A big Disapointment

[woodjin]

Not really PB related (well, kind of) but I just had to vent my frustration. I was about to move from my house near Mt. Misery to Chatsworth. It was a real nice house on 2 acres completely boarded by the Franklin Parker Preserve. In fact, except for a horse farm across the street, there wern't any other houses for several miles either way on my side of the road. My kind of thing.

I made an offer, it was accepted, we had the contract in hand, met with our lawyer and two days after we returned the contract to the seller to be signed the seller called me and told me they had another bid from another buyer. Without the seller's signiture on the contract there was nothing I could do but get into a bidding war. The price went up and up...and up some more until finally we had to back down.

Oh well, no point in being bitter about it, I did everything I could but it is so frustrating, especially since we had the contract in hand. What can you do. It is nearly impossible to get a decent house in chatsworth for much under $400,000 now a days.

Just had to vent a little, sorry.

Jeff

 

[james ungehajer]

There ought to be a law against that kind of bs. No sorries necessary.

 

[BEHR655]

That sucks!

 

[Sue Gremlin]

That's so disappointing, and I know what that feels like. That three days you have to wait while the contract is in attorney review is a nail-biter. It's not common for bidding wars to happen now, the market's really soft, that's just heartbreaking. Sorry.

 

[bobpbx]

I'm really sorry to hear that Jeff, to have you spirits lifted so high and then money rears its ugly head. I'm sure you were ready to surprise us all with good news, and then......

Don't give up trying.

 

[piker56]

Jeff,
The same thing happened to us years ago. I can say from experience that even though you're disappointed now, these things tend to work out in the long run. After our seller backed out, we eventually found a house more suited to us. Hang in there.

 

[Boyd]

Sorry to hear about that Jeff. I looked at houses in Chatsworth myself a little over a year ago, and your description sounds a lot like the one in the attached photo.... is that it by chance? If so, what was the selling price? They were asking $279,900 in March 2006. In fact I remember mentioning that property and a maybe a couple others to Guy in a PM back then.

It was an interesting property that needed some work, but I decided I wanted to be a little farther off the beaten path. I checked out a few other places in Chatsworth but they were too expensive. But this should be a pretty good time to shop for real estate in most places; there are lots of homes which have been on the market for a long time with sellers getting nervous, so be patient and you'll find something you like.

After 12 years in Burlington County I moved to Atlantic County because there was a much better selection of homes with land... I got 10 acres of woods with a stream that borders a WMA for $305,000 which was much better than anything I could find in Burlington County. And after spending a little over a year here, I still love it!

 

[Sue Gremlin]

God, yer killin me here. Within driving distance of my job, we can't touch anything with an acre for less than $350 or $400. Stupid job. *grumble*

 

[Boyd]

Within driving distance of my job, we can't touch anything with an acre for less than $350 or $400.

Maybe you need to reconsider your definition of "driving distance" I work in Philadelphia which is about 52 miles from my home. My place in Medford was only 25 miles. I had to think long and hard about moving this far away, but I'm glad I did. For one thing, with the traffic getting so bad around Medford it's really only about 10 or 15 minutes farther away. But beyond that, it's a quality of life issue for me. Now I'm living in the country near a small town instead of a suburb. And most of the time I enjoy the drive, gives me time to think!

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Well, I work in Princeton. I lived in Haddonfield for a year and didn't mind the commute, but that's 50 miles right there.

I think I would be better off changing jobs. If anyone hears of a job opening in South Jersey for a cow scientist, let me know, will you?

 

[Ben Ruset]

The houses in Chatsworth for under $300k are a joke right now. There's a sub-1000 sq. ft house that I could afford. Meanwhile there are waterview properties in Toms River for less money.

The biggest house in Chatsworth shouldn't even be worth $300k. It is SO FAR out of the way of any major transportation, and unless you're working for Ocean Spray you're going to have a long commute. Bleh.

 

[mike242424]

Yeah, Ocean Spray, New Lisbon and thats about it haha

 

[Ben Ruset]

This is the house in Chatsworth that I was talking about. $244k for less than 1000sq. ft., on a 1/2 acre lot. http://homes.realtor.com/prop/1077026768

Although for $100k more you can get this 4br 1.5bath house on almost 5 acres. http://homes.realtor.com/search/lis...8b74b64a&lid=1076393769&lsn=9&srcnt=10#Detail although it has no garage. Why the hell would you build a house like that, on all of the land you have, and not put up a stupid garage?

We're putting our house on the market this weekend. The house we looked at in Toms River is gorgeous.

 

[Boyd]

That does seem a little expensive, but maybe they would negotiate lower? Of the four homes I've owned only one had a garage. It was nice, but I can certainly live without one. Don't have one here... same thing, plenty of land. The previous owner had planned to build one but never got around to it.

In the end I think it's hard to get away from the old cliche: "the three most important things about real estate are location, location and location". But with a kid you also have to be concerned about the quality of the local schools and social activities. Don't know anything about those in Chatsworth. I don't think my current location would have been so great if my daughter were still in high school. She went through elementary and middle school in a tiny town in upstate NY. The school wasn't great there but she had a good time. When high school time arrived we realized it would be a problem... the local high school didn't have a single alumnus who had become a doctor for example, and only a small percentage of students went on to college.

 

[mike242424]

Isnt that across from the fire house

 

[woodjin]

Thanks for all of your words of sympathy and encouragement. Here is the house, it is still listed till the contract is signed with the new buyer I guess.
http://images.prudentialproperties.com/listings/034T/004/004954/thumb/004954141.jpg

We had agreed at $315k with the seller and we backed out at $335k. It went up $20k in two days while we were holding the contract. Ben is right, houses really shouldn't be that expensive in Chatsworth, but I guess there is a growing interest in living in the country as places like Tabernacle and Medford are getting crowded. The school system is very good and that is a major concern for us. Of course, you pay for that I guess.

Jeff

 

[woodjin]

maybe this link will work better
http://philadelphia.yahoo.prufoxroach.info/details/start.aspx?Results=true&propid=034T004954141

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Wow, that house is fantastic.




Erm. I mean. Meh. It's ok. A better one will come along soon.

 

[Teegate]

Nice! That is almost to Bear Swamp Hill. It must be just before the dirt road starts.


Guy

 

[Stu]

While it sucks they got the house, at the same time because of you they had to pay more. Think about it like that.

That's my eBay logic, anyway.