Bidding war on houses

[Wiggity]

My wife and I were looking at moving to Montana or Idaho as we just couldn’t afford to compete for a house out here. It sucked because we both grew up here. But then my best friend hit me up and was like “Hey my mom is thinking about selling her house. She’ll sell it to you off the market if I can rent the basement for a while.” Got the house off market for under appraisal value plus we’re renting out the finished basement which is paying half the mortgage. Got incredibly lucky. Couldn’t have worked out better for us.

That said, it’s all supply and demand. As long as people are moving here faster than houses can be built, prices will rise. Once equilibrium is reached, they’ll level out. It’s fairly impossible to tell exactly when that will happen, but I’m guessing they’ll continue to rise for at least the next 5 years.


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[Martinjmpr]

We're looking at NE Oklahoma. Biggest reasons: Oklahoma is what Texas likes to claim to be (and once was a few decades ago until the bugs that are Austin and Houston infected the state), CHEAP land in comparison to here, job availability is good, cost of living is good, population is not looking at a huge boom, water is good (CO is screwed on this), politically very sane. A lot of other places have a few of these factors but not all.

CO has a better density rating than OK, but a lot of that open land is unreachable or so out in the boonies that one would either need to be independently wealthy or have a unique job position. And then one is still stuck with the political insanity coming out of Denver and Boulder. Did I mention the water issue?

Whereabouts in NE OK? My mother came from a small town in NE OK, called Barndsall in Osage County. Although I was born in Germany my earliest memories are of Barnsdall in the mid 1960's.

The Osage hills are gorgeous, but just know that it's hot, humid and buggy in the Summer (if you've ever experienced chiggers, you'll know what I mean.) On the plus side, good hunting and fishing, dirt cheap to live there.

Wife and I went back there in 2014. The area is pretty economically depressed, except for Bartlesville (HQ of Phillips Petroleum.) My sister was born in the county seat, Pawhuska, and when we went to Pawhuska it was like a ghost town - virtually all the downtown buildings were empty and some even had collapsed roofs.

For a retiree it's probably OK (which explains why the average age in Barnsdall seems to be well north of 50) but for anyone who has to earn a living it's tough going - most of them flee to the big cities once they finish high school

I think Tulsa is doing pretty well, being a big enough city to be self sustaining but a lot of the small towns seem to teeter on the brink of a boom-and-bust cycle.

[Great-Kazoo]

Whereabouts in NE OK? My mother came from a small town in NE OK, called Barndsall in Osage County. Although I was born in Germany my earliest memories are of Barnsdall in the mid 1960's.

The Osage hills are gorgeous, but just know that it's hot, humid and buggy in the Summer (if you've ever experienced chiggers, you'll know what I mean.) On the plus side, good hunting and fishing, dirt cheap to live there.

Wife and I went back there in 2014. The area is pretty economically depressed, except for Bartlesville (HQ of Phillips Petroleum.) My sister was born in the county seat, Pawhuska, and when we went to Pawhuska it was like a ghost town - virtually all the downtown buildings were empty and some even had collapsed roofs.

For a retiree it's probably OK (which explains why the average age in Barnsdall seems to be well north of 50) but for anyone who has to earn a living it's tough going - most of them flee to the big cities once they finish high school

I think Tulsa is doing pretty well, being a big enough city to be self sustaining but a lot of the small towns seem to teeter on the brink of a boom-and-bust cycle.

You forgot the fire ants, ticks and Tornadoes. Then there's the big as ping pong ball june bugs.

[CS1983]

Whereabouts in NE OK? My mother came from a small town in NE OK, called Barndsall in Osage County. Although I was born in Germany my earliest memories are of Barnsdall in the mid 1960's.

The Osage hills are gorgeous, but just know that it's hot, humid and buggy in the Summer (if you've ever experienced chiggers, you'll know what I mean.) On the plus side, good hunting and fishing, dirt cheap to live there.

Wife and I went back there in 2014. The area is pretty economically depressed, except for Bartlesville (HQ of Phillips Petroleum.) My sister was born in the county seat, Pawhuska, and when we went to Pawhuska it was like a ghost town - virtually all the downtown buildings were empty and some even had collapsed roofs.

For a retiree it's probably OK (which explains why the average age in Barnsdall seems to be well north of 50) but for anyone who has to earn a living it's tough going - most of them flee to the big cities once they finish high school

I think Tulsa is doing pretty well, being a big enough city to be self sustaining but a lot of the small towns seem to teeter on the brink of a boom-and-bust cycle.

Looking at the Bartlesville area, or perhaps south of Tulsa -- depends on where I get an offer and what's available. I'm in contact with some folks in the oil industry out there. One guy works for a company that does pipeline servicing and has never had a layoff. Said the IT market is great out there since the talent pool is so low. The companies to stay away from are the exploration ones, since they boom and bust, and their site servicers for the boom. He also said ohh... what was it, American Airlines? is known as a sweat shop for IT and to stay away if possible.

Since I'm perm-med retired I can still take a paycut and be that much more ahead of my peers each month.

Best situation would be if national level housing busted but Colorado held due to influx. We'd make out like bandits. Not that I *wish* for that, but I'd take advantage if possible.

[CoGirl303]

Going to the bank in 10 days to get pre-qual'd on a house.

I don't anticipate finding what I want will be a fast process in this market.

I have two realtors on standby waiting on my pre-qual paperwork.

I pre-qual'd last year for $248K house.

I just paid off three credit cards and a student loan last month.

I imagine that puts me in the $260,000 - $270,000 range now.

looking north of I-70 preferably.

no Denver, Denver County or Boulder city.

As far east as Byers. As far north as Windsor
Aurora is a last resort.

If anyone knows of a house w/ a 3 bedroom, 2 car garage and basement for sale around or under $275,000 plz let me know. I will pay a $200 finders fee to the person if it checks out and I buy it.


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[Squeeze]

Going to the bank in 10 days to get pre-qual'd on a house.

I don't anticipate finding what I want will be a fast process in this market.

I have two realtors on standby waiting on my pre-qual paperwork.

I pre-qual'd last year for $248K house.

I just paid off three credit cards and a student loan last month.

I imagine that puts me in the $260,000 - $270,000 range now.

looking north of I-70 preferably.

no Denver, Denver County or Boulder city.

As far east as Byers. As far north as Windsor
Aurora is a last resort.

If anyone knows of a house w/ a 3 bedroom, 2 car garage and basement for sale around or under $275,000 plz let me know. I will pay a $200 finders fee to the person if it checks out and I buy it.


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Believe it or not, they are out there. Since I was using VA, many of the homes in the price range you listed didn't qualify for VA without some work first. I saw a few nice homes in the Thornton/Northglenn area that were listed for $275K. The problem you run into with those homes is the POS investors who come in with a cash offer and scoop it away before you can even put a bid on it. If you using an FHA loan you will have a lot more leniency.

[Jer]

If anyone knows of a house w/ a 3 bedroom, 2 car garage and basement for sale around or under $275,000 plz let me know.

Lots of luck with that one. We've been considering downsizing lately and even townhomes/condos seem to open for nearly $100k more than that. I'm not sure a single family home with 2-car garage and basement can be had for $100k more than that these days in this area. It's a sellers market for sure so I know we could make a mint on our house we've been in for 13 years but to buy something around here we'd just give it all back right away.

[CoGirl303]

Believe it or not, they are out there. Since I was using VA, many of the homes in the price range you listed didn't qualify for VA without some work first. I saw a few nice homes in the Thornton/Northglenn area that were listed for $275K. The problem you run into with those homes is the POS investors who come in with a cash offer and scoop it away before you can even put a bid on it. If you using an FHA loan you will have a lot more leniency.

I too am using a VA Home loan guaranty, 1st time buyer. Credit score is on the rise now the credit cards are paid off and that student loan is out of the way. I've started doubling down on my car payment to get it paid off faster. Should be paid off by X-mas.

No idea what an FHA loan is, but regardless its now or never for me to buy a home here in Colorado, unless some miracle happens and the bubble bursts and I'm not gonna hold my breath on that right now. Property values are continuing to rise.


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[Sawin]

I too am using a VA Home loan guaranty, 1st time buyer. Credit score is on the rise now the credit cards are paid off and that student loan is out of the way. I've started doubling down on my car payment to get it paid off faster. Should be paid off by X-mas.

No idea what an FHA loan is, but regardless its now or never for me to buy a home here in Colorado, unless some miracle happens and the bubble bursts and I'm not gonna hold my breath on that right now. Property values are continuing to rise.


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You might want to consider saving the extra car payments and keep it toward the down payment or related costs.

That is, unless your car loan is a high interest rate.

[CoGirl303]

You might want to consider saving the extra car payments and keep it toward the down payment or related costs.

That is, unless your car loan is a high interest rate.

I'm still putting money in savings every paycheck. Have quite a bit of liquid cash after the bils are paid each pay period.

As a first time buyer w/ VA loan a down payment wont be required.

I am however saving for my earnest money when I get to the point where I go under contract.


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