Buying a house...
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- pr2-1
It REALLY depends where you are standing financially, what savings you have (for downpayment) and how much you are paying in rent. Plus it DOES matter if you are handy.
We are trying to convince my inlaws to finally buy a house as they rent is comically high ($2100). With a right kind of property their monthly will drop to $1300.
The same kind of property doesn't make sense to me as my rent is comically low ($1100).
- http://www.qbn.com/r…imbecile
- imbecile doesn't understand the basics of economy - huh?pr2
- http://www.keepingcu…imbecile
- do you bruhimbecile
- zaq0
- CincodeMayo0
Any good homeowner sites to bookmark or helpful links?
thesweethome.com has been pretty helpful for appliances. Found some other random real estate blogs.
Also do you homeowners have a security system? If so which one? Hearing good things about Frontpoint but the house we're buying already has ADT installed.
And is a Ring doorbell worth it?
- freedom1
A mortgage is similar to rent and then you have something you should be able to profit off of. Makes sense.
- deathboy2
be wary of HOAs
- Absolutely nothing wrong with HOAs as long as you know what you are getting for your monthly fees.utopian
- some are fine, some just harass and stickler for asinine rules and try to fine you. housing bubble burst i got stuck paying other peoples dues who werent payingdeathboy
- I am VP of mine. HOA's can be just fine :-)formed
- whatthefunk0
Just read a great tip for checking plumbing...
General rule for plumbing in north america,turn the cold faucet on in the washroom vanity,then flush the toilet. If the pressure coming from the faucet drops a lot when you flush,there's a very high chance you have galvanized water lines hidden in the walls.
Galvanized pipes are zinc-coated steel. Over time the zinc will erode away and the steel will begin corroding. The natural amounts of lead found in water can collect in these corroded areas over many years, and may eventually be released in more concentrated amounts.
- Peter1
California huh.
>"Any tips?"
I have some bragging disguised as tips to offer.
I live in SF, where rents are a laughing/crying matter.
FFS just renting one room, not apartment, cost 1-2k$/m.So, I decided to skip all that and live at sea.
Bought a boat, and here she is:
Turning it to a smart home (voice controlled, so on).
And also restoring some less attractive features on it.Not for everyone, but imho an easier/cheaper alternative to at least rent if not standard housing.
- lemmy_k0
Make sure they tent for termites, especially in CA.
You Tube is your friend for learning maintenance.
Don't buy shitty tools.
- fyoucher11
Get a house $100k under your budget. Then use that $100k to make it your own (new floors, paint, doors, bathroom, landscaping, exterior lighting, etc).
- Or just plan on improving it later on. Better to have a house that needs work in a nice neighborhood than make a nice house in a soso neighborhood.formed
- sothere0
get a building inspection before you buy.
I lost a house in NZ because it leaked. The frame rotted away and needed an entire reclad. cost 250k. My partner who worked in banking had the money so she paid and we broke up. As the house was worthless I didn't get anything.
- ArmandoEstrada0
Good luck. I've always been (mostly) in burbank for the 18 years I've been in LA. My office is in burbank and I live in Noho three blocks away. Great schools from what I've been told.
- CincodeMayo0
@ArmandoEstrada: Looking between Sherman Oaks and Burbank. We're in Studio City now. We originally considered Encino too – found a nice small house with a brand new heated pool for a under $700k, but ultimately decided against it because we didn't love the Encino area and we didn't want to deal with the 405/101 interchange every morning. Schools also weren't great there. Prices are insane all over, but when you do the math your mortgage ends up being close to the price of a 2bd/2bth apartment in LA. Fingers crossed we'll find something in SO or Burbank.
- I'm looking in Sherman Oaks too. Wanna be neighbors?cannonball1978
- Ha, sure. Hi diddly ho neighboring!CincodeMayo
- ArmandoEstrada0
Congrats. Its crazy in LA, a shitty small house is like $700,000. May I ask where you're buying?
- Those are crazy prices. Paid 410.000 euros for our new house, 550m2. Antwerp, Belgium.tank02
- tank020
Go with your guys. Bought a flat in 2008, a house in 2011. Sold them both now for a new fixerup of 550m2. Decided to buy it in 5 minutes. If you think to much, you will never buys something.
- whatthefunk0
Also, a friend of mine was our mortgage broker and the entire process went very smoothly (homie hookup and we didn't pay a fee). I've heard some horror stories and friends shared very different experience regarding stress, back and forth, etc. while we breezed right through and were told by realtors "I've never seen an approval come through that quickly before."
- That's amazing! We're in good standing with BofA so we get a discount with them. Hopefully the closing goes smoothly...CincodeMayo
- utopian0
My personal experience with purchasing appliances over the years is that LG is the best value for the money. As far as home inspectors...most of them are a bag of dicks and really don't find the real problems with a property until you already purchased the home and are in moved in.
- whatthefunk0
I received quotes for kitchen and bath renovations and used those numbers to negotiate money off the sale price of the house. I'm amazed at the amount of houses that have old ass 70's and 80's kitchens/baths and they're trying to get the same price as comps with updated kitchens/baths. Typical kitchen remodel is $30k - $50k and a bath remodel is between $8k - $12k. Of course we would never pay that for a remodel but these contractors charge up the ass and it will come out of your pocket down the road.
Don't know about LA but eff Zillow Zestimates too, what a scam that both buyers and sellers fall for when viewing property/home values. A realtor will share this but Zillow is messing with perceived valuations based on their shitty algorithm and many sellers have a inflated sense of worth based off Zillow, at least on the east coast.
I've seen houses sell for x and zillow's zestimate is still $70k lower, wtf...
- Ha, the first thing our realtor told us was to stay away from Zillow. They don't mark houses as sold immediately and that Zestimate is bull.CincodeMayo
- Congrats btw. Good to hear...whatthefunk
- HijoDMaite0
- I'll keep an eye out for gypsies and make sure there's room for my wife's cage.CincodeMayo
- Unreal.ideaist