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Old 01-28-2018, 06:06 AM
 
6 posts, read 8,192 times
Reputation: 12

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Hello! I've been reading this forum semi-obsessively but this is my first time posting. My wife and I are in the process of looking for our first house. We have been pre-approved for a loan of $300,000 and we have our down payment saved and ready. $300k is lower than I was hoping, but the bright side is if we can find a place for that, we won't be stretching ourselves thin. I've been looking at Zillow/Redfin etc for about a year so I'm familiar with the market and I don't have illusions that we're going to find the house of our dreams, but I want to get A house. I don't want to be married with roommates (anymore) or spending half our monthly income on rent. My wife has a good job in Inglewood and I'm an actor (I think that's why our pre-approval was lower than I thought - they don't find my income consistent and reliable enough and I'm pretty sure they just factored in my wife's). Please don't tell me to move to Kentucky or whatever, we're planning to be in LA for life. We have to buy within the city of Los Angeles, per the terms of our loan. We're looking in Pacoima and South LA/Huntington Park mostly because that's honestly been the only place we've been able to find anything in our price range. We're white and in our 20s and I don't care about the ethnic makeup of wherever I live, unless the people there are really going to care. Do you guys have any suggestions of where else we should be looking? I know our budget is going to net us a 400 square foot concrete box under a highway, I've adjusted to that. We're very flexible on location since we can't be flexible on price. Thanks!
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Old 01-28-2018, 06:22 AM
 
Location: Where the sun always shines
2,170 posts, read 3,288,607 times
Reputation: 4501
Just curious, with an unstable income, you sure you want to be buying now?
Getting a place anywhere that you can afford only looking at the price only is a recipe for disaster.
How much of a downpayment do you actually have
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Old 01-28-2018, 06:59 AM
 
6 posts, read 8,192 times
Reputation: 12
We don't have an unstable income, my wife makes good stable money. My income is basically extra. We have 65k for a down payment. We're not going to ONLY purchase based on price, but I know our budget limits our options. And yeah we want to buy now.
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Old 01-28-2018, 07:26 AM
 
Location: Future Expat of California
665 posts, read 606,598 times
Reputation: 621
I think you're going to have a tough time. There is a lot of competition at that price point. In addition, there's not a lot of supply which forces an upward tick in prices. The locations and condition of the properties when you're out there on your home search may not be to your looking. If you're following history, now would not be a good time to buy. That chance came back between 2009-12 and even a few years ago.

If I had that amount of money I would build on it and wait for a market correction like the 2008 recession. The California housing market goes through a boom and bust cycle. Just know when you're getting on the rollercoaster and when to get off.
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Old 01-28-2018, 07:45 AM
 
6 posts, read 8,192 times
Reputation: 12
Thanks for the reply. I sure wish I could have purchased in that 2009-2012 area but alas I was a teenager and hadn't even met my wife yet. As far as waiting goes, we've certainly considered it, but I just don't feel confident that the market is going to go down enough to offset the price of renting for another 2/3/5 years, whatever it ends up being until the next correction.
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Old 01-28-2018, 08:35 AM
 
Location: So Ca
26,577 posts, read 26,439,806 times
Reputation: 24520
Quote:
Originally Posted by saljr8764 View Post
My wife and I are in the process of looking for our first house. We have been pre-approved for a loan of $300,000 and we have our down payment saved and ready.
If you're approved for a loan of this size, the price of the house itself would be around 400,000, correct? So why limit yourself to Pacoima or Huntington Park? Unless you are not putting 20% down...
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Old 01-28-2018, 09:02 AM
 
Location: Sylmar, a part of Los Angeles
8,241 posts, read 6,295,177 times
Reputation: 17228
Look at all the towns in the north east valley not just Pacoima. Your house is going to be small and run down. Still if I was in your shoes I would persevere.
You can get a bigger better house later, thats what people do. You will use the equity from this house for a better house, I wish I had done this at your age.
Your competition is all these development companies who snap up run down houses, fix them up and then sell.
Realtors buy these houses themselves before the even go on the market it might take awhile but keep trying.

Last edited by V8 Vega; 01-28-2018 at 09:26 AM..
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Old 01-28-2018, 09:17 AM
 
Location: Southern California
12,713 posts, read 15,395,367 times
Reputation: 35511
I'd rent until you can get another 200k in loan but by then prices might very well be much higher. In other words, you are in for a long road of trying to find something at a price point that doesn't really exist outside of a few run down dumps in crime ridden areas.
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Old 01-28-2018, 10:13 AM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
3,416 posts, read 2,410,577 times
Reputation: 6159
Drop your down payment to 5% and use the extra cash to up your budget.
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Old 01-28-2018, 12:53 PM
 
Location: So Ca
26,577 posts, read 26,439,806 times
Reputation: 24520
Quote:
Originally Posted by TacoSoup View Post
Drop your down payment to 5% and use the extra cash to up your budget.
Not if you're buying at the top of the market.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/.../#221235f449f8
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