[sdsurfer]

I think I’d have to agree with you on the lack of unbiased data. Was thinking maybe a Pigg had something or could point me in the right direction. I can get recent stats through NSDCAR, but not historical that goes back. I’ve love a chart that goes back 30-40 years.

I’m looking for a duplex most likely, but we’ll see how it goes.

[sdsurfer]

[quote=XBoxBoy]in expensive areas, we’ve had steady price increases of around 10% a year for 5-6 years, while neither the economy nor inflation has kept pace anywhere close to that.

[/quote]

I’m definitely always trying to figure it out, but it seems like this statement might have something to do with it. Is there anything else you could invest in over the course of the past 5-6 years and make 10%+ (without even factoring in the leverage gained through cheap financing)?

As far as the fundamentals aspect I think there is one strong fundamental at play here which is simple supply and demand along the coast. The whole reason we are even having this discussing is because someone that does not live in Del Mar would like to.

I actually wonder how high the rents will go? People not only want to live by the coast so bad that they will pay more, but many of them will actually live in a rental vs. owning just to be in the place they want to live and that is what justifies the investor buying the duplex at a higher price because they know they can rent it to the person that cannot buy in the area which perpetuates the whole cycle.

[sdsurfer]

I’d say I’m proud that my family and I own a house rather than rent, but what type of house and how large it is a bunch of bs. The aspect that when we had a 2nd kid everyone around us just sort of assumed that we’d either sell it and buy a larger one or remodel to accommodate another 7 lb 20 inch long person really blew me away.

I think I’d add that Car Proud is BS too in my opinion. I noticed a few people salivating over an Aston Martin in the parking lot the other day and felt sorry for them. In my opinion, everyone should get a valet job at a nice restaurant/hotel like I did when they are younger to get the chance to drive a few fancy cars and realize for themselves that they start, move and turn pretty much the same. Some might look good or go fast, but they all do the same thing as far as getting one from point a to point b a bit quicker than walking or running.

[sdsurfer]

The answer to whether or not they can is probably in the HOA docs you should have received when you bought the place. I’m sure most people do not read those though. Most HOA’s you vote for the board then they vote on your behalf. Good luck!

[sdsurfer]

I’m actually involved with a company that provides exactly what your referring to, but we have a 50 unit minimum because the numbers do not work for 8 units.

I’d recommend setting this up through another bank. I think First Republic might offer it or others in town. I still have a bank account with Wells, but First Republic is a much better bank with more services. If you bank with them it will probably be free.

[sdsurfer]

You mention you’d appreciate a 10% correction. How about you just tell whoever you are working with that your offers will be 10% below the market value and that you are only looking for fixers. The most well known realtor in town might be too busy for that kind of arrangement, but there are tons of Realtors that are competent and would not mind one bit as long as you are qualified to follow through and have the intent to do so if/when you get one. Let them know you only want to see properties that have been on the market for 30 days that have the equity to come down a bit or something along those lines to increase your chances.

I also agree with the others that asked if you are looking to hold the property and for how long because there is a tendency to have less risk if your intentions are long term.

[sdsurfer]

I think you are at a disadvantage if the person/company you choose to work with is not competent whether they work for Redfin, another office or are a broker themselves.

If the property is in high demand whoever it is should be able to get your offer together to submit it in a timely manner before they accept another one. It’s easy to do….especially with Docusign these days.

If you have the the strongest offer through the best number, the best terms or optimistically the best both it should not make any difference who is representing you.

[sdsurfer]

Right on! I’ll have a look and share with the wifey. I think I actually ended up on becomingminimalist.com through Piggington a while back and that has definitely helped out home quite a bit. I think the word “minimalist” scares people away a bit, but living with less is definitely a good thing from my experience and it’s relative…you do not have to go full on contemporary/modern in your home. We still have a ways to go, but have been working it and getting better each day. It’s kind of a cool feeling to suddenly realize that it’s not that your home is not big enough…it’s that you have too much stuff in that home and that half of the stuff you really do not use very often so you can give it away.

I read somewhere that if you are on the fence about keeping something or getting rid of it to ask yourself, “Does this make my life awesome?” and there are so many things that are very easy to get rid of if you say that as you pick it up. Reminds me of Marie’s “Joy” aspect I just read about online.

I did hear that the CEO of Goodwill makes like 6 million a year through his clever pay nothing leading to infinity for your margins so I prefer dropping out stuff off at the DAV up in Oceanside. Not sure if anyone else heard about that or can confirm it is true.

[sdsurfer]

[quote=CA renter]Agree with sdsurfer, ricechex. You need another realtor. Maybe contact sdsurfer for help? :)[/quote]
Thanks CA renter. Ricechex – you are welcome to PM me if you would like to meet with my wife and I to talk through what your goals are. Please bear in mind that I’m still licensed, but my wife is the full time Realtor in our house so you would primarily be working with her. I just help her out from time to time in addition to another tech company I’m involved in, but I want to be straight with you from the beginning on that part.

Whatever you do just find someone you can trust that is also competent at what they do and works hard to help you accomplish your goals…not theirs.

I do wish you luck on finding a home!

[sdsurfer]

[quote=CA renter]Sorry to hear about that, Ricechex. Sounds like you did the right thing by having the home inspected (people who waive this right are nuts).

Wondering why you didn’t use the inspection report to negotiate, though. Also, if they see the inspection report and/or were notified of the problems — which they would likely do if you were using it to negotiate with them on repairs/cash-in-lieu/price reduction (my preference because you don’t have to pay property taxes on it as you likely would with cash-in-lieu or seller’s repairs) — they would legally have to disclose this information to any other potential buyers. You can use this to your advantage.

Sorry this one didn’t work out, and hope you find another house soon.[/quote]

I agree with this. Definitely a good thing you got the inspection done and worth every penny in my opinion! I hear of people buying a home without an inspection and I think they are crazy. I would have used it as a negotiation point and itemized every item that needs work and sent the list to the seller letting them know that you would like each item fixed (or at least the more important ones) or that you would like a credit or that you are going to adjust your offer to reflect the difference.

Actually….your Realtor should have guided your through it because that is their job. However…I think you might be the same person still working with the Realtor you never trusted in the first place so this makes perfect sense that the person the never represented your best interest still doesn’t. There are so many Realtors out there that are honest and professional. You really need to go find one before you submit any more offers. I mean…did I read correct that you e-mailed the sellers agent? They did not respond because they do not work for you…they work for the seller and all they care about is helping the seller to sell the home because that is their job.

[sdsurfer]

[quote=poorgradstudent][quote=sdsurfer] One consideration is that some people have vision and their own particular style so they would appreciate the credit, but many other people do not have vision and you need to do it for them to see the potential.

[/quote]

We definitely had our own vision when we were looking. There were a few properties where it would note “brand new carpets and paint” and our response was “but they’re ugly!” and we’d pass; as a buyer you feel like you’re paying for it, especially if it’s done “wrong”. Paint is less of a big deal, but a lot of people seem to want to go too dark on carpets.

We also definitely skipped homes where there had been a quick kitchen/bath remodel. You can kinda tell when someone updates the kitchen as their “home” vs. trying to sell it. Again, it was frustrating to walk into a home and see that it had been remodeled sloppily.

Of course a lot of people want “turnkey” homes, and we did see quite a few places that were redone very nicely. Of course those places often wanted to get compensated for the money they sunk into it, which put those places out of our preferred price range.[/quote]
My wife and I have always felt the same way that it really sucks to have to pay for someone else’s remodel when you do not like the style of remodel/materials used. We’d much rather get it for less and do our own work to our preference.

[sdsurfer]

[quote=Ricechex]THANK YOU. I have always trusted the Piggs….people I dont even know.

The realtor is like a runaway train. In past offers, she is wheeling and dealing with the other agent and trying to convince me to go higher in price. I have had to put the brakes on her the whole time.

And, I have refused to tell her my price limit, because otherwise she will attempt to upsell me to that.[/quote]

This is freaking crazy to me. She does not represent your best interest and you do not trust her…so you are still working with her? There are so many other Realtors out there. People blame the Realtors for being “wheelers and dealers”, but if this is how people choose their Realtor it will remain that way. If you do not trust her now…how will you trust her through the escrow process? Not to scare you since it looks like you found your home and maybe if she’s that busy she is incredibly competent, but I’d never work with a professional that I do not trust in any industry.

Anyways…I’ve used Mark Chaffee with Win home inspections a ton of times and he always did a good job at a reasonable price. Typically 300-400 depending on the size of the home and typically the repairs he referenced that were needed justified more than his fee.

I do wish you luck and congratulations!

[sdsurfer]

It would depend on what kind of shape the property is in of course, but personally I’d give it a shot listing it as soon as the tenant is out with an X dollar credit (probably less than I intend to spend on the remodel) towards the updates with a full price offer….maybe consider paint and carpet if it’s really bad. That way you get it on the market when more people are out looking (summer) from a demand standpoint. Spring is best, but Summer is good too though. A lot of people will look in the spring and summer (especially if they have kids in school) and if they do not find what they want they will give it another shot next year at the same time. Not always, but a lot of the time. One consideration is that some people have vision and their own particular style so they would appreciate the credit, but many other people do not have vision and you need to do it for them to see the potential.

You could gauge the activity with your Realtor and if it’s not in escrow in the first couple weeks to a month possibly reconsider and remodel the property at that time to get it sold.

I’ve always thought that Spring and Summer it’s best to be a seller and Fall-Winter it’s better to be a buyer from a macro perspective, but you would also want to have a closer look at your local inventory too at that time. You could list in the fall and be the only home available similar to yours in the area at your price point and that tends to be good too. Just find a Realtor that is willing to ride it out with you and has a bit of flexibility to work with you on your options a bit and what is best for you.

FYI- I am licensed, but I go to piggington for knowledge, feedback and to learn from others not to generate business. I work at a tech company these days. I just keep my license to help my wife out from time to time and because I enjoy the investment side of things. I’m sure you know 1000 realtors anyways as most people do.

I hope it plays out well for you and I’m thinking it will! Good luck.

[sdsurfer]

[quote=njtosd][quote=CA renter][quote=njtosd][quote=CA renter]We need viable write-in candidates. Even better if we could eliminate the party system, altogether. People should vote for individuals, not parties. If a person is too lazy to do the research, then they shouldn’t be voting.

Of course, publicly funded elections would be the best way to go. I would LOVE to see the end of money driving politics, though it would be very difficult to enforce, even if we had publicly funded elections.[/quote]

Some of the biggest money driving politics is in the form of the media. How do we get rid of them?[/quote]

A total media ban, with the exception of completely fair, publicly-funded debates, where all candidates have an equal voice.

There should be no commercials (including commercials disguised as news) when it comes to candidates or parties, IMO. There should be a completely open, public (publicly-funded) venue for people to get all the information they could possibly need to make informed decisions. A public website and/or TV station — along the lines of CSPAN — should work.

What are your thoughts?[/quote]

Publicly funded suggests that whatever political party was in power of those pubic funds would have a fair amount of control over the message. And who gets to decide that something is “fair”? Both CNN and Fox (at least) claim to be unbiased – ha! I agree that it would be great if there was some way for candidates to be presented without the support of special interests. I just don’t see any way of doing it. The special interests are very motivated to exert control (I vote as an independent, by the way, so I see special interests on both sides of the political divide) and they’re like bugs – they will find a way in one way or another.[/quote]
I feel like this is a “where there’s a will there’s a way” situation. It’s easy to say that it’s never been done and would never work, but there has to be a way somehow.

How about we get rid of the publicly funded aspect? Maybe have a youtube channel or a website similar to wikipedia or something free that gives you the details on who stands for what as well as their track record and make it so that anyone with internet access can watch the debates or go somewhere that has internet to do so?

Just thinking out loud…I really like the concept of eliminating the money aspect and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

[sdsurfer]

I guess I’m lucky that I sleep right through the night after a beer or two in the evening, but if it kept me from being able to sleep it would not be worth it at all. Maybe I’ll just stick to surfing as a stress reliever with no side effects!

[Author]

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