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UCGal
ParticipantIf it’s a flipping attempt – it’s a failure. The markup in price (20k-40k) will barely cover the transaction costs – let alone any remodeling.
UCGal
ParticipantIf it’s a flipping attempt – it’s a failure. The markup in price (20k-40k) will barely cover the transaction costs – let alone any remodeling.
UCGal
ParticipantI have to agree with TG and Scarlett.
Buying with too high a debt/income ratio will add stress – and if you’re looking at kids… they add enough stress. (I have kids. Love them, but they add stress to my life.)Right now it seems much more affordable to rent than to own. Perhaps that will change, but for now that’s what I’m seeing.
If we hadn’t had equity from two homes (hubby and I both owned houses when we met) to put down, we’d be renting.
Look honestly at the PITA compared to your current rent. Factor in less income from your wife. If she stays at home, zero income. If she works, even part time, look at daycare costs. San Diego has outragiously expensive daycare costs. (When my youngest was an infant, and oldest was 2 – we paid more in daycare/month than our mortgage payment… and we have a relatively small mortgage!)
My gut says to advise to keep renting and keep saving.
UCGal
ParticipantI have to agree with TG and Scarlett.
Buying with too high a debt/income ratio will add stress – and if you’re looking at kids… they add enough stress. (I have kids. Love them, but they add stress to my life.)Right now it seems much more affordable to rent than to own. Perhaps that will change, but for now that’s what I’m seeing.
If we hadn’t had equity from two homes (hubby and I both owned houses when we met) to put down, we’d be renting.
Look honestly at the PITA compared to your current rent. Factor in less income from your wife. If she stays at home, zero income. If she works, even part time, look at daycare costs. San Diego has outragiously expensive daycare costs. (When my youngest was an infant, and oldest was 2 – we paid more in daycare/month than our mortgage payment… and we have a relatively small mortgage!)
My gut says to advise to keep renting and keep saving.
UCGal
ParticipantI have to agree with TG and Scarlett.
Buying with too high a debt/income ratio will add stress – and if you’re looking at kids… they add enough stress. (I have kids. Love them, but they add stress to my life.)Right now it seems much more affordable to rent than to own. Perhaps that will change, but for now that’s what I’m seeing.
If we hadn’t had equity from two homes (hubby and I both owned houses when we met) to put down, we’d be renting.
Look honestly at the PITA compared to your current rent. Factor in less income from your wife. If she stays at home, zero income. If she works, even part time, look at daycare costs. San Diego has outragiously expensive daycare costs. (When my youngest was an infant, and oldest was 2 – we paid more in daycare/month than our mortgage payment… and we have a relatively small mortgage!)
My gut says to advise to keep renting and keep saving.
UCGal
ParticipantI have to agree with TG and Scarlett.
Buying with too high a debt/income ratio will add stress – and if you’re looking at kids… they add enough stress. (I have kids. Love them, but they add stress to my life.)Right now it seems much more affordable to rent than to own. Perhaps that will change, but for now that’s what I’m seeing.
If we hadn’t had equity from two homes (hubby and I both owned houses when we met) to put down, we’d be renting.
Look honestly at the PITA compared to your current rent. Factor in less income from your wife. If she stays at home, zero income. If she works, even part time, look at daycare costs. San Diego has outragiously expensive daycare costs. (When my youngest was an infant, and oldest was 2 – we paid more in daycare/month than our mortgage payment… and we have a relatively small mortgage!)
My gut says to advise to keep renting and keep saving.
UCGal
ParticipantI have to agree with TG and Scarlett.
Buying with too high a debt/income ratio will add stress – and if you’re looking at kids… they add enough stress. (I have kids. Love them, but they add stress to my life.)Right now it seems much more affordable to rent than to own. Perhaps that will change, but for now that’s what I’m seeing.
If we hadn’t had equity from two homes (hubby and I both owned houses when we met) to put down, we’d be renting.
Look honestly at the PITA compared to your current rent. Factor in less income from your wife. If she stays at home, zero income. If she works, even part time, look at daycare costs. San Diego has outragiously expensive daycare costs. (When my youngest was an infant, and oldest was 2 – we paid more in daycare/month than our mortgage payment… and we have a relatively small mortgage!)
My gut says to advise to keep renting and keep saving.
UCGal
ParticipantWait – they say there’s a bubble (I agree) and want to INCREASE liquidity so there’s more CRE investment?
Even though this would help my husband’s employment opportunities (he’s an architect) it seems stupid…
The bubble is because too much was built at too high a cost… now there is a glut of CRE and the prices need to come down.
UCGal
ParticipantWait – they say there’s a bubble (I agree) and want to INCREASE liquidity so there’s more CRE investment?
Even though this would help my husband’s employment opportunities (he’s an architect) it seems stupid…
The bubble is because too much was built at too high a cost… now there is a glut of CRE and the prices need to come down.
UCGal
ParticipantWait – they say there’s a bubble (I agree) and want to INCREASE liquidity so there’s more CRE investment?
Even though this would help my husband’s employment opportunities (he’s an architect) it seems stupid…
The bubble is because too much was built at too high a cost… now there is a glut of CRE and the prices need to come down.
UCGal
ParticipantWait – they say there’s a bubble (I agree) and want to INCREASE liquidity so there’s more CRE investment?
Even though this would help my husband’s employment opportunities (he’s an architect) it seems stupid…
The bubble is because too much was built at too high a cost… now there is a glut of CRE and the prices need to come down.
UCGal
ParticipantWait – they say there’s a bubble (I agree) and want to INCREASE liquidity so there’s more CRE investment?
Even though this would help my husband’s employment opportunities (he’s an architect) it seems stupid…
The bubble is because too much was built at too high a cost… now there is a glut of CRE and the prices need to come down.
UCGal
ParticipantWhat year is the house. You say older… for some folks that means 1990’s… for other folks that’s 1930’s…
Popcorn ceilings may or may not have asbestos – and you need to properly dispose of it (not the dump) if it does have asbestos… You can buy a kit to test it (you send it off to a lab) at Home Depot.
If it does have asbestos – you need to hire a contractor – unfortunately… Regular joe-schmoes aren’t allowed to dispose of asbestos material.
Removing the popcorn ceiling can be a DIY job. We did it in our house (for the non-asbestos portions… our house was 1/2 and 1/2 due to a burst upstairs pipe causing the downstairs ceiling to be replaced in the 80’s.) It’s kind of like removing wallpaper… get it wet – scrape it off… messy but not really a skilled labor type of job. Texturing or skim coating the ceiling is something you might want to hire out.
I disagree with the comments that you don’t have to spend as much time if a GC is running things. It’s still up to the owner to make sure the project stays on track, and is done correctly. Maybe it’s just our bad luck – but we had two GC’s and in both cases, supervision of the subs was non-existant.
I’d also skim the pamphlets the CSLB has online.
http://www.cslb.ca.gov/GeneralInformation/Library/GuidesAndPamphlets.aspUCGal
ParticipantWhat year is the house. You say older… for some folks that means 1990’s… for other folks that’s 1930’s…
Popcorn ceilings may or may not have asbestos – and you need to properly dispose of it (not the dump) if it does have asbestos… You can buy a kit to test it (you send it off to a lab) at Home Depot.
If it does have asbestos – you need to hire a contractor – unfortunately… Regular joe-schmoes aren’t allowed to dispose of asbestos material.
Removing the popcorn ceiling can be a DIY job. We did it in our house (for the non-asbestos portions… our house was 1/2 and 1/2 due to a burst upstairs pipe causing the downstairs ceiling to be replaced in the 80’s.) It’s kind of like removing wallpaper… get it wet – scrape it off… messy but not really a skilled labor type of job. Texturing or skim coating the ceiling is something you might want to hire out.
I disagree with the comments that you don’t have to spend as much time if a GC is running things. It’s still up to the owner to make sure the project stays on track, and is done correctly. Maybe it’s just our bad luck – but we had two GC’s and in both cases, supervision of the subs was non-existant.
I’d also skim the pamphlets the CSLB has online.
http://www.cslb.ca.gov/GeneralInformation/Library/GuidesAndPamphlets.asp -
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