First House?

[Reaper]

I am about to start the process of putting in an offer on a very nice elegant house in Ypsilanti Twp, south of Ford Lake in a very upscale neighborhood. This is the type of opportunity and area I have been waiting for. You can see the property here on this link.

I checked the place out with the realtor earlier today along with 2 others. Inside has a tall cathedral entry way with a chandelier, huge rooms, and a family room on the second floor which overlooks the living room on the first floor. It IS big for being my first house, but its also a HUGE investment opportunity at a price I can afford. The last owner purchased the property for $234,000 and its currently down to $154,900, in which we are shooting for $140,000 with 3% sellers concessions. The owner owed $210,000 on it before it foreclosed. Can you imagine the potential if things improve? I mean, they eventually have to and I plan on being in the property for some time, esp to see through my investment. Its practically my dreamhome and I am stoked to see what happens as I have been looking for about 2 years now.

Btw, this area has a lot of houses for sale as well as some foreclosures as I think it was an area full of Ford workers from the plant in Ypsi until I went down. The area boomed and was built in the 90s and has running/biking trails around Ford Lake and is a very nice area. If everything goes well, I am gonna have a nice sized party when the warm weather gets here. You think the last one me and Daevion had at this apartment was a good size? Just wait

[SuZQZ]

Damn, that's a really nice house! How exciting! Good luck. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[Msterbeau]

Excellent.

[Destroit]

Holy shit, good job, a house, especially a nice one like that is quite the upgrade from an apartment. Good job

[hunhee]

wow, that is a good deal.. congrats! I'm glad things are going well for you

[Rayne]

Congrats Reaper!

Just don't forget about those astronomical Ypsilanti taxes of doom.

However, you may be in the Charter Township, Which is way better than the City of Ypsilanti with the taxes.

[Reaper]

Congrats Reaper!

Just don't forget about those astronomical Ypsilanti taxes of doom.

However, you may be in the Charter Township, Which is way better than the City of Ypsilanti with the taxes.

The realtor told me about going to the Michigan Tax Tribunal, which is a court that deals with taxes both of property and nonproperty. All I have to do to plead my case of lowering the taxes is show what I paid on the house compared to what it was bought at last, and a few other houses in the area that have lost either value or were bought much less. Then they consider it and lower it from there. The $5,000 in taxes were assessed on the $234,000 value at the time. I figure that if it lowers to where it should be, I could be paying a third less than 5,000 which would be an immense relief.

[sass_in_the_pants]

Good for you!

The market is ripe for buyers - glad you're on the right end of this equation!!

[Fierce Critter]

Good luck.

And I want to warn you. Cathedral ceilings? Be prepared for MASSIVE heating bills in the winter.

Seriously. It can be a budget hell.

[Rayne]

The realtor told me about going to the Michigan Tax Tribunal, which is a court that deals with taxes both of property and nonproperty. All I have to do to plead my case of lowering the taxes is show what I paid on the house compared to what it was bought at last, and a few other houses in the area that have lost either value or were bought much less. Then they consider it and lower it from there. The $5,000 in taxes were assessed on the $234,000 value at the time. I figure that if it lowers to where it should be, I could be paying a third less than 5,000 which would be an immense relief.

Everyone has told us that, but blah - no one has helped. You can try ... but we have had absolutely no luck with that. Even loan officers, financial consultants and our tax preparer's have tried to help us with our taxes, because they are WAYYYY too high.

Over 1/2 of our monthly loan payment goes towards escrow. It's HORRIBLE, we pay over $5000 a year. What's worse is that we are RIGHT on the edge of the City. One more street over, we'd be in the Charter Township, where taxes are cheaper (Not THAT much cheaper, but cheaper none-the-less).

[Homicidalheathen]

Its a buyers market out there right now.....good luck!

[Winter Steele]

The realtor told me about going to the Michigan Tax Tribunal, which is a court that deals with taxes both of property and nonproperty. All I have to do to plead my case of lowering the taxes is show what I paid on the house compared to what it was bought at last, and a few other houses in the area that have lost either value or were bought much less. Then they consider it and lower it from there. The $5,000 in taxes were assessed on the $234,000 value at the time. I figure that if it lowers to where it should be, I could be paying a third less than 5,000 which would be an immense relief.

I used to be a real Estate agent and you could go on the net and price compare to prove the loss print them out for the tribunal. This is my best advice to you. If you do the research it might prove your case. I am not a lawyer or anything but was licensed form 1995 to 2002. Start with the same squarefoogtage or approximate LIke if the house was built in 1979 you could do 1975-1981 if sq. ft. is 1555 then use 1500-1600 if sq ft is < the number add some > subtract some. If you need help you can always e-mail me. lorenzangela@gmail.com

[Rayne]

I used to be a real Estate agent and you could go on the net and price compare to prove the loss print them out for the tribunal. This is my best advice to you. If you do the research it might prove your case. I am not a lawyer or anything but was licensed form 1995 to 2002. Start with the same squarefoogtage or approximate LIke if the house was built in 1979 you could do 1975-1981 if sq. ft. is 1555 then use 1500-1600 if sq ft is < the number add some > subtract some. If you need help you can always e-mail me. lorenzangela@gmail.com

That's probably most of our problem. Our house is very large compared to the neighbourhood houses. Most of them are ranches around here. Ours is a two level with a large addition on the back, originally built in 1908, addition put on in 2002. The only houses with comparable square footage are on the other side of Prospect (not considered our neighbourhood), downtown, where the taxes are even higher -- and the houses are mostly historic.

I did just look up our tax info with the City, out of curiosity ... and they have our sketch of our house wrong. It shows two additions. We only have one. Our square footage is probably off ... I need to look into it.

[Reaper]

I used to be a real Estate agent and you could go on the net and price compare to prove the loss print them out for the tribunal. This is my best advice to you. If you do the research it might prove your case. I am not a lawyer or anything but was licensed form 1995 to 2002. Start with the same squarefoogtage or approximate LIke if the house was built in 1979 you could do 1975-1981 if sq. ft. is 1555 then use 1500-1600 if sq ft is < the number add some > subtract some. If you need help you can always e-mail me. lorenzangela@gmail.com

Yeah, that is exactly what my realtor told me at the time yesterday. He said he can compile a list of other houses in the area for me to help my case when I go to the tribunal. And because I have no money to help with closing costs, they have to up my interest a bit to help pay for it. It will go up a quarter to half a point to do it, but I don't want to miss out on this one, even if my payment is going to be $1500 a month. Considering the type and size of the house, I think its worth it. I signed the paperwork for my very first offer at $135,000 with 3% sellers concessions, and asking to have them pay for one year of warranty. Its asking a lot and I am sure it will be countered, as that is the plan. But we are trying to land it on the $140,000 mark. I DO have more time if I wanted to save up for some downpayment, but it would only save me $50 a month or so. Plenty of houses but from what I have seen so far, this is the best value for the money and its in a great subdivision. So much thought.

[TygerLili]

Nice house! *Sends good vibes your way*

[Kit Kat P]

Good luck =). My brother just bought a house here in CA and I wish I could do the same. It rocks for all those that are able to get in while it's good.

[Reaper]

Well, its official. The bank accepted our offer for $148,000 with 3% sellers concessions. So basically I believe I am paying around $143,000 for it but I will make sure. There is a lot of questions and paperwork to go through all pending after an inspection. I am calling a friend to see if he wants to rent out a room/part of the house to help pad the hurt in the beginning. Daevion and I have to continue paying the rent on this apartment until another renter replaces us. That is the stipulation on breaking the lease. So if anyone is interested in a nice roomy 2 bedroom 2 bath separated by a large living room, please contact me. I don't know if the price will be different but we pay $880 a month, which is $440 a piece.

Also, I may end up looking for a second renter to be at the house for $400 a month plus 1/3 of the utilities. That is really cheap but between two other people renting from me, it would help out the shock of the payment as well as any rent that has to still be paid to this current landlord while its vacated. The house is located in Ypsilanti Twp just south of Ford Lake near US-23 and I-94. Anyone interested IM me.

[Winter Steele]

I am so happy for you ! Good luck !

[Reaper]

I am so happy for you ! Good luck !

Thanks! Its weird being excited but nervous at the same time. Kinda like asking a woman out on a date for the first time heh.

[Homicidalheathen]

I want to see a picture of it when you move in ok?

[Kit Kat P]

Congratulations, that's wonderful. And just in time for xmas.

[Reaper]

I want to see a picture of it when you move in ok?

Yeah, there are a couple on the main link on the original post, but I need to take more on the inside of the place. I would say that this is my New Years Resolution that already happened, so the next resolution would be to be able to hold onto this place. :D

[Head Wreck]

good luck mate. hope it all goes well

[pomba gira]

Wonderful sweetie! Hope you have better luck than I have with the homeowner thing. Altho I guess it hasn't been THAT bad since the mortgage co. cut me a deal, HUD is gonna cover the defaulted amount since May, and I get to keep my little cozy cottage of carnality.

But I STILL can't really afford it.

[Reaper]

Well, financing fell thru due to the excessive property taxes. Being that I don't know if I could get rid of this apartment in a timely manner among a couple of other issues, I decided to wait it out til April or so again. There will be plenty of good deals still out there around then, and maybe then the new interest rate cut will be effective then.