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Leperflesh posted:Sunnyside is in the city - although obviously not as nice/close to downtown as upper/lower haight/panhandle - but it's true prices go up a lot if you want that kind of neighborhood. (Honestly I kind of hate Haight now, it's full of panhandling kids with dogs and the Gap and poo poo, has lost all its old character, but whatever.) Also, The Gap at Haight & Ashbury is now closed and when it was open it had been there longer than any other business within 2 blocks of there, it was one of the first 5 Gap stores.
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Sep 3, 2009 18:08
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Leperflesh posted:(Honestly I kind of hate Haight now, it's full of panhandling kids with dogs and the Gap and poo poo, has lost all its old character, but whatever.) It's not the Gap, it's American Apparel!  Much more authnetic!Anyway, north of panhandle is somewhat far from the Haight, I would mostly be going to Divisadero I think. But I agree with you on Haight. I don't even understand how a healthy 20 year old gets to the point where they start begging for money... I am renting on Ashbury right now.
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Sep 3, 2009 19:56
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To be fair, I moved out of the City about 8 years ago, down the peninsula. I haven't really hung out in the Haight for a long time. Prices for mere condos/apartments in SF still astound me. My parents bought a house a block off of Sunset, in (I think) 2000 or so, for $480k. The rise in prices since then was ridiculous, and it would seem even with the popped bubble, prices for really quite modest houses are still pretty sky-high. You really do pay a huge premium for an SF address. $500k will get you a whole lot more, in most of the rest of the bay area.
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Sep 3, 2009 22:59
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How many of you locked a mortgage rate more than 30 days out? It'd be about $800 for me to do so at 45 days, and the rates right now look fantastic (5.150), but that's a lot of cash out of hand for what in a way seems like a gamble.
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Sep 9, 2009 14:15
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I'm considering buying my first home. I'm 26, make $63K a year, have no debt, and can scrounge about $25K for a down payment ($19K savings, and a $6K loan from my 401k). Houses I'm considering are in the $130K-$140K range. Now, the lenders I have been talking to have made it clear that I will be paying PMI if I take out a loan with less than 20% down (I am four or five thousand dollars short when closing costs are taken into account), and that I will have to get another appraisal (about $400) to get rid of it. However, I have read that the lender is required to automatically cancel PMI when I have paid it down to 78% of the value of the loan. I will be able to do this easily once I get my $8000 tax credit. Will I still have to pay for an appraisal at this point, or will I only have to pay for the PMI premiums for the months between closing and me getting my tax credit?
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Sep 13, 2009 04:01
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Inferior Third Season posted:Will I still have to pay for an appraisal at this point, or will I only have to pay for the PMI premiums for the months between closing and me getting my tax credit? You should only need one appraisal and that's when you're getting the mortgage. Even if your house appraised for half the price two months later, 20% of your loan is still the same.
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Sep 13, 2009 05:42
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geetee posted:You should only need one appraisal and that's when you're getting the mortgage. Even if your house appraised for half the price two months later, 20% of your loan is still the same. Most lenders don't require a second appraisal to drop PMI at 80% original LTV, but they are allowed to make you get one to ensure the house has not dropped in value.
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Sep 14, 2009 13:47
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SlapActionJackson posted:Most lenders don't require a second appraisal to drop PMI at 80% original LTV, but they are allowed to make you get one to ensure the house has not dropped in value. God drat, I'd like to say I'm surprised, but I'm really not after having closed in the past few months. I really pity people going through the process 
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Sep 14, 2009 17:06
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I love the fact that if I would have bought my house for $80k with less than 20% down, and it appraised at $35M, I would still have to pay PMI until I got to 20% equity on the original loan terms. This is probably just a clarification to what everyone has said, but my mortgage company says when I get to 20% call and request PMI to be canceled. They automatically cancel it when it gets to what they determined 22% is, but you can do it as early as 20% and (of course depending on the lender) you shouldn't have to jump through any hoops to get it stopped. Also - Inferior, I wouldn't take a loan from your 401k, especially if you're not going to avoid PMI in the process. If you were to leave the company you're at that loan would be due in full at that point, from what I understand. And get going dude, you don't have much time to find a house and close before Nov 30th. Do you have any idea how busy realtors are going to be in Nov? Seriously, you need to find a house like in the next few weeks. We closed two months ago any the realtors were already super busy.
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Sep 15, 2009 18:34
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Just got the $8k check from the IRS. I feel bad for people who buy now, they will probably have to wait even longer than we did because of the backlog. Don't count on that money to come right away, guys, make sure you have some extra savings. It will take more than 6 months to get any government moneys and you will need to spend $3000 on the dentist in the meantime and then who knows what else.
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Sep 16, 2009 05:35
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Ever feel like everything that can go wrong has gone wrong with buying a house has gone wrong? We actually had to PROVE the previous owner was dead because there was no public record. And now that we've done that, our credit check is running out on the 29th when closing is October 2nd. The owner's children asked to have closing that far away so they could find a new place to live, but we'd either have to let them live there for 3 days for free (which makes us liable for ANYTHING that happens to them there) or start the whole process over with two days before closing. This is the fourth house we've tried to buy and we got this far with it (including already paying the banks). This is now the second bank we've gone through since the first decided a house down the street with .1 acres that happened to have two bathrooms was better than this one with half an acre and only one bathroom but it's just us living there so who gives a drat if there's only one loving bathroom. Oh, and the mortgage company we went through lost all our financial and personal information for a day (luckily they found it just before we called our lawyer). And this isn't even going into the crap with the last few houses (first one, seller lost his job the day we put our offer in - whoops there goes the house, second one was apparently over a sink-hole, third one the owners refused to hook it up to the sewer or get title 5 and would not sell it legally...) We're extremely lucky to have a lawyer in the family who specializes in real-estate laws or else we wouldn't have gotten this far. But honestly, lovely things keep happening. If they would only move the closing date THREE DAYS EARLIER we'd all be fine. Just loving fine. We're so stressed out from all this poo poo that we're getting physically sick.
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Sep 16, 2009 11:08
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moana posted:Just got the $8k check from the IRS.
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Sep 16, 2009 14:18
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Abbeh posted:Ever feel like everything that can go wrong has gone wrong with buying a house has gone wrong? Sorry to hear about all your troubles. That's a lot to go through! My wife and I have been looking for a year now, and have had maybe 5 houses we've been interested in. With each one we've made it one step closer. So the first one had an accepted offer the day of the open house, the next one had an accepted offer after we called to place one, the next we lost to a bidding war, the next fell through after inspection, and we're now on the 5th which will hopefully be the last, because we sure do love it. Our 10 day inspection contingency expires in two days and we're rushing to get everything done by Friday. I don't know how people manage to do this in the standard 7 days. Our only worry with this house was mold in the attic, which sounds like it could be either a minor cleanup or a $45,000 roof replacement. moana posted:Just got the $8k check from the IRS. I feel bad for people who buy now, they will probably have to wait even longer than we did because of the backlog. Don't count on that money to come right away, guys, make sure you have some extra savings. It will take more than 6 months to get any government moneys and you will need to spend $3000 on the dentist in the meantime and then who knows what else. I'm curious, did anyone here file an extension and do their $8k that way instead of an amendment? I knew it was likely I'd be buying a house this year so I just filed an extension on my federal taxes. I wonder if that will make the rebate check any sooner (or later) than if I had done an amendment.
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Sep 16, 2009 14:34
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Abbeh posted:The owner's children asked to have closing that far away so they could find a new place to live, but we'd either have to let them live there for 3 days for free (which makes us liable for ANYTHING that happens to them there) or start the whole process over with two days before closing. Mine stayed a week, with an occupancy agreement we signed at closing that they are responsible for new damage, liability, etc. etc. for the agreed period. I am sure something could go wrong, but if its seriously make or break on the house just have your lawyer write up an amendment you are happy with and tell them to sign it and enjoy their 3 day free rental. Strict 9 posted:I'm curious, did anyone here file an extension and do their $8k that way instead of an amendment? I knew it was likely I'd be buying a house this year so I just filed an extension on my federal taxes. I wonder if that will make the rebate check any sooner (or later) than if I had done an amendment. Yes I filed an extension and when it did file I got my return in the 7-10 days they said it would take, $6,500 return. This was May.
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Sep 16, 2009 14:34
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geetee posted:When did you file your amendment? My state came in last week, but my federal is lagging behind.
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Sep 16, 2009 16:05
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moana posted:June. Altogether not too bad, but I still wouldn't have wanted to count on the money being there anytime soon. I wish we had been able to do an extension but we weren't sure we were going to buy so soon. Ouch, sounds like I'll be waiting another month for mine... I'm doing lots of renovations, so having that money now would relieve a lot of stress. I could survive without it, but seeing the bank account numbers constantly dropping is painful.
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Sep 16, 2009 17:39
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moana posted:June. Altogether not too bad, but I still wouldn't have wanted to count on the money being there anytime soon. I wish we had been able to do an extension but we weren't sure we were going to buy so soon. Sheesh - I just filed mine last month - thinking at this rate, I should have just waited until next year's taxes...
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Sep 16, 2009 19:26
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Arzakon posted:Mine stayed a week, with an occupancy agreement we signed at closing that they are responsible for new damage, liability, etc. etc. for the agreed period. I am sure something could go wrong, but if its seriously make or break on the house just have your lawyer write up an amendment you are happy with and tell them to sign it and enjoy their 3 day free rental. It actually worked out just now - they're going to move out three days early which is awesome for us. We gave them a month and a half (since the agreement) so hopefully they've found their own place by now. This means our roommate will have more time for her soon-to-be roommates to move in, which is awesome for her. Finally things are working out! Strict 9 posted:Our 10 day inspection contingency expires in two days and we're rushing to get everything done by Friday. I don't know how people manage to do this in the standard 7 days. Our only worry with this house was mold in the attic, which sounds like it could be either a minor cleanup or a $45,000 roof replacement. drat that sucks if it ends up costing that much. Though if it does, would you be able to work that into the agreement and make the house price a bit lower?
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Sep 16, 2009 23:10
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geetee posted:Ouch, sounds like I'll be waiting another month for mine... I'm doing lots of renovations, so having that money now would relieve a lot of stress. I could survive without it, but seeing the bank account numbers constantly dropping is painful. Yeah, I closed June 30 so I assume I'll be waiting about another month. Jeez.
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Sep 17, 2009 03:59
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Abbeh posted:drat that sucks if it ends up costing that much. Though if it does, would you be able to work that into the agreement and make the house price a bit lower? Well, the $45,000 number was from a family friend who had that happen two months ago. The mold was so bad it ate through the rafters and the whole attic had to be replaced. But yeah, if it was just a few thousand dollar issue I'd hope we could work something out with the seller. Good news is we had an attic ventilation guy go out there yesterday, because our house inspector said the attic lacked enough ventilation which was causing mold. But the ventilation guy said it was fine and that he didn't even see mold. I suppose the inspection companies just have to be really paranoid about any possible issues to avoid being sued, but I do feel bad having all these guys go out there for a non-issue. Of course, better do that then find out about a massive problem months later.
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Sep 17, 2009 14:11
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Mister Fister posted:There's no guarantee that housing in CA won't stay down for an extended period of time, just look at Michigan. I'm sorry but this comment is rather hilarious. Comparing an area that is so low that it can only go up to California which is one of the most economically broken states in our union, is comical.
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Sep 18, 2009 01:34
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Buckwheat Sings posted:Comparing an area that is so low that it can only go up
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Sep 18, 2009 02:23
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Strict 9 posted:Our 10 day inspection contingency expires in two days and we're rushing to get everything done by Friday. I don't know how people manage to do this in the standard 7 days. The "standard" must be different from state to state. In Illinois we have a 5 day inspection period, and it was a lot of rushing to get the inspection done, the place de-winterized, etc... Do you get a longer inspection period if it's not bank owned? I wonder if that's the case since I'm buying a foreclosure.
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Sep 18, 2009 02:41
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Dik Hz posted:They aren't making any more real estate! You can buy a house there for 50 bucks 
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Sep 18, 2009 02:50
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Buckwheat Sings posted:You can buy a house there for 50 bucks There's places (Detroit is one as I recall) where you can literally buy a house for free. And then pay a bunch of money in back taxes. And even more to make the house livable since the prior occupant probably did stuff like rip out all the easily accessible copper. Are you not familiar with the concept of ghost towns?
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Sep 18, 2009 04:33
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What's the best way to deal with homes that have mold? I've searched around a bit, but haven't found any satisfactory answers/opinions, so I figured I'd check here. Do you run at the sight of a little mold in the basement? Or is mold okay as long as you have the budget and there's no structural damage? And what could mold damage cost to repair if it were in fact worth repairing? I'm looking for a home to live in, and in my price range most are foreclosures. Occasionally we find one with with mold in a humid basement or mold that may be the result of a non-functioning sump pump (many banks don't leave the power on). I haven't given these properties much thought so far, usually for other reasons, but should I give them a chance?
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Sep 18, 2009 05:49
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Lyesh posted:There's places (Detroit is one as I recall) where you can literally buy a house for free. And then pay a bunch of money in back taxes. And even more to make the house livable since the prior occupant probably did stuff like rip out all the easily accessible copper. My point is that it's stupid of him to use 'ghost towns' as an example of how California is going to go up in the market because there's not much lower you can get than 'free'. Sorry if I seem heated but it's a bit tiresome seeing complete shithole homes for sale at 700,000 in California even after what's all happened.
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Sep 18, 2009 06:43
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Buckwheat Sings posted:My point is that it's stupid of him to use 'ghost towns' as an example of how California is going to go up in the market because there's not much lower you can get than 'free'. Sorry if I seem heated but it's a bit tiresome seeing complete shithole homes for sale at 700,000 in California even after what's all happened. Oh right, I misread your post. Oops.
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Sep 18, 2009 07:30
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Cmdr. Shepard posted:The "standard" must be different from state to state. In Illinois we have a 5 day inspection period, and it was a lot of rushing to get the inspection done, the place de-winterized, etc... Do you get a longer inspection period if it's not bank owned? I wonder if that's the case since I'm buying a foreclosure. Oh man, I can't imagine what it would have been like having just 5 days. Our property is not bank owned so maybe that's why there was more flexibility. I think we could have put whatever we wanted, but obviously the offer is going to look less attractive if you put down 20 days for an inspection. Obvious Paranoia posted:What's the best way to deal with homes that have mold? I've searched around a bit, but haven't found any satisfactory answers/opinions, so I figured I'd check here. We are finalizing a deal on a house today that has mold in the attic. It was tough to find information on. The biggest problems with mold seem to be if it's toxic mold which can affect your health, or mold that can eat away at your structure. So it really has to be taken on a case-by-case basis. From what I read, mold removal costs tend to average $600-$5000. Of course, that's assuming the mold hasn't gone into the structure. I heard a horror story where mold ate away at a roof and the entire attic and roof had to be replaced for $45,000. We just heard back from our mold inspector who said there was mold on about half the panels in the attic of the house we are buying, and it would cost $3000 to remove. However he said the removal would be from a pure equity standpoint, meaning when we went to sell the house and someone found mold, it would lower the value of the house. He said that the mold would have no effect on our health, and did not damage the structure. You can pay for mold air quality tests too, but I think that's more if you have suspected mold hidden somewhere in your house.
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Sep 18, 2009 14:05
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Obvious Paranoia posted:What's the best way to deal with homes that have mold? I've searched around a bit, but haven't found any satisfactory answers/opinions, so I figured I'd check here. We had a mild case of mold in the basement of our new house, but it was totally my fault. We had a really damp june and july and I foolishly left the basement windows open for ventilation and had no dehumidifier. I noticed we were getting a lot of insects in the basement, ants, beetles, etc and that the couch was damp in the rec room. Eventually I realised that the couch was moldy as heck, and the carpet was showing some mold spots as well. It has only been resolved for about a month now so I hope nothing spreads but, here is what I did. Ripped up the carpet in the bedroom and office, and the cushion floor in the tv room. There was mold along the baseboard behind the couch in the tv room, and a small amount under the carpets in the office. I sprayed all the effected areas (bare concrete)with a 50/50 javex/water solution liberally and let dry, then sprayed again. After the basement dried out (4 days with dehumidifier on full) I did a final cleaning and layed some laminate floor in those three rooms and threw the couch out. Total cost was around $1200 or so for the laminate and supplies. A month later the basement smells a lot better and now that it's autumn the dehumidifier rarely turns on even though I have it set to very dry. I still have one more room in the basement that was mold free that I will be redoing the floors in but I just can't seem to build up steam to do it yet.
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Sep 18, 2009 15:44
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It's important to realize that what is commonly called "dry rot" is a kind of mold/mold damage, and will appear as such in inspection reports. That doesn't mean all mold is dry rot, but; wood damaged by dry rot needs to be replaced. In particular, dry rot that affects structural members must be replaced, and it's a good idea to deal with it wherever else it is as well. It can be prevented with properly sealed and painted wood, and avoiding contact between wood and dirt. There are millions of other kinds of mold too of course. Some you can basically just scrape off and paint over, other kinds you treat with something and then paint, other kinds you have to replace the wood, and other kinds are toxic and have to be treated professionally.
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Sep 18, 2009 21:36
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Leperflesh posted:There are millions of other kinds of mold too of course. Some you can basically just scrape off and paint over, other kinds you treat with something and then paint, other kinds you have to replace the wood, and other kinds are toxic and have to be treated professionally. Yeah, that's the frustrating thing. I'm tempted to save the $3000 this guy quoted and just try to do it ourselves. If we look up how to treat it ourselves, and it doesn't look to be coming back, does that mean it worked? As I mentioned earlier the mold guy told us there isn't any problem for our health or the structure of the attic.
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Sep 19, 2009 13:23
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In all honesty I do not know. You need to consult with an expert.
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Sep 19, 2009 21:08
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You can kill mold with a sprayer bottle full of bleach, but you also need to address the source of moisture it's feeding from, or it will just come back. I'm pretty skeptical of this toxic mold boogey man - certainly toxic molds exist, but I think most of this "toxic mold" FUD from contractors is meant to scare suburban housewives and fleece insurance companies for remediation work.
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Sep 20, 2009 02:44
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I looked at a home Friday on a lake lot and noticed a bunch of duck poo poo and feathers in the side yard. I'm curious if anyone has had first hand success using repellent sprays (concord grape) or decoys (coyote or owl) to control ducks and geese on a lake lot?
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Sep 20, 2009 17:42
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IndyPunkOne posted:I looked at a home Friday on a lake lot and noticed a bunch of duck poo poo and feathers in the side yard. I'm curious if anyone has had first hand success using repellent sprays (concord grape) or decoys (coyote or owl) to control ducks and geese on a lake lot? The back of my parents house was always overrun with geese until this year. They bought two coyote decoy cutouts and they worked like a charm. A little pricey and ugly, but it's so worth not stepping in poo poo constantly. I feel the need to upload a picture of baby geese and this fox that would hunt them last year:  
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Sep 20, 2009 20:09
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I looked at a bunch of houses in the past few days, and have narrowed it down to two. They are about the same as far as asking price. The first one is your standard ranch style, with just a main floor, and a basement. The second, and the one I like slightly more, is a quad level. It is still quite spacious, and I like the layout. However, I hear that quad levels are not so good from a resell perspective. Is this true in general? Do a lot of buyers filter out quad levels in the listings they'd even view? All else being equal, I'd go for the quad level, but if I'm going to have trouble unloading it later, I would go for the ranch.
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Sep 21, 2009 06:46
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Inferior Third Season posted:I looked at a bunch of houses in the past few days, and have narrowed it down to two. They are about the same as far as asking price. The first one is your standard ranch style, with just a main floor, and a basement. The second, and the one I like slightly more, is a quad level. It is still quite spacious, and I like the layout. However, I hear that quad levels are not so good from a resell perspective. Is this true in general? Do a lot of buyers filter out quad levels in the listings they'd even view? All else being equal, I'd go for the quad level, but if I'm going to have trouble unloading it later, I would go for the ranch. My thinking is always buy what you'll enjoy. The seller found you and you'll find a seller one day. Hopefully selling won't even be a concern of yours for many years to come anyway. Saying that, whereabouts is this property? I would imagine a place like Florida would value a ranch style house for its lack of old person knee crushing staircases.
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Sep 21, 2009 15:49
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geetee posted:My thinking is always buy what you'll enjoy. The seller found you and you'll find a seller one day. Hopefully selling won't even be a concern of yours for many years to come anyway. Old people and couples with younger children. It is something you do have to take into consideration. Is the quad level attached to other units? If so you have to look into HOA/repair monthly fees and how much that is adding to your monthly payment over the free standing home.
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Sep 21, 2009 16:08
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It is tremendously frustrating wasting a weekend viewing houses that, it turns out, are already pending, but the seller's agent hasn't bothered to update MLS, and doesn't answer phone calls. Narrowed down three houses this weekend that we liked, and picked one that we were basically ready to bid on. Our agent called repeatedly, but nothing till 2 AM last night (?!) saying that they were only waiting on bank approval. Meaning they'd accepted a bid on the 1st and had left the loving listing up for three weeks, hadn't taken down the sign, hadn't taken away the realtor's keybox on the house... uuugh. We've seen a number of houses that it then turns out aren't actually for sale anymore. The banks' agents are the worst, I guess they've got like 40 properties each, so they're all too lazy to update listings or answer phone calls or e-mails or do anything at all that might be of mild inconvenience to themselves. They must be losing tens of thousands of dollars on every property they sell, by being so frustrating to deal with... missing out on a lot of bids they could be getting that way. But we will persevere. Waste one weekend after another until somehow, magically, we'll manage to like a house that is actually for sale, and then be allowed to bid on it (and get outbid).
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Sep 21, 2009 19:53
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