[sdsurfer]

I’d be interested in reading your blog and learning about the process you went through. I have plenty of friends that have talked about doing what your doing, but none of them ended up doing it. I’ve told myself (and the wifey) that I think if we approach it the right way it would be cool to build a house one day. I think there are a lot more people out there telling people not to do it than people explaining that it is possible. Good luck with everything and your logic seems super reasonable to me as far as who to work with.

[sdsurfer]

Quick disclaimer…I used to be a “parasite” in my past life and my wife is still at it, but I moved on to work at a tech company!

Commissions are negotiable so you can negotiate with anyone on the rate and how willing they will be is going to be directly related to how busy they are.

The lowest number would be to do it yourself and cut the agent/brokerage out completely and just use a title and/or escrow company. Personally (being a bit busy), I’d add 10-15% to my price and give an agent 5% of that (split equally with the buyers agent/broker) in exchange for them doing all the work and I’d let them know there will be no price reductions. Let them know you are going with them to sell at full price (actually a little above) and if they cannot get it your going to cancel the listing and do it yourself at market value. There are nuances to this in that you might get a full price offer, but the appraisal could come in low and you could mention that if they find the buyer they will agree to do it for 4% or something. Again…everything is negotiable.

I know some would disagree, but I really look at Realtors and Brokers like Attorneys. No…I’d rather not use one, but if I do I definitely want a competent one. I’d think they are even better in a way because they work for free until the deal closes as opposed to attorneys who send you a bill even when nothing has been accomplished.

I believe there are some parasites in real estate and there are some parasites in other industries too. I never assume everyone in a certain industry is anything just like I do not assume everyone in New York is an a-hole. I’m sure there are some and maybe a higher concentration, but there are a-holes in San Diego and every other city/country/land too.

It might not be a bad idea to interview a couple people with the intention of doing it yourself and just seeing how it goes. Maybe you gain some knowledge (for free) of what your list price could be even if you do it yourself or maybe you meet someone that you might want to work with.

I think the reason inventory is so low is because people are getting a good enough return on their investment and feel other options would be more risky than assuming rents will continue to go up like they have for quite a while.

Good luck to you whatever you do and feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions I can help with. I know you have chimed in with useful information that I have appreciated over time.

[sdsurfer]

If they are both single I’d recommend they love where they live and make sacrifices later.

If it was me I’d probably buy a condo near the beach that would become a rental when they move inland a bit after they get married and want more space. You could also go the route of buying the rentals inland, but I’d be worried that inland will be the first to fall in a downturn.

I never recommend buying anywhere unless you are living in it (and optimistically paying about what rent would be) or if you are cash flowing (or breaking even in a really good area).

[sdsurfer]

Here’s one that looks like it sold:

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Encinitas/178-Range-St-92024/home/4059853

[sdsurfer]

I’ve often thought the same thing. I think it’s just more proof that people are lazy. I feel the same way about home staging. Sooo this furniture is here just to show me what the place will look like with furniture even through this is not my furniture?

[sdsurfer]

Assuming all other terms are equal it can set you apart from the other offers.

I do not think you’ll save any money, but if they have multiple offers at the same price and considering it costs you absolutely nothing you might as well.

[sdsurfer]

It’s super frustrating, but hang in there! I know it might seem whimsy, but I really do believe that it works out when it’s supposed to.

You do want your agent to be a little pushy to get you in there asap and to express urgency, but even if you are first and get your offer in does not guarantee it being the one that gets accepted. There are a lot of factors at play and I’d say a quite a few listing agents are taking advantage of the low inventory situation.

I personally think no home should EVER sell in less than a week. Even if they get a full price all cash offer on the 1st day they should still let people see it that weekend and let them submit their offers on Monday too. There is such a misconception that selling a home quick means you are good at your job, but it’s bullshit if you sell it for less than you could have if you gave it more time (like 7-10 more days?). I’m seeing a bunch of “coming soon” listings recently that equally piss me off. What is “coming soon”? Putting the listing on the MLS so everyone knows about it instead of just you and your friends and neighbors? Don’t even get me started on the ones that say “sold before processing”. What exactly is being processed? I’d hard for me to not assume it just means “sold to someone I know before you got a chance with me screwing over my seller since they were unfamiliar with the process” in my translation.

In my opinion a lot of it comes from being a “good” realtor being more of a popularity contest than the skill that I believe it should be. To be fair…I do think there are some really good realtors and it’s the few that give the good ones a bad name, but I honestly blame the seller in a lot of instances for allowing it to happen because they chose the person with the most signs in their neighborhood instead of meeting with a couple people and talking with them to find someone they can trust before they start working with them. If their realtor brings them an offer the first day for full price they should say, “Thanks! I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of offers come in over the next week or two” and hold them to continuing to do their job until they know the offer they accept is the best one as far as price AND terms for everyone involved. Then everyone gets to see it and submit their offers too. I know there are some really solid realtors that will not double end a deal because they think it’s not right and I commend them for doing the right thing even though they would make more money if they represented both sides. Representing both sides of the deal should be very rare in my opinion because it’s the same thing as the plaintiff and defendant having the same attorney and we know that would not work.

Anyways…I mention some of the above to share with anyone that does not already understand, but I’m betting most piggs already understand the game and the process. If you dont…keep reading this blog and learning from others that do understand the game before you get into it and choose your representation carefully to assure they represent your needs rather than their own.

[sdsurfer]

I’d think if you plan on staying in Chula Vista long term then you might as well go for it. If prices do go down at some point it’ll probably coincide with higher rates and your payment will be roughly the same. Just make sure you can comfortable afford the monthly payment. Dont get swept up in the “being priced out forever” BS though. Forever is a long time and a lot could change, but if you like the area, home, etc. and are thinking long term I’d think you will do well.

On the remodel front we did our entire kitchen through IKEA for about 7500 with quartz counters/new sink/ceramic tiles/paint/etc (we did keep the old appliances since it was a bitchin old Roper and the fridge still worked). We figured we’ll upgrade those when they stop working. We also did our bathrooms for 1500-2k. Go to Bedrosians and sort through the stuff people ordered and never picked up or they ended up with extra for some reason. We got really cool limestone that was $25/sq ft, but they sold the whole pile of leftovers for $100 bucks. Just make sure you factor in a little extra so you have enough.

I’d think you could go to Pinterest or a million websites for ideas if you need them. Good luck to you!

[sdsurfer]

Would it be that difficult to just convert it back to a garage?

[sdsurfer]

I definitely go through old posts from time to time on relevant topic.

I’ve learned a ton from this site! I was just going to mention that I miss TG’s posts and there he is with a visit! Start working on that show man…why not?

Just thought I’d chime in to say thank you to Rich for putting this site together and for everyone that contributes. Such a great way to learn from other smart people.

[sdsurfer]

To you last question. I’d think not yet. Inventory is not only low, but it seems to be decreasing.

I could see situations like you mention stalling the appreciation rate a bit, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to actually force prices down.

I mean…they cannot just go up forever at the rate they are, but I’d love some data to help predict when that might occur. It would probably have to be something tied to demand like more difficult financing (not necessarily easy now) or people just choosing to leave, but I do not see that happening soon either.

[sdsurfer]

You could always raise the rents to just a hair below the market rate, but offer a 2 year lease in exchange for the renewal. Play with the terms a bit so it’s a win win, but when you say “again” I wonder if you might want to give it a little time before you do.

If you feel like doing them a favor for some reason or the properties need a lot of work maybe you raise the rents, but spend a couple bucks on items that need attention so the tenants see something from the increase. I know I’ve been in situations in the past where new carpet might have encouraged me to stay a bit longer even if the rent went up a little.

From a vacancy standpoint I’d say whatever you do you might want to do it in the early summer if possible when more people are out looking in case you lose a tenant. We always have better luck finding tenants quickly in the summer.

[sdsurfer]

[quote=spdrun]We’ll see…

Business lending slowing…
http://fortune.com/2017/03/23/donald-trump-economy-lending/%5B/quote%5D

Looking at the chart it seems like business lending has been in the positive every year since 93 except a few months in 2010? The 9.5% year over year they mention of the past 4 years seems pretty high so maybe the 1.1% of growth is reasonable?

on the inventory…could it be that a lot of people agree stocks are a bit inflated right now so if they sold where would they put the money? Maybe they think SoCal Real Estate is a better bet and/or have long term goals with fixed financing in place and the properties cash flowing from rents.

[sdsurfer]

I think the dealers tend to have an internet sales rep a lot of the time these days and I negotiated with that person via e-mail using both TrueCar and CarGurus for leverage. It still takes time though with the various dealers.

The best piece of advice I can offer is that whole rodeo of spending hours at the dealership on the day you finally buy the thing because they want you to talk to the finance manager yada yada. Last time around after arriving at the fair price I asked what time they closed. They said 9pm so I made an appt for 8:30pm and was outta there by 8:50.

Good luck!

[sdsurfer]

I’m thinking it’s just lots of fine print they are not advertising as far as their rates, if you qualify, etc. Liar loans to me are more along the lines of stated income vs. the income verification aspect that I know is present in the current market to get a loan.

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