Cost of buying a home in Murrieta/Wildomar (Orange, Temecula: bank owned, short sales)

[that1guy]

Average housing price is now $310,500. It's quite possible to find a house under 300k in decent condition.

[evolutionrules]

House was in good shape. Many of the houses we saw were in near perfect condition since the banks painted and put in new carpet. We are painting (my wife likes color), having the carpets professionally cleaned and doing some minor repairs. You just need to look at a lot of houses. We looked at close to 30 houses before we found the one we wanted to raise our kids in. We had to stop looking at the "bling" (granite, hardwood, crown moulding etc.) and concentrate on what is really important to us like floorplan, lot size, position and direction of house, school district, street traffic. Granite, paint, cabinets, tile, hardwood can all be added to a house. It's much more difficult to add 500 sq ft and impossible to get a larger yard, quieter street etc. Make a list of what is really important and stick to it. Good luck.

[Unkllars]

Let me do a quick search and I'll get back to you. Just Murrieta and Wildomar?

[Unkllars]

Wow, that didn't take long. I found 51 in Just those two cities that are newer than 1996, 2200+ sqft, and all for $270K or less (I searched $270K since negotiating can bring it down). 24 of them are under $260K. Let me know if you want me to send them to you

[caligurltotx]

I just found about 22 homes that meet your criteria using the MLS. If you are still looking PM me and I will forward the list to you.

[caligurltotx]

Sorry I didn't see Unkllars post doing it for you already. Guess I should keep reading first

[NWDreary]

I appreciate all your responses. Question for Unkllars and caligurltox, would a real estate agent lie about how much needs to be spent to purchase a home and if so why? Especially if they are very aware of what the buyer is qualified to spend.

[SoCalDaveL]

Originally Posted by NWDreary

I appreciate all your responses. Question for Unkllars and caligurltox, would a real estate agent lie about how much needs to be spent to purchase a home and if so why? Especially if they are very aware of what the buyer is qualified to spend.

The bottom line with real estate agents is quite simple. They get paid on commission (I'm not aware of any exceptions to this, but there might be). Both the buying agent and selling agent usually split a percentage of the selling price of the house - 6% seems to be the norm although its usually somewhat negotiable. This is simple mathematics. A percentage of a higher number yields more money in their pockets than the same percentage of a lower number.

The selling agent is quite transparent about this as looking out for their customer's best interest impacts their gain. The buying agent is tricky. They want their customer to get the best deal, have their bid accepted and close in order to make money, however they need to reflect to their customer that they're looking to get them the lowest possible price.

There are honest, trustworthy agents and there are those only looking out for more money. Just keep this in mind when talking to them.

Sorry about the rant-like nature of this reply, but just wanted to be sure it was known. The bottom line is to go with the agent who you trust. An agent who will sit down with you and honestly & patiently answer your questions is better than one who is looking to get you to quickly sign their contract and putting pressure on you to hurry up

[evolutionrules]

Our agent was great. Very patient. Showed us over 30 houses. Even told us that we shouldn't buy certain houses and why we shouldn't. Always put our best interests first and was never concerned with price of house even though more expensive meant more commission. Great agent.

[Unkllars]

For an agent to tell you a lie is either he/she doesn't know prices, or to simply pad the estimated costs so you are not caught off guard by any expenses. The first explanation is disappointing, the second is understandable. Let's say you may incur certain escrow fees that could be $500-800. Your agent will tell you $800 so if it is, you're prepared, or if its less, you're pleasantly surprised.

NWDreary, are you referring to the actual house price ('no homes under $260K'), or are you referring to closing costs that occur at the close of escrow?