Buying a house...
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- CincodeMayo
...is some scary shit. Especially here in LA. But I think the wife and I are close to getting one.
Any tips? Appliance suggestions? Alarm company suggestions? Questions to ask during inspections and closing? Been reading up on it but if you guys have any other helpful advice I'll take it.
- slinky3
get the best home inspector you can get.
- Ditto to this. And appreciate the level to which they can seem neurotic about attention to detail.mg33
- yeah... if you can have them with you when your viewing, it will be super valuable.Al_dizzle
- Luckily our realtor is a former contractor so he's been pointing out lots of things. Definitely helpful.CincodeMayo
- nocomply0
If there's an item you want in the house when you tour it, ask if it can be included as part of the deal.
When my wife and I bought our place the family living here had a piano in what is now my home office that I would have loved to own.
Turns out they gave it to a friend who was willing to come pick it up because it was too much of a hassle to move.
I'm sure they would have been happy to leave it.
- Oh, and congrats!nocomply
- Thanks! Good tip. We'll definitely ask about things we like.CincodeMayo
- I just wrote chickens into our offer.akiersky
- HijoDMaite2
make sure you buy a plaque like this:
- fooler0
I think for first time home owners you can take out of a 401k for your down payment with little or no penalty. I wish I would have know this.
- fooler0
Look into the school system if you're thinking about having kids. I wish I would have know this.
- This is pretty much at the top of our list of things we look at next to how many beds/baths & square footage. If not for our future kids, definitely for resale.CincodeMayo
- I bought 10 years ago and didn't even think of that. 2 kids later and I'm in one of the worst school districts and out grew the house.fooler
- fooler0
Appliance suggestions? Don't buy Samsung appliances!
- Really? None? Heard their washers/dryers are decent? And their fridges get good reviews too. But I'll definitely consider other brands too.CincodeMayo
- I bought a samsung washer 2 years ago and it's already being recalled.fooler
- Sears Outlet scratch and dent section FTW on appliances! We got a bargain washer/dryer set there. Not fancy, but totally functional.nocomply
- samsung just backward engineer. No real RND department. I always avoidmugwart
- I have all Samsung. No problems over here.fyoucher1
- HijoDMaite0
- I'll keep an eye out for gypsies and make sure there's room for my wife's cage.CincodeMayo
- Unreal.ideaist
- 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
- 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
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
- 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.
- 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
- 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
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.
- 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.
- fyoucher11
Get a house $100k under your budget. Then use that $100k to make it your own (new floors, paint, doors, bathroom, landscaping, exterior lighting, etc).
- Or just plan on improving it later on. Better to have a house that needs work in a nice neighborhood than make a nice house in a soso neighborhood.formed
- lemmy_k0
Make sure they tent for termites, especially in CA.
You Tube is your friend for learning maintenance.
Don't buy shitty tools.
- Peter1
California huh.
>"Any tips?"
I have some bragging disguised as tips to offer.
I live in SF, where rents are a laughing/crying matter.
FFS just renting one room, not apartment, cost 1-2k$/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.