Ksack is buying his first house!

ksack

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First a little about me. I'm 26, have no debts, 760+ credit score, fly for the Air Force, and am moving to Clovis NM. I'm looking at a moving day around the end of January. Currently in a training course with flexible graduation dates so closing would start the day after I complete the course to cover my butt with reassignments or the small possibility of failing. I started this process with a $200k self-imposed limit on my budget, as that would allow me to go conventional or VA based on the rates I can get without draining my liquid savings.

I'm buying instead of renting because the rental market is inflated due to it being a military town and I'm ready to start paying into myself. Rental rates are about double a 30yr mortgage and I'm done living with roommates. The girl is planning on moving out in the next 2-3 years too. With all that in mind, I am buying with the intent of it becoming a rental once I PCS.

I visited for the first time this weekend and narrowed my list of 40 houses/duplexes down to 16. All the duplexes were out of my price range and not something I want to live in. All the remaining homes are on the newer side of town where a majority of the military folks live. Below are a few of the houses at the top of my list. I'm looking for any feedback, criticism, advice or anything else you want to throw my way. Yes, the Lt is asking for help.... :helpme:

3609 Tom Watson- what appeals to me is the updated interior and mature landscaping. I think this would be a nice house with a new garage door and maybe replace the wood grain closet doors. The lower price is also appealing.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3609-Tom-Watson-Dr-Clovis-NM-88101/2096703359_zpid/

4209 Sandstone- I like this house because it is the on the lower price end of the neighborhood but the quality is still there. I also like the wrap around driveway for renters to park multiple cars.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4209-Sandstone-Dr-Clovis-NM-88101/127185687_zpid/

2332 Cobblestone- The owner was in his garage working on his landcruiser and was nice enough to show me the garage. Has 220V power and shelves/pegboards that are staying in the garage, along with hard plumbed air lines. Perfect for my projects! The price per sq ft is a bit high for the area though.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2332-Cobblestone-Cir-Clovis-NM-88101/2119407990_zpid/

1221 Broadway- Saw the open house sign and followed it to bad decisions lane. Listed above my self-imposed limit but damn, that's a nice house. Appliances stay, builder landscapes as part of the purchase price. I really like the fake wood floors (actually tile). Other than price, windows had no shades and the realtor is going to get back to me on whether they are included. Brand new neighborhood and most of the other models are 50-100k more expensive. Yes, I can afford it, but do I need the brand new home?
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1221-Broadway_Clovis_NM_88101_M19350-30565#photo12
 

skwerl

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My personal learnings have been to look for the cheapest house in a nice neighborhood rather than the nicest house in a cheap neighborhood. I learned with my last house that you can always fix the house but you can't fix the neighbors or neighborhood. And the neighborhood will determine the value of your house.

If you enjoy fixing things and working on stuff to mold your house into your vision then I can offer lots of advice. If you want to move into a house and never touch a thing except for picking up the phone to call the warranty company when something breaks then buy the new house.

No, I didn't look at any of your links. Doesn't matter because everyone will have their own sense of what they want.
 

weather man

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Go for cheapest in best neighborhood.
 

tjm73

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I agree with skwerl and weatherman. I also didn't look at your links (will look later after work). My wife and I bought a house for $200K in an area where all the other houses are at least 50-100K higher. The house didn't show well and had been on and off the market for almost 3 years. We saw through the superficial stuff and we've done a bunch of very minor things that had significant impact on the house and property as a whole. I am sure we could sell for at least 250-275K with little trouble.

If you are handy and will have the time to fix and improve, look for the house with the nicest "bones". Should be cheaper to start with and put you into positive equity faster.

Renter's destroy shit and will probably make your neighbors not too happy with you. You may be able to just sell it when you are "done" with it and make money.
 
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ksack

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Thanks for the replies so far. The problem with the town is that it is artificially inflated from the base being there and there is high turnover in the properties. The military section of town is all built within the last 10 years when it survived being cut by a BRAC so there aren't really any of the more run down homes to fix up like you've been talking about.

New development for the day. The last house on that list I was talking about had an offer accepted on it today so it is no longer available. I've been talking to the builder directly and he is building homes from the ground up in much nicer condition than anything you can find on the market for $5-15/sq ft more (ie his homes are 125/sq ft where as everything else is 110-120). I'm waiting to hear back with the different floor plans but that could definitely be an option
 

k_aimone

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I lived in Clovis and for 200k you should be able to get quite a place. Since you are younger also look at Portales, there is a college there and might have some more to do. If I could do it all over again I would get a place in Lubbock and rent a shit hole in Clovis for during the week.

Good luck and hope for lots of TDYs and deployments. When I was at cannon, I loved the base and the people I worked with, but I couldn't stand the locals.
 

Thenorm

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Jealous.

I live in the most expensive real estate in North America: Vancouver, Canada.

my house is 3 times the price of those and not nearly as nice. I understand how so many other people can afford nice cars. because housing is affordable.

so, in that sense, get the most expensive one that you listed, because they are all affordable. You have to live in that house everyday. you want it to be nice, and not a dump.
 

slow06stang

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If you are buying with the intent to rent out later. I would go with the the least expensive that you can be happy with now. Most renters do not care about your property. You will be paying for the maintenance, taxes, mortgage, and whatever else comes along. Some renters do not stay long term so you may be paying 2 mortgages down the road. Having 1 mortgage will affect your max loan amount on another mortgage. I tend to think long term when it comes to housing.
 

ksack

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Thank you again for the continued replies. I am looking at the cheaper homes in the nice neighborhood where all the military live. Folks are coming out this weekend and we are doing walk throughs on about around 10 homes. I enjoy projects around the house so a little fixing up doesn't bother me. As far as building, the builder came back with a quote that is not much higher than the other homes in the area when it comes to price per square foot. It is an option, but not my top option.

Also have a pre-approval letter in hand. Holy crap rates have gone up since the election...

I lived in Clovis and for 200k you should be able to get quite a place. Since you are younger also look at Portales, there is a college there and might have some more to do. If I could do it all over again I would get a place in Lubbock and rent a shit hole in Clovis for during the week.

Good luck and hope for lots of TDYs and deployments. When I was at cannon, I loved the base and the people I worked with, but I couldn't stand the locals.

I'm skipping over Portales for a couple reasons. Not as much there in terms of commerce. I'd have to drive to Clovis to get any auto parts or home improvement stuff that isn't sold at Walmart. I have a serious girlfriend so the college/bar scene isn't at the top of my list. And lastly, everyone in the squadron but one guy lives in Clovis, and he gets made fun of daily for it.

The squadron is staying busy with TDYs and deployments. Only about half the guys are there at any given time.
 

ksack

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Walked through about 15 homes on Saturday and decided to make an offer on one of the homes. Came in a little low so we'll see what they say. I'm expecting a counter offer that meets about half way and hopefully we can call it a day at that. Fingers crossed!
 

ksack

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Seller was pretty stubborn and only knocked off 1k with each counter offer, but we finally settled on a price. Had the inspection done and the big things are HVAC wouldn't work and there's a decent crack in the driveway. Everything else is minor that can be handled with some credits from the seller. Currently waiting to hear back on how things are going to get fixed. Hoping to close at the end of January!
 

skwerl

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There are only two kinds of concrete; 'cracked' and 'hasn't cracked yet'. On the other hand, HVAC is expensive. My suggestion is to focus on the AC, perhaps using the driveway crack as leverage to get him to pay for the AC repairs.
 

ksack

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Seller finally got the A/C fixed and is giving me some credits for all the little stuff I can do myself. I'll seal up the crack in the driveway myself. Turns out there was a blown capacitor in one of the boards so that was causing the issues. Final contract signed, financing secured, closing set for noon on the 31st. *happy dance* :snoopy Time to start draining the wallet on all the stuff I need around the house. I'll post up pictures once I close
 

skwerl

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Awesome, Congrats!
Use this thread to document your work and improvements on the house. I've been in mine for a year and a half. Just reread my house thread a couple weeks ago and it's amazing all the stuff I had forgotten already.
 

ksack

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Awesome, Congrats!
Use this thread to document your work and improvements on the house. I've been in mine for a year and a half. Just reread my house thread a couple weeks ago and it's amazing all the stuff I had forgotten already.

Thanks! I've been following yours since the beginning. I won't be doing anything crazy like you did since I'll only be there a few years and turning it into a rental but I'll definitely post what I'm up to
 

ksack

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Hey guys! I'm officially a homeowner. Been a busy couple of days for sure. I don't have any pictures of the house yet because it was a quick in and out but I'll get those to you later. Spent the weekend finishing up packing my house (bedroom and kitchen), and loaded up the truck on Monday. Got most of it in myself with the exception of a couple bigger furniture items. I had help with those. Most impressed with myself with loading my safe. I'd say the body weighs about 700lbs (door was removed and listed weight is 965). Filled that 16ft Penske to the brim. Had to weigh it to get reimbursed for the move and ended up 300lbs over the GVW so I took some heavier stuff out to take in my truck. Anyway, Tuesday morning hit the road at 0700 to make a 1130 final inspection (220 mile drive). Made it to within 20 miles and took a piss break, at which point I noticed I blew a tire on my project Ranger I was towing. It was riding on the rim and had almost no rubber left. My last stop was 100 miles prior so who knows how long I was riding on just the rim. Rim was destroyed and luckily I had a spare. Of course one of the things I took out for the extra weight was my floor jack...I had to borrow one from the gas station attendant. Didn't make my inspection time but my realtor went and did it for me. Arrived 15 min late to my signing but I kept the realtor in the loop and its a small town so it wasn't a big deal. Spent the next 6 hours unloading the truck into the garage and pushed the Ranger into the driveway. Had the carpets cleaned during the afternoon so they have a couple days to fully dry out before I go back and start moving in. Left there right at 1900 and got back "home" at 2245 and passed out.

First thing on the list are obviously moving in, but both gates at the house are broken so I need to rebuild those. Decent crack in the driveway that parallels the joint so I'm a little peeved it didn't fulfill its purpose. If anyone has recs for crack sealer, I'm all ears. I've heard bad things about the putty strips that you melt with a torch.

I'll get you pictures and updates once I'm out there for good on Friday night.

Used my DD Ranger to load up the project Ranger. Wasn't able to push it up on the dolly myself so I set the parking brake and backed the trailer under it. Worked like a charm. I then pulled it around the block to get it out of the way. First time towing with my Ranger as it is only rated to 1600lbs and has the ball on the bumper. It did fine for around the block but wouldn't want to tow around town or on the highway.





Pic of the blowout. Rim is useless now but that's ok because I'm planning on putting race wheels on it anyway.



How to load a safe by yourself. Attach your engine hoist to the bottom and use the truck as a pivot point. Once the safe is a foot or two off the ground, take some ratchet straps and secure those to the bottom of the safe. This step is needed because you can't get enough forward force to keep the safe from sliding back off the truck. This creates a fixed point for the safe to be pulled forward as you lift it up. Same process in reverse to get it off the truck.

 

joe_momma

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Honestly I wouldn't worry about the cracked driveway unless it's major. As the saying goes...there are two kinds of concrete - cracked, and not cracked yet.

EDIT: And Congrats!
 

ksack

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Honestly I wouldn't worry about the cracked driveway unless it's major. As the saying goes...there are two kinds of concrete - cracked, and not cracked yet.

EDIT: And Congrats!

Thanks! I'll post of some pictures of the cracks and get y'alls opinions. Getting settled and getting those gates rebuilt are at the top of the list
 

ksack

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All settled in and been busy with work and doing projects around the house. Here it is as it sits today. I'm ready for spring so the grass doesn't look so sad.



This is the crack I was talking about previously. I decided to just leave it for the time being.



This is my living room. I don't like the front door so that's something I may change down the road. It has decorative glass but enough of it is flat that you can see right through. I put up mirrored film and that works great during the day. You can still see through it at night if you are up close to it. Eventually I want to be able to look through a peep hole and not have the person on the other side know I'm there. I put up a no soliciting sign above the doorbell so hopefully it'll stay quiet. Also installed a timer in place of the switch for the outside lights. The street is very dark and only has street lights at the corners. I like the added security of having the outside lit.



Got both gates hung back up. The one pictured was completely off the hinges and had one board busted up. The other just had the panels separating from the braces and was wobbly and ready to fall apart. Both gates were originally built with just staples so I went through and screwed everything down and now they are solid. All the gates/fences in the neighborhood are wood like this and get blown down regularly. It's not uncommon to see winds over 40mph here. Had to repurpose my floorjack to help keep the gate in place while I reinstalled it.



My project truck finally has a spot in the garage. I was renting with a buddy before and he had more motorcycles than I could count so the garage was parking for those and our shop space. I now have rolling shelves and other stuff unpacked so its more cluttered now than in this picture. Also installed a TV and cable box so I can watch, or at least listen to, sports and racing and whatnot while working.

 

ksack

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Mowed the lawn for the first time today and threw down a 45lb bag of weedkiller/grass grower. I bought a corded Greenworks mower and I like it. Cord management isn't bad at all as long as you work your way away from the power source. I opted for electric over gas for the maintenance. It also folds up so the storage is easy.

Also started putting down some small pavers when the fence gate swings to the back alley (trash is communal in dumpsters in the alley behind the house). Gate swings into the yard and the grass was too tall to open the gate more than 2ft. Dug it out and laid down pavers. I'm a few short so I'll head back to Lowes tomorrow and finish it up. Will post pics as well.
 

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