single mom of two wanting to buy a house - help!

Hi, I was hoping to get some advice out there. I am a single mom of two
children in Northeastern Kentucky. I have been approved for a mortgage
and have been looking at houses. I have not been impressed. However I
did find a house that has a lot of potential. The problem is that when I
entered the home it smelled like 15 cats had been turned loose and
urinated and defacated all over the place. The upstairs "kitchen" does
not have a sink. However the basement is finished and has a sink; not too
convenient. The owners have abandoned the house, but left a lot of their
belongings behind in boxes plus there is garbage everywhere. A couple of
guys I work with looked at the house and said that all of the flooring has
to be taken up, enzymes sprayed to eliminate the odor and new flooring
installed. The total square footage is 2600 (including basement). The
owners had bought new windows and left them there but I still have to pay
someone to install them. The house is listed at $ 79,900 and the assessed
value according to the Sherriff's dept. is $ 64,500. The house has a lot
of potential and would be a good home for us if I can buy it right. Does
anyone have any suggestions as to how much I should offer, knowing what
all has to be done? I am nervous about the whole home buying process and
would appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you so much!

Re: single mom of two wanting to buy a house - help!

In article
<>,
"momof2" <> wrote:

> did find a house that has a lot of potential. The problem is that when I
> entered the home it smelled like 15 cats had been turned loose and
> urinated and defacated all over the place.

Walk. You don't want to risk having one of your two kids
getting allergic reactions or developing asthma over this
odor problem. If it isn't animals, it is mold. The only
real option is to burn the place.

Have you considered buying a repo single wide or double
wide home? You could probably pick up something nice in
the $22,500 to $24,500 range. That would net you payments
of less than $250 on a 15 year plan.

-john-

--
============================================================ ==========
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications
============================================================ ==========

Re: single mom of two wanting to buy a house - help!

You may want to ask a friendly realtor in your area. A local agent that
knows the neighborhood and has a feel for market value, can help. Regarding
the assessed value, it may or may not be meaningful depending on whether the
property tax is assessed based on current market value which I doubt.



"momof2" <> wrote in message
news:
> Hi, I was hoping to get some advice out there. I am a single mom of two
> children in Northeastern Kentucky. I have been approved for a mortgage
> and have been looking at houses. I have not been impressed. However I
> did find a house that has a lot of potential. The problem is that when I
> entered the home it smelled like 15 cats had been turned loose and
> urinated and defacated all over the place. The upstairs "kitchen" does
> not have a sink. However the basement is finished and has a sink; not too
> convenient. The owners have abandoned the house, but left a lot of their
> belongings behind in boxes plus there is garbage everywhere. A couple of
> guys I work with looked at the house and said that all of the flooring has
> to be taken up, enzymes sprayed to eliminate the odor and new flooring
> installed. The total square footage is 2600 (including basement). The
> owners had bought new windows and left them there but I still have to pay
> someone to install them. The house is listed at $ 79,900 and the assessed
> value according to the Sherriff's dept. is $ 64,500. The house has a lot
> of potential and would be a good home for us if I can buy it right. Does
> anyone have any suggestions as to how much I should offer, knowing what
> all has to be done? I am nervous about the whole home buying process and
> would appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you so much!
>

Re: single mom of two wanting to buy a house - help!

Hi there,

I have a pretty big house in Covington KY that I am just dying to get rid
of. It is a 3 br 2 bath. We bought it with family looking to rehab it and
flip, but everyone knows you should never mix family with money, and so as a
result it is 95% rehabbed and we're left holding the bill. I'd say it needs
about $7000 put into it and it would ready to move in.
We gutted the house completely, put up all new drywall, all new windows, new
siding, new furnace, replaced the hotwater heater, added central air,
converted a quarter bath to a full bath.
Right now its not listed with an agent since we were hoping to shop it
around to some investors who might like to turn it into a rental.
We would like to get @69,000 for it since that is our break-even. If anyone
is interested in it as a rental, the rents in the area run @700/mo. I can
also post pictures if anyone has any interest.

Thanks,

JC

"momof2" <> wrote in message
news:
> Hi, I was hoping to get some advice out there. I am a single mom of two
> children in Northeastern Kentucky. I have been approved for a mortgage
> and have been looking at houses. I have not been impressed. However I
> did find a house that has a lot of potential. The problem is that when I
> entered the home it smelled like 15 cats had been turned loose and
> urinated and defacated all over the place. The upstairs "kitchen" does
> not have a sink. However the basement is finished and has a sink; not too
> convenient. The owners have abandoned the house, but left a lot of their
> belongings behind in boxes plus there is garbage everywhere. A couple of
> guys I work with looked at the house and said that all of the flooring has
> to be taken up, enzymes sprayed to eliminate the odor and new flooring
> installed. The total square footage is 2600 (including basement). The
> owners had bought new windows and left them there but I still have to pay
> someone to install them. The house is listed at $ 79,900 and the assessed
> value according to the Sherriff's dept. is $ 64,500. The house has a lot
> of potential and would be a good home for us if I can buy it right. Does
> anyone have any suggestions as to how much I should offer, knowing what
> all has to be done? I am nervous about the whole home buying process and
> would appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you so much!
>

Re: single mom of two wanting to buy a house - help!

Hi there,

I have a pretty big house in Covington KY that I am just dying to get rid
of. It is a 3 br 2 bath. We bought it with family looking to rehab it and
flip, but everyone knows you should never mix family with money, and so as a
result it is 95% rehabbed and we're left holding the bill. I'd say it needs
about $7000 put into it and it would ready to move in.
We gutted the house completely, put up all new drywall, all new windows, new
siding, new furnace, replaced the hotwater heater, added central air,
converted a quarter bath to a full bath.
Right now its not listed with an agent since we were hoping to shop it
around to some investors who might like to turn it into a rental.
We would like to get @69,000 for it since that is our break-even. If anyone
is interested in it as a rental, the rents in the area run @700/mo. I can
also post pictures if anyone has any interest.

Thanks,

JC
(sorry if this message appears twice. I'm still trying to figure out my news
reader)

"momof2" <> wrote in message
news:
> Hi, I was hoping to get some advice out there. I am a single mom of two
> children in Northeastern Kentucky. I have been approved for a mortgage
> and have been looking at houses. I have not been impressed. However I
> did find a house that has a lot of potential. The problem is that when I
> entered the home it smelled like 15 cats had been turned loose and
> urinated and defacated all over the place. The upstairs "kitchen" does
> not have a sink. However the basement is finished and has a sink; not too
> convenient. The owners have abandoned the house, but left a lot of their
> belongings behind in boxes plus there is garbage everywhere. A couple of
> guys I work with looked at the house and said that all of the flooring has
> to be taken up, enzymes sprayed to eliminate the odor and new flooring
> installed. The total square footage is 2600 (including basement). The
> owners had bought new windows and left them there but I still have to pay
> someone to install them. The house is listed at $ 79,900 and the assessed
> value according to the Sherriff's dept. is $ 64,500. The house has a lot
> of potential and would be a good home for us if I can buy it right. Does
> anyone have any suggestions as to how much I should offer, knowing what
> all has to be done? I am nervous about the whole home buying process and
> would appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you so much!
>

Re: single mom of two wanting to buy a house - help!

momof2 wrote:
> Hi, I was hoping to get some advice out there. I am a single mom of two
> children in Northeastern Kentucky. I have been approved for a mortgage
> and have been looking at houses. I have not been impressed. However I
> did find a house that has a lot of potential. The problem is that when I
> entered the home it smelled like 15 cats had been turned loose and
> urinated and defacated all over the place. The upstairs "kitchen" does
> not have a sink. However the basement is finished and has a sink; not too
> convenient. The owners have abandoned the house, but left a lot of their
> belongings behind in boxes plus there is garbage everywhere. A couple of
> guys I work with looked at the house and said that all of the flooring has
> to be taken up, enzymes sprayed to eliminate the odor and new flooring
> installed. The total square footage is 2600 (including basement). The
> owners had bought new windows and left them there but I still have to pay
> someone to install them. The house is listed at $ 79,900 and the assessed
> value according to the Sherriff's dept. is $ 64,500. The house has a lot
> of potential and would be a good home for us if I can buy it right. Does
> anyone have any suggestions as to how much I should offer, knowing what
> all has to be done? I am nervous about the whole home buying process and
> would appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you so much!

The assessed value should be verified from the tax assessor's office
not the sheriff's office. Regardless, the assessed value can not be
relied upon. Sometimes the assessment is higher than the actual market
value.

For instance, check the assessed value of houses in your city that are
scheduled for demolition for being in an uninhabitable condition.
You'll see they're way overvalued.

Find a realtor who will provide all of the recent sales in that zip
code between $50,000 and $100,000 as a courtesy. You either have to
drive by and look at them or get an appraisal. There's no getting
around your homework.

Since this sounds like a "problem" property for the owner, discount
your offer 10 - 20% from the true market value.

How many times have you heard that renovation always, always, always,
cost more than you anticipated? Don't get emotionally attached to the
house, keep your analysis restricted to numbers.

For what it's worth,

MD