25w100k+_IHB
New member
I decided to make this thread primarily to THANK IrvineRenter and the rest of the IHB community for creating such a great website, and really encouraging me to educate myself on real estate, the current market, how it relates to the economy, and the ins and outs of homebuying.
I'm sure that without this site there's a good chance I would have payed 480k for some crappy two bedroom over three story place with 800 dollars in mello roos or some such.
Instead I was very patient (for me), toured a lot of listings, and after a while found a gem around 40-50k below (selling) comps (so if things go down about 10% I'm still ok)! I've been living in it about a month and I couldn't be happier! Thanks again to you IR and the rest of the community, you've done a wonderful service here.
I know many of you may disagree about my timing, and we may have a few different opinions on where the market is going from here, but the point is you saved me from making some really bad decisions!
The short story of how I got such a great deal (in my opinion) is as follows: toured a short sale property that had a range price, it was almost empty, and looked fantastic. A few nicks here and there, older appliances, some chips in the tiles, badly needing new paint. I saw it was a pretty good buy though, and threw in my offer. I was outbid by a fair amount, and that was that.
about 4(I think...) months later, the other seller fell out of escrow for some reason. It went back on the market. I decided to tour it again. Holy crap, multiple people had moved in with ALL their junk all OVER the place. I remember taking my dad to see this place and him thinking it was a pos.
Worked in my favor. I sent in a slightly higher bid, rates had come down about 1%, and the bank had already approved the sale and was looking for a 20 day escrow.
After all kinds of craziness, I'm now living in a nice place, in the best location in the whole tract, with new paint($1500) and a fixed up floor (~$500 to fix a few tiles, seal it to get it nice and shiny again)
Since its a 3 bedroom and I'm a single guy, a friend is going to rent one of the rooms. Between that and the tax break, the cost of owning the place is going to be significantly less than if I had gotten a nice place from IAC. And I've got almost 500 going to equity each month.
Annnd...if prices come crashing down like the chicken little's of the IHB forum say they will(*cough* graph *cough), I still have a nice wad of cash in the bank and I'll just double down and get a second place! ;-)
Thanks again everyone, i'll still be around so I can time when to either pick up a rental place or buy big into REITs.
P.S.
I should probably change my name to 26w-350k or something huh?
I'm sure that without this site there's a good chance I would have payed 480k for some crappy two bedroom over three story place with 800 dollars in mello roos or some such.
Instead I was very patient (for me), toured a lot of listings, and after a while found a gem around 40-50k below (selling) comps (so if things go down about 10% I'm still ok)! I've been living in it about a month and I couldn't be happier! Thanks again to you IR and the rest of the community, you've done a wonderful service here.
I know many of you may disagree about my timing, and we may have a few different opinions on where the market is going from here, but the point is you saved me from making some really bad decisions!
The short story of how I got such a great deal (in my opinion) is as follows: toured a short sale property that had a range price, it was almost empty, and looked fantastic. A few nicks here and there, older appliances, some chips in the tiles, badly needing new paint. I saw it was a pretty good buy though, and threw in my offer. I was outbid by a fair amount, and that was that.
about 4(I think...) months later, the other seller fell out of escrow for some reason. It went back on the market. I decided to tour it again. Holy crap, multiple people had moved in with ALL their junk all OVER the place. I remember taking my dad to see this place and him thinking it was a pos.
Worked in my favor. I sent in a slightly higher bid, rates had come down about 1%, and the bank had already approved the sale and was looking for a 20 day escrow.
After all kinds of craziness, I'm now living in a nice place, in the best location in the whole tract, with new paint($1500) and a fixed up floor (~$500 to fix a few tiles, seal it to get it nice and shiny again)
Since its a 3 bedroom and I'm a single guy, a friend is going to rent one of the rooms. Between that and the tax break, the cost of owning the place is going to be significantly less than if I had gotten a nice place from IAC. And I've got almost 500 going to equity each month.
Annnd...if prices come crashing down like the chicken little's of the IHB forum say they will(*cough* graph *cough), I still have a nice wad of cash in the bank and I'll just double down and get a second place! ;-)
Thanks again everyone, i'll still be around so I can time when to either pick up a rental place or buy big into REITs.
P.S.
I should probably change my name to 26w-350k or something huh?
