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RKP- Yes, we did negotiate the place down from their asking. They countered, then we countered, this went back and forth a few times before we agreed on a number. If we bought in 2 years we could either buy a bigger home for the same money, or buy a similar home (assuming it existed)...

the monthly payment PITI+HOA is 28% of our gross monthly income. Low tax rate of 1.01, but it has a pretty steep HOA.

I'm pretty excited about this. Sorry if it sounds like I'm pumping zip or something like that. For what it is worth, we went through two zip agents before we found one I was willing to use. One was an old blinged out lady who fit the stereotypical RE agent mold "now is always the time to buy"...

First let me disclose that I am a bubblehead. I have been obsessively reading sites like this and thehousingbubbleblog for what seems like years. Yes, I believe that the market is quite overpriced and is due for a correction. Buying right now is madness right? Well, we closed on a...

I'd rather not derail the thread too much. I'll start a different thread.

Instead of telling you what we would be willing to pay, I'll tell you what we are paying since we just closed last week. Mortgage is 2.6 times our annual income. 30 year fixed. When we were fishing for a mortgage, they would qualify us for a mortgage amount that was way beyond my comfort zone...

Our neighbor just put their home on the market for a price that is in my opinion very overpriced. They had a constant stream of people to their open house yesterday. I was surprised at the level of interest that it generated. Maybe it was all of you guys looking at it I can think of a...

<em>Do you enjoy Warcrafts?</em> Hahaha. You crack me up bkshopr.

I don't recommend buying a home without several months of emergency cash stowed away. I would rather just get a traditional 30 year fixed and pull from an emergency fund if there is a bad month.

Maybe when escrow closes I'll make a post on using zip. So far so good, I like the agent randomly selected for us. It is just like using a normal buyers agent, the only difference is that you search for the house on your own instead of having them drive you around. The ziprealty "rebate" is...

Don't blame the lack of a light rail system on TIC. There was a movement to put one in Irvine to UCI and the local areas 5 years ago, but it was shot down by Irvine residents, not TIC.

There are extreme bears and bulls on this blog. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Don't wait for a home to drop to $200k, wait for a home you want to be affordable by saving up, having no debt and being smart. Do not buy a temporary "move up" condo, since it likely wont appreciate for the...

This discussion about the Asian targeted marketing seems to be focused on recent immigrants. Here in Irvine there is a large group of 2nd generation Asians who's parents might fit the bill, but they having grown up here, do not. Most of the Asians that I know in my age group (early 30s)...

They are playing in the parks. Why play in the dangerous streets when there are parks everywhere

A friend of mine has a theory that if and when china ever attacks or causes trouble in Taiwan, that all of the Taiwanese elite will all move to Irvine thus skyrocketing the demand of homes here.

Well, we are in escrow now on a home in Irvine: put 37% down and the mortgage is 2.6 times our annual income with a 30 year fixed. Even though this is a conservative debt to income ratio, I wouldn't recommend going higher. We could have put a lot more down, but with rates being so low (at...

I had the joy of living in a condo with rows of garages without driveways. NEVER AGAIN! Almost daily someone would park in front of my garage blocking my access, since my garage was at the end. Every time I confronted the blocker, they would become irate. I was late for work many times...

I remember in the early 80s leisurely jaywalking across Culver from Woodbridge to Culverdale school during rush hour. There was simply no traffic. Culver seemed so big and empty. I'd say 25 years later it is holding up well to the massive increase in traffic. The planners knew what they were...

We found out that to get in the center on Harvard near Mason park costs $25,000 up front and over $5000 a month. And they were recently cited for a rodent infestation.

IRWD has a web site and map of the plume. The cleanup project is called the "Irvine Desalter Project". The only danger to the community is if it gets to a drinking well AFAIC. They have already switched the wells in the plumes path to filtering and irrigation only. The plume is 300 to...