Author Topic: The joys and frustrations of home buying...  (Read 10929 times)

Offline Morgbug

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #15 on: May 9, 2003, 10:49 PM »
Heh, we have a four bedroom house.  When my Mom was alive, she and my dad used to come back to Winnipeg more frequently than just my dad does now.  The fourth bedroom is in a lower level (it's a four level split) with a bathroom right beside - almost an in-law suite.  

Since it hardly ever gets used, my wife decided (yes, it was her decision) to let me convert it to the computer/Star Wars room ;D

I just need to stop buying crap long enough to be able to afford some shelving ::)  Didn't help that I ordered some Tomy stuff today. :P
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Offline proudfather2

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #16 on: May 10, 2003, 01:36 AM »
Hey Matt, I feel your pain. We've been in our new house for almost two years now but I can tell you that the pain and suffering you endure now is well worth it when you find the "right" house. The last house we built was a small cape cod on a small lake, we loved the location but ultimately wanted to move so we could send our children to the same school district that my wife and I work for. It took us nearly a year to sell the house and find a new one, add to that the fact that we had litterally two day in which to vacate our old has and move into our new house. Sometimes that's the way it works depending on the signing.

Anyway, when we were looking for our new home, I definitely had "certain needs" that had to be met due to the fact that I am a rabid model railroader and avid SW collector. I just couldn't rebuild "the sanctuary" in any old basement, it had to be BIG. Fortunately everything worked out and all of my wifes, as well as my, needs were met. The new digs turned out to be a cozy new ranch with a good-sized basement (50'x30') that I ended up dry walling and carpeting myself in the last year. I love finishing basements because it's like adding an entirely new floor to your home.

Point is, don't worry too much becuase you WILL find the perfect place to call home. And when you do the sky is the limit man!

Offline JediMAC

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #17 on: May 10, 2003, 01:43 PM »
Anyway, when we were looking for our new home, I definitely had "certain needs" that had to be met due to the fact that I am a rabid model railroader...

Another model railroader, eh?  That's cool Todd!  Seems we've got a few of them in here, including the boss man himself (Chris) and I think Darth Kenobi too.  I've been into them for years, since I was a wee lad playing with Grandpa's setup and collection.  HO gauge of course.  He eventually retired from them a while back, so I inherited the lot of 'em.  Unfortunatley, I've never really had any room to set up tracks and the whole nine yards since I got out on my own, but I'm still pluggin' away on building a bunch of the little Campbell kits in the meantime.  That's the funnest part of it for me (which is a little odd I suppose, since it should be the trains themselves).  But when I get the new house, the Star Wars room is going to get priority, and hopefully on down the line when we become rich millionaires  :P we can upgrade to a nice big place with different playrooms for all my toys!  8)  Just have to be patient 'til that day ever arrives.  But thanks for the encouraging words...

My parents in law have a HUGE set up at their house which takes up most of their (formerly) 2-car garage.  My bro and pops-in law and myself hit that once a month.  Always in progress that layout is...  Fun!

What's your layout look like Todd?  HO as well, I assume...?

Offline Morgbug

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #18 on: May 10, 2003, 10:37 PM »
I've got some old Tyco stuff I'd be willing to trade.  Not sure of the gauge or any details, but drop me a line, I'm not at all attached to it anymore.  Good memories but not about to start up again.
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Offline proudfather2

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #19 on: May 15, 2003, 01:51 AM »
What's your layout look like Todd?  HO as well, I assume...?

Oh yes, HO scale all the way! Actually I have yet to rebuild my mini-empire after the move, but this is a good thing because I will be drastically changing what and where I am modeling. I am going to do a large layout of the BNSF's Chillicothe Subdivision, this particular stretch of double track lies between Chicago Illionos and Ft. Madison Iowa. I don't know if you are familiar with the area at all but one of the highlite of the area and my layout is and will be Joliet Union Station. This particular place hosts many railroads like, Amtrak, Iowa Interstate, Metra, Union Pacific (formerly Southern Pacific and Rio Grande) and the BNSF (formerly Santa Fe). I think the tioimeline is going to ba around the year 2000, give or take, so I can run as much of a variety of merger railroads motive power as possible. The second highlite on the layout will be the Mississippi river double decker bridge that allows trains to cross on the bottom level while motor vehicles cross on the top. It also has a swing portion that I will not be animating not to mention the fact that my structure cannot be to scale length, for obvious reasons. Another highlite of my layout will be the very eastern end of the Santa Fe system, Chicago's Corwith Yard, also scaled down unfortunately.;D
« Last Edit: May 15, 2003, 02:01 AM by T-Bone Kenobi »

Offline Darth Paul

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #20 on: May 20, 2003, 11:04 PM »
Lucky for me we bought our house in January 2000 just before the market exploded here.  The housing market in T.O. is just plain crazy with the low interest rates.  A fixer-upper 3-bedroom will easily run you north of $300 000.  A 4-bedroom?  We're talking $500 000 plus in a lot of neighbourhoods.  And these aren't palaces we're talking about either.
If you want a reasonably priced, spacious house you have to be prepared to commute over an hour or more each way.
We could never afford to upgrade here in town.  But I already work 12 hour plus days so there's no way in hell I'm adding 3 or more hours of driving onto my day.
Morgbug, I DREAM of 'Pegger prices  :'(

Offline Morgbug

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #21 on: May 20, 2003, 11:46 PM »
Yep, as well you should. ;)  I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but we paid 130K for a 1900 sq ft house on a 60x120 lot with a pool ;D

Glad you were able to find something prior to the re-nutifying of the TO market.  If it's any consolation, I commute an hour (96 km) to work everyday thanks to government decentralization insanity.   >:(  Like I need to pay $5K a year in gas costs (and either way, my wife or I commute, so it's unavoidable unless one of us quits) :-\
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Offline Darth Paul

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #22 on: May 20, 2003, 11:52 PM »
We paid $186 000 for a 800 sq ft 2-bedroom bungalow :'(
And that was a GOOD deal!!!
Growing up as I did in Niagara in big houses it was quite a shock to see the prices here in the city.  186 grand would buy a lot of house down in St. Catharines/Niagara.
Too bad there's no jobs down there.  
About the commute:  most days in T.O. it can take you an hour to drive 10km in rush hour, which lasts from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Offline Morgbug

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #23 on: May 20, 2003, 11:59 PM »
Yeah, similar commute in White Rock on the wet coast.  Two hours if you time it poorly to go 45 km.  7-8 months of the year I'm good to go.  110 KPH there and back.  The other 4 months are pretty much a test to see if God is done with me yet.  Winters are not nice here and the roads are down right miserable.  Still, what would you expect for the bald, flat prairie.  

Regarding house size/price, yeah, I'm spoiled.  Our market is hot too, could sell this place for about 180K now, problem is finding somewhere to live.  Took long enough, but we finally got hot too.
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Offline Hung Solow

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #24 on: June 1, 2003, 10:38 PM »
I can relate.  I bought my first place in 1999.  I own my condo, and 2 others that I rent.  I learned alot by working as both a Broker's Assistant, Property Manager, and a Title Clerk.  If your considering buying for the first time.  I would suggest looking into the Fannie Mae Foundation.  they are a HUGE help.  Also, lots of cities have programs to help 1st time buyers.  This way you can find out how big of a loan your can get approved for.  if you know how much you can spend, it makes looking alot easier.  I closed on my first place for $.01.  It was a loft, and ran $37K, but I put another 10K worth of upgrades into it.  After you pay the first 20% of the loan off, you can quit paying your PMI.  It's an insurance that protects the lender in case of default.  You can deduct your loan's interest from your income taxes if your itimization is more than the standard deduction.
Blessed be the Maker and his Water, Blessed be the coming and the going of Him, May His passage cleanse the world. --- Dune: Dr. Kynes; Imperial Ecologist

Offline JediMAC

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #25 on: June 19, 2003, 03:52 PM »
Time for an update.  House bid #4 has left the building!  Geographically, it's a bit further away than I'd like, but it's a nice pad, with some pretty cool Home Owner's Association ammenities included, like a 9 hole golf course, tennis, hoops, pool, etc...  Doesn't have the extra room I wanted for the collection, but Patty says I can just take the guest room if we get it.

We'll see what happens.  Should know by tomorrow if it goes for $10,000+ over list price and we get outbid by 17 other parties like usual...   ::)   :P   ::fingers crossed::

Offline MisterPL

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #26 on: June 19, 2003, 03:57 PM »
Well, I am currently boxing up my loose collection in anticipation of closing on our first house next Wednesday. That's about 25 years worth of toys - not all Star Wars, but most - and a buttload of U-Haul boxes. (Which are working out pretty nice.)

This is giving me an opportunity to dust and catalogue, but no time to play. Once I'm moved, I'll be getting another collection room I can do with as I please. Finally.

Your turn, Matt.  ;)
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Offline Scott

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #27 on: June 19, 2003, 04:01 PM »
Good Luck to both of you...moving is such a pain in the behind I would love to stay where we are for at least 5 years.  We'll see once the little guy reaches school age though if we want to stay in our current district

Viva la Collection Rooms :-*

Offline JoshEEE

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #28 on: June 19, 2003, 04:06 PM »
Related to this topic, I would like to proudly announced that this week I closed refinances on both of my homes, and I am now paying 5% (even) interest on the 15 year loan for one, and 4.00% on a 5/1 adjustable for the other.

That's down from 7.75% and 6.75%, which saves me hundreds every month in mortgage payments. All on interest! That money wasn't doing anything but going to the bank, and now it's going to ME!

The only thing better than buying your home, is lowering those darn payments!   ;D
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Offline dustrho

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Re: The frustrations of home buying...
« Reply #29 on: June 26, 2003, 09:08 PM »
Matt, CONGRATULATIONS on finding your new home!  When are you moving into it?  Do you have any pictures of it with you in your bulky sweater?   ;)  
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