I'm outta here, back in a year! (San Diego, Bakersfield: to rent, house)
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Also to expand upon what Shmoov correctly mentioned, there isn't a whole lot of GREAT inventory on the market. At least for the category home we were looking in. Things that were "move in ready" and didn't need any renovations, in pristine condition. Those properties were still moving fairly well. We looked for a LONG time and narrowed our search down to about 5 properties and they ALL sold last year while we were looking or shortly after.
I still think much depends on where exactly you are buying. Things can differ from neighborhood to neighborhood. But I think generally we're at or close to a bottom.
Yeah, there are a TON of problems still out there in the real estate market and economy. But in many areas it just comes down to yield on investment and high rental yields so investors are coming in with cash and buying properties for cash flow since CD's and anything else safe isn't paying anything.
ER,
You state a lack of good inventory in the category of home you're looking in, since I'm probably well south of that category, what say you regarding homes in the $350K to $600K? I think this is the category that will have the largest demand.
ER,
You state a lack of good inventory in the category of home you're looking in, since I'm probably well south of that category, what say you regarding homes in the $350K to $600K? I think this is the category that will have the largest demand.
Hi MovingAloha,
Honestly I have no idea in that category. Our search was only in the $950,000 to $1.2 million range. While there were MANY actual listings....we found the majority of that was junk. Or it was nice homes but the kitchen and bathrooms needed to be renovated or other things we really didn't want to tackle.
I'd assume there is far less demand in the expensive homes vs. that category you mentioned. But I haven't yet begun to look at investment properties yet in San Diego. But most likely when I do it will fall in that price category you mentioned.
I'd think there would be plenty of competition in that price category as well for move in ready type homes but I can't intelligently say for sure.
I do know even permabear websites like Patrick.net have changed their slogan from "It's a terrible time to buy a house" to "It's a terrible time to buy an expensive house".
Most of the other people I know that were waiting on the sidelines for years to buy like myself, jumped back in the water last year.
I still say on investment properties you probably could wait this year. But if you know you will be in a home for the foreseeable future, I think now is a fine time to buy. Interest rates will be low at least until the middle of 2013 so there is time.
Shmoov probably has a better idea of the market in that price range but I'd think there would be a lot of competition for move in ready homes in that price range as many can't quality for Jumbo loans right now.
But at the range we looked at, even expensive stuff that was move in ready was moving at a good clip. Here is one house we saw that sold shortly after we did the walk through:
Look at this price and how much it fell from what the previous owner paid PLUS what they sunk into renovating it. (It sold in September 2006 for $1.8 million and then I heard they dumped a ton of money in it and it sold for $1.1 million a few months ago).
We saw this one and generally liked it but it was too close to power lines and there was stucco damage on the front from rain water leaking down (no rain gutters)
This one was a bit much for us and we didn't like Del Sur as much as Santaluz but you can see it sold fairly quickly after a few months of being on the market:
This one we LOVED but it was just too small for us with kids. But I'd love to buy something like this once the kids move out of the house. Strange however that it sold in May while we were looking then it was put back on the market and sold a few weeks ago for $100,000 less. I'd love to hear the back story on this one if anyone has it?
As mentioned, ALL the nice homes we would have considered have all been sold. Absolutely nothing on our spreadsheet that we had considered is still on the market. To me that bodes well for the market in nice areas. Even in a crappy economy with poor economic conditions, you're always going to have people looking for nice homes in good school districts.
Last edited by earlyretirement; 01-23-2012 at 12:31 PM..
Honestly I have no idea in that category. Our search was only in the $950,000 to $1.2 million range. While there were MANY actual listings....we found the majority of that was junk. Or it was nice homes but the kitchen and bathrooms needed to be renovated or other things we really didn't want to tackle.
I'd assume there is far less demand in the expensive homes vs. that category you mentioned. But I haven't yet begun to look at investment properties yet in San Diego. But most likely when I do it will fall in that price category you mentioned.
I'd think there would be plenty of competition in that price category as well for move in ready type homes but I can't intelligently say for sure.
I do know even permabear websites like Patrick.net have changed their slogan from "It's a terrible time to buy a house" to "It's a terrible time to buy an expensive house".
Most of the other people I know that were waiting on the sidelines for years to buy like myself, jumped back in the water last year.
I still say on investment properties you probably could wait this year. But if you know you will be in a home for the foreseeable future, I think now is a fine time to buy. Interest rates will be low at least until the middle of 2013 so there is time.
Shmoov probably has a better idea of the market in that price range but I'd think there would be a lot of competition for move in ready homes in that price range as many can't quality for Jumbo loans right now.
Mahalo for the response. I can pay cash if its in my lower range, but if anything higher, we'll have to take out a mortgage. Since we're retired, we don't want too large of a mortgage. We'll probably rent until we're sure what we want.
Again Thanks!
I just clicked on the links, WOW, beautiful homes. I tend to like the older homes in older neighborhoods, which can be even more expensive. But nonetheless, beautiful properties, all of them. Thanks for sharing.
wow 1-1.2 million. what do you do? thats a nice problem to have...damn i wish i made that kind of loot
Yeah, I thought that was a healthy enough budget for a home. There are tons more homes for much more expensive but I think in most major cities, $1.2 million is more than adequate to buy an amazing property. We saw some in Rancho Santa Fe that were double that range but it was the same # of bedrooms with only more open spaces and more land. Something we didn't need.
I'm an Entrepreneur so I own a few different companies. I also own a Venture Capital investment firm that has done fairly well over the years. I've had pretty good timing in several cycles. But a LOT and LOT of hard work. Many years of 16 or 17 hour days. I'm just glad I did most of it before I had kids. Now, I'm kind of semi retired working 5 or 6 hours a day compared to monster hours. But I probably will end up going back to work later this year or next year. I like working too much to stop working. Plus I'm still fairly young to be retired. The retired life isn't for me as I get bored.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MovingAloha
Mahalo for the response. I can pay cash if its in my lower range, but if anything higher, we'll have to take out a mortgage. Since we're retired, we don't want too large of a mortgage. We'll probably rent until we're sure what we want.
Again Thanks!
You're totally welcome. I think the purpose of these message boards is to share information. DEFINITELY I applaud your desire to pay cash. Even in this environment of low interest rates, I think if you can pay cash all the better. That strategy is frowned on by many people but mostly people that don't have the ability to do it! It's always a GREAT idea to have a paid off place heading into retirement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MovingAloha
I just clicked on the links, WOW, beautiful homes. I tend to like the older homes in older neighborhoods, which can be even more expensive. But nonetheless, beautiful properties, all of them. Thanks for sharing.
We tend to like newer more modern homes or Spanish or Mediterranean style. We like more modern decor vs. older decor. But certainly I've lived in older properties and own some older properties in other parts of the world. They are beautiful but can be a hassle with maintenance.
Last edited by earlyretirement; 01-23-2012 at 01:40 PM..
tickyul,
I agree with earlyretirement. Talking with an investor friend of mine, she has been in the game for a LONG time here in SD county and pretty much summed it up as CA real estate being 'on sale' right now. She has seen the ups and downs over the past 30+ years and her opinions are usually level headed.
Its not cheap by any means to buy here, but if you are in a position to buy something and not change your lifestyle habits too much, then there is a lot more hope in CA than many other states or cities IMHO.
I watch the MLS daily here in various parts of the county and see all the changes. I would say ANY house in any zip code that shows well relative to its local market will sell within 30 days (this wasnt the case 6 years ago). THere is a tremendous demand for turnkey homes as buyers are finding out, that type of inventory is incredibly slim.
Problem is there is a ton of crap out there from North County to South Bay. Even in nicer parts of the county, where there are owners that simply neglected their homes or were too old to maintain them, the amount of work that is required (carpeting, wood panel walls, dated kitchens etc) is for a buyer that is in the minority. For buyers in it for the real long run and slowly make the needed changes over time, its a great deal.
Assuming you are paying a mortgage over 30 years and 20% down, $1000-1200 per/mo in payments is not too shabby for a 250k property.
Actually, I'm wishing that the market would tank in San Diego County. I am ready to move back....but I really do not want to rent. I so sick of living right next to dirty, noisy creeps who chain smoke filthare**es. I know that with a house you can run into the same problem.....but at least you have somewhat of a buffer.
I would be more than happy to buy a 2br fixer on a decent sized lot in North San Diego County. The other option is HOT, TRASHY Bakersfield.....I do not know about that one.
And this whole blubbering about how horrible the housing market is......a load of BS. This is a natural correction that is needed.....when a massive bubble bursts what do you expect. The people crying the loudest are the ones who have financial interests is seeing some Big-Brother-Gravy-Money come their way.
I have watched the Market in San Diego County.....plenty of folks agressively going after the deals.....no disasters in sight.
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