(WooHoo - Rod's first Blog post EVER!!!!)
So...trying to find a house in Iowa... It's not as easy as we thought it would be. We thought we could find a house almost like our house in Mendon, UT (minus the incredible view of the Wellsvilles from the front door, of course) and live happily ever after.
Then we found out that Iowa is up there on the list of states hardest hit by the housing crisis...
Then we found that in our price range there are exactly 4 floor plans in existance in Iowa... maybe only 3. The last 2 layouts are pretty similar...
Then we finally found what we thought might be "the" house. It is nice. It is a ranch, lots of bedrooms, a nice sized lot, quiet neighborhood. Good price too.
Sharon wanted it so bad all of her teeth were a achin'. I was having trouble committing to it. Then we found out it had a pending offer. Against my reservations we slipped in an offer...and it was accepted!! I didn't expect that one. Everything was looking good, then reality hit:
Taxes in Iowa, specially Des Miones, are NOT cheap! The mortgage alone, we could afford. - even with the PMI and insurance. With taxes, we could not aford it. Close to $450/mo in taxes can seriously increase the size of a monthly payment... =(
Long story short: We had to walk, lost our ernest money and we're none too happy about it.
Lesson learned...I hope.
So we keep looking. We've managed to make it about 2/3 of the way around Des Moines checking out the local communities: Ankeny, Granger, Grimes, Adel, Waukee, Urbandale, West Des Moines and now we are to Winterset, Norwalk and Indianola.
We did find another house out in Winterset (birthplace of John Wayne).
This house was a foreclosure and at a very low price. Automatically the warning flags went up. Still, we gave it shot and did a drive-by. The house looked good. It is new (2005) and in a good neighborhood. We decided to schedule a showing.
We have a great agent: she understands what we want, she finds things close to what we want, she does her research, we trust her. She called the seller's agent and got the reply "the house is in good shape - it needs some carpet and paint, but it is in good shape".
GREAT! We were excited to see the house. We saw the house. We were incredibily disappointed, even saddened. We are now seriously considering just trying to build something in Iowa... =/
Let me explain:
We went to the house and went inside. It was damp and musty smelling. The house has been vacant, winterized and sealed up since at least April 1st, so that wasn't a surprise. There was a paper tacked to the wall that every person who enters the house has to fill out. It includes the reason and the condition of the house at the time of the visit. A lot of people had been to see the house and they all said the house was in good shape. That seemed like a good sign.
The house needs some work, but at the price we would pay we could afford to do anything we wanted to the house. Things were going well. Then we went downstairs.
At first I couldn't figure out why the previous owner had splashed black paint on the walls. Then I turned on the light and started to pay attention to my nose. The house had flooded up to about 4' of water in the basement. It also appears the water was just allowed to naturally drain from the house. All the walls up to the 4' mark were black with mold. The rest of the walls and ceiling were not too far behind...the smell was incredible...Incredibile that you couldn't smell it until you were actually in the basement.
Now we know why that house has not sold. It will never sell at any price in that condition. It has to be gutted. The basement is gone. The main floor is obviously not far behind. Who knows how far up the walls it has gone...
The absolute worst part of this was that there was no indication, no disclosure and no forthcoming honesty from the sellers agent that this house had flooded, let alone the mold damage. The seller blatantly hid the fact that that the house had extensive damage. The seller agent made it seem like the house was basically OK. The listing and the paper on the wall in the house said nothing of the problems.
That paper has an honest assestment of the house now! ;-)
So...now I can see why Iowa has been hit so hard by the housing crisis. The lack of regulation, laws and oversight is quite scary. We're not sure what to expect with any home we now view. Our poor agent was beside herself with shock. She normally deals in high-end homes, so our price range is a new experience for her, I think.
I'm back to the drawing board (literally) to see what we can build for what we can afford. We've been given the name of a good custom builder - TS Construction - by a member of the stake presidency, and the builder seems good. He's a certified Master Builder and consistantly wins the Iowa Homebuilder of the Year award. He says that he'll build in any price range, so we may be pursuing that.
There is another house in Winterset that may fit. And it is not a foreclosure...
The hunt continues!!
So...trying to find a house in Iowa... It's not as easy as we thought it would be. We thought we could find a house almost like our house in Mendon, UT (minus the incredible view of the Wellsvilles from the front door, of course) and live happily ever after.
Then we found out that Iowa is up there on the list of states hardest hit by the housing crisis...
Then we found that in our price range there are exactly 4 floor plans in existance in Iowa... maybe only 3. The last 2 layouts are pretty similar...
Then we finally found what we thought might be "the" house. It is nice. It is a ranch, lots of bedrooms, a nice sized lot, quiet neighborhood. Good price too.
Sharon wanted it so bad all of her teeth were a achin'. I was having trouble committing to it. Then we found out it had a pending offer. Against my reservations we slipped in an offer...and it was accepted!! I didn't expect that one. Everything was looking good, then reality hit:
Taxes in Iowa, specially Des Miones, are NOT cheap! The mortgage alone, we could afford. - even with the PMI and insurance. With taxes, we could not aford it. Close to $450/mo in taxes can seriously increase the size of a monthly payment... =(
Long story short: We had to walk, lost our ernest money and we're none too happy about it.
Lesson learned...I hope.
So we keep looking. We've managed to make it about 2/3 of the way around Des Moines checking out the local communities: Ankeny, Granger, Grimes, Adel, Waukee, Urbandale, West Des Moines and now we are to Winterset, Norwalk and Indianola.
We did find another house out in Winterset (birthplace of John Wayne).
This house was a foreclosure and at a very low price. Automatically the warning flags went up. Still, we gave it shot and did a drive-by. The house looked good. It is new (2005) and in a good neighborhood. We decided to schedule a showing.
We have a great agent: she understands what we want, she finds things close to what we want, she does her research, we trust her. She called the seller's agent and got the reply "the house is in good shape - it needs some carpet and paint, but it is in good shape".
GREAT! We were excited to see the house. We saw the house. We were incredibily disappointed, even saddened. We are now seriously considering just trying to build something in Iowa... =/
Let me explain:
We went to the house and went inside. It was damp and musty smelling. The house has been vacant, winterized and sealed up since at least April 1st, so that wasn't a surprise. There was a paper tacked to the wall that every person who enters the house has to fill out. It includes the reason and the condition of the house at the time of the visit. A lot of people had been to see the house and they all said the house was in good shape. That seemed like a good sign.
The house needs some work, but at the price we would pay we could afford to do anything we wanted to the house. Things were going well. Then we went downstairs.
At first I couldn't figure out why the previous owner had splashed black paint on the walls. Then I turned on the light and started to pay attention to my nose. The house had flooded up to about 4' of water in the basement. It also appears the water was just allowed to naturally drain from the house. All the walls up to the 4' mark were black with mold. The rest of the walls and ceiling were not too far behind...the smell was incredible...Incredibile that you couldn't smell it until you were actually in the basement.
Now we know why that house has not sold. It will never sell at any price in that condition. It has to be gutted. The basement is gone. The main floor is obviously not far behind. Who knows how far up the walls it has gone...
The absolute worst part of this was that there was no indication, no disclosure and no forthcoming honesty from the sellers agent that this house had flooded, let alone the mold damage. The seller blatantly hid the fact that that the house had extensive damage. The seller agent made it seem like the house was basically OK. The listing and the paper on the wall in the house said nothing of the problems.
That paper has an honest assestment of the house now! ;-)
So...now I can see why Iowa has been hit so hard by the housing crisis. The lack of regulation, laws and oversight is quite scary. We're not sure what to expect with any home we now view. Our poor agent was beside herself with shock. She normally deals in high-end homes, so our price range is a new experience for her, I think.
I'm back to the drawing board (literally) to see what we can build for what we can afford. We've been given the name of a good custom builder - TS Construction - by a member of the stake presidency, and the builder seems good. He's a certified Master Builder and consistantly wins the Iowa Homebuilder of the Year award. He says that he'll build in any price range, so we may be pursuing that.
There is another house in Winterset that may fit. And it is not a foreclosure...
The hunt continues!!
Comments
~Rod