I put in an offer on the Ledyard Mini Farm today. My third offer to purchase a farm in the past 6 months and I'm REALLY hoping that the third time's a charm!
Yesterday I took my posse (parents, fiance, agents) to see the Ledyard farm. The objective of the visit was to see just how much work the property and buildings needed and whether or not it was worth it.
We hosted a very democratic dinner after the tour (well, for the most part), and even though it is my decision to make, we all agreed that we really liked the property and could fix it up nicely, if we got it for the right price.
SO, without further ado, the NUMBERS!
The house was originally listed on the market in 2008 and has been on and off since. It was listed from $340K - $275, but was most recently listed in 2010 for $299K until the contract expired. (The house is not currently on the market, but their most recent listing agent shares an office with MY agent and the current owners are supposedly eager to sell).
My real estate agent's Comparative Market Analysis valued the home at $267K and zillow (an online home estimation resource) valued it at $249K. Neither of the computer systems have been to the house, the numbers are based on area properties that have sold.
This is what I very generally estimated the cost of the repairs to be. I actually have no idea if the figures are that accurate (except the furnace - that's a professional estimate), but it seems pretty good. ;-)
Home
·
New
Roof……………………………………………………$9,000
·
Update
Furnace/Heating System…………………………...$6,000
·
Update
Kitchen, update appliances………………………...$6,000
·
Replace
flooring…………………………………………….$6,000
·
Update
2 bathrooms………………………………………..$4,000
·
Repair/upgrade
electrical panel…………………………...$1,000
Outbuildings/Exterior/Apartment
·
Regrade
Driveway………………………………………….$5,000
·
Repair
outbuildings (siding, barn roof, electricity to barn, water to barn, barn
windows and door)…………………… …………………...............................….$10,000
·
Repair
apartment porch, indoor improvements………......... $2,000
Total estimated
repairs (known)……………………………….$49,000
So, yes, pretty much everything needs to be repaired, updated, or replaced. The house is livable, however, and in a bout of confidence K and I agreed that we could do a lot of the work ourselves, over time. We don't know much now, but we'll learn quickly about how to renovate a home! At least there is no shortage of ideas.
So I put in an offer for $217K, which I justified as being the CMA value of the home, minus the estimated cost of repairs (though, ultimately, I just picked a number!). If we can negotiate a price over the next 48 hours, we still plan to do a home inspection and take major costs into consideration, but we're more or less agreeing to do the majority of the work ourselves.
I'm going to put this in writing, so that I have confidence if the negotiation gets tough, that I'm not going to negotiate above $245K. It will be really hard to walk away from this property, knowing that it would be impossible to put together a contract before I lose my loan next Wednesday, but I can't pay more for the house than it's worth. I really don't have a back-up plan if buying a farm doesn't work out (not only because of the loss of funding, but because I've pretty much seen everything on the market). So, clear eyes, full hearts, CAN'T LOSE!
In other home-buying drama, I FINALLY talked to the lawyer today about getting reimbursed for the home inspection fee of the Lebanon Farm. She has sent them a letter, that she doubts they will respond to. If they don't respond, I can sue them in small claims court (at a cost of $35). If they don't show up to court (which she also said is likely), then I will be awarded the money through a lean put on their house. This whole process could take several months, and I need to be out of that contract this morning (yes - I'm taking a risk putting in a contract today, but with the expectation that the owners of the Ledyard farm will not outright except my offer and I will have time to renegotiate).
Once I release the current owners of the contract, I lose out on getting the money back for the inspection (unless I sue them and hope they don't show up). If I sign that I agree to be released of the contract, I am also agreeing to release them of any liabilities. I'll just have to chock it up to a loss of almost $1,000, which sucks, but is better than jeopardizing the other $1,000 they are holding with the contract. Does your head hurt yet? Because mine does.
Here's to another night of restlessness and finger crossing!
I'm basically looking for a miracle here.
P.S. Photos by K from last winter of my snow-hating chicken Barrington (now a resident at yale!). Here's to hoping this evening's storm isn't a big deal.
P.P.S. Happy Leap Day!
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