for you to be adulting! Excited for you!

If you currently have animals, or adding more or different ones in the future are really important to you, you must know what the rules are before putting down the offer.

Not that you can't back out, but it can be expensive Them not disclosing it was a methlab is one thing and easy to get out of. You not knowing what animals you could bring in or keep is another and an offer to buy is a legally binding contract if they accept it.

The rules really do vary by location, so I'd get on top of that ASAP.

x2! Can't agree with this enough.

Exciting! My only advice is to get as much done as possible before moving in, or it will never get done...

Also x2....I don't know about "never get done" but it definitely gets put 'on the back burner' It's a lot harder to work around your belongings than in an empty place.

 

[Southpaw]

I was told I have 10 days to say "jk nevermind" if something about their policies won't work for me.

It for sure needs new paint and new floors so that's definitely getting done before I'd move anything in. It really needs quite a bit of TLC on the inside but for the price and the location it should be worth it! I'm in no rush, my parents aren't kicking me out lol.

It's also a short sale so not sure how long the process will be.

 

[Jadex]

We're also buying a short sale. It's been about 2 months so far and we're still waiting on the sellers banks. By the time we close (if we do) it will probably be closer to 3 months.

 

[Fran27]

Short sale, well, let's say it's a good thing you're not in any rush. We had an offer on one for 6 months before we gave up and looked for something else... never heard back from the bank. But maybe we just got unlucky.

 

[Jadex]

Short sale, well, let's say it's a good thing you're not in any rush. We had an offer on one for 6 months before we gave up and looked for something else... never heard back from the bank. But maybe we just got unlucky.

Geez banks suck. You'd think they would want our money! Thankfully, we did put in an offer and the bank countered so now we're waiting for them to approve our new offer. At least they're responding to us, even though it's definitely not in a timely manner.

 

[release the hounds]

those can take a while. 2 months is nothing

 

[joce]

Realtors lie. You can back out but does not always mean you will not suffer financially. You need to look into everything before you put that offer in. Personally if you have animals I wouldn't go with anything with a HOA. Gotta think of resale to.

We had to back out of one we put an offer on because roof and septic were bad from the banks own admission (on a five year old house btw- let me tell you how much house buying sucks!)and we barely got our deposit back. Turns out the trainer for our horses bought that place and they got it very cheap and had to put a ton into it.

Make sure you go with a good home inspector and be there while they are there. Ours did an all day inspection. Wrote a full report. My boss sold his home and the inspector walk in his foyer said looks nice and walked out and charged the people the same as my inspector.

We got lucky that the people we bought from fixed a lot for us like the roof and chimney, electric, some plumbing etc. probably could have asked for more. We then did all the floors and ceilings before we moved in.

Take your time. We looked for years. You don't want to be rushed and you want the perfect place.

 

[Fran27]

I suggest working with a real estate lawyer too... It's the first thing our agent suggested when we were considering putting an offer on that short sale. That's how we got out of our offer very easily.

 

[Southpaw]

Lots of stuff I didn't know/haven't thought of. But, I have a family full of people who have been through the process multiple times and they've been doing well at filling in the cracks for me lol.
And I have no hesitation with the realtor, she is a friend of my sister and has so far been very straightforward and good about steering me in the right direction.

We were also told from the realtor who is selling the place, that the bank has been really good about answering quickly, so fingers also crossed there!

 

[JacksonsMom]

Woohoo! How exciting!