lansbury

How many clocks did you have in that room then

lansbury

Has anyone mentioned crawl spaces. If you don't have a basement you seem to have a crawl space as a way of getting under the house.

In the UK you had to rip the floor boards up.

kimilseung

I kept reading mine as cloak and was not sure why you were going on about clocks.

Charma1ne

Houses int he UK tend to have more personality inside rather than US houses all having the same bathroom/kitchens etc.

One thing I have found recently whilst looking for a place to buy is they dont tart the place up like we do back home?? Plus how many pictures do they do weird things to!?!?!? My husband and I have seen some shocking photos as such we pretty much just ignore them and only look at the front!!!

Also over here the realtors are trying to sell the house where I find whilst looking round NY they are always trying to show you something else? Like if I say to my husband hmm I dont know what I would use this room for suddenly they go all I HAVE A BETTER HOUSE FOR YOU FORGET THIS ONE!!!

Also int he UK you get left alone to have a wee look round where as in the US they stick to you like glue...Or maybe thats just ours? I know her life story haha

Cx

WEBlue

Whereabouts are you looking at houses? I find in our househunt that there's lots of difference inside US houses. Many different remodelling styles & (sometimes very strange) creative touches to the inside space. Of course we like older houses & that's what we mostly view. If you're looking at newer builds (post 1970s) I can see where you'd find them somewhat similar-looking on the inside.

One of the fun aspects of house-hunting for me is seeing what people have done with their houses over the years. I always ask the seller's agent about remodelling history of a house. Sometimes they know & will discuss, other times not.

Yes, I hate this tendancy in the US. Please just leave me alone so I can actually focus on what I want to look for in a house!! This endless tailing me & chatting in my ear, pointing out the features the buyer's agent wants me to see--that drives me round the bend! It also makes me suspicious: what in the world are they hiding, or fearing I'll see if they don't acompany me into every room?

Charma1ne

Hey we're looking at houses in Westchester, NY we haven’t really been looking at new houses but a lot of them seem to have the same bathrooms and kitchens. It’s very unusual! Something I wasn’t exactly expecting haha not that it’s a bad thing as I always like to put my stamp in a house

Thank god it’s not just us!!! I was starting to get paranoid haha yeah it’s pretty annoying…even more so that we were let loose for one day with our realtors daughter in law (also a realtor) and she actually let us have a little wander ourselves!! I tell you I wish we had found her originally! Haha

Any top tips you have for buying a house in America?

Cx

WEBlue

Yes, it could be that you're looking at houses where the owners have all 'done them up' especially for sale using the same old/same old ideas of modernizing those two rooms that all realtors always say must be 'updated'. You may need to speak to your buyer's agent & tell her that you really want a house that hasn't already been 'updated' to the nth degree.

Our buyer's agent always wants to push us to the modern houses or else the massively up-dated remodelled odler houses, because that's what SHE likes. (Plus usually those houses have a somewhat higher price, thus more commission for her.) We ask her again & again for the older reno opportunity type of house, but she can't seem to find enough, & she keeps hyping the newer builds & trying to persuade us to see "just one" to see if we'll change our minds.

No, it's not just you. The real estate business is soooo different here in America. It takes a while to get your head round it. IMO, estate agents we dealt with back in England weren't really bothered if you'd buy or not--there's always another buyer waiting to see the house. (This may have changed in recent years, but it was true when we house-hunted in southern England.) But here in our state in the US, the buyer's agent gets his/her hooks into you & won't let you go. Part of that is the relentless chatting; they try to 'bond' with their clients, which drives me bonkers. I don't want a new best friend, I want to look at a bl$$dy house that's all!

God, not really. I wish. Haha! The husband & I had hoped to buy a house by now. We've found a few possibilities that we're still thinking about (& hoping the prices go down in the meantime). But we've found nothing that really shouts to us, "You've got to buy this house right now!" So we're continuing to rent for now.

Here's a thread I started about our house-hunt. (Think there may be another but I can't find it.) Hoping you have better luck & find something you like soon!!
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=754769

MostlyYank

Same thing I would assume as everywhere - research, research, research

If you're willing to do or have some work done sheriffs sales of foreclosed houses can be good.

There is also a FHA loan program called 203(k) that allows you to both borrow the money for the house, AND the repairs it needs under the same loan. I used this to buy a condemned house and had it rebuilt from the studs out, with great sucess.

Pete

Jan Alaska

We have an extra switch by the front door, turns out its for the power point outside for winter plugins for the cars. Only in Alaska

We are back to house hunting ready for a move next year, I have to say lack of staging or even tidying up for the realtors photo shoot is amazing. One photo even had someone sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and a cigarette, strike that one straight off the list :\
I'm now thinking there might be an opening for stagers or even someone to give advice on photos for real estate listings.

On the difference between UK and US homes the main thing hubby noticed was all the different rooms as most places over here seem to be open plan, also hes fascinated by using roofing tiles and slate instead of shingles, mostly as tiles and slate last much much longer, he keeps asking how they stay up there. Told him its a secret hee.

100weight

The downside of the 203(k) would be having someone else do the work. Why? If I'm capable of doing the work, why do I need to give my loan money to some idiot who is usually no better than me?
CWT

MostlyYank

Agreed CWT. But I sure didn't have the time for a complete rebuild!

Another thing to remember, a realtor will say, I work for the seller, or buyer, but they really work for the deal. Unless you KNOW your agent understands fiduciary duty (the vast majority do not) keep your cards close to your chest.

Pete

lansbury

He also might want to consider if the roof structure would support the weight of slate or tiles, if it was design with plywood and shingles in mind.

Charma1ne

I have done a TON of this haha my husband forever winds me up by how thorough I am about checking everything...on top of this I have spread sheets for every aspect of my life and have even co-ordinated my email address into sub folders...haha!

I have recently been looking at these types of properties online! So funny you should say that VERY interesting to hear about that loan. I am so like my dad in the fact I would live in a building site and do the work slowly to know its 100% what I want but my husband wasn’t as keen...when I mentioned this he was a little more positive on the whole "from scratch" plan haha

I 100% agree with this!!!! I was looking at one property yesterday and thought how some could REALLY think this shows there home in the best light!?!?!?!? I actually said to my husband I wonder why nobody has started a help to stage and sell your home type of a company as Americans seem to BADLY need it…but maybe that’s just because we are used to pristine photos yet Americans are not so does that even matter to them…???

fiduciary duty...emmm at the risk of sounding stupid...what is this??

Cx

Bob

Staging along with how much you can get in a FHA loan depend entirely on where in the country you're looking.

MostlyYank

Cx, it's the responsibilty an agent, be it real estate or legal counsel, has to his/her client.

Theoretically it means that, if you had a buyers agent, you could tell him/her that you'd like to offer 100K but would be willing to go 110, because she works for you and is legally bound to not give out info that harms your interests.

Sadly in reality it means she goes into the meeting with the other realtor behind closed doors and figures out how to close the deal regardless of interest. Drove me crazy. Your agent is supposed to fight for you!

It also means that if you are dealing with a sellers agent she is legally bound to tell the seller any info she gets from you - worth remembering.

Pete