[lfterrell]

Mahalo to all of providing such great advice. I must apologize because I was attempting to be brief and to the point, I see that I’ve obviously left out important information. My husband and I are retired military ; we currently reside in Hawaii, although my husband is currently a contractor in Iraq. We were previously in Austin, where we purchased a beautiful home and we are renting it out.
We would like to return to the Mainland, preferably San Diego or San Francisco. By the time we plan on moving in June 2011,we hope to have quite a bit more than the $20K; plus we’ll have little to no debt.
My initial thought was to not rent per say, but do some sort of lease with option to buy.
Because I’m a Cal Vet, I could go that route, but with my FICO below 700, I’m concerned about getting a loan.
We will continue to research the areas, to see where we can relo in the most cost beneficial way to the family.
Again many Thanks for all the good info.

[lfterrell]

Mahalo to all of providing such great advice. I must apologize because I was attempting to be brief and to the point, I see that I’ve obviously left out important information. My husband and I are retired military ; we currently reside in Hawaii, although my husband is currently a contractor in Iraq. We were previously in Austin, where we purchased a beautiful home and we are renting it out.
We would like to return to the Mainland, preferably San Diego or San Francisco. By the time we plan on moving in June 2011,we hope to have quite a bit more than the $20K; plus we’ll have little to no debt.
My initial thought was to not rent per say, but do some sort of lease with option to buy.
Because I’m a Cal Vet, I could go that route, but with my FICO below 700, I’m concerned about getting a loan.
We will continue to research the areas, to see where we can relo in the most cost beneficial way to the family.
Again many Thanks for all the good info.

[lfterrell]

Mahalo to all of providing such great advice. I must apologize because I was attempting to be brief and to the point, I see that I’ve obviously left out important information. My husband and I are retired military ; we currently reside in Hawaii, although my husband is currently a contractor in Iraq. We were previously in Austin, where we purchased a beautiful home and we are renting it out.
We would like to return to the Mainland, preferably San Diego or San Francisco. By the time we plan on moving in June 2011,we hope to have quite a bit more than the $20K; plus we’ll have little to no debt.
My initial thought was to not rent per say, but do some sort of lease with option to buy.
Because I’m a Cal Vet, I could go that route, but with my FICO below 700, I’m concerned about getting a loan.
We will continue to research the areas, to see where we can relo in the most cost beneficial way to the family.
Again many Thanks for all the good info.

[lfterrell]

Mahalo to all of providing such great advice. I must apologize because I was attempting to be brief and to the point, I see that I’ve obviously left out important information. My husband and I are retired military ; we currently reside in Hawaii, although my husband is currently a contractor in Iraq. We were previously in Austin, where we purchased a beautiful home and we are renting it out.
We would like to return to the Mainland, preferably San Diego or San Francisco. By the time we plan on moving in June 2011,we hope to have quite a bit more than the $20K; plus we’ll have little to no debt.
My initial thought was to not rent per say, but do some sort of lease with option to buy.
Because I’m a Cal Vet, I could go that route, but with my FICO below 700, I’m concerned about getting a loan.
We will continue to research the areas, to see where we can relo in the most cost beneficial way to the family.
Again many Thanks for all the good info.

[lfterrell]

Mahalo to all of providing such great advice. I must apologize because I was attempting to be brief and to the point, I see that I’ve obviously left out important information. My husband and I are retired military ; we currently reside in Hawaii, although my husband is currently a contractor in Iraq. We were previously in Austin, where we purchased a beautiful home and we are renting it out.
We would like to return to the Mainland, preferably San Diego or San Francisco. By the time we plan on moving in June 2011,we hope to have quite a bit more than the $20K; plus we’ll have little to no debt.
My initial thought was to not rent per say, but do some sort of lease with option to buy.
Because I’m a Cal Vet, I could go that route, but with my FICO below 700, I’m concerned about getting a loan.
We will continue to research the areas, to see where we can relo in the most cost beneficial way to the family.
Again many Thanks for all the good info.

[lfterrell]

[quote=DWCAP]Here is the real red flag for me, even more so than the ‘need imporovement’ credit (685) or the low down:
You dont live here yet, and own a house somewhere else?

This should have been disclosed in the OP, because it is a huge fact to me. San Diego is a VERY diverse city, and I would advise ANYONE moving here for the first time to rent. I dont care if you are Bill Freakin Gates, RENT YOUR FIRST HOUSE. You will not know where you want to be, and what kind of lifestyle you want/can afford until you are here. The housing, the noise, the weather, the people,
the social scene, the activites, they are all so different.

Find what you want, then optimize it to what you can afford, and live the happy median. SD housing prices are stagnant or falling currently, interest rates are low, and going down. Rents are not skyrocketing. There is no possible reason you NEED to buy a house, in a city you dont currently live in, in the next 6-12 months. (unless someone else is paying the tab for you, which again is a fact needed in the OP)[/quote]

Yes, the closer we get to moving we are leaning towards renting for up to a year. Our home in Austin is holding steady and maybe even moving up slightly
I appreciate all of the constructive comments.

[lfterrell]

[quote=DWCAP]Here is the real red flag for me, even more so than the ‘need imporovement’ credit (685) or the low down:
You dont live here yet, and own a house somewhere else?

This should have been disclosed in the OP, because it is a huge fact to me. San Diego is a VERY diverse city, and I would advise ANYONE moving here for the first time to rent. I dont care if you are Bill Freakin Gates, RENT YOUR FIRST HOUSE. You will not know where you want to be, and what kind of lifestyle you want/can afford until you are here. The housing, the noise, the weather, the people,
the social scene, the activites, they are all so different.

Find what you want, then optimize it to what you can afford, and live the happy median. SD housing prices are stagnant or falling currently, interest rates are low, and going down. Rents are not skyrocketing. There is no possible reason you NEED to buy a house, in a city you dont currently live in, in the next 6-12 months. (unless someone else is paying the tab for you, which again is a fact needed in the OP)[/quote]

Yes, the closer we get to moving we are leaning towards renting for up to a year. Our home in Austin is holding steady and maybe even moving up slightly
I appreciate all of the constructive comments.

[lfterrell]

[quote=DWCAP]Here is the real red flag for me, even more so than the ‘need imporovement’ credit (685) or the low down:
You dont live here yet, and own a house somewhere else?

This should have been disclosed in the OP, because it is a huge fact to me. San Diego is a VERY diverse city, and I would advise ANYONE moving here for the first time to rent. I dont care if you are Bill Freakin Gates, RENT YOUR FIRST HOUSE. You will not know where you want to be, and what kind of lifestyle you want/can afford until you are here. The housing, the noise, the weather, the people,
the social scene, the activites, they are all so different.

Find what you want, then optimize it to what you can afford, and live the happy median. SD housing prices are stagnant or falling currently, interest rates are low, and going down. Rents are not skyrocketing. There is no possible reason you NEED to buy a house, in a city you dont currently live in, in the next 6-12 months. (unless someone else is paying the tab for you, which again is a fact needed in the OP)[/quote]

Yes, the closer we get to moving we are leaning towards renting for up to a year. Our home in Austin is holding steady and maybe even moving up slightly
I appreciate all of the constructive comments.

[lfterrell]

[quote=DWCAP]Here is the real red flag for me, even more so than the ‘need imporovement’ credit (685) or the low down:
You dont live here yet, and own a house somewhere else?

This should have been disclosed in the OP, because it is a huge fact to me. San Diego is a VERY diverse city, and I would advise ANYONE moving here for the first time to rent. I dont care if you are Bill Freakin Gates, RENT YOUR FIRST HOUSE. You will not know where you want to be, and what kind of lifestyle you want/can afford until you are here. The housing, the noise, the weather, the people,
the social scene, the activites, they are all so different.

Find what you want, then optimize it to what you can afford, and live the happy median. SD housing prices are stagnant or falling currently, interest rates are low, and going down. Rents are not skyrocketing. There is no possible reason you NEED to buy a house, in a city you dont currently live in, in the next 6-12 months. (unless someone else is paying the tab for you, which again is a fact needed in the OP)[/quote]

Yes, the closer we get to moving we are leaning towards renting for up to a year. Our home in Austin is holding steady and maybe even moving up slightly
I appreciate all of the constructive comments.

[lfterrell]

[quote=DWCAP]Here is the real red flag for me, even more so than the ‘need imporovement’ credit (685) or the low down:
You dont live here yet, and own a house somewhere else?

This should have been disclosed in the OP, because it is a huge fact to me. San Diego is a VERY diverse city, and I would advise ANYONE moving here for the first time to rent. I dont care if you are Bill Freakin Gates, RENT YOUR FIRST HOUSE. You will not know where you want to be, and what kind of lifestyle you want/can afford until you are here. The housing, the noise, the weather, the people,
the social scene, the activites, they are all so different.

Find what you want, then optimize it to what you can afford, and live the happy median. SD housing prices are stagnant or falling currently, interest rates are low, and going down. Rents are not skyrocketing. There is no possible reason you NEED to buy a house, in a city you dont currently live in, in the next 6-12 months. (unless someone else is paying the tab for you, which again is a fact needed in the OP)[/quote]

Yes, the closer we get to moving we are leaning towards renting for up to a year. Our home in Austin is holding steady and maybe even moving up slightly
I appreciate all of the constructive comments.

[lfterrell]

[quote=UCGal][quote=lfterrell]How interesting without knowing much, only that I’ve saved some money and admitted my credit score is not where I want it (685 average) you’ve gone on this rant.
[/quote]
I used information you provided in the OP.
[quote=lfterrell]We would like to purchase a home in San Diego using the Agreement of Sale method. We know our credit rating is not the best, but we do have good income, very little debt and some money $20,000 that can be used towards down payment. We obviously are not looking for a mansion, but would like something 2-3 bedrooms under $500,000. How prevalent are agreement of sale contracts in San Diego?[/quote]

Actually I was addressing, what I took as very “Snarky” comments from Bristol Chicken, not UCGal. I too agree that we need to improve our credit score, which we are doing and have more funds for down, which we are working towards. I was not too keen on renting any longer and knew about the Agreement of Sale route. Its a legitimate means for those of us who have challenges such as another home that still needs to appreciate in order to sell.
The reason I initially asked the question, was to see if others knew of this type of contract being used in California.

You mentioned your credit score was an issue. I did not pull that out of thin air. You mention you have $20k to put down on a $500k purchase – I did not pull that out of thin air.

I agree I did bring up my score and money on hand – again, I was really addressing the other comments.

I stated my opinion that it would be better to take some time to concurrantly work on your credit score and save more down payment. I’m sorry you were offended by that.[/quote]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and that was the reason I posted; where I disagree is when folks with no real valuable information involve themselves and don’t really add to the discourse other than hijack the thread towards venting about their personal “bugaboos.”

I appreciate your original suggestion – Thanks!

[lfterrell]

[quote=UCGal][quote=lfterrell]How interesting without knowing much, only that I’ve saved some money and admitted my credit score is not where I want it (685 average) you’ve gone on this rant.
[/quote]
I used information you provided in the OP.
[quote=lfterrell]We would like to purchase a home in San Diego using the Agreement of Sale method. We know our credit rating is not the best, but we do have good income, very little debt and some money $20,000 that can be used towards down payment. We obviously are not looking for a mansion, but would like something 2-3 bedrooms under $500,000. How prevalent are agreement of sale contracts in San Diego?[/quote]

Actually I was addressing, what I took as very “Snarky” comments from Bristol Chicken, not UCGal. I too agree that we need to improve our credit score, which we are doing and have more funds for down, which we are working towards. I was not too keen on renting any longer and knew about the Agreement of Sale route. Its a legitimate means for those of us who have challenges such as another home that still needs to appreciate in order to sell.
The reason I initially asked the question, was to see if others knew of this type of contract being used in California.

You mentioned your credit score was an issue. I did not pull that out of thin air. You mention you have $20k to put down on a $500k purchase – I did not pull that out of thin air.

I agree I did bring up my score and money on hand – again, I was really addressing the other comments.

I stated my opinion that it would be better to take some time to concurrantly work on your credit score and save more down payment. I’m sorry you were offended by that.[/quote]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and that was the reason I posted; where I disagree is when folks with no real valuable information involve themselves and don’t really add to the discourse other than hijack the thread towards venting about their personal “bugaboos.”

I appreciate your original suggestion – Thanks!

[lfterrell]

[quote=UCGal][quote=lfterrell]How interesting without knowing much, only that I’ve saved some money and admitted my credit score is not where I want it (685 average) you’ve gone on this rant.
[/quote]
I used information you provided in the OP.
[quote=lfterrell]We would like to purchase a home in San Diego using the Agreement of Sale method. We know our credit rating is not the best, but we do have good income, very little debt and some money $20,000 that can be used towards down payment. We obviously are not looking for a mansion, but would like something 2-3 bedrooms under $500,000. How prevalent are agreement of sale contracts in San Diego?[/quote]

Actually I was addressing, what I took as very “Snarky” comments from Bristol Chicken, not UCGal. I too agree that we need to improve our credit score, which we are doing and have more funds for down, which we are working towards. I was not too keen on renting any longer and knew about the Agreement of Sale route. Its a legitimate means for those of us who have challenges such as another home that still needs to appreciate in order to sell.
The reason I initially asked the question, was to see if others knew of this type of contract being used in California.

You mentioned your credit score was an issue. I did not pull that out of thin air. You mention you have $20k to put down on a $500k purchase – I did not pull that out of thin air.

I agree I did bring up my score and money on hand – again, I was really addressing the other comments.

I stated my opinion that it would be better to take some time to concurrantly work on your credit score and save more down payment. I’m sorry you were offended by that.[/quote]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and that was the reason I posted; where I disagree is when folks with no real valuable information involve themselves and don’t really add to the discourse other than hijack the thread towards venting about their personal “bugaboos.”

I appreciate your original suggestion – Thanks!

[lfterrell]

[quote=UCGal][quote=lfterrell]How interesting without knowing much, only that I’ve saved some money and admitted my credit score is not where I want it (685 average) you’ve gone on this rant.
[/quote]
I used information you provided in the OP.
[quote=lfterrell]We would like to purchase a home in San Diego using the Agreement of Sale method. We know our credit rating is not the best, but we do have good income, very little debt and some money $20,000 that can be used towards down payment. We obviously are not looking for a mansion, but would like something 2-3 bedrooms under $500,000. How prevalent are agreement of sale contracts in San Diego?[/quote]

Actually I was addressing, what I took as very “Snarky” comments from Bristol Chicken, not UCGal. I too agree that we need to improve our credit score, which we are doing and have more funds for down, which we are working towards. I was not too keen on renting any longer and knew about the Agreement of Sale route. Its a legitimate means for those of us who have challenges such as another home that still needs to appreciate in order to sell.
The reason I initially asked the question, was to see if others knew of this type of contract being used in California.

You mentioned your credit score was an issue. I did not pull that out of thin air. You mention you have $20k to put down on a $500k purchase – I did not pull that out of thin air.

I agree I did bring up my score and money on hand – again, I was really addressing the other comments.

I stated my opinion that it would be better to take some time to concurrantly work on your credit score and save more down payment. I’m sorry you were offended by that.[/quote]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and that was the reason I posted; where I disagree is when folks with no real valuable information involve themselves and don’t really add to the discourse other than hijack the thread towards venting about their personal “bugaboos.”

I appreciate your original suggestion – Thanks!

[lfterrell]

[quote=UCGal][quote=lfterrell]How interesting without knowing much, only that I’ve saved some money and admitted my credit score is not where I want it (685 average) you’ve gone on this rant.
[/quote]
I used information you provided in the OP.
[quote=lfterrell]We would like to purchase a home in San Diego using the Agreement of Sale method. We know our credit rating is not the best, but we do have good income, very little debt and some money $20,000 that can be used towards down payment. We obviously are not looking for a mansion, but would like something 2-3 bedrooms under $500,000. How prevalent are agreement of sale contracts in San Diego?[/quote]

Actually I was addressing, what I took as very “Snarky” comments from Bristol Chicken, not UCGal. I too agree that we need to improve our credit score, which we are doing and have more funds for down, which we are working towards. I was not too keen on renting any longer and knew about the Agreement of Sale route. Its a legitimate means for those of us who have challenges such as another home that still needs to appreciate in order to sell.
The reason I initially asked the question, was to see if others knew of this type of contract being used in California.

You mentioned your credit score was an issue. I did not pull that out of thin air. You mention you have $20k to put down on a $500k purchase – I did not pull that out of thin air.

I agree I did bring up my score and money on hand – again, I was really addressing the other comments.

I stated my opinion that it would be better to take some time to concurrantly work on your credit score and save more down payment. I’m sorry you were offended by that.[/quote]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and that was the reason I posted; where I disagree is when folks with no real valuable information involve themselves and don’t really add to the discourse other than hijack the thread towards venting about their personal “bugaboos.”

I appreciate your original suggestion – Thanks!

[Author]

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