Adventures in house buying

[Brando]

Fun times indeed - my wife and I are finally making the next step to ownership. Here, in South Orange County nonetheless. All I gotta say is - real estate is going bonkers. Not even free-standing structures, just condos/town homes. After selling the 911 SC Targa and paying off some bills we're ready to buy.

Any recommendations? We're using a few realtors - 2 recommended by our mortgage broker and 1 we had assigned to us through Redfin. Between Redfin and Zillow, the former seems to have more up-to-date listings and (mostly) better photos.

Can't wait to not be a renter anymore.

[Noah930]

Congrats.

When we purchased a few years ago, Redfin was probably the most helpful single website. Zillow was OK, but the pricing estimates weren't always accurate, particularly in a fast-moving market. We also would use PropertyShark.com to research a place if we were especially interested in it. Once in awhile we'd browse CaliforniaMoves.com.

We're not super picky, but we still walked through about 80 places (and bid/lost on three or four more) before we settled on the house we purchased. No place will be perfect, and if you do find that perfect place, it'll be out of your price range. I don't think letter writing makes a whit of difference when submitting a bid.

Good luck.

[RKDinOKC]

On a whim listed my parents home with a relator that sent them a card for interest in selling. She sold the house within a week. The contract gave me 3 months to find a handicap accessible home, buy it, and move my Mom and brother with MS.

Used the same relator that got the asking price for parents home. Looked at a LOT of houses, lost count. Started just having her send us a list to drive by and see how wheel chair accessible the front door was. The only house listed as accessible was made accessible for a 6 yo kid in a small wheel chair and they were moving because it didn't work very well. All it had was a couple of extra grab handles in the bathroom.

The relator did a wonderful job and earned EVERY PENNY!

[look 171]

Brando, my advice is to use a local or an agent that knows the area well. They know the good street and the bad. That's worth its weight in gold.

[porsche4life]

Pick one agent and stick with them. If all 3 know you are shopping multiple agents, none of them will work as hard for you.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Pick one agent and stick with them. If all 3 know you are shopping multiple agents, none of them will work as hard for you.

Beat me to it.

I'll go one further and say that if you are using multiple agents without disclosing that fact to each, it is bad form. Loyalty is a two-way street.

That said, I would recommend that you do find someone you click with.
Just be up front with them all from the beginning during the "interview" process.

Good luck!

[BeyGon]

No matter who you pick get on line with something like Relator.com and pay attention. My last three houses I bought in Dana Point I found on line by my self. The relator took us to a lot of places but through my searches I found these and called her. One was listed in her own office and she didn't know about it. You can weed through a lot yourself. Some like on Zillow have been off the market a while, I thought Realtor.com was the better site.

[rattlsnak]

Realtor.com is all you need. Do the research yourself.. You will save yourself countless hours of driving around with someone. Recently found my parents house this way and now I am are looking myself and my realtor was sending me houses that I clearly am not interested in. I pull up houses based on filters I enter, (school district, how many bedrooms, etc.) and then pull up the map on my second screen and do satellite views, street views etc to get a feel for the entire street/subdivision.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Pick one agent and stick with them. If all 3 know you are shopping multiple agents, none of them will work as hard for you.

Yup. This. RE agent margins are not huge. Give a single, competent agent your business. They'll go to bat for you.

[SoCal911T]

I too am in the market for the first time and it's pretty depressing on what is available for a half a million...( yes, I'm one of the few here that lists my location).

[Brando]

I'm amazed at all the helpful input. Thanks guys! We've probably checked out half a dozen condos. The realtor we're having the best luck with is from Redfin, and is a local to the area like us. He's been very helpful and is getting up to speed on what we're looking for. The other 2, haven't responded to a request to see some properties - so we'll move on.

We're trying to stay in the Laguna/Aliso area, but it's tough. Prices are so wild - anywhere from $350 - $550, houses go for $650+. If we get something with more than 3+ rooms we'll rent one out to help pad the mortgage payments, maybe pay the principle down quicker as well. We saw one today in Laguna Hills that we REALLY liked, but the listing agent was kind of a douche when asking for information: "YEAH We're just trying to field more offers since we already received a few. Monday we'll go through them all, so keep that in mind." He must have worked at a dealership before. /facepalm

We're first-time buyers so all of the advice is definitely appreciated!

[BeyGon]

when they told me they already had offers I just walked away. I thought they were fos but maybe they actually did. I thought of it as a pressure sell. Most of them were still listed weeks later when we bought something.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by Brando

I'm amazed at all the helpful input. Thanks guys! We've probably checked out half a dozen condos. The realtor we're having the best luck with is from Redfin, and is a local to the area like us. He's been very helpful and is getting up to speed on what we're looking for. The other 2, haven't responded to a request to see some properties - so we'll move on.

Good call. If an agent can't even be bothered to return a phone call or email in a timely manner from the get-go, then buh-bye IMO...

Also, if you are limited to condos/townhomes, just be mindful of the association dues that are attached. Even if they seem reasonable, due diligence is key regarding the solvency and track record of the association, and/or management company that runs it. Any deferred maintenance of the complex is also something to look at. You wouldn't want to move in and then all of a sudden get hit with a "special assessment" that doubles or triples your condo dues. It would be wise to note the current condition and service/repair history of things such as community pools, complex/unit roofs, shared/inclusive A/C units, pavement/driveway surface, exterior paint, etc.

[Jim Bremner]

I have a GREAT loan officer that will work his butt off for you in the area. we closed in 27 days.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Brando

I'm amazed at all the helpful input. Thanks guys! We've probably checked out half a dozen condos. The realtor we're having the best luck with is from Redfin, and is a local to the area like us. He's been very helpful and is getting up to speed on what we're looking for. The other 2, haven't responded to a request to see some properties - so we'll move on.

We're trying to stay in the Laguna/Aliso area, but it's tough. Prices are so wild - anywhere from $350 - $550, houses go for $650+. If we get something with more than 3+ rooms we'll rent one out to help pad the mortgage payments, maybe pay the principle down quicker as well. We saw one today in Laguna Hills that we REALLY liked, but the listing agent was kind of a douche when asking for information: "YEAH We're just trying to field more offers since we already received a few. Monday we'll go through them all, so keep that in mind." He must have worked at a dealership before. /facepalm

We're first-time buyers so all of the advice is definitely appreciated!

He's telling you the truth, that's worth something (a lot to me anyway). You just need to remember, this is a seller's market, and that market is HOT. Something nice comes on the marker, there are 10 people out there thinking the same and want it. JUst last monday, I lost a bid on an old beat up 3500sq' Spanish in a very desirable area of LA. I was chatting with my agent about how this should be a slam dunk with 120,000 over bid from asking price with all contingencies removed. The selling agent was very up front and told us that she will wait few more days for all offers to come then decide. It sold for 220 over asking. Fooking crazy. Too rich for my blood.

There are selling agents that wouldn't tell you a thing and keep you writing offers and guessing. Its a rough game.

[t6dpilot]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Yup. This. RE agent margins are not huge. Give a single, competent agent your business. They'll go to bat for you.

I will concur wholeheartedley with Sid and HardDrive. Sure there are crappy RE agents out there, but generally you can weed them out quick. Interview a few, spend some time with each, and sign an exclusive if you are comfortable. I guarantee you that if they know you are working with several brokers, you will not get their best effort. Plus, each broker is showing you the same properties unless they have a pocket listing in their office not yet up on the MLS. A good RE agent is worth it to navigate the issues with home buying, contract negotiation, and any "issues" that may come up. So those that think agents are a waste of O2, do you know ALL the legalities of a real estate contract and all the "gotchas?"

Also, as a buyer, remember that working with a RE agent costs you NOTHING. The seller pays all the fees typically. And to those of you who think that the agent is over paid, you need to understand this - the 5% broker fee is split between buyer's and seller's agents, so that is 2.5% for each side. Then each agent has to split that with the sponsoring broker (@ Properties, Remax, etc) and that is typically a large split unless you are a high volume producer.

[Brando]

A brief update: We submitted our first formal offer to a condo we checked out in Laguna yesterday. It's a bit above asking but they're getting offers. If ours is not accepted we'll move on - there are at least 3 other properties on our 'wishlist' nearby we want to see this week.

Still nothing back from the other 2 RE agents, and we're very happy with the Redfin agent - he's definitely going the extra bit to help us out. We've got literally 3 weeks to figure out if we're staying in an apartment or moving out. Pressure from all sides, really sucks.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by RKDinOKC

Started just having her send us a list to drive by and see how wheel chair accessible the front door was. The only house listed as accessible was made accessible for a 6 yo kid in a small wheel chair and they were moving because it didn't work very well. All it had was a couple of extra grab handles in the bathroom.

The relator did a wonderful job and earned EVERY PENNY!

Maybe it is different in your area but IMO, the relator did a crappy job. If I'm paying them a commission, I expect them to cull out the homes that don't meet my specs. Sending me a list so I can do all the research? What am I paying for?

[rattlsnak]

Originally Posted by Brando

We saw one today in Laguna Hills that we REALLY liked, but the listing agent was kind of a douche when asking for information: "YEAH We're just trying to field more offers since we already received a few. Monday we'll go through them all, so keep that in mind." He must have worked at a dealership before. /facepalm

Originally Posted by BeyGon

when they told me they already had offers I just walked away. I thought they were fos but maybe they actually did. .

Unfortunately, this is the new trend in RE. I have a few friends that are RE agents and we are putting my GFs condo up for sale in a few weeks and they all say the new strategy is to price very low, bring in the buyers and then have a bidding war to get the highest offer over a predetermined amount. (which is way over the asking price.) It sucks for the buyers, but it works great for the sellers.

[Bill Douglas]

Umm, I'm no economist, but if your man Trumpy gets in the dollar is going to crash then real estate is going to crash. So maybe hold off buying for a little while - just my personal thoughts.