[spdrun]

HOA docs are $200 to $500 here and no one wants to pay in advance until they know they have a firm contract.

The basic documents — recent meeting minutes and annual financial statements — are not provided to unit owners for free on an annual basis? If it’s a short sale, one would assume that the unit owner could provide them to the listing broker. But perhaps I’m wrong.

You seem to be one of those buyers I run into from time to time who think they know it all and are smarter than any real estate agent so I wont bother to tell you anything more. You already know it all.

No – I’m asking questions and attempting to educate myself. And I admit that I do find some things odd. No need to be a d’bag to someone whom you don’t even know, bigshot.

[spdrun]

I find it hard to believe that people would buy a condo (unless it’s under $25k or something) without doing due diligence on the financials, pending lawsuits, etc. But if it does happen, that’s cool, just not my thing.

Not a masochist here 🙂

[spdrun]

You could try to ask the seller/selling agent for a copy, but unless you’re the only buyer (which chances are you are not), they would put you on the bottom of the priority list, because until you enter escrow, it’s extra work that probably they don’t want to waste time unless you’re the one going to be entering escrow.

Not much extra work. If they were properly prepared, the work would largely consist of attaching a PDF to an e-mail and sending. Clicky-sendy, takes 15 seconds.

And speaking of extra work, wouldn’t negotiating a sale only to have a strong buyer run screaming due to poor financials be MORE extra work?!?

[spdrun]

Yeah, but I encountered more than that. Including one broker who basically said “how do I know that you won’t rob me at the property?” over the phone (nevermind that I wanted to meet at their office first).

My answer was: “how do I know that you won’t mug ME?”

This seemed to be a recurring theme — I’ve noticed a lot more worry about crime and muggings in SD than on the East Coast. Strangely enough, violent crime stats are actually lower for SD than say NYC or Boston.

[spdrun]

I’m not against using a broker. I’m actually working with one, though I have NOT signed any exclusive. I just find the situation with needing a broker bizarre. If the cost of doing business is that you need to deal with another middleperson, then it is what it is.

But considering that my offer on my current home was a short e-mail outlining price, pre-approval situation, down payment, and stating “AS IS”, I’m entitled to find it all a little odd.

The other thing that I find weird is how financial information on condos is given. Where I bought, if you ask the selling broker nicely, they’ll e-mail you a PDF or fax it to you (for free) within a day or two.

In CA, it seems like condo financials are a big secret. Need an accepted offer, blah, blah, blah, need to pay a fee for copying, yadda, yadda. How can you possibly make a sane offer if you don’t know the financial health of the condo board?

Yes, you can gather quite a bit from maintenance fees, FHA/VA approvals, the condition of the complex, and just from talking to people. But why not put that info out front to make everyone’s life a bit easier?

[spdrun]

7th grade students have one thing on their minds … news at 11.

[spdrun]

Lawyers I don’t mind dealing with AFTER I have an accepted offer. With the advent of the Internet, buyers’ agents are basically useless middlepeople.

And don’t give me the “transactions in CA are so complex…” – people go directly to a selling broker for NYC apartments, and those transactions are annoying and fraught with pitfalls to say the least.

http://coopandcondo.com/component/flexicontent/items/item/3-avoid-being-turned-down

[spdrun]

Not looking for 50% off beachfront, just looking for decent deals in the neighborhood of 7% cap. Basically, so it makes money rather than breaking even or being a financial drag in the short term. As far as bulk sales, they’re a possibility, but they’re moving forward cautiously and there’s also legislation pending in the CA State Assembly to prohibit them.

Areas: I’ve identified at least one area. I was asking for opinions of that area, and other interesting areas. I have friends in the SD area, have done quite a bit of research, and have spoken to some trustworthy brokers. As well as pulling comps on rents. If you can’t answer w/o being snide, don’t bother at all.

Listingbook.com: thanks.

Self-representation: that’s sort of bizarre and annoying. Where I live, it’s typical to call up a broker or go to an open-house, view the property, and drop an offer via a one-liner e-mail or even verbally. Assuming a non-distressed sale, broker asks seller, broker gets back with a response or counter within a few days. Easy and oddly painless.

[spdrun]

Sarcasm detector … beep Beep BEEEEP! Serious responses, please 🙂

And I’d invest in Detroit for sure. Urban farms are the hip new thing.

[spdrun]

If it’s a expensive/portable item that’s being sold, the risk is there I suppose. Normally if I’m buying computer equipment or a car, I’ll go, check it out first. Then if I want the stuff, I’ll run to the bank and withdraw the cash and/or meet in a public place to do the exchange.

With a contractor, I feel like the risk is minimal, since there’s no guarantee that the person calling the contractor will have cash available right there. They may choose to pay with cash after the job is done, or by check, rendering a robbery attempt useless. A scam like that would result in a lot of wasted time for the robber!

The only time I’ve actually been robbed was 10 years ago outside of Wash DC — got back to my car after paying for gas, and found some kid with a Tec-9 expressing a strong desire to possess the keys. No need for Craigslist.

Keep in mind that you’ve cited 10 examples from around the country. Craigslist traffic is something like a billion ads per year (say 500 million are in the US).

[spdrun]

There are plenty of “free range” farms in many rural parts of the US. It isn’t just Wal*Mart and factory farms, you know.

My question is as follows: will the border guards now ask you whether you’re carrying any foie gras as well as the usual questions about fruits and veggies when crossing into CA from Arizona?

[spdrun]

Nah, they’ll keep the panic at the low sweat stage for the next year or so. Bailout-crisis-bailout-crisis. Hey, at least it’ll keep the economy from improving and real estate from appreciating all THAT quickly, so investors will have a bit more time to do their thing 🙂

[spdrun]

References. References. References. Ask for at least three.

As far as the risk of the person being some sort of psychopath, if someone is bent on ill deeds, they generally don’t advertise their services on Craigslist.

I’ve rented apartments to people I’ve found on CL, sold items on Craigslist, bought items on Craigslist, advertised my services on Craigslist, contracted services on Craigslist. And I’m still not dead. The worst that happened was that a few people wasted my time. Maybe East Coast people are less paranoid about crime, but that’s the way it goes.

Cheers -s.

[spdrun]

Why are Indianans whacky? Seems like the law makes good sense — all it does is clarify that law enforcement officers in the process of committing a felony are liable to be treated as felons.

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