probability

Three months in my awesome new mcm home and Nationwide canceled my insurance because we have a "flat roof." It's not actually flat, but apparently it's low-pitched enough to call flat. I'm young and ignorant...this is my first house...any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Where can I find a plain solid slab wood door for my MCM house?

Anyone have pics of the outside? Love the beams in the HAR pics.

To answer my own question, here's the google street view link.

I drove by the Braeswood house last night, looks great from the outside. Per TSARP, this is in the 100 year floodplain, anyone know if these houses have actually flooded and how often? Also drove by the flat-roofed mod on Reamer that was sold last year. It was in really poor condition when I toured it but it looks like the buyer is well along the way in restoring it to its former glory, the outside is pristine again from the street. I meandered over towards Willowisp's neighborhood, think I may have seen your house even. I'd never been through that neighborhood before and it looks like a treasure trove of mods too.

Anyone have pics of the outside? Love the beams in the HAR pics.

I keep driving by an old school that's boarded up, fenced off, and looks ready to be demo'd. But there are some concrete benches that I think would look good in my backyard. How would I get them? Legally.

Thanks!

Found this topic randomly. It's great. I wish more people were on board to makeover Westheimer...someone give this guy a billion dollars and let him do his work.

You ought to be able to find a home in the East End that'll get pretty close to your price range and that are in decent shape. Some suggestions:

1912 Forest Hill Blvd. - Looks good as-is, but priced a little high.

301 Telephone Rd. - Needs some work but is on a corner lot facing Park Street (the best street in Eastwood).

305 Telephone - Needs a little updating, but it's definitely comfortable as-is. Big lot.

7421 Erath - Nice new updates, although it looks like you'll need to be creative with the den. At that price, you'll have plenty of leeway, financially. Also, walking distance to Mason Park, probably the most under-appreciated park in the City of Houston.

Those all look nice, so I'll have to explore East End more. I'm still curious about Third Ward too, I've driven through there several times but all I see are a lot of new townhomes with sketchy characters hanging out on the corners near them, as well as some beautiful old brick homes that would look great if there were only trees on the lot.

Price range - $130-170

Heights - mostly fixer-uppers

Oak Forest - fixer-uppers, or next to powerlines

Way out west - awesome homes, great prices, but too far.

East End - fixer-uppers

Third Ward - um...I still can't find the good part.

Okay, sorry for the whining, but I just want a nice place that won't require tons of maintenance. I'm a bit overwhelmed. Any suggestions? Or should I just wait a year for prices to drop(maybe) and save up for a better neighborhood?

[i realize this is a very general question, just a shot in the dark!]

Everything I looked up online said a house must have been owned for at least 90 days by the seller in order to purchase it with an FHA loan, but someone smarter than me said that it's 1 year. Can one of you smart people clear this up for me? Thanks!

This is completely incorrect. Seller's will pay closing costs if the offer is right, but in the end it's all about the net offer amount.

As far as the OP's question, without knowing the particular property and area it's impossible to say. Your agent should put whatever offer in that you request though.

Without knowing the property or the area my realtor, in our first phone conversation, stated that if you're asking for closing cost you can't negotiate for less than the asking price.

There's an interesting chapter in the book Freakonomics about how the buyer's agent and the seller's agent are colluding to make a deal go through by any means necessary. Its definitely worth a read.

Damnit, and I've read that book too! Ugh, I'm pissed now.

I'm buying my first home, and my realtor says that since I'll be asking the seller to pay closing that I can't negotiate for anything else. I finally agreed to offer the asking price, but I wanted to ask the seller to pay for some repairs (less than $1500). My realtor thinks I'm demanding far too much. She keeps bringing up the figure "six percent," but the closing plus repairs comes far short of six percent. Is she crazy or am I just stupid?