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Home Look! A home in my price range, finally! For $475,000...

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Date: 7/12/2009 11:30:23 PM
Author: sunkist
Haha! OMG, TGal, isn''t house hunting fun
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What on earth happened to that place???

Here''s one I found in my area that is affordable. It has a really open floor plan... :D
http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Clemente/715-Avenida-Columbo-92672/home/3272390
Click to expand...
Yikes, you win!!
 
OMG - But who would buy that house which is falling off a cliff? It looks so scary - like you bungee jump off it.
 
Date: 7/12/2009 11:30:23 PM
Author: sunkist
Haha! OMG, TGal, isn''t house hunting fun
3.gif
What on earth happened to that place???


Here''s one I found in my area that is affordable. It has a really open floor plan... :D

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Clemente/715-Avenida-Columbo-92672/home/3272390
Click to expand...


Hmmmm... let''s see... assuming the alternative $3,000 per month in rent... the purchase price (absent fees, taxes, and the cost of making the place liveable...) is equivalent to 5.4 years worth of rent.

So... that place would have to survive another 5.4 winters or less to be worthwhile.

No way!
 
I feel bad for you guys. Even here in Tenafly, with our prices (the average is over 1mil I think) you can still spend 465K and get a 3 Bd, 1 bth home that''s not a dump or a safety hazard.
 
I''ve seen houses like that go for that amount of money on those house flipping shows...it still just amazes me!
 
I feel ya t-gal.....thats about what you get for $475,000 in any decent are of NJ too. I am sure you feel about CA the way I feel about NJ though.....its worth the money, wouldnt live anywhere else!
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unbelievable!
 
Date: 7/13/2009 10:39:28 AM
Author: HollyS

Date: 7/12/2009 11:30:23 PM
Author: sunkist
Haha! OMG, TGal, isn''t house hunting fun
3.gif
What on earth happened to that place???

Here''s one I found in my area that is affordable. It has a really open floor plan... :D
http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Clemente/715-Avenida-Columbo-92672/home/3272390
Click to expand...
Oh Lord! Is it sliding down the hill??

But dang! Look at that view! There you go, T-Gal. Pitch a tent!
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Click to expand...
I am an outdoorsy kinda gal!
16.gif


We really have to figure out what we are going to do. Either buy at the beginning of next year or decide to move into a rental home. We''ve been saving for over 3.5 years and just watching the market. I just have to keep reminding myself to be patient. 2 years ago, it would have been unthinkable to see homes (in whatever condition) listed in our area in the 500K range and it is happening. I do think 2 years from now, I will be amazed anyone bought those homes for 500K+.

Patience, patience, patience.................
 
Date: 7/13/2009 2:09:16 AM
Author: TravelingGal
Date: 7/12/2009 11:30:23 PM

Author: sunkist

Haha! OMG, TGal, isn't house hunting fun
3.gif
What on earth happened to that place???


Here's one I found in my area that is affordable. It has a really open floor plan... :D

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Clemente/715-Avenida-Columbo-92672/home/3272390
Click to expand...
Yikes, you win!!
Click to expand...

hehe, Ya, I dont' know which one is worse! Either way, it doesn' t look like a good deal ;)

Miranda, haha! I didn't think about that possibility. Way to look on the bright side
9.gif
 
It is just land value.

I know exactly where that is. My friend is in that area.
 
Date: 7/13/2009 11:23:35 AM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 7/13/2009 10:39:28 AM
Author: HollyS


Date: 7/12/2009 11:30:23 PM
Author: sunkist
Haha! OMG, TGal, isn''t house hunting fun
3.gif
What on earth happened to that place???

Here''s one I found in my area that is affordable. It has a really open floor plan... :D
http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Clemente/715-Avenida-Columbo-92672/home/3272390
Click to expand...
Oh Lord! Is it sliding down the hill??

But dang! Look at that view! There you go, T-Gal. Pitch a tent!
9.gif
Click to expand...
I am an outdoorsy kinda gal!
16.gif


We really have to figure out what we are going to do. Either buy at the beginning of next year or decide to move into a rental home. We''ve been saving for over 3.5 years and just watching the market. I just have to keep reminding myself to be patient. 2 years ago, it would have been unthinkable to see homes (in whatever condition) listed in our area in the 500K range and it is happening. I do think 2 years from now, I will be amazed anyone bought those homes for 500K+.

Patience, patience, patience.................
Click to expand...
OR two years from now you will be kicking yourself in the head going WHY did I wait....
3.gif

It *could* go either way...CA RE is unpredictable.

My GF just sent me a news article today saying that BayArea pricing is the highest we have seen in 3 years as of last month.
 
Date: 7/16/2009 4:29:15 PM
Author: Mara

Date: 7/13/2009 11:23:35 AM
Author: TravelingGal


Date: 7/13/2009 10:39:28 AM
Author: HollyS



Date: 7/12/2009 11:30:23 PM
Author: sunkist
Haha! OMG, TGal, isn''t house hunting fun
3.gif
What on earth happened to that place???

Here''s one I found in my area that is affordable. It has a really open floor plan... :D
http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Clemente/715-Avenida-Columbo-92672/home/3272390
Click to expand...
Oh Lord! Is it sliding down the hill??

But dang! Look at that view! There you go, T-Gal. Pitch a tent!
9.gif
Click to expand...
I am an outdoorsy kinda gal!
16.gif


We really have to figure out what we are going to do. Either buy at the beginning of next year or decide to move into a rental home. We''ve been saving for over 3.5 years and just watching the market. I just have to keep reminding myself to be patient. 2 years ago, it would have been unthinkable to see homes (in whatever condition) listed in our area in the 500K range and it is happening. I do think 2 years from now, I will be amazed anyone bought those homes for 500K+.

Patience, patience, patience.................
Click to expand...
OR two years from now you will be kicking yourself in the head going WHY did I wait....
3.gif

It *could* go either way...CA RE is unpredictable.

My GF just sent me a news article today saying that BayArea pricing is the highest we have seen in 3 years as of last month.
Click to expand...
Nope, I won''t Mara, because the fact of the matter is that I cannot afford a 600K house. Not if I want to maintain a worry free lifestyle. So if prices go up, I didn''t miss anything because I could not have afforded it at the low.

And first rule of looking at housing trends...spring doesn''t mean much...there''s ALWAYS a spike in spring. Let''s see what fall/winter holds.
 
Oh I don''t know that we have seen a spike, she sent me a similar article in each of the few months saying something along the same lines. Who knows what to believe what report...you can also see other articles still talking about foreclosures and low pricing in the areas. I hear we have one more round here in the BA...so who knows what that will do. It''s funny too because people who are in the market for foreclosures and ''deals'' say one thing and the rest of people (either homeowners or those who aren''t in the market) say things are rising. People''s minds skew things.

Doesn''t matter for us anyway as we are not in or on the market as we won''t be moving for a while...but my friend is. Will you guys move away if you are not able to get what you want for the right price?
 
I doubt prices will spike up anytime soon. Prices are made by a few factors, especially in CA:

Basic supply and demand
Speculative premium
Cost of financing and availability of financing
employment and salary trends

We had a huge speculative premium built into house prices in CA and that is going OUT and will be a long while to come back.

Cost of financing is low, but availability is spotty. Borrow must really qualify, loans over $417K hard to get and cost more.

Employment is weak, but may be stablizing. Salaries are not rising. People are using excess cash to pay off debts, not buy big expensive houses.

The only thing northern CA has going is supply and demand - there is always a certain amount of demand driven pricing in supply constrained market like this.

These trends will stay in place for a while. If interest rates rise (and they have little room to fall further) prices will have a very hard time going up.

I was looking at open homes this weekend. One seller has the house priced at 2004 levels. They paid $858K in 2004, for sale today at $870K. Still not selling, was $970k. Who is to say this place isn''t worth $770K? It could be. We''ll find out.
 
Date: 7/12/2009 10:30:51 AM
Author: April20
I''m officially horrified.
Click to expand...
Me too!
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Date: 7/16/2009 4:45:37 PM
Author: Mara
Oh I don''t know that we have seen a spike, she sent me a similar article in each of the few months saying something along the same lines. Who knows what to believe what report...you can also see other articles still talking about foreclosures and low pricing in the areas. I hear we have one more round here in the BA...so who knows what that will do. It''s funny too because people who are in the market for foreclosures and ''deals'' say one thing and the rest of people (either homeowners or those who aren''t in the market) say things are rising. People''s minds skew things.

Doesn''t matter for us anyway as we are not in or on the market as we won''t be moving for a while...but my friend is. Will you guys move away if you are not able to get what you want for the right price?
Click to expand...
Mara, we''ll rent here. Rents are coming down quite a bit as well.

I do think mindset skews things. But what I know is that jumbo loans are hard to get right now. Not too many people have a decent downpayment for a 6-700K house. There is also shadow inventory in this area which is yet to be unleashed. RE''s are STILL telling me to buy now or get priced out. They''ve been telling me that every year since 2006 and they have been wrong (in my area) for every single damn year.

I will agree with Beacon and say supply and demand is the only thing my area has going for it as well. But TONS of homes are in distress, judging by the rental listings on craigslist for my area. It''s only a matter of time that those homes will be REOs and put an even bigger ding in the market.

I won''t be priced out in the next 2-5 years just because I didn''t buy now. I''m pretty sure of it.
 
We are not that bad compared to you TG I guess!

Here is what 500 gets us here in our neighborhood... super cute for a young couple. But even though this is near our place (and in a similar desirable neighborhood), the elem school near us is much better, even though it''s still same area.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/838-Clintonia-Ave-95125/home/1661280
 
Date: 7/16/2009 5:24:37 PM
Author: Mara
We are not that bad compared to you TG I guess!

Here is what 500 gets us here in our neighborhood... super cute for a young couple. But even though this is near our place (and in a similar desirable neighborhood), the elem school near us is much better, even though it''s still same area.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/838-Clintonia-Ave-95125/home/1661280
Click to expand...
Cute, but that''s comparable to us. That''s a 2 bedrm, 1 bth. I would say that a 3/2 would be quite a bit higher, putting your neighborhood on par with ours?
 
Date: 7/16/2009 5:24:37 PM
Author: Mara
We are not that bad compared to you TG I guess!


Here is what 500 gets us here in our neighborhood... super cute for a young couple. But even though this is near our place (and in a similar desirable neighborhood), the elem school near us is much better, even though it''s still same area.


http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/838-Clintonia-Ave-95125/home/1661280
Click to expand...

That is such a cute house! I am really surprised how expensive the homes are in San Jose. In San Diego area Carmel Valley has that they call "the best school district in CA", their townhouse prices are a lot lower than that.
 
Oh, don''t be so silly! The owners loss is "your opportunity." Seize it while you can!
 
Date: 7/16/2009 6:37:38 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 7/16/2009 5:24:37 PM
Author: Mara
We are not that bad compared to you TG I guess!

Here is what 500 gets us here in our neighborhood... super cute for a young couple. But even though this is near our place (and in a similar desirable neighborhood), the elem school near us is much better, even though it''s still same area.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/838-Clintonia-Ave-95125/home/1661280
Click to expand...
Cute, but that''s comparable to us. That''s a 2 bedrm, 1 bth. I would say that a 3/2 would be quite a bit higher, putting your neighborhood on par with ours?
Click to expand...
Obviously, you guys LOVE living in CA. I''m going to go look at our real estate listings and show you what $500K will get you here.
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A fantabulous crib worthy of any mega NFL or NBA star, I''m sure.

I''ll be back.
 
Date: 7/16/2009 8:30:22 PM
Author: HollyS

Obviously, you guys LOVE living in CA. I''m going to go look at our real estate listings and show you what $500K will get you here.
9.gif


A fantabulous crib worthy of any mega NFL or NBA star, I''m sure.

I''ll be back.
Click to expand...
Sadly, I do. I''ve traveled to a few places over the years but there is not one place I''d choose to live over where I live now.
 
Date: 7/16/2009 8:35:13 PM
Author: TravelingGal



Date: 7/16/2009 8:30:22 PM
Author: HollyS

Obviously, you guys LOVE living in CA. I'm going to go look at our real estate listings and show you what $500K will get you here.
9.gif


A fantabulous crib worthy of any mega NFL or NBA star, I'm sure.

I'll be back.
Click to expand...
Sadly, I do. I've traveled to a few places over the years but there is not one place I'd choose to live over where I live now.
Click to expand...
I know you don't. (Want to live elsewhere, that is.)

I just wanna rub your nose in the difference.
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Just 'cuz we're buds.
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I''m finding this thread facinating. I am looking to buy on the West Coast of Canada, and as some of you may know, that area rivals CA for prices... luckily we aren''t buying in vancouver which is completely out of the question, but it is still very very costly where we are buying.

I can''t help but wonder if we should wait a little longer to buy. It is such a hard decision! We don''t want to move 2x in the next little while, and rents are very high, close to the price of a mortgage. But who wants to look back in 6 months and see that we paid too much for our house?
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The super low interest rates are causing a bit of a spike in the lower half of the market because of all the first time buyers are coming out of the woodwork to finally buy after waiting for years. And inventory isn''t great.

I always thought I would enjoy the hunt for our first home. So not the case!
 
Holly please don''t show us what a $500,000 house looks like in Texas, I may faint.
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Date: 7/16/2009 5:24:37 PM
Author: Mara
We are not that bad compared to you TG I guess!

Here is what 500 gets us here in our neighborhood... super cute for a young couple. But even though this is near our place (and in a similar desirable neighborhood), the elem school near us is much better, even though it''s still same area.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/838-Clintonia-Ave-95125/home/1661280
Click to expand...
This is a cute, small and old house! But what is it really worth? I see it has been listed for 118 days so far. Right now it is very hard to establish valuation. It is in a price range that is "affordable" to some extent, so one would think it can sell.

I think we are still in the foreclosure moratorium, so after that moratorium lifts, there will be even more properties coming on the market. Maybe people are waiting to see what happens then.
 
I''ve only 2 offerings for you.

From the Realtor site:
This beautiful, spacious home is perfect for a family!
A master suite is on the first floor, as well as a master suite on the second floor!
A total of over 3,400 sq.ft.
3 full baths, 2 half baths, 5 bedrooms.
The great room with a fireplace adjoins the kitchen and the finished basement has another fireplace.
This home also has a new heat pump!
All this on a gorgeous, huge lot.
$220,000.

iahouseforsale.jpg
 
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