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Update: there is exactly 1 SFH in all of OB west of Sunset Cliffs Blvd. It is listed at $3.4 million.

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You know what to do now. Get pre approved for the most you’d ever consider paying and make an offer the first day if it looks good, telling them not to sell without giving you their best offer to beat. If you show you are approved for 500k and they get a full prixe 400k offer from you, they would be tempted to at least see if you will go higher.

Your agent failed you letting a house get away like that. I doubt the sellers were in such a hurry they would not have waited a day or two for you to make an offer if you expressed your interest aggressively. Make sure you are reviewing every new listing in your target area every day.

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Wow maybe I am in the wrong business then.

What does a full bath reno cost for your high standards Flyer?

My $1500 included tiling most of the walls, marble flooring, new mirrors, lights and outlets. Kept the old bathtub toilet and sink which were in very good shape, but with new faucets, showerheads, shelves, drains, and cabinet handles. The cabinets were just deep cleaned and refinished.

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This has 0 chance of passing. Cal House Republicans will never let their party pass something that limits the mortgage and state income tax deductions.

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Woodrow, if we are set for 10-20% increase this year, and I think we are, then patience could work against you. OB Elementary I think is now up to 9/10 rating due to gentrification. And the areas around the very top schools like Silvergate I believe have schoolage population declines that require them to take out of zone kids or risk closing.

The area a little east of Sunset Cliffs around OB Elementary is all SF zoned and mostly view houses walking distance from Newport Ave amenities.

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Spdrun, China’s economy has grown 60%+ since the bubble pop. They are just as keen on buying in CA as before, but their resources are much higher.

By the way price to annual rent in major Chinese cities is about 50. Our markets have both higher returns and greater safety and protection from seizures. While rent is rising faster in China, that has a very long way to go. A 400k San Diego condo rents for about 2200/mo, but in Shanghai you’d get about $800/mo in rent on a 400k condo. Why do people still buy? Banks are unsafe and pay almost no interest, well below inflation. Also it is a requirement to get married in the middle class.

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Woodrow, all three of my 92107 properties came by watching the market almost daily and swooping down like a hawk when a well priced one came down.

The good thing for you is that your townhouse probably appreciated more than the SFH you want to trade it for.

If you can marginally afford it, buy and rent the SFH now and live in the townhouse.

I still have not moved into my biggest OB home, the rent is just too good on it. It is hard when I inspect or repair it and see how nice and big it is, to own but not enjoy it.

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So you want a nice house in a good location thst does not need major work on a $400k budget? Sorry but you are already priced out.

A basic update to a bathroom with everything replaced with brand new nice midgrade stuff is pretty cheap and easy. As in 1200-4000.

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More like right at 4.0% now for prime borrowers. Down from 4.4%. That decrease means lower payments of like $250/mo for a typical SD home buyer.

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/728996.aspx

The buyer urgency had nothing to do with rates. Only salivating bears thought rates going to, OMG, 2015 levels was an issue. It has to do with the fact that waiting another year means you lose out on 2017’s 10-20% price increases. And even more urgency by the competition for the very limited number of homes.

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Maybe the permit was rejected after the county updated its tax roll with the higher sq footage. One is a city issue the other is a county issue.

In real estate listings “permits unknown” means unpermitted 90% of the time.

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Mainland chinese want to take their trillions of dollars out of China so much to invest in Western property markets with good weather and Chinese minorities the government is trying to slow them down with new laws. Sounds very bullish to me.

They are all worried about political instability and a decline in their currency against the USD, which they consider real money.

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I waited until 2011 to buy my first house because of pricing issues and read this site then as I waited for the bubble to burst.

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At least right now, I am not sure people are aware the market is primed for a 10% increase. Zillow has been broke for more than a year now in San Diego. Despite the inventory figures above, it predicts 92107 will go up 0.0% for the next year (it was 1% a few weeks ago). Meanwhile the media is reporting no increase this month based purely on median price, not the more accurate PPSF Rich uses or the paired sales of Case Schiller. Overall, even during the big increase years of 2012 and 2013, I don’t sense the popular interest in RE as a get rich investment anything like the mid-00s.

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So for every 10 net new jobs created, one SFH is getting built. And probably a lot of those are replacing tear downs. That plus strong in income growth means more cash chasing fewer homes.

Not to mention many people retired but are staying in their SFH for another 25 years.

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Millennial, your personal philosophy and preferences are anecdotes. I am just telling you what the economists and demographers who study these issues for a living say.

Population growth is a pretty minor factor for housing prices that is easily outweighed by others. Del Mar’s population fell by 12% since 1980. How did real estate do during that time?

As for better housing not leading to happiness, it really depends. If I moved up from my 800,000 house to a 1.6m one nearby, probably I’d be a tiny bit happier. But I know I was happier when I moved up to this one from a more cramped situation.

My comfort level and space requirements were largely set growing up in suburban 1960’s houses of about 2200sf on big lots. I did not like being more cramped when I first moved here. It was like a slight background anxiety was lifted when I moved to a bigger place with more space and privacy (and I could do so within budget).

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