Housebuying newbie question

[PromisedLand]

OK, so we have experienced an exciting thing: our offer was accepted on our dream property!

Some things about this house - it is on 2.5 beautiful acres in Washington, in the mountains. It has been on the market for a couple of months and the sellers were pretty anxious about getting it sold. Our agent believes the main reason it hadn't sold yet was because people's first impression is a really steep driveway, which gives them a negative impression from the get-go. Well, we got past that and saw impressive, majestic view from the front yard, the three natural springs on the property, and just the uniqueness of some of the house features.

The uniqueness is part of what has become an issue. Apparently, though the main house was build in 1952, the present owner did a lot of adding on, and he did it by himself with rather unusual materials. (The balcony is made out of car frames, for example). To us, this is what makes it special - several interior walls are covered in old barn wood, the entrance way is cobblestone, in a few places you can see the logs he used as posts for the additions.

We had an inspection yesterday, and in general it revealed that the house is of pretty sturdy construction, if a bit odd. The only real concern is the need for a new roof. The metal roof needs to come off and all dry rot pulled out and the whole thing replaced. What our agent is doing is writing up an addendum asking the seller to take care of this. Of course I am on pins and needles.

Some people I have talked to think we should back out of the deal because there is too much that could go wrong with such an unconventional house, us being on a shoestring budget with a large family and not knowing a whole lot about DYI (although willing). To me and my husband, what "might" happen in the future is worth getting into this home (it will be our first, after all).

Second, I'm dying to know if these sellers will consider our offer reasonable now. They originally offered the house at 220k, but lowered it to 185, then again to 180. They accepted our offer of 173 the same day we made it.

I wonder if there are too many alarm bells going off here, and then I wonder if I care.

[Rocky Fields]

Hey.

If it's too unconventional, it might be hard to get homeowner's insurance. Mortgage companies want you to have insurance.

[Terri]

If you get ice in the winter, that steep driveway might give you problems.

Then again, NO property is perfect! Enjoy your view!

[travlnusa]

My thought would be that if they accepted your offer, you now own it, unless there is a clause allowing you to back out based in inspection.

If your inspector is not scared off by the house, nor would I.

[ponyboy123]

a home inspection would be money well spent

[kasilofhome]

I am not buying the steep driveway as the reason that it has sat on the market.
Who is the listing agent?
Is the Listing broker the same as yours?
How steep is the driveway?
How long, what type of traffic would you run into IF you lost control going down?
What kind of weather is the worse you can image for for winter and mud season?
Can you rig face the worse weather?
Can you clear it yourself" (your own plow or something?
Note I did buy a place that if I did not work with in a 5 minute walk I would have been stuck going UP the hill on the heavy snow days and ICY days. At purchase time I only thought about the slide down the hill ---I learned the first time Mine and others could not make it up for work. Others were late as they walked to the bus stop.
Not many people are going to fall in love with a house built with car parts. That has got to be a deal buster for many people who have seen it.

Is the home empty for show? Reason being if it is often times there is a place (often a drawer in kit) where outside agents viewing the prop will leave their cards to infor the lister that they are trying to work the place.
When I had a place that did not sell because of some quirk (color or the huge cross built in the living room) I got traffic but no offers and I made sure to pick up the cards every day so as it sat on the market the "Next" person would not see all the cards and think--- "no one out of all these showings have been interested there has to be something wroung with it"
If it is empty go look at it again see if there are any cards in any drawers if there are a lot it could be telling you that the homes resale for the next buyer is going to be hard to unload too.

The sellers just wanted it gone so they normally took the first offer that would not kill them. Some times people have to sell because the get upside down in a deal.
Who selected the inspector? You or were you lead via the agent. If lead and you really want it get a second. It could be a real gem in the rough that everyone is missing out on OR.....

[Westwood]

Acceptance of an offer is one thing, but what will it appraise for? That will be what financing depends on. Are there any comps within a reasonable distance? Did those comps sell within the last 6 months? Is there an acceptable source of heat? There's a lot of data in an appraisal that will determine whether it's acceptable for financing or not.

[tiogacounty]

Several of us have said it many times here. If the home inspector was in any way connected with the realtor, you really need to be careful. IMHO, this conflict of interest should be a crime, but it makes billions for the real estate industry in this country and thus gives them a lot of power to keep the status quo.
We have new neighbors. Like yourselves they are not DIYers in the least, and relied on the realtor to provide a home inspector. The house is 16 years old and the roof in completely shot, and actively leaking. It is visible defective to all but the greenest homeowner, the shingles are curling and the valleys are severely worn. The inspection report described the roof as being in good shape and having a ten year service life remaining. This fraud will cost them at least ten grand and they simply don't have the money. I have encountered several instances like this. I think a lot of realtors know who to rely on in the home inspection business when they really need to make a "pig fly". Don't get too wrapped up in the thought that you are trapped in an agreement of sale. If you discover serious issues with the roof, or any other issues. Walking away isn't nearly as hard as some would lead you to believe. Since it is an odd house and you are new to this, I would make sure that you have an inspection done by a certified, experienced home inspector who does not work for realtors. It may be hard to find one, but we have one in our area, and he is hated by realtors, because he REALLY does his job.

[botebum]

Originally Posted by travlnusa

My thought would be that if they accepted your offer, you now own it, unless there is a clause allowing you to back out based in inspection.

If your inspector is not scared off by the house, nor would I.

Once the home is under contract it is still contingent on many things. Inspections, financing, etc. The contract binds the seller much more than the buyer. If it were only as simple as you say.

Doug

[via media]

You might want to stipulate that the roof work must be done by a professional. If the homeowner is handy and in a hurry to sell, he may slap something together that vaguely resembles a roof (perhaps using car hoods???) and call it a day.

/VM

[madness]

I just bought a house two months ago that needed some repairs. My real estate agent suggested that a "clean offer" was usually the best. What she meant was that instead of having the seller fix the roof, have a contractor(s) come out for a bid and then take that amount out of the selling price. That way you can make sure the roof goes on right (just like via media said!).

If it's your dream home, it's probably worth any extra effort you have to put in - just be sure it is really what you want! That's the way it happened with me. I paid way too much for my house, but I would have done it again in an instant because I can't imagine living anywhere else now!

[Pink_Carnation]

For an unusual house a few months on the market isn't much. If it is western WA a steep driveway you might end up with a river instead of a driveway. Mudslides would be the other thing to look at.

[Wolf mom]

Due to the unusual building materials, what is attractive to you, may not be for the majority of buyers. Just something to remember when you go to sell after putting in big bucks to make it liveable. Please make sure you won't loose $ when you go to sell, or because of the unique building materials, drive way, etc. & it's on the market forever & your life is on hold.

Otherwise, protect yourself with a home inspection. Do what was said: get an independant contractors repair bid, then deduct it from the offering price. That's a clean deal. Hope you can still deal with your contract.

[swollen tongue]

I would steer away from this "deal" entirely. Sounds fishy to me.

[agmantoo]

Is the driveway steep going up or steep going down? Steep down and I would avoid the property as too big of an opportunity for wet problems.

[Tinker]

My sister calls me a "professional home buyer". My dh was military for 28 years, so we have bought & sold about a dozen places. A couple months on the market is not a cause for concern, especially this time of year. I would be seriously concerned about the unconventional building materials. What might be "querky" to you, could really put off others, so unless you plan to live here forever, it might be a hard sell further down the line.

It would probably be worth your while to get a second home inspection. Another plus would be to ask the seller to provide a home warrenty. You could then renew it after a year if you so choose.

The driveway could be a hugh problem, unless you have 4 wheel drive. Even so, you need to decide if it is walkable with a load of groceries if you do get stuck. Is there a place to park at the bottom?

Have you had other family member or friends look at it too? Sometimes an outside opinion can be valuable.

Buying your 1st house is always scarey, but if it has been all checked out, and it "feels" right, then it probably is.

[sullen]

You know my driveway is not steep but I need 4 wheel drive to get out of it 6 months of the year. It ices up solid.

[ThreeJane]

If you're in Eastern Washington, ice could be a problem as well. Unless you have studs and chains, you may not get up your driveway. Case in point - I'm only about 50 miles from Spokane, it's 10 degrees (hit -5 last night) and we're getting snow tonight.