DIYbanter - View Single Post - Putting and Offer on Townhome in Booming Area

Todd H.

writes:

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. The area is a great location. It
not the suburbs by any means and there is plenty to walk to. That was
one of the requirements when looking for a place to buy. Denver is
going the way of suburban sprawl, but this location is walking distance
to downtown and also an area called the Highlands with plenty of local
non-chain retail.

The same place next door (5 units) sold for 55K more than the counter
bid a month ago. Isn't that a good sign? We did put an offer down for
30K less than asking price and the counter was 10K less than asking
price.

We very well could stay there more than 2 years. I was just taking a
random guess. This is more of a starter home since we have never owned
before.

You're in a very emotional time, and are probably quite caught up in
the excitement of buying your first place, and don't really want to
hear bad news keeping you from the finish line.

I've been there. But I totally got my ass handed to me on the first
house I bought in an area I wasn't terribly familiar with. In the
cyclical Texas real estate market 2 years later, I found myself with a
10 year old house that when I went to sell, was surrounded by new
subdivisions. Where I was from, a 10 year old house was considered
very very new, but in this booming yuppie outer suburb area, it was
extremely difficult to compete on the market with the builder's
offerings and their financing incentives, and the gleam of new houses
comparably priced. Market time was a year and it was hell.

I bid you caution and hope you don't make a similar mistake.

So the options are to buy a new place or buy an older (1905) remodeled
place.

Thanks again.

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Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/