Well that time has come, buy a house.

We got preapproved for quite a bit for us (150K) but we want to stay around 100K for the house so morgage payments are lower and we can pay it off quicker.

But we found a house, in a stellar part of town. But it needs alot of work! Its 129K, but its been listed for 14 days, which in this market is remarkable.

It was built in 1920 and hasn't had any upgrades done. So that means the wiring needs to be upgraded, plumbing redone (if its lead, I don't know what year they switched), and probably the windows redone.

There is no garage, but that is easy to fix since the lot is 75' x 750'!!!! HUGE for this city.

Its in a VERY nice neighborhood. We think that all the nice houses in the area make it look like shit.

Houses in the area built around the same time are selling for 200K+.

So we could probably talk them down in price, and get some "Improvments" on our morgage to fix it up. I know a plumber and an electrician. And I can get a 30x30 garage kit (with a pad layed) for 10K.

Now the idea is, if it were fixed up, it would be a really nice place, in a neighborhood with really ncie houses. Fix it up and sell it could be on the agenda, but we are really busy lately.


The other option is to get an ok house, in a shitty part of the city (gangs, vandals, robberys etc) for around 80K. Pay it off faster, but have to worry about my cars, and computers, and all that jazz.

The biggest motivation for this place is the neighborhood. Its hard to find a ncie one in this city as where ever you go you are close to a ghetto, but not here. This is an older part, with huge lots, lots of trees, privacy, and I can ride a sled right from my yard!! And there is plenty of room to build the garage of my dreams.

Just more than we wanted to spend. Taxes in the area are 2K a year, which isn't too bad.

What would be your guys opinions? We are in no hurry to move, we have a nice place with a pool! It just feels like throwing money away paying rent.

Jordan

There is a lot to be said for peace of mind. If you've got the wherewithal and energy to do the upgrades, I say get the older house. I'm assuming you might have meant 150', not 750'

Buying a house is one of the best investments you can make. We paid $122k for our house 10 years ago. The house across the street is for sale for $289 right now. Our's is easily worth what that house is. Problem is, of course, unless we move to Regina or Winnipeg or some small town in Saskatchewan, we'd have to put it all back into another house...

No no, it is 750' deep!! Its a HUGE lot.

http://www.winnipegrealestatenews.ca/homepage.htm

Forsome reason it won't link to the house... booooooo

Thats the listing, we drove by... yard is a mess, house needs paint, roof looked OK.

The idea, is to get into somthing here, that will hopfully be fixed up/nice within 4 years, then we will sell (hopfully for a profit) and move back west.

I think we are going to view the place tonight.

Jordan

750'

Just think of the garage(s) you could build, not to mention car storage, paint booth, machine shop .....

ooops sorry, got carried away there

As Dale said a house is a great investment and piece of mind.

Paying rent DOES suck, I'll agree Jordan.

Buying my house was freakin' scary, but now that its done, I'm pretty happy. There is always money to be spent on it, which takes away from car parts, so bear that in mind!

Sit down, and honestly analyze your finances. Are you keeping your tech job....how much is your wife going to make? Buying and selling houses takes time, and a lot more money than a car. Keep that in mind.
That said....I would buy in the nicer neighborhood. Its a better investment....and its still comparatively cheap for a house. But I would only do it if you could incorporate renovations and a garage into the mortgage. If you've got knob and tube wiring, and lead pipes, that stuff has got to be changed. Bad windows....your energy bill will kill you in winter. And....you need a heated garage in Winnipeg! For sure. That's my take.

If the money is tight, you need to analyze whether or not living in a worse neighborhood is going to be a problem. On my own, I might do it. If I was married, I wouldn't. Everytime my wife went to her car, or for a walk, I'd be worried. Not worth it. In my time living in Winnipeg, my '73 was broken into twice in a period of a month. I had friends get knives pulled on them, and beaten with bats and their snowboards stolen right off their feet. I never let a woman walk alone, even for a block between residences. My one best friend there still keeps his collection of guitars in between three or four houses and studios, chained to the wall, to ensure they don't all get taken at once. I'd say, the good neighborhood is worth it....if you can afford it!

Congrats Jordan! I hope you are able to get a nice house! Keep looking? Maybe there's a cheaper one in a better neighborhood.

Greg

This one with the big lot, is in the best neighborhood in town. Thats what is so key with it. Even if we can live with the upgrades it needs for a little bit.

We know that we can financially afford a 150K. So if we can get the place for cheap enough, we should have some money to afford the upgrades it needs. We'll talk more with our morgage guy, bank lady and real estate agent.

Who knows, this place might be full of termites, and the foundation falling apart. In which case we won't take it. If we could afford to we would buy the land and they build a house on it (one of those prefab country style homes). But thats a bit much right now.

Wife makes quite a bit more than me right now. Insurance agents for the win!

Like I said we are in no real hurry to buy. We just want to be in a nice neighborhood with a garage (or atleast able to build one). charleswood area is nice, I personally want land which most of winnipeg does not offer, except in charleswood. The other idea, get a side by side or somthing for a few years, and then sell and move into charleswood. But by then house prices will be HUGE. Projections show them to continue to climb.

Jordan

Insurance agent eh? Wives who make good money rule!

Its good you're not in a huge rush. That's nice. Prices are gonna climb lots there eh? Kinda like Dale said, even if your house increases in value, your gonna spend all the money you made buying another one. Kinda sucks, but...if you move to rural Saskatchewan or Manitoba, you can retire!

Hmmmmm. If that one house has a yard that big, how much of that price is just in land value? Would a similar house on a smaller lot be a lot cheaper? I'm curious why that yard is so big....that's a lot of lawn to mow!!!

Greg

So what, you're worried that $129 is too much money for a 75x750 lot, including house? Where's my little violin?

Just do it. The extra money is SO worth it for the peace of mind of living in a good neighborhood, and time will come when you can do the upgrades you need.

ciao

rule #1 when buying a house:

buy the worst house on the best block.

That's what I did. My little 1910 house isn't much too look at, but it's clean and comfy (now that I've insulated it!). Definitely more than I was planning on spending too, but if prices keep going up the way they are, next year this place will be worth DOUBLE what I paid, in LESS THAN 4 YEARS.

Guarantee that wouldn't happen in a nicer/newer place in a less desireable neighbourhood.

pretty much what i was going to say.

dude, you told me once before about how bad the crime and shit is there... this is your opportunity to get away from that. who cares if you have to make some improvements? doing that will just make it that much more "your home".

i say go for it. you guys can probably also negotiate with the realtors to drop the price a little, as well as making whatever necessary arrangements with the mortgage to make things easier for you guys.

as for the car thing you posted on tb... keep the 7 for now, build your 16VT for it, and then whenever you can get the GT, put it in there!

oh yeah, did you get that cd?

this is a big step...

i say go for it. try to get them down more on the price and upgrade with what's left. with the way the market is now in canadian cities, and like Athal said, you could end up doubling it in no time. my uncle bought his house we're in now for 99k 15 years ago, now it's worth a quarter mil...and that's not counting what it will be worth in 4-5 years...

i'm sure winnipeg's market is pretty demanding right now (although winnipeg can't hold up to calgary's market right now...people have even auctioned their house off on their front lawn!!)

peace bro

Went to that place tonight

Dump

It pretty much needs to be torn down and have a new place rebuilt. We thought we might be able to live through it for 4-5 years til we could afford another 100G for a house to be built, but the place is bad. Basment was very very wet, house shifted, floors were rotton, roof was rotton, pipes needed to be redone as did wiring, could also see the basment through the basement floor. Yard was huge, 1.33 acres, but the back half was really realyl wet. A few feet deep in some places.

So the search continues, probably looking at another place tommorow. No rush, we just want to see as many as we can so we can sorta gauge it all I guess.

Athal, most of the houses here were built in the 1918-1920 area. I mean probably 50% of winnipeg. It is crazy, most places have been upgraded. we'll see what happens. I don't mind old at all. Lots of really really nice old places around.

No its not as damanding as calgary, but it is still freakin' intense, LOTS of work, lots of houses. Mainly because everyone is leaving for alberta and BC. Cost of living here is so bloody cheap, I love it.
Thanks for all your tips/hints guys, they are helping out a bunch

Jordan

http://winnipeg.comfree.ca/display.html?code=9148

Yesterday we put in an offer of 112500... They are coming back with a counter offer tonight. As long as its not over asking we are gonna jump at it

Take a look at the size of the garage! ok so it doesn't say.... 26x28ft! easily fit 3 cars in there.

Anyways, someone buy my car so I can pay for the lawyer fees (WOW!)

Hope it all works out for me and Cassie....

Jordan

THEY FREAKING ACCEPTED THE OFFER!!!!!!

112500 bucks (that is a huge debt!)

They are gonna even fix the roof for us to.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT

Might mean the BC meet is out though WHAAAAAAAAA but, I have a huge garage!

Jordan