We were actually able to get an appointment with a realtor, on fairly short notice, to see a couple of properties in Bucks county today — a five acre horse farm, and a center hall colonial on a couple of mostly-wooded acres.
The house itself on the five acre horse farm was really cute, and in good repair, but a little smaller than the one I currently own. It has its issues. I didn’t mind the enclosed hot tub out on the deck, but the swimming pool could be a potential liability. After the owners moved to FL, the pool was never drained before winter hit, so it could have structural damage, that wouldn’t show up until Spring. Plus, pools are expensive to maintain. The barn’s a bit creaky, and the fences around the paddock, pasture, and riding ring could use some repair. The street against which it backs up gets a fair amount of traffic, although it wasn’t noticeably noisy.
The other house was bigger, and with a finished basement, had what seemed like significantly more more living space. We’d certainly have room for the bumper pool and ping-pong tables that have been sitting unused in my parents’ basement for a good 25 years. It’s on a very quiet cul-de-sac, and there’s no homeowner’s association to impose draconian by-laws or monthly maintenace fees.
Most of the back yard is wooded, so mowing the lawn really wouldn’t be such a chore, although I wish it was a little less wooded, making more room for a vegetable garden. The upside is that restrictions to cutting down trees out there are pretty much limited to “no major clearcutting, but otherwise, permits aren’t required.”
The realtor seemed to have a good grip on the current state of the market, which is very similar to what it’s like around here. Neither of us got the feeling she was bullshitting us. Both of these properties have been on the market for around nine months, both have been price-reduced at least once, and both are vacant.
It’s the horse farm owner I really feel sorry for. The guy lost his job, and the place is under foreclosure, with two banks involved. It’s unclear what the situation is with the other property (the realtor we were dealing with wasn’t the listing agent for it), but it’s not under foreclosure.
This place will take time to sell, no question, and it needs new carpeting/interior paint before I would dare even put it on the market. But, when it does finally sell, I expect the sale price to cover, if not exceed, the purchase price of what we saw today.
We made it fairly clear that neither one of us is a first time homebuyer. Certainly, we made no indication of how we intend to finance the place, but I’m inclined to just pay cash and recoup the cost when this place sells. Besides, in a downmarket, if there’s no mortgage contingency, or clause about having to first sell your current residence, a lowball offer that won’t fall through, and can close quickly, is more likely to be accepted than one with those sort of strings attached.
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