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Put a Offer in on a House Yesterday --- Competing against 5 Other Offers

VacationForever said:
WOW! I love it. I thought you are planning to move to Florida for retirement?
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That is still the plan. I wanted to downsize now from my 3,800 home, get the cash out and pay cash for the downsized home.

The reason is that the company I worked for the bulk of my career went bankrupt and along with that bankruptcy, my pension went poof.

So in 2011, my financial planner told me I needed to get creative and we came up with the plan of me selling the home we’ve lived in for 15 years and downsizing so that the last 7 years I could save big amounts with no mortgage and this will help me double my savings and in this way it would mimic in savings what my pension would have been.

I have to work till 2026, my financial planner told me to do this for stage 1 of my retirement. I’m a year behind in when he wanted me to downsize.

this will allow me to save each year about $4K in property taxes and $17K in mortgage payments. Plus all of the utilities will be about 50% or less then what I’m paying now.

Right before I retire, I will sell this small home and use the proceeds to buy my place in Florida.
 
bbodb1 said:
@Sugarcubesea - all you really need are a couple of comfy chairs facing those windows, and a couple more out on the deck are you in heaven!
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. I figure that since I now need to work till 65, I will need a nice view and the calm of the water to keep me motivated.
Thanks for kind wishes
 
klpca said:
What a beautiful view! You can never go wrong with a property that has a great view. Fingers crossed for you.

We are having our house "termited" this weekend and the termite company owner told us that he is working seven days a week (having your house fumigated for termites in our city is a common occurrence when you sell. We are not selling, just dealing with termites, ugh). A realtor friend of ours said the same. In our city it is being driven by a housing shortage. The low interest rates are also a huge factor in this market. It's nuts.

We bought a condo in March just before the shutdown. I was worried that we overpaid but nope, prices are up. We were one of three offers but we came in with only one contingency (inspection) and had an all cash/quick close offer, plus we wrote a compelling letter - we found out later that the letter was a big factor in the outcome. The seller came back to all three offers with "best and final" so we increased our offer by a relatively small amount and shortened our inspection contingency and they took our offer. We wound up finding several significant issues and asked for a credit during escrow and got everything back. It turned out to be a good strategy for us because once you have been in escrow for a couple of weeks the seller is loathe to start all over again with another buyer, plus they have the same issues and now have to disclose. So pad your offer a bit then do a thorough inspection and ask for a credit at that point if necessary. If you don't discover any surprises during inspection then it's great all around and you bought yourself some peace of mind!

That looks like an amazing view. Since you are getting into a bidding war here, I would make your next offer truly your best and highest (don't lose this place over a few thousand $$) but make your offer and let the chips fall where they may and try to not get too emotionally invested. I have heard of sellers choosing their one "best and final offer" and asking that buyer to increase their offer. You can decide to play that game later but of course you have to get picked first. Fingers crossed for you.

The day that we made our offer, our realtor was presenting offers for two other buyers. One property had *17* offers! (Priced super low to generate interest - I'd say it worked - they closed $30k over asking).
Click to expand...
That’s why I decided I needed to buy something now. I got a mortgage locked in at 2.35.
 
LOve the view! Looks like a big room, too! Where is this house- what state? Best of luck. Keep us all posted!
 
WinniWoman said:
LOve the view! Looks like a big room, too! Where is this house- what state? Best of luck. Keep us all posted!
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The home is in Michigan and it’s lakefront. It’s in Livingston vs Oakland county where I now live. Just moving to that county will reduce my property taxes by a huge amount. I’ve attached a pic from the deck walking down to the water
 

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Sugarcubesea said:
The home is in Michigan and it’s lakefront. It’s in Livingston vs Oakland county where I now live. Just moving to that county will reduce my property taxes by a huge amount. I’ve attached a pic from the deck walking down to the water
Click to expand...


OMG! I love it! I love lakes and mountains! I hope you get it! No Florida then I guess?
 
PigsDad said:
I believe "CO" in this context means "Certificate of Occupancy", which is issued by the local jurisdiction.

Kurt
Click to expand...
Thanks for that info, @PigsDad.
I have never heard of this before - I guess it is not a universal requirement or it is handled differently in our area. I'll have to look that up.

Edit: I found this reference:
www.thebalancesmb.com

Do You Need a Certificate of Occupancy for Your Property?

A certificate of occupancy is often required when you purchase a property. Learn the basics of a CO, including when, how, and where to get one.
www.thebalancesmb.com www.thebalancesmb.com

Since we are the first owners of the house we currently occupy, I guess a C/O may have been one of those endless papers we signed a quarter - century ago!
I'm going to see if I can find the folder for the sale (our purchase) of this house.
 
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Sugarcubesea said:
Still moving to Florida, I still have till 2026 till I can retire. Downsizing now, to save more money for retirement
Click to expand...

Got it! Give you a lot of credit to consider moving twice in just a few years. Then again, you might not ever want to leave that lake!
 
WinniWoman said:
Got it! Give you a lot of credit to consider moving twice in just a few years. Then again, you might not ever want to leave that lake!
Click to expand...
Will be going from 3,800+sf to 1,400 sf. This will allow us to get rid of a bunch of stuff now, so the final move will be much easier.
We have already tossed so much stuff and we still have a bunch more to get rid of
 
Sugarcubesea said:
That is still the plan. I wanted to downsize now from my 3,800 home, get the cash out and pay cash for the downsized home.

The reason is that the company I worked for the bulk of my career went bankrupt and along with that bankruptcy, my pension went poof.

So in 2011, my financial planner told me I needed to get creative and we came up with the plan of me selling the home we’ve lived in for 15 years and downsizing so that the last 7 years I could save big amounts with no mortgage and this will help me double my savings and in this way it would mimic in savings what my pension would have been.

I have to work till 2026, my financial planner told me to do this for stage 1 of my retirement. I’m a year behind in when he wanted me to downsize.

this will allow me to save each year about $4K in property taxes and $17K in mortgage payments. Plus all of the utilities will be about 50% or less then what I’m paying now.

Right before I retire, I will sell this small home and use the proceeds to buy my place in Florida.
Click to expand...
Got it. Great plan! If you get that lake front property, it will be so zen........... that work is like nothing. ;)
 
geekette said:
Sugar, that is one sweet view!!! My fingers are crossed. You need to live there. I am blissed out for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks, we really hope we get it too. As of this morning, we are one of fiver offers. The house listed Friday morning, I left early to see it and we wrote the offer in the driveway. We had to wait to see it as there was a family with their realtor seeing it and when we came out another couple was waiting to go in. This morning the listing agent told my realtor that they had 28 viewings scheduled for Friday and 32 scheduled for today. So I’m sure there are a bunch more offers written today.
We are supposed to hear tomorrow?
 
Sugarcubesea said:
Will be going from 3,800+sf to 1,400 sf. This will allow us to get rid of a bunch of stuff now, so the final move will be much easier.
We have already tossed so much stuff and we still have a bunch more to get rid of
Click to expand...

Yup. Just like when we moved into the temporary rental before our house was ready.

It does make things a lot easier.
 
WinniWoman said:
Got it! Give you a lot of credit to consider moving twice in just a few years. Then again, you might not ever want to leave that lake!
Click to expand...

You really inspired me and I want to thank you for the all of the advice you gave in the thread on your move...Here is a view from the large deck looking out over the lake...this view is so beautiful.


1592080863650.png
 
Sugarcubesea said:
You really inspired me and I want to thank you for the all of the advice you gave in the thread on your move...Here is a view from the large deck looking out over the lake...this view is so beautiful.


View attachment 22083
Click to expand...
The view from this home is amazing and if I had known about it, I might have put a bid in for myself! :LOL:
 
Sounds like you have a great plan. I really hope you get it!

Sorry to hear about your pension, was any part of it guaranteed by the government? Can’t remember what it’s called but usually companies pay an insurance premium to the government so if the pension is insolvent the pensioners at least get something.
 
Ugh! I feel for you, Sugarcubesea! Competing against multiple offers on a house is such an emotional rollercoaster. You never know what sways a seller over to a particular buyer (it's not always the highest sales price), so hang in there and don't be too disappointed if it doesn't go through. There's ALWAYS another house. (Speaking as someone who's been a seller, Realtor, and buyer in crazy markets.) I hope you get the lake house, though. That waterfront view is SWEET!!!!

It sounds like you have a solid plan for a smooth transition into retirement. You were screwed by your old company, but your resilience and determination is pretty damn admirable. I love your plan to downsize with style and double up on pre-retirement savings. Kudos to you!
 
Sugarcubesea said:
The home is in Michigan and it’s lakefront. It’s in Livingston vs Oakland county where I now live. Just moving to that county will reduce my property taxes by a huge amount. I’ve attached a pic from the deck walking down to the water
Click to expand...
Lovely!

I know what you mean on county taxes - another 3 blocks north and my property taxes would be a great deal more.
 
Sugarcubesea said:
Will be going from 3,800+sf to 1,400 sf. This will allow us to get rid of a bunch of stuff now, so the final move will be much easier.
We have already tossed so much stuff and we still have a bunch more to get rid of
Click to expand...

That sounds extremely familiar. I think today marks the 15th pickup load I've hauled to the dump in the last month. LOL! :) We're moving in 12 days, like it or not. ;)

Dave
 
Good Luck. The views have made this property extremely desirable.
 
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