I bought a house on the water with a pool, jacuzzi and boat dock for the same mortgage that I had in Lees Summit, Mo. Now I have additional expenses of pool, boat dock upkeep, increased property taxes and flood/hurricane insurance but thats not a deal breaker financially for most people. Its still doable for anyone who would like to give up the snow/ice for the beaches. Mostly due to the low interest rates so if your thinking, pull the trigger.

Depends on the house and location. My house bought this year I got for 30k under value. Two neighborhoods over they are selling at or over.

I like it there but for whatever reason I could never find a decent job in Tampa/St Pete. The condos are really cheap up here too, but I didn't want to pay cash for a place and turn around and have to pay 300 or more a month to a condo assocation. You can get a 1800-2000sf home up here with a pool for about 110-120K max. For now I'll just stick to going down to Treasure Island every few weekends to visit relatives.

I bought my first house in Lee's Summit back in 96 for about 75K which was right before Lee's Summit really started booming and became Missouri's version of Overland Park.

This, 100% this. Bought a house 1 year ago

Them: "Where did that random $5,000 come from?????"
Me: "Isn't that a good thing, not a bad thing?"
Them: "Why is there more than one request for credit in the last month?"
Me: "Because I'm a smart shopper and don't go to 1 mortgage company and say okie dokie"
Them: "Nooo that is blah blah"

I almost don't ever want to buy a new house now. I'm sure I will in 5ish years but I would like to avoid any crazy lenders.

Hmm. There's a condo that's only about three blocks from my house, but it's not a steal by any means. Their stated price is more than the appraised value.

I went through that same crap. I was going to put down about 60-65K and get a mortgage of about 20 grand from the bank on a house that appraised for 113. They asked me all kinds of questions and assumed that since I had that much saved up that I would be like everyone else and wanting to buy a house for about 2-3 times what I was looking for. They couldn't understand why I wanted to be financially independent. I ended up just paying cash because every bank was a hassle.

Bet you made some good coin on that house.
damn thats cheap as hell. :thumb:

HUD uses recent sale prices of similar properties in the area to come up with their listings. They just want to get as much money back as they can and usually ignore the fact that the house is in shambles. The trick to HUD houses is buying as an owner/occupant and pay cash. The house is normally listed for 2-3 weeks for owner/occupant only. It's a silent auction and if no one bids over their minimum they open the bidding to the investors/shysters. Bid low. Worst case scenario you piss off your RE agent.

I put in a low-ball offer on a house I liked and they took it.
$26,000 minus $2,600 first time home owner Obama bucks.
No more $1,000 rent. I am loving life.

Oh, so you can bid lower than the price that's shown on the web site?

So I recently sold my primary house to someone who came to the door and paid my asking price (it wasn't listed).

I figure I'll go pay cash and quickly get into a slightly smaller joint now that it is just me and the wife.

First house I like I schedule an afternoon showing so the wife can see it. It sells for full price before she gets there.

Next house looks like a winner but the inspections show it is rotting from the inside-out and riddled with termites. So that's a pass (also explains why it has sold and unsold three times prior to me).

The next house is much like the first, although I get smart this time and offer $50K over the asking price. Someone else offered 100K over and got it.

So now I've got a bid on a place we both love. We come to find out that it is owned by a celebrity who practices Kabballah and she can't look at the contract until after Shabbat this weekend. Again, we offered a little under full, someone else offered full price, and now it is a bidding war.

So that's the market in S. California at the moment...

Yeah, I think mine was listed at $33K and I bid $26K.
Remember that the houses are AS IS. No warranties.

I had the same experience. Wanted the wife to see it in the afternoon, its gone. Lost several houses because we didn't move fast enough or offer full price. It's a big decision and a pile of money and you don't have time to consider an offer carefully or its gone.

I don't know why that would piss of an agent. It wouldn't me. I would like and its my duty to try to get full price, but you can only do what the buyer is willing.

I say this because my agent showed us about 15 houses and then made $500 commission. After gas I'm sure she lost money on us.

Edit: After time and gas she definitely lost a lot of money on us.

Meh. Thats real estate business for you. Its part of the job IMO.