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Old 09-13-2018, 11:32 AM
 
6,089 posts, read 4,995,272 times
Reputation: 5985

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post

Looking back it was the single best financial decision of my life for a number of reasons... Sink or Swim it was all on me... learned a lot about construction and people...
No better teacher than experience.
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Old 09-13-2018, 12:07 PM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,720,668 times
Reputation: 23268
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliRestoration View Post
No better teacher than experience.
I made my offer without a word to anyone...

The Realtor called to congratulate me... and then I told my parents I had just bought a house.

It started a whirlwind of discussion...

My Step-Grandfather was sent by my Grandmother to take a look just after Escrow Closed and he arrived just as I was loading up the first dumpster...

Later she told me that I was so excited about buying the house he didn't have the heart to tell me what a grave mistake I had just made... but that I was young and could chalk it up to inexperience...

I got out the Reader's Digest Home Improvement Book and became a regular at Home Depot... like every day on the way home from work...

Looking back... my saving grace is the house was occupied with water, gas and electric ON... the city had scheduled a condemnation hearing so the clock was ticking... within one week I had cleared the trash and weeds, fixed the broken windows and painted the outside... and that was enough to stop the process...

About a year after moving in... I had a finished little two bedroom home 2 block below East 14th in Oakland CA and it was Free and Clear except for a little on my credit card... and this was my secret to getting a stake to get ahead... I was able to take my then pristine little home and get a mortgage... use that cash to buy my next fixer and rent the first one to cover the PITI...

Again... I had to keep lowering my sights based on what I could afford... and even then... the only single family home I could afford was also the least expensive one listed on the Multiple Listing Service... kind of starting at Rock Bottom.
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Old 09-13-2018, 12:13 PM
 
18,172 posts, read 16,421,833 times
Reputation: 9328
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
It took better part of a year to finish it...

New roof, new windows, new doors, repair siding... total inside outside paint, new floors... green lawn and planted two fruit trees in back... all for under 20k in materials... did ALL the work myself... lost a few pounds along the way too.

It still is a very small 2 bedroom cottage.

Here is a picture of the after and before kitchen and the after bathroom.

//www.city-data.com/forum/attac...s-scan0009.jpg

Looking back it was the single best financial decision of my life for a number of reasons... Sink or Swim it was all on me... learned a lot about construction and people...
Looks like you did a good job.



Would love a picture from the front.

Last edited by expatCA; 09-13-2018 at 12:59 PM..
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Old 09-13-2018, 12:15 PM
 
Location: San Diego CA
8,501 posts, read 6,913,511 times
Reputation: 17065
Economic Darwinism. The highest paid residents have the power of the wallet to buy what they want. The rest of the prospective purchasers move to Nevada or Texas.
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Old 09-13-2018, 01:00 PM
 
18,172 posts, read 16,421,833 times
Reputation: 9328
Quote:
Originally Posted by msgsing View Post
Economic Darwinism. The highest paid residents have the power of the wallet to buy what they want. The rest of the prospective purchasers move to Nevada or Texas.
Pretty normal anywhere. Those leaving CA can be higher paid where they move too and buy houses there driving the prices up. That is normal, just look at ... CA, or any other place people move to in numbers.
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Old 09-13-2018, 01:42 PM
 
Location: Ca expat loving Idaho
5,267 posts, read 4,189,758 times
Reputation: 8140
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
I made my offer without a word to anyone...

The Realtor called to congratulate me... and then I told my parents I had just bought a house.

It started a whirlwind of discussion...

My Step-Grandfather was sent by my Grandmother to take a look just after Escrow Closed and he arrived just as I was loading up the first dumpster...

Later she told me that I was so excited about buying the house he didn't have the heart to tell me what a grave mistake I had just made... but that I was young and could chalk it up to inexperience...

I got out the Reader's Digest Home Improvement Book and became a regular at Home Depot... like every day on the way home from work...

Looking back... my saving grace is the house was occupied with water, gas and electric ON... the city had scheduled a condemnation hearing so the clock was ticking... within one week I had cleared the trash and weeds, fixed the broken windows and painted the outside... and that was enough to stop the process...

About a year after moving in... I had a finished little two bedroom home 2 block below East 14th in Oakland CA and it was Free and Clear except for a little on my credit card... and this was my secret to getting a stake to get ahead... I was able to take my then pristine little home and get a mortgage... use that cash to buy my next fixer and rent the first one to cover the PITI...

Again... I had to keep lowering my sights based on what I could afford... and even then... the only single family home I could afford was also the least expensive one listed on the Multiple Listing Service... kind of starting at Rock Bottom.
Are you a white guy? If so did you have trouble with the neighbors?? Was the house a crack house? Who lived there before you bought it? How's the neighborhood now? Congrats on your successful investment
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Old 09-14-2018, 03:25 PM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,720,668 times
Reputation: 23268
Quote:
Originally Posted by expatCA View Post
Pretty normal anywhere. Those leaving CA can be higher paid where they move too and buy houses there driving the prices up. That is normal, just look at ... CA, or any other place people move to in numbers.
It's like this many places... have friends in Oregon and Washington and they lament their kids are being priced out because those with money are moving in... mostly from California.

Maybe this is Trickle Down in action?
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Old 09-14-2018, 03:33 PM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,720,668 times
Reputation: 23268
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finper View Post
Are you a white guy? If so did you have trouble with the neighbors?? Was the house a crack house? Who lived there before you bought it? How's the neighborhood now? Congrats on your successful investment
The neighborhood was predominantly African American... now it is mostly Spanish Speaking.

I have nothing but good things to say about my neighbors... at first it was a little touch and go... they were skeptical as just what I was doing... when I introduced myself as the person that just bought the place and I was moving in it did take some by surprise... after the first dumpster left attitudes of those skeptical changed in a good way... as I was taking the neighborhood flop house and cleaning it up...

The home belonged to a 85 year old man that passed away... he left it to his sister who was also in her 80s... but lived in Southern CA... being empty it was a target... while they were waiting for probate the place really got bad.

I grew up in Oakland as did my Father and Grandmother and went to High School about 20 blocks away.

The point of my posts is to show is the Bay Area and California consists of more than median or average price homes...

The headlines say Oakland is the number 3 or 4 most expensive housing market in the country... but there are homes that sell for a fraction of the median price and the ideal of a single family home covers a lot of ground...
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Old 09-14-2018, 05:32 PM
 
Location: SoCal
14,530 posts, read 20,147,509 times
Reputation: 10539
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
I got out the Reader's Digest Home Improvement Book and became a regular at Home Depot... like every day on the way home from work...

Looking back... my saving grace is the house was occupied with water, gas and electric ON... the city had scheduled a condemnation hearing so the clock was ticking... within one week I had cleared the trash and weeds, fixed the broken windows and painted the outside... and that was enough to stop the process...

About a year after moving in... I had a finished little two bedroom home 2 block below East 14th in Oakland CA and it was Free and Clear except for a little on my credit card... and this was my secret to getting a stake to get ahead...
I always enjoy reading your stories so much! Your financial decisions and moves closely match mine, and I constantly encourage others to learn personal finance, make investments including property, quit blowing all their money on a new car every 3 years and a fancy vacation every few years.

If you manage your finances well they take on a life of their own and you reach a milieu where you can afford all the luxuries you scrimped paying off your house or credit cards or whatever.

I paid off my first house 30-year mortgage in 11 years and I've lived ever after without house payments for my primary home. (The proceeds from my 1st house + after tax savings paid my 2nd house in full.)
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Old 09-14-2018, 08:40 PM
 
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
86 posts, read 74,500 times
Reputation: 144
Quote:
Originally Posted by ccm123 View Post
There are many jobs here that don't have "lackluster" pay, especially here in Silicon Valley. The average home in CA is priced way lower than one million, last time I checked.

Starting at Google is north of $180k/yr now including bonus, stock and salary
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