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We had put an offer in a few months ago on a house. It was rural but in a cluster of homes with 2 acres of land, and a creek running through it. It was dated and needed work, but we liked the house. Our offer was low, but, it was the first offer they had had, in 2 separate listings with 3 open houses, Some friends though we overoffered, but, it was turned down, and we were too far apart to continue. The house is now off the market again.

On thursday, we were notified of a house coming on the market, listed on Friday, which checks many of our boxes.
Went through it yesterday, and going through it again today. May put an offer, but, suspect a bidding war may occur.

I am posting, as this whole buying a house thing is not something that I am experienced at. I find it odd to not have more ptime when spending so much money. (For must people, a house is a big investment).

I also feel wierd looking in cupboards, etc, when going through a house to see how it is laid out, and yet I know, it is stuff like that that can drive you crazy in a house...(or doing sound checks). Also the whole check the well, septic is new to us, though my husband has some experience.

anyhow, we will be headed off with my brother-in-law who has helped his friends buy many houses, and his sons, an is an expert at seeing things that you need to account for.
 
Good luck. The bidding war issue has caused lots of problems. People feel a need to jump rather than reflect

They should have a well report for you to see, how fast it refills if it is dug, what it’s flow rate is as well as a water purity issue

I would taste the water. Some rural properties have a very high iron content or sulphur content. Whiin ch is compensated for by oversalting the water. Makes the water pret ty useless for cooking and drinking and means a water system update

While I initially worried about a septic system, after 20 years we have never had a problem except when the power goes

So you really need to put your house onto a generator if you have septic and well. I think ours was less than $10,000 to install and attach to the house
 
good point about the well & water - not something we 'city folk' have on our radar. I recall my parents putting in a well at their country property - the water had a VERY strong sulfur odour - perfectly fine to drink, but a yellowish colour and bad scent. They put in some sort of filter in the basement & it sorted that matter out very well. Although if nobody had been there for a while, we'd have to initially just let the water run a bit.

Pinga - sounds like your brother in law will be a great help - with eyes on stuff you may not consider. Sounds like an exciting change may be in your future!
 
It does seem odd that such decisions have to be made so hastily - we take more time deciding on a new pair of shoes sometimes!! A young colleague was recently house hunting & it was so challenging, but they were thoughtful (as you will be) and eventually the right place came along at the right price. Good luck!!
 
Always make your offer "subject to" a house inspection by an inspector. It is their job to find hidden issues you mat have overlooked. I had 2 weeks to find and buy my current house and has worked well for us!
As for well reports-we dug our own well-at the spring in ON. 40 years later still working well. Well reports? Don't think they exist for that well. Water samples are tested every spring, due to spring run off discolouration-but always come back drinkable.
 
Our house is on the market right now. We have a well - no well report that I am aware of. When we bought the place in 2010 ... we made an offer that we could afford - we had not done a very thorough inspection as we had fallen in love with the place. Moved in in January and oohed and awed our way to spring - and then our water stopped working. Had we done an inspection we would have found out that the pump in the well was running constantly whether we were running water or not and that we had a grey water spout right off the back of the house. We have since fixed most of the problems with the water works ... however there is still a grey water line with only the toilet going into the septic tank. It amazes me how the realtors get upset with me for pointing that out to prospective buyers if we are around when they are viewing. I have no desire to be a buyer beware type of seller. It is what it is and it is not for everyone. And yes our water also often smells of sulfur and it is 'rusty'. And ... I also advise the prospective buyer's that there will probably be a mandate for them to hook up to town sewer within a certain time of them purchasing the home - at their own expense.
 
You can call a well guy and they come and assess how fast your well runs. Not sure how they do it but they do

As to house inspections, with the rush to buy this past year they have dropped right off the radar. Unless the house is sitting on the market and there are no other bids
 
I haven't bought a resale house in decades (current house was new, built for us) and never outside a city water/sewer system. I know a bit about septic systems from the cottage but nothing about wells (current cottage water supply is treated lake water and previously we filled jugs at a municipal well).

So, I am going to read with interest, but have little to contribute.
 
Lastpointe said:
You can call a well guy and they come and assess how fast your well runs. Not sure how they do it but they do

As to house inspections, with the rush to buy this past year they have dropped right off the radar. Unless the house is sitting on the market and there are no other bids
Click to expand...
This is true, but home buyers should make themselves aware as to what home inspectors don't check. eg. what's behind walls(eg. insulation? what kind? UREA Formaldehyde, or Vermiculite with asbestos?), they don't inspect furnaces (eg.when was it serviced last, carbon monoxide leaks?), drilled wells are better than dug wells because they go deeper and pass sulpher lines and other things and are more likely to be immune to farm runoff. Condition of the weeping tiles?, a wood fireplace or any wood burning appliances, should have a WETT inspection by a qualified WETT inspector and much more. So ask your home inspector what's included in the inspection and check to see if they're qualified. If you can, ALWAYS attend a home inspection with the inspector, a good one will take a good 4 to 6 hours to do this, so set the time aside and when you get the report, make sure you read it from front to back. Also ask if there's a survey. Poured foundations are less likely to leak than a cement block one....check for cracks in outside walls or basements...some are major, some are not.
8 Important Issues Your Home Inspector Won’t Check

Your agent should provide a check list that the home owner is willing to sign in a statement of disclosure such as asbestos, leaky basements, etc....or anything that they are aware of.
 
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Wells are funny things. Ours is dug. About 22 feet. We have run dry particularly when the house is full. So we have cistern tanks in the basement but we still can run dry. A very dry summer and the water table falling......

We did a major Reno 8 years ago. Figured enough of the dug well. Hired a well driller. Did a water search. Started drilling near our existing well. No guarantee $100 a foot. At 250 feet or $25,000 we had no water. There was water, just not a strong enough stream for a well

Money wasted. Still using our dug well. Which is generally fine but you do have to think about water usage

Actually I am good with that. Length of showers, running water to clean veggies, brush teeth..... lots of wasteful uses of water
 
And there are rural areas near us with no water. Just isn’t any, even quite near the lake. So those people have huge water tanks in their property , like people have oil tanks and natural gas tanks. Well guy comes and fills it
 
Lastpointe said:
Wells are funny things. Ours is dug. About 22 feet. We have run dry particularly when the house is full. So we have cistern tanks in the basement but we still can run dry. A very dry summer and the water table falling......

We did a major Reno 8 years ago. Figured enough of the dug well. Hired a well driller. Did a water search. Started drilling near our existing well. No guarantee $100 a foot. At 250 feet or $25,000 we had no water. There was water, just not a strong enough stream for a well

Money wasted. Still using our dug well. Which is generally fine but you do have to think about water usage

Actually I am good with that. Length of showers, running water to clean veggies, brush teeth..... lots of wasteful uses of water
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Yes, so many variables....a working drilled well already in place is a plus.
 
well, our offer wasn't the winner. disappointing as we went approx 5% over asking, but, the other was condition free including no septic analysis. I get it. we knew it was probable.
 
Luckily here, multiple offers, over asking, etc. weren't a thing when we were buying, and still aren't.
The area we were looking at had many of the houses already pending, which put some pressure on us to move a little faster, but nothing really high pressure. I looked at our current house twice before we made an offer.
The market here is slower now than it was then.

Overall, the looking process at least felt fairly relaxed as we were out looking at show homes & a few open houses before we were actually seriously looking, and the showhomes weren't all that newer than what we were looking to buy.
 
Part of the figuring out the price that you are willing to pay is figuring out how you could live in it.
Then, part of the not getting it is the recognization that you got emotionally attached to a house.
 
close.-- we have a 10-15km radius that we are looking at. It is more about closeness to friends, family, church, doctors, etc.
 
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