Buying a house

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

I still can't get on board with south OC and I think it's only because I grew up in a beach city where we've never had AC.  I know plenty of other areas are nicer, the houses are newer, the schools are better and money can go further.  It just seems all the same and if you don't know where the grocery store or restaurant is you can drive 10 miles, not see a freeway and still only see cookie cutter houses.  Add on top of that some areas have mello roos and there's only like one way there that doesn't involve toll roads so you can't just up and go see family or friends who live 10-15 miles away because it could take an hour+ on the freeway.       

[Blarg]

29 minutes ago, Adam said:

Buy my house for $1 Million. You can live next door to the fat kid from iCarly

And across the street from Joseph Mengele. 

[Adam]

6 minutes ago, Catwhoshatinthehat said:

I still can't get on board with south OC and I think it's only because I grew up in a beach city where we've never had AC.  I know plenty of other areas are nicer, the houses are newer, the schools are better and money can go further.  It just seems all the same and if you don't know where the grocery store or restaurant is you can drive 10 miles, not see a freeway and still only see cookie cutter houses.  Add on top of that some areas have mello roos and there's only like one way there that doesn't involve toll roads so you can't just up and go see family or friends who live 10-15 miles away because it could take an hour+ on the freeway.       

Dude I live less than a mile from the 5 in MV. Easy in and out. 

[Tank]

25 minutes ago, Blarg said:

And across the street from Joseph Mengele. 

i thought he was in argentina. or maybe poway.

[Don]

Gonna go look at one tomorrow. Seems pretty decent from the pictures online, but we'll see how it really is once I'm there. The issues I've run into a lot lately are cash buyers grabbing anything they can usually within 48 hours of it being listed, or major structural problems with basements due to the fact that most homes in the area I've been looking in are 80-100 years old. Luckily, we're in our rainy season here, so basement issues are readily apparent with a quick glance. Definitely doing an independent home inspection though.

[mrwicked]

Buy in the best neighborhood you can afford. 

[Don]

4 minutes ago, mrwicked said:

Buy in the best neighborhood you can afford. 

The area I've primarily been looking in is pretty solid. Kinda suburbia within the city. Plenty of stuff to do, a good amount of character in the area, and mostly young, upwardly mobile families. There's also a tech company building new offices nearby that should put about 5,000 new jobs there within the next year or two. Prices have climbed quite a bit this year, but it's still really affordable. The place I'm looking at tomorrow is a recently updated 2/1 listed under 130k. The Midwest can be awesome sometimes.

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

2 hours ago, Adam said:

Dude I live less than a mile from the 5 in MV. Easy in and out. 

Yeah but you also live next to the fat kid from iCarly.

[ten ocho recon scout]

13 hours ago, Brandon said:

i do think you should have gotten a counter, especially if it's been on the market 40 days. contingencies could be a deal breaker for them. after the crash there has been a huge influx of foreign cash offers and i can see an inexperienced or not wise agent telling their sellers that they should take a cash offer with no contingencies like it's the norm.

either way, have your agent follow up. that's their job and takes two seconds to pick up the phone and call the other agent.

Im planning to sell later this year, and was hoping to do a contingency. Are they pretty rare?

Also, homebuying tip, look at the neighbors houses....

[ten ocho recon scout]

8 hours ago, calscuf said:

My wife is pregnant, so #2 will be joining us in October.  I don't know anything about the right to choose a better school.

But man, a million dollars is a lot of money to make sure your kids don't marry Mexicans, but I guess it's a necessity in OC these days.

Cmon, dude. Mexicans dont marry.

[ten ocho recon scout]

5 hours ago, mrwicked said:

Buy in the best neighborhood you can afford. 

Agreed.

And with hindsight, dont worry about an old lookinh house (major issues aside). When i bought my house, it needed a lot of work (which ive mostly done). But there were probably better investments i could have made by buying even crappier houses in better areas. At the time i was scared of having to spend money on upgrades. Hindsight, if youre going to live there for 10 years (or even more if its the house you plan to die in), upgrade along the way until it looks how you want it to....and be happier than buying the better looking house in a crappier area.

[ten ocho recon scout]

4 minutes ago, calscuf said:

Sure they do, they're not blacks.

Easy Torii Hunter.

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Im planning to sell later this year, and was hoping to do a contingency. Are they pretty rare?

Also, homebuying tip, look at the neighbors houses....

they're not rare, it's just the market is saturated with foreign money, cash offers, and flippers that use lending loopholes to essentially get the cash up front like a cash deal. if your offer is in there with two others that are all cash and something like a 15 or 30 day escrow, they are going in that direction.

yeah, i always looked at it like a job interview where the first thing i do is park my car and look at all the cars in the parking lot. you already get an idea of the culture, income levels, etc. tells you a lot before you even speak to anyone.

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Agreed.

And with hindsight, dont worry about an old lookinh house (major issues aside). When i bought my house, it needed a lot of work (which ive mostly done). But there were probably better investments i could have made by buying even crappier houses in better areas. At the time i was scared of having to spend money on upgrades. Hindsight, if youre going to live there for 10 years (or even more if its the house you plan to die in), upgrade along the way until it looks how you want it to....and be happier than buying the better looking house in a crappier area.

yeah, and i have this conversation with people non-stop. everyone thinks because they upgraded their kitchen or bathroom that the house should go up in value, but it doesn't work that way. it's better to have the shittiest house in a great neighborhood than have the best home in the shittiest neighborhood. comps and values are based on how the area is selling, not that you have crown molding (which by the way is the reason specifics aren't really considered.....an appraiser has access to your home, but not your neighbors to see how it compares regarding interior).

definitely take the more fixer home in the better area due to appreciation by the time your done fixing and if you choose to move. although, it's a lot of work fixing or altering a home and also requires more capital than people think.....another conversation i have all to often.

[Adam]

13 hours ago, Catwhoshatinthehat said:

Yeah but you also live next to the fat kid from iCarly.

Well he's not fat anymore 

[mrwicked]

10 hours ago, Brandon said:

yeah, and i have this conversation with people non-stop. everyone thinks because they upgraded their kitchen or bathroom that the house should go up in value, but it doesn't work that way. it's better to have the shittiest house in a great neighborhood than have the best home in the shittiest neighborhood. comps and values are based on how the area is selling, not that you have crown molding (which by the way is the reason specifics aren't really considered.....an appraiser has access to your home, but not your neighbors to see how it compares regarding interior).

definitely take the more fixer home in the better area due to appreciation by the time your done fixing and if you choose to move. although, it's a lot of work fixing or altering a home and also requires more capital than people think.....another conversation i have all to often.

Yep.

The neighborhood forces that maintain/increase property value are exponentially stronger than the force of a single renovated kitchen.

Rich people prefer living near rich people.

[Don]

Put an offer in on a place yesterday roughly 3 hours after it was listed. Offered about 6% over list. Ended up being one of ten offers they got that night. Didn't get accepted.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

On 5/2/2017 at 9:45 AM, wopphil said:

Home warranty companies are perhaps the most fraudulent companies in operation. They are terrible. Nothing is covered in full. They pay their contractors nothing, which causes the contractors to tell you things aren't covered and/or to upsell you something that amounts to extortion. 

Just say no to American Home Shield. I can give you a laundry list of reasons why, from personal experience.

[ABC]

4 hours ago, Don said:

Put an offer in on a place yesterday roughly 3 hours after it was listed. Offered about 6% over list. Ended up being one of ten offers they got that night. Didn't get accepted.

They didn't counter everyone with highest and best? 

[Blarg]

Don tried with a Sport Chalet gift card but they saw through that bullshit.

[Sully151]

10 hours ago, calscuf said:

 Not poo-pooing your situation Don, but I don't think you're going to get a lot of sympathy from dudes spending $900K when you're buying a nice house for $150K.

Maybe if you offered 8% over asking and threw in a $100 Applebee's gift card you'd be in?  That would only increase your budget by like $135.

I dated a super cute Kansas girl in college. She freaking loved Applebees. Could eat it every day. I saw that the check was in the mail on that one. 

[Don]

16 hours ago, calscuf said:

 Not poo-pooing your situation Don, but I don't think you're going to get a lot of sympathy from dudes spending $900K when you're buying a nice house for $150K.

Maybe if you offered 8% over asking and threw in a $100 Applebee's gift card you'd be in?  That would only increase your budget by like $135.

That's fair. Not looking for sympathy though certainly. The market is the market. I was just telling the story. I've got no issue with someone doing what they need to do to get something they want, and I also have no issue with a seller doing the best thing for themselves. 

[Brandon]

you have to look at the time stamps to tell if cals has been drinking and whether the post is serious or not.

17 hours ago looks to be midnight. story checks out.

[Brandon]

2 hours ago, calscuf said:

To be fair, I'm full of shit sober, too.

yeah, but your the only dude here to ever post a pic of a boner. so you're good in my book.

[Stradling]

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