Cold feet before closing...please help

[Anonymous]

Long time lurker, first time poster. First of all, I really admire the way people on this board really support and encourage fellow posters. As for my situation...my lovely bride and I are due to close on our home middle of May. Financing is squared away and construction is almost done. Problem is, we just found out that a new builder is starting to build homes right down the street. The homes are more HSF, more land, one more bedroom and one more bathroom than ours. The price for these larger homes are also 40,000 less expensive. My concern is when we go to sell our home (five years or so dowm the road) will these less expensive homes hurt us by lowering our appraisal value. We live in an area where people live and die by the all powerful V A. appraisers. Any help or advise would be most appreciated. Thank you

[cdtotten]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I am not an expert on new build real estate, so I am not sure what your options are if you wanted to back out. If it was an existing home, I would tell you to wait until the inspection and you would have some leeway then if something turned up. After that is past though, it's a binding legal contract you can't walk away from.

As for appraisals... more than likely the appraiser will use homes in your actual neighborhood for comps, but if there haven't been any recent sales when he makes his appraisal, then yes, if those homes are similar and geographically close, he could use those as well.

[gpeach]

That is exactly what happened to us. But it was shortly after we closed when they may changes. The builder started adding things at no charge that they charged us for. And adding sq feet. I feel bad for people who built before us as they paid more than us!

My opinon is just tell them how you feel and ask for discount. You have not closed yet. There are situations which may cause you to need to sell house sooner than planned. You don't want to be stuck.

[ficonovice]

And I'll play devils advocate a little bit and say that above ALL else, a house is a place to live. It really shouldn't

be looked at as a short term investment. Some eras are better than others and sometimes you can get extremely

lucky and buy at just the right time for just the right price. But generally, at this time, obviously markets are very

down and no one really knows what will happen in the next 6 months to 5 years.

I bought a house in a new development last January and got what I considered to be a sweetheart deal. I paid less than

all of my neighbors in the development for the same style of house. Today, I'd be very lucky to break even if I tried to sell.

It's all volatile, and the best question(s) to ask yourself is: Do I like the home I'm about to purchase, will I be happy living there and

can I comfortably afford the mortgage? If so, be happy with your choice and enjoy! At the same time, I echo the other posts and

if you can still negotiate, certainly try. If you can back out and want to, then go ahead and do it and buy the newer home from the

newer development for less. Just remember, most likely in another few months there will be another development selling

nicer homes for less money. It's a roller coaster, and the best you can do can only be judged on what you bought and when.

If you want and need a home now, buy it and don't look back...you can drive yourself crazy....

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

[DallasLoanGuy]

Too hard to say.... Do you have a realtor?

This is one of many reasons why I recommend a realtor on new construction...... Just as important.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply CD. Sorry I wasn't more clear. These homes are in our neighborhood, on our street, literally neighbors. It is a subdivision that is very near completion.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry that you know first hand what our concern is. The military does keep us moving at a regular clip, but this base is large with many units to which I could be assigned. Thanks for the reply

[Anonymous]

Agreed. I certainly would never look at my home as a short term investment. I consider 5 -10 years a considerable amount of time. I do however, appreciate the advise.

[ArmyStrong]

This might not be, but two different builders STILL building in the same SD seems kind of odd. Are the elevations similar? Is this other builder reputable? I found a sub division w/HUGE newly constructed homes for a lot less than what house were going for in the area. I thought I struck gold!...until I got home and started googling. I found pages and pages of complaints and dissatisfied home owners.

I hear tell you don't want the biggest and best house on the block anyways.

Oo-rah! and enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Hi Army,

I had a meeting today between my realtor, the builder, and the builders realtor. Turns out, this new builder may offer a less expensive home, but to upgrade to the features that come standard on ours, would bring both homes pretty close to price. The fact is, I love our home and we are comfortable with the mortgage, and this builder has an excellent reputation in our town. The fact that he wanted to meet with us and allay our concerns spoke volumes to us. I hear what you're saying about the biggest and the best house on the block. I just want a quality built product at a fair price. I don't want to worry about my wife having to deal with major issues  while I'm deployed. If memory serves didn't you close on a home recently? If so congrats. Thanks for the reply brother.