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bearishgurl
ParticipantUnlike you, I don’t wish to be a landlord ever again. 8.5 years was wa-a-a-ay more than enough for me. I’m not interested in owning any investment properties. I personally do the have the expertise to rehab a single family home and flip it by myself. And I am not interested in owning in any real estate with “equity partners.” H@ll, no!
Why don’t you ask other Piggs why they haven’t invested in any properties if you “perceived” they were able to but “missed the boat.” Why me?
Glad to read you love managing, repairing/making replacements and re-filling your small investment condo(s) continuously with new tenants. I’m happy for you and hope you continue to love it 10-20 years from now and are never saddled with big HOA dues hikes and special assessments.
Good Luck to you, flu. What YOU perceive are great investments are NOT great investments for everyone.
ParticipantFor whatever reason, flu, your animosity and bitterness (currently towards me) has been shining on high beam around here in recent weeks. I thinks its well past time that you block me so you aren’t bothered by my posts … especially during the business day when you are supposedly “working.” You’ve turned into the “Champion Thread Polluter” extraordinaire.
Participant[quote=flu][quote=bearishgurl]sdgrrl, I agree with Rich about examining how long you want to actually own the property but for a different reason. If you guys are actually purchasing VA, the you could have a 100% loan. You say the sellers are refusing to pay any of your closing costs and your VA Funding Fee at 2% will be a hefty $7700 (if you pay $385K for the house). With your other closing costs and possible loan costs added to the funding fee, your closing costs could come to $12K or more which would mean that you will already “upside down” by ~$12K at the close of escrow (COE).
That’s not a good (financial) place to be in that area if you’re not planning on holding the property for at least 10 years, IMO. As you can see from the lower prices up there, Lakeside does not hold its value or appreciate at the same rates as closer-in (incorporated) communities in SD County do.
A few observations:
The 2011 “street view” pic reveals the following. There are no sidewalks or storm drains on this street (in an unincorporated area). The home is lower than the street. The crawlspace of this home could have been flooded multiple times in heavy rains over the years as there doesn’t appear to be any french drains installed in the front or side of the lot to drain off the backyard, which is lower still. The home and lot were likely in gross disrepair when the current seller/flipper purchased it. The June 2011 street view pic reveals a 20+ foot industrial-type trailer (as ucodegen mentioned) parked on the property in front of the house. A previous owner (before the flipper/seller) could have purchased it for almost nothing from DRMO or a local GSA auction.
http://www.governmentauctiondatabase.com/locations/CA/2489
I feel they may have acquired it to use to dispose of wild, overgrown landscaping and termite eaten and dry-rotted/moldy construction debris (due to previous flooding) as renting a “roll-on” can be prohibitively expensive. (The flipper/seller could have purchased the property with the trailer still there.) When the previous owner was gutting it and found the extent of the damage, they decided they didn’t (for whatever reason) want to put the money into it because in 2011/12, the market had literally gone to sh!t out there. They hung onto the property until they could unload it on a professional flipper in late 2015 and recover their money out of it (and likely more). The owner who sold to the flipper was likely a longtime owner or even an “heir” who very well may have borrowed money on it during the loose-lending era of the aughts. (Note: I have not viewed the public record chain-of-title on this property.)
The lot is essentially sloping down from the street to the house, with a third, lower tier as the backyard. The parcel may slope a little further downhill from the backyard but we can’t see it from the pics provided. The driveway in one place, in front of a window has an offset crack (we can’t tell exactly by how much). This nonetheless indicates soil movement because the concrete is so old that it is likely a tree was never growing there. The driveway was not repaired/replaced by the flipper/seller. There is another 1-2 feet of dirt between the driveway and a short retaining wall. The house is 1-2 feet lower than the retaining wall and was completely re-stuccoed, so we can’t tell if that crack (from moving soil over the years) has affected the short retaining wall (which could have been easily repaired) or penetrated the actual stemwall of the house.
In addition, its former roof (in 2011) was decrepit and probably leaked in one or more places. However the walls inside (possibly originally plaster) were likely replaced with drywall by the flipper.
If your offer is accepted and you open escrow, I would get a highly-qualified home inspector (or better yet, a civil engineer) out there pronto and go through the crawlspace with a high beam flashlight and a fine-toothed comb and whatever other meters/tools they use to look for dryrot in the subfloor and evidence of seepage (from cracks) and mold along the stemwalls.
A more expedient (and cheaper) way to get the info you need on whether to proceed with this transaction would be to insist on seeing any reports on that property paid for by previous buyer-principals who walked. You need to make this request immediately after your offer is accepted. And reject the reports promptly, if necessary, within your contingency period in order to get your earnest money back.
Good Luck and be mindful of your dates! I’m not sure properties in this particular area are for first-timers … especially those who are putting little money down and have low to moderate incomes and minor children to support (not saying that’s you, btw, sdgrrl).[/quote]
How the hell did you become an real estate expert (LETDLITA) in Lakeside and with this particular house simply by looking at a bunch pictures in an MLS listing???? Do you realize how ridiculous this is?????
Its like the last time you did this with the barrister(?) House in mira Mesa, in which your comments on that house, again , only based on the pictures you saw in an mls listing and from Google maps, was totally off too.[/quote]Again, trolling. I KNOW this particular area of east county fairly well (Wintergardens). Since you’re obviously a LETDLITA yourself, why don’t you take a drive out there and investigate the street and listing yourself! Again, flu, you need to find someone else to “troll after.” My post was not directed at you.
Participantsdgrrl, I agree with Rich about examining how long you want to actually own the property but for a different reason. If you guys are actually purchasing VA, the you could have a 100% loan. You say the sellers are refusing to pay any of your closing costs and your VA Funding Fee at 2% will be a hefty $7700 (if you pay $385K for the house). With your other closing costs and possible loan costs added to the funding fee, your closing costs could come to $12K or more which would mean that you will already “upside down” by ~$12K at the close of escrow (COE).
That’s not a good (financial) place to be in that area if you’re not planning on holding the property for at least 10 years, IMO. As you can see from the lower prices up there, Lakeside does not hold its value or appreciate at the same rates as closer-in (incorporated) communities in SD County do.
A few observations:
The 2011 “street view” pic reveals the following. There are no sidewalks or storm drains on this street (in an unincorporated area). The home is lower than the street. The crawlspace of this home could have been flooded multiple times in heavy rains over the years as there doesn’t appear to be any french drains installed in the front or side of the lot to drain off the backyard, which is lower still. The home and lot were likely in gross disrepair when the current seller/flipper purchased it. The June 2011 street view pic reveals a 20+ foot industrial-type trailer (as ucodegen mentioned) parked on the property in front of the house. A previous owner (before the flipper/seller) could have purchased it for almost nothing from DRMO or a local GSA auction.
http://www.governmentauctiondatabase.com/locations/CA/2489
I feel they may have acquired it to use to dispose of wild, overgrown landscaping and termite eaten and dry-rotted/moldy construction debris (due to previous flooding) as renting a “roll-on” can be prohibitively expensive. (The flipper/seller could have purchased the property with the trailer still there.) When the previous owner was gutting it and found the extent of the damage, they decided they didn’t (for whatever reason) want to put the money into it because in 2011/12, the market had literally gone to sh!t out there. They hung onto the property until they could unload it on a professional flipper in late 2015 and recover their money out of it (and likely more). The owner who sold to the flipper was likely a longtime owner or even an “heir” who very well may have borrowed money on it during the loose-lending era of the aughts. (Note: I have not viewed the public record chain-of-title on this property.)
The lot is essentially sloping down from the street to the house, with a third, lower tier as the backyard. The parcel may slope a little further downhill from the backyard but we can’t see it from the pics provided. The driveway in one place, in front of a window has an offset crack (we can’t tell exactly by how much). This nonetheless indicates soil movement because the concrete is so old that it is likely a tree was never growing there. The driveway was not repaired/replaced by the flipper/seller. There is another 1-2 feet of dirt between the driveway and a short retaining wall. The house is 1-2 feet lower than the retaining wall and was completely re-stuccoed, so we can’t tell if that crack (from moving soil over the years) has affected the short retaining wall (which could have been easily repaired) or penetrated the actual stemwall of the house.
In addition, its former roof (in 2011) was decrepit and probably leaked in one or more places. However the walls inside (possibly originally plaster) were likely replaced with drywall by the flipper.
If your offer is accepted and you open escrow, I would get a highly-qualified home inspector (or better yet, a civil engineer) out there pronto and go through the crawlspace with a high beam flashlight and a fine-toothed comb and whatever other meters/tools they use to look for dryrot in the subfloor and evidence of seepage (from cracks) and mold along the stemwalls.
A more expedient (and cheaper) way to get the info you need on whether to proceed with this transaction would be to insist on seeing any reports on that property paid for by previous buyer-principals who walked. You need to make this request immediately after your offer is accepted. And reject the reports promptly, if necessary, within your contingency period in order to get your earnest money back.
Good Luck and be mindful of your dates! I’m not sure properties in this particular area are for first-timers … especially those who are putting little money down and have low to moderate incomes and minor children to support (not saying that’s you, btw, sdgrrl).
July 25, 2016 at 2:08 PM in reply to: 3.4 new households for every new residential permit in SD #799968Participant[quote=PCinSD]More importantly, how messed up do you have to be to fail the psych exam required to be a federal prison worker?
Seriously.[/quote]The fact that you failed to answer the questions I asked is very telling.
pablo, have YOU ever applied for a criminal justice position … or a sworn staff position?
Inquiring minds want to know …
July 25, 2016 at 1:37 PM in reply to: 3.4 new households for every new residential permit in SD #799965Participant[quote=FlyerInHi]If your kids are doubling up, then why can’t older adults?
The population will grow even is there is no new construction. But there will always be new building.[/quote]If that new building is only infill (replacing the old bldg with a new bldg with the same amount of units, due to restrictive zoning), then no, that doesn’t add any units to the city and thus won’t add any population to the city.
I would imagine that people of all ages share units in an expensive city like SF. Boomers and seniors around me do not, because it is “affordable” to live here. We can get by without having A/C and public transportation is everywhere. It doesn’t cost most of them more than a few hundred a month in housing costs to live here, especially if one’s home is paid off and their property taxes are low. There is no reason whatsoever to share living space unless one can’t afford their bills where they are currently living by themselves. OR they are disabled in some way and need daily help.
It doesn’t matter if the boomer or senior’s home is a 2 bdrm or a 5 bdrm. In CA, if one bought their current residence more than 25 years ago and has no mortgage, it’s always cheaper to stay where they are and not move (even if they are only using one out of five bdrms) than sell and re-buy or rent another place in CA. If a household of one finds they want a roommate, they can always get one.
July 25, 2016 at 1:06 PM in reply to: 3.4 new households for every new residential permit in SD #799963Participant[quote=FlyerInHi]BG, it’s not just a difference of opinion.
You’re out of touch because you keep on insisting certain things can’t be done when people are clearly doing them. California will grow, population will increase. Expensive or not, people will find housing. If needed, they’ll double up or triple up. Of course, it’d be better if housing were affordable so people can spend their money in other sectors of the economy.[/quote]Where did I ever insist that certain things couldn’t be done? I KNOW people are doubling and tripling and quadupling up to afford rentals in expensive cities. My own kids are doing that and have been doing that for 10-15 years (youngest for 2 years). People who move into built-out cities will accept the housing that is on offer there, room with someone who already has a rental or not move there at all. Those are their 3 choices. These cities don’t “owe” anyone (renter or buyer) new construction to move into.
It is not the amount prospective newcomers who determine population size of any given city. It is the amount of available housing units a city has at any given time which determine potential population growth. And that number in and of itself doesn’t actually indicate the population will grow when a unit is filled. For example, just because there is an opening (vacant room) in a flat in SF for a new prospective roommate, the person who ultimately moves into the room is only filling the slot of the person who recently moved out. The same goes for other established houses/units on the local market. Newcomers who fill these units are only replacing people who moved out of them into another unit the same city or elsewhere. There is no “population growth” if there is no new construction.
If you don’t build them, newcomers have no choice but to take what is on offer if they want to reside there. If newcomers don’t like what is on offer in the new locale they are considering moving to (price or dwelling or both), they will either room with someone else (who already owns or has a lease on a unit) or not move there at all …. plain and simple. This theory works in the real world and has worked throughout history.
July 25, 2016 at 12:47 PM in reply to: 3.4 new households for every new residential permit in SD #799962Participant[quote=PCinSD][quote=bearishgurl][quote=PCinSD]Want me to post your quotes?[/quote]Please do. What has stopped you thus far? I haven’t edited ANY of my posts here after posting them, except for spelling or punctuation (and that was only immediately after posting them). Get busy and you have my blessing![/quote]
I did get my facts wrong. My apologies. You didn’t get turned down by the SDPD. You were denied employment after failing the psych exam for a much lesser position . . . A federal prison worker. Damn. How messed up do you have to be to fail that?[/quote]Good work, pablo. Your “research skills” are picking up.
Now, in same thread, as I recall, you were actually quite conciliatory :=0 Among other Piggs recounting their stories of friends/relatives undergoing psych evals for law enforcement positions, YOU recounted that your ex-spouse applied for a position at SDPD and was required to undergo a psych eval as part of the application process.
My questions for you now (I didn’t ask them then) are, “Had your ex-spouse applied for a sworn staff position when she was required to undergo a psych eval? If so, did she pass it? If so, was she ultimately hired? And if so, is she currently still an active member of the force today?
Thanks in advance of your replies.
Participant[quote=recordsclerk]This is a typical flip. Seller initially listed at market price. Got two buyers, both fell out. Listing got dated, so the dramatic price reduction. Got some buyers exited about the price, got multiple offers. Offers came in at 375k or higher. Agent representing buyer stating make offer at 375K or higher. What is wrong with any of the above. 5K credit for landscape is typical. Buyers (FHA, VA) want completely move in ready houses and don’t have the money to do improvements. This is a service provided for this type of buyer. Allows buyer to have money for landscape that is rolled into loan. VA loan requires seller to pay extra closing costs, seller doesn’t want to pay those fees. VA offers need to come in about 10K higher than FHA to net the same for seller. If there is something seriously wrong with the house during inspection, then pass. This is how it works. If you want a cash price, then save up the money and pay cash. If you want to use VA and have the home move in ready, then this is the way it works. Look for what fits for your family. I’m not advocating to buy or not to buy, just stating the facts.
My neighbor’s roommate was home searching in 2009 and using VA. Didn’t like anything she saw and didn’t want a flip. Ending up not buying. Had the attitude that people paying cash are getting the good deals and wanted the same, but didn’t have the money. In hindsight she made a mistake. Today’s market is totally different, but the same rules apply.[/quote]Excellent post, recordsclerk.I didn’t address the issue of OP using a VA loan or the VA funding fee because I was unclear if she was actually using VA. She stated that her spouse was “eligible” for one but not sure their offer was a VA offer … or VA No-No offer.
Participant[quote=HLS]BG wrote “I don’t think the DRE will even look into it unless she can prove she was somehow “damaged” by what the seller’s agent told her”
I completely disagree with this. MLS is intended to be an orderly market place.
Imagine if everybody listed properties for 20% less than they had any intention of selling the property for.
(expecting offers of 25% more than the listing price)It would be mass chaos with hundreds/thousands of agents & buyers scrambling to look at properties, wasting everyone’s time.
Most agents don’t call listing agent to discuss specifics. They spend several hours showing a property and have to prepare a 20 page offer. NOT OK.Agent has been licensed for 2 years, currently with Coldwell Banker. I would also contact Coldwell Banker corporate and let them know how disgusted I was about this.
Agent listed this at $299,900 so anyone searching up to $300,000 would see the property. Misleading.There are penalties for abusing the MLS system. I’m not the one who decides or enforces them, but this is blatant misrepresentation. It’s not a court case where one needs to prove damages. It’s unethical and I think the BRE may have an issue with it.
OP’s agent should file a complaint with the board as well as every other agent who takes a buyer to look at the property thinking it’s available for sale in the $300K range, only to be told offers will be considered above $375K .
This is NOT OK.[/quote]I completely agree with you here, HLS. I’ve seen a lot of properties listed with a “value range” asking price which exceeded $75K between the lowest and highest price point at which the seller will “entertain” offers. However, those properties were more “mainstream” (usually move-up homes) and not an obvious cosmetically-flipped “starter home,” as svelte as just shown us. (Thanks for posting the 2011 “street view,” svelte. It is exactly as I had imagined it would be, including its 2-tiered lot, which is common in Lakeside).If I was representing the buyer in this case, I myself would likely call the listing agent to ask why the last two escrows on the property fell out of escrow (a week apart) and demand to see any inspection/engineering reports paid for by former buyer principals PRIOR to placing an offer for my client. An honest, ethical experienced listing agent would provide them up front or even leave them in a binder on the kitchen counter for prospective buyers to look at when when are shown the property by their agent (since it was vacant, a buyer’s agent didn’t need to make an appt to show it). I agree that it is a waste of everyone’s time to go back and forth with an offer, get it accepted and open escrow only to find out the active listing has flaws (which could have been disclosed up front) which are a deal-killer. By that time, the buyer has often spent a few hundred to a thousand dollars on an inspection rpt, engineering rpt and/or appraisal.
For example, I’ve viewed dozens of engineering reports by fax of cracked (and signed-off, repaired) foundation slabs l-o-o-ong before I ever considered placing an offer for a client on a particular listing. I knew to ask for them because of obvious tell-tale signs while previewing the property as well as the lot’s location on a notorious street for foundation problems. This is because I was highly-familiar with the areas I was working in.
OP’s agent doesn’t sound like he/she was.
I just don’t honestly think the BRE (fka DRE) will investigate this. But it doesn’t cost anything to file a complaint and would likely deter this agent from egregiously mis-pricing any future listings in the MLS. Theoretically (it wouldn’t happen here, though), this listing agent could list this property for $300K and an all cash buyer could offer $375K, which sellers will, of course accept over OP’s offer which needed financing and thus was subject to an appraisal.
Participant[quote=flu][quote=bearishgurl]
However, I don’t see this as happening here. This listing agent just saw a rookie buyer and possibly their rookie agent as deer in the headlights and thought they could get away with playing this game with them.[/quote]God, is there any thread where you won’t say something in such a crass way as to insult someone that you don’t know? If you’re so smart, how many houses have you bought again??????? And when was the last time you bought a house again?????[/quote]Again, you’re trolling by speaking for another poster, flu. I’ve already posted on this forum how many times I’ve been a principal and its likely been at least twice as many times as you have. And I’ve conducted transactions for other principals since I purchased my last residence.
OP (a 1st-time buyer?) clearly stated here that she was unhappy with her agent and intended to replace them if she doesn’t close this deal. She essentially stated that she wanted someone more aggressive (who would represent her better). And rightly so. She needs one, ESPecially if she is going to shop in semi-rural east county. There are are plenty of competent ones out there who are well-respected (even “feared”) and know well the “lay of the land.”
July 25, 2016 at 12:59 AM in reply to: 3.4 new households for every new residential permit in SD #799947Participant[quote=flu][quote=bearishgurl][quote=FlyerInHi]It’s not dementia but staying home all the time and being out of touch with change and how other people live. . . .[/quote]Um, FIH, unlike you, who posts here 24/7, I AM busy. On top of that, I’ve needed to travel a lot this summer and that is not over. Unlike you, I don’t access the internet from devices. If I’m not sitting at my desk at home and have time for this nonsense, I’m not able to go on this site.
Why don’t you consider checking out the gym 10-15 hours a week or try scaredy’s floating meditation? Methinks you spend too much time here opining on nearly everything 12 hrs per day, every day. In other words, get a life![/quote]
lol. I find it funny you are saying this with a straight face, given that……..
1. …you just posted 4 times in a row…..
2. ……you find need to comment on almost every subject matter as the leading expert of everything, when clearly you are not,
3…..you regularly writes painstaking 10+ paragraphs of text which I must admit I never read most of it, which is mostly opinion masqueraded as fact. Because, sadly, if I ran my zip compression program on your paragraphs, it would probably compress down to two words: “WTF BG?”
4. you go at great length to find 1 smiggin internet article written to support your wild ass opinions stated as facts (despite the overwhelming data contradicts your opinions stated as facts)
5. you seem to have grown angry and bitter at just about everything and anyone that seemingly has gotten ahead, and come here to vent with your diatribes.So much for having “a life”. Pot meet kettle. If you have “a life”, you would have dropped off a long time ago, because clearly you aren’t here for educational value/financial info/value, since apparently you already know everything and are an expert at everything.[/quote]flu, is this the second, third or fourth time you have replied to me for another poster on this thread? Are you such a know-it-all that you can’t let them get up in the morning and reply at their own convenience?
If you don’t like my posts, you are free to block me. You don’t have to read them or run any dumb “utilities” you might have on them. Aren’t you supposedly still gainfully employed and don’t you work (away from home) Monday thru Friday? If so, why are you here replying for other posters on a Sunday after midnight?
I frankly could care less what you think of me. As usual, YOU don’t have your facts straight and have these preconceived notions about people in your head that are just plain false.
No, I do not like what SD County has become but that does not make me “bitter.” Many thousands of longtime San Diegans share my opinion and many of them are much more vocal in their communities re: their no-growth efforts and NIMBYism than I am. I am not because I don’t have time for that type of activism and I don’t care anymore because I don’t intend to “retire” around here.
Why don’t you go find someone else to glom onto and troll after? I used to have a lot more respect for you but your posts have devolved into continuous passive-aggressive rants in recent months/years.
Participant[quote=HLS]One more thing
I would call the Bureau of Real Estate and file a complaint against the
agent who listed a property at $299,000 and told your agent that
they will look at offers above $375,000
http://www.dre.ca.gov/Consumers/FileComplaint.htmlthis is absolute nonsense and the agent should have a formal complaint filed against them. Let the board deal with this.
As a Realtor I have zero tolerance for crap like this.[/quote]Agreed, but unfortunately, I don’t think the DRE will even look into it unless she can prove she was somehow “damaged” by what the seller’s agent told her. I’ve seen agents get away with stuff like this when they wanted to list the property on the MLS (usually for a very short time to satisfy a lender who agreed to take a short payoff) but they wanted to sell the property at a deeply discounted price to a particular individual (one of their relatives, the “seller’s” relative or their own “straw-offeror”). It was done to deter any other offers from actually coming in before their “planted buyer” could get their sh!t together (often thru another agent in their own brokerage) and get their offer in ASAP after the listing was placed in the MLS.
However, I don’t see this as happening here. This listing agent just saw a rookie buyer and possibly their rookie agent as deer in the headlights and thought they could get away with playing this game with them.
Participant[quote=sdgrrl][quote=PCinSD]Don’t do anything until BG gives you legal and marital advice. Many of us have her on retainer.[/quote]
Again, I have read BG’s posts for some time. I read the other thread she is posting on and there were some standouts:
“Do people really want to attempt to raise young families in sub-1000 sf home with stairs and little to no yard?” Is that really what today’s homebuyers will “settle” for:
Um yeah. To a degree. Many young home buyers in pricey cities are realistic about what their buck will buy nowadays. The places some of us grew up in is not feasible in today’s market. Just the truth.
Also, many people in their 20s and 30s don’t want all the space and the work which comes with it.
“I honestly believe that many millenials (now working in their fields) can save a downpayment and buy a regular house. The $64M questions are, do they actually want to save for a downpayment and will they actually buy a house they can afford which will serve them (and their possible future families) for many years to come”:
Not sure which millennials you know, but $100k to drop on a down payment is not within their reach when they are still in their 20s. I am GenX and am in my 30s. If they have young children and are spending $800-$1500 on daycare it is even more unreasonable. My guy is a veteran and if we wanted to we wouldn’t have to put any money down.
Unless parents have stepped in, buying and selling is occurring for my friends parents and not them for the most part.
Overall I ignore her posts, but today these caught my eye even though it is business as usual.[/quote]sdgrrl, pay pablo no mind. As usual, he’s trolling as I never offered any advice or suggestions on this thread. This is the first time I’ve seen it. I have made many comments in the past about millenials having a sense of entitlement when it comes to choosing housing … well … simply because they DO. (That’s pretty undisputed in the media and in the RE publications I get by e-mail.) And my own kids are millenials and THEY do. IMO, they should save more of their large salaries (even if its not for a house) instead of spend, spend, spend and I lecture them on that as well.
However, you say you’re a Gen X (which I haven’t stated had a “sense of entitlement” unless it was the very youngest members of your generation). I was under the impression that millenials were born from 1978 to 1998 (the under 40 crowd), which if you’re in your 30’s, would make you a millenial. However, wikipedia has several different later dates for millenial births. I now don’t know which one to use.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials
Good luck in your search. I agree with HLS in that you need to demand (immediately, should your offer be accepted) to see any previous inspection reports on the property from previous escrows which fell out. The property in your MLS pfl appears to have a fairly high crawlspace under the house portion (which is fairly common for that year in Lakeside). Those were the oldest, smallest houses in Lakeside and it was likely purchased at some point as a very heavy fixer for very little and “remodeled.” The house could very well need jacking up in one of its corners or have other uneven foundation problems which the seller is slow about disclosing. If it has any structural problems, it could cost you $30K or more to fix it after the close of escrow and I do not think that house in that area is worth spending that amount of cash on (assuming you have it after COE) … especially if you pay more than $300K for it.
It is very possible that a previous owner or the current seller put lipstick on the pig (cosmetically remodeled it) without knowing it had structural problems (or knowing the extent of them) but now they DO know and are withholding their TDS until they accept an offer (artificially inflated, by their agent with the, “We have multiple offers,” game).
Be strong and stand your ground on all matters related to physical inspection. Get a good inspector lined up NOW who can spring into action should your offer be accepted. I hope you didn’t agree to lower your contingency period from 17 to 12 days, but if you did (due to poor buyers’ agent representation), you must act fast. And, if you don’t take this house, in the future, do NOT give up your right to take the entire 17 days to remove contingencies! You are not an investor or cash buyer/flipper who has a body of knowledge about construction and land use/geological issues in particular areas and are in no position to give up your right to take the time you need to find out everything about the property before committing to the sale.
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