Looking for a house..

[dz]

Anyone ever use seizedrealestate.com or any sites like that? I'm looking for a first time home and they're kinda appealing, but I'm not sure if it's a scam or not.

Any advice as well is much appreciated

Thanks

[chevyt454]

I go on www.nj.com then click "real estate" or Foxtons - http://newjersey.foxtons.com/SS/marl0065692

[Untamed]

www.realtor.com, then get the MLS number and call your real estate agent to set up a showing.

[chevyt454]

seizedrealestate.com looks like a ripoff. I typed in Jersey City and all the houses that showed up looked like mini mansions with two car garages built in 04 or 05 selling for around 100 grand. Gotta shell out 35 bucks to get the "full details"

[ShitOnWheels]

ANy place that requires you to give money to see "full details" is a ripoff.

[Oddball]

try www.foxroach.com you get details including address by registering for free.

[dz]

Ya I figured it was a scam. Anything that seems too good to be true usually is.

This whole getting a house thing is a huge undertaking. I think I've got control of things, but the more I find out the more I realize I have no idea what I'm doing. I called this company about a house they're selling, and now all of a sudden this lady seems to be my mortgage lady.

Tooo much stress. I just want to find a house, give someone a check and get the keys. I wish it was that easy

[Untamed]

Originally Posted by dz

Ya I figured it was a scam. Â*Anything that seems too good to be true usually is.

This whole getting a house thing is a huge undertaking. Â*I think I've got control of things, but the more I find out the more I realize I have no idea what I'm doing. Â*I called this company about a house they're selling, and now all of a sudden this lady seems to be my mortgage lady.

Tooo much stress. Â*I just want to find a house, give someone a check and get the keys. Â*I wish it was that easy

No such animal. First you'll look at dozens, maybe hundreds, of houses trying to decide what towns you want to concentrate on. Then while you're getting your finances squared away (which is a war in itself) you'll narrow down what you like in a house, train your real estate agent to find the right stuff WITHIN the price range, then begin the viewings / open houses. You'll drive all over the state, walk through dozens of houses, not really find the perfect place and decide that you'll have to settle for "good enough" afterall because "perfect" is just too far out of the price range.

Eventually you'll narrow your choice down to three, find out that all three had four-way bidding wars going on, with at least one of them pushing the price to the asking amount or just above, making you feel even more discouraged. Sooner or later, the apartment or townhouse you are in will look better and better.

After a few offers, two or three accepted but fall through, you'll eventually get an offer accepted then begin the process of home inspections, mortgages (which you were already pre-approved for but must now finalize with the current rate), insurance companies, and so on, forgetting that your commute is now twenty minutes further away and down a major highway where traffic is a bitch. The paperwork will start and stop off and on, the previous owners will put pressure on the real estate agents to close ASAP because they need the money for their new house, the real estate agents will be off somewhere else, and your lawyer will only have time between 2:15 and 2:30 to meet with you to review the paperwork - and I havent even gotten to closing yet!!!

Dont even dream about a quick and easy process. Roll up your sleeves, clear your calander of anything fun and not dealing directly with the house, and just do it. Took my wife and I about 8 months from starting the process of looking to closing.

Good luck!

[12secondv6]

<--- just went through this.

If you would like, I can pass your info on to my realtor. He has a 2002 Firehawk w/ nitrous

Give me price range, area, requirements...... or just a phone #/ name will sufice.


He primarily works up in north jersey.... I was happy w/ dealing w/ him (I'm also an usher in his wedding )

[jims69camaro]

i know this is difficult, but your best bet is to find a motivated seller. his motivation may vary: divorce, bankruptcy, foreclosure, wants to sell before foreclosure (he knows he can't make his monthly nut anymore), etc.

how do you find someone like this? get out there. follow any and all leads. the amount of work you do will equal the amount of discount you can get off of fair market value. we bought our house from a third party (receivership, i think they call it - they had been renting to us for over a year). by making an offer $20,000 below what the third party was asking, we ended up in a slight fixer-upper (i had already done so much to make it easier for us to live in: spackle and paint, new sinks and faucets, etc. - all small stuff) that had a fair market value of $90,000 for $73,000. we walked away with a house that had a new hot water heater and furnace, new vinyl siding for almost $30k below FMV (we put the roof on five years later for $3000). financing was no problem because of my wife's stellar credit although we did bite it on the interest rate. when we refi'd two years later we dropped 6 points.

cliff's notes: find a motivated seller. you can walk away with a steal.

[JL8Jeff]

If you're going to go through an agent, find someone you don't mind dealing with and who won't bug the living crap out of you every time something comes on the market. I went through my friend's sister and she actually listened to what my criteria was for finding a house. After looking through several in the price range, you start to realize more things you want/don't want so you can have them alter their thinking as well. Lastly, if you can get your hands on the county MLS book like we did, it's a lot easier to look through at your own pace. We found a house in the town we wanted in a location we like and it was at the very top end of what we could afford. But we were able to work it out. Today it's easier to just go to www.realtor.com and search the zip codes you want to look in. But in order to view a house, you usually need to go through a realtor anyway.

[dz]

Awesome, a lot of great advice.

Ya right now I'm browsing through realtor.com and also having the realtor lady send me listings. She keeps sending me crap I don't like and I keep telling her I want a goddamn garage, but she doesn't listen. She keeps saying "oh this is perrfect for you". Lousy goddamn lady.

Right now I'm looking mainly in south jersey area since that's closest to my work. I work in Mount Laurel, but you have to sell your first born child to be able to afford living there. I figured if I can get to within a 20-30 minute commute I'll be happy. I'm currently at 20 minutes and I have no problem with that (Glassboro area).

Anyways, thanks for all the great help. I guess I'll just have to be patient with this whole process.

12secondv6: If he doesn't mind working in South Jersey, I'd have no problem using him. My name is 'Roy El-Rayes' and my phone number is '(484)794-0502'. Feel free to pass my info along if he doesn't mind helping me look for houses down here. Anyone is better than the lady I have now. Thanks

[Ian]

Originally Posted by dz

She keeps sending me crap I don't like and I keep telling her I want a goddamn garage, but she doesn't listen. Â*She keeps saying "oh this is perrfect for you". Â*Lousy goddamn lady.

sorry, I just started cracking up when I read this!