Extreme Supershopping - Condos / Houses

[englandmj7]

I know there is a very large portion of SFers who are well under the age to even consider real estate, but I know there must also be plenty of people who have already bought a house/condo or are considering doing so in the near future.

Really interested to hear from any SFers with experiences in major metropolitan areas in the US, but I'd love to know some prices/experiences of folks abroad as well (always eager to learn).

I'm doing quite a bit of research for LA housing at the moment myself. Going to be alot of foreclosures/opportunities in the next couple of years.

Speaking of LA housing, on a side note, these lofts are fucking dope..........

http://theloftsathollywoodandvine.com/floorplans.html

[triniboy27]

What do you want to know? I bought a condo about a year and a half ago....

It's an older place but here in TO, that translates into more space.

PM if you have any questions if you think I can help....

PS: And yes, one can definitely take advantage of the subprime meltdown right now....

[englandmj7]

What do you want to know? I bought a condo about a year and a half ago....

It's an older place but here in TO, that translates into more space.

PM if you have any questions if you think I can help....

PS: And yes, one can definitely take advantage of the subprime meltdown right now....

Nothing specific. Just a little about your experience with it: getting the loan, was it a fixer upper, your choice between condo vs. house, whatever you want to share.

[triniboy27]

Sure.

Getting the mortgage was a bit easier for me because I work for a financial group that includes a pretty big retail bank so I got an employee rate.

My place is definitely a fixer-upper in that it's about 20 years old and so, was not as modern as some of the newer condos being built today.

Since buying it, I've done some minor renos such as repainting, replaced all the carpeting w/ hardwood floors, and knocked down part of a wall. My next steps are to renovate the kitchen and bathroom.

There's definitely a trade off between buying new (or pre-construction) vs. older. In my case, I loved the location and was willing to put the effort (and $$$) into the renos. I also got a pretty good deal on the place because it was a private sale, i.e. no brokers.

As for condo vs. house, that'll all depend on the city. Here in TO, if you want to live downtown, condo is the way to go. If you want a house, you need to move to the burbs.

[mike lowrey]

something I've learned is that you need carefully list all the stuff you want in the place you're getting and also what youre willing to give in on, especially when you're buying. when I first moved to my own apartment I wasn't wise enough to pay attention to details and had some issues, thanks to thins though I did a better job when buying our current apartment.

our current place was renovated, or actually the whole building was rebuilt inside, just a year before we moved here so it was practically brand new. this was a huge benefit because it meant things like insulation etc were done very well and weren't out dated. if you're doing heavy renovation, my suggestion would be to not hurry up too much with moving there. I know several people that have renovated houses or apartments and in most cases, the people are standing in an unfinished building with their stuff cause their old lease ended.

what goes for mortgage etc, its probably different in many ways over here so can't tell you much.

[retrored]

I own a place in Diamond Bar, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles. 3 bedrooms, with 2.5 bath; total square footage is about 1400 sgq feet.

The condo was purchased in 2004 for 338k. My mom kicked in 100k and I had about 25k lying around.

Since my mother and I both had 700+ credit we did the stated income and got 5.65%. The mortgage, HOA, and ammoritzation of the annual taxes they bill comes to about 2k a month.

I work in Culver City and wish I lived closer to LA, but purcashing anything in the area is not feasible. Plus, by living out this way I get to have a lot of toys.

My friend just got a loft on Grand in the heart of downtown LA. Family is wealthy, and he may not have shopped around, but he picked up a 1400 sq loft for 600k. Strikes me as a lot of money, but it's pretty nice.

His place was renovated a few years back and comes with a super dope kitchen. The place is great because he is single; the walls are paper thin.

Fixing the place up can be fun depending on the project. My condo is about 20 years old, and I repainted and refinished the kitchen cabinets. Took about 3 weekends and $200, but it made a huge difference. I'll probably put in laminate floors eventually. This is also super easy. While in college I worked at Home Depot and got to learn about all the in's and outs, feel free to ask questions.

BTW my father was a plumber, so I've been inclined to try and fix things on my own.

Where were you thinking of buying? I believe you can expect a 10% slump before the end of the year, but good rates are harder to obtain.

Best of luck.

[englandmj7]

Thanks for the responses gents.

Retrored -

That's excellent info., thanks man. I'm sort of skimming the surface at the moment and will be more actively considering something next year. I am pretty much looking for a place for the next 3-4 years as I don't plan on living in LA after that unless I have to (job commitments, etc.). In the long run, the place would be used more so for rental income. Looking at around 600 or so and in west LA, but downtown seems interesting as well. The LA condo market always feels a bit risky as an investment though; seems alot of the 'good' deals like the downtown condos are becoming harder to find, and I'm not sure downtown will ever be what everyone's hoping it will (entirely gentrified, safe, etc.).......

On a side note. How long does it take you to get into Culver City? 35 miles seems like nothing to 99% of the US, but to us LA folks it's often the equivalent of 110 miles.

[Cue]

Draw up a list of must haves and stick to it. This is really important. Do you have hobbies that need space? A car that needs to be garaged? Really think long and hard about this.

If you don't it's tempting to let emotions take over, and buy something because it looks rad ...

Then draw up a list of nice to haves and refer to that.

Work out how much spare time you have and be honest with yourself about your DIY abilities.

Almost every house will need some DIY work - and once you start the list of jobs seems to just get longer and longer.

If you work long hours you run the risk of living in a sub-standard home for ages (unless you can afford to get experts in).

Um, will try and think of other things as well...

[retrored]

I work for an internet start up and can get in anywhere between 6am to 11pm. I find myself strolling between 10 and 10:30, which makes the drive anywhere between 40 minutes to an hour. Just really depends on whether some dumb ass mexican ties down the mattress on his beat Datsun truck; actually this applies to all sorts of things that fall out of their trucks and retards traffic.

You should check the lofts in downtown LA. I crashed with my friend a few nights, and downtown LA is actually a stone's throw from a lot of stuff. The vibe is definitely lacking at night, with all the homeless and what not, but it is said to improve.

However, anything less then 5 years in downtown is a bad idea. Many cannot overlook the number of bums and I reselling may pose a problem.

The Westside is obviously really good if you can swing it. I have been thinking about moving around the Marina, but that means no motorcycle, and bi-annual splurges on swiss watches.

[renski]

i have also been looking into purchasing property. although i wish i can afford a house, im looking into purchasing a condo in the next 3-5 years. there have been a lot off foreclosures and the prices for condos are dropping but i cant decide if im committed enough to make such a big decision.

i heard for a first purchase its better to buy in a decent area and fix the place up. might take a while but once the value goes up you can either sell it or rent it out.

[entrust]

i live in portland, Oregon which is a pretty good place to buy real estate, lots of people wanna live here and there is a good bit of money here so it keeps property values high. real estate here is expensive compared to like 80% of the country but pretty affordable compared to california and some east coast spots.

im 25 and im on my second house, i got my first house 4 years ago for $175k it was a brand new house in a new development, somewhat of a cookie cutter house about 25 mins outside the city. it was all i could afford at the time and it was hard to make it work, but i did and i sold it after 2 years for $240k, so i made $65k in 2 years, so it was deffinitely worth it.

then it was time to get something bigger and closer into town, so i found a house that i feel in love with and of course it was $50k more than i wanted to spend but you know how it goes so the house i bought was brand new and had a 1000sq ft unfinished daylight basement. i paid $399K for the house and have finished the basement and about to do some more stuff to it and right now the house is worth over $600k and i plan to hang on to it for another year or so till its worth close to $700k the house is in portland and less than 10 mins to downtown.

basically my point is as long as you are in a desirable area you cant go wrong with real estate, buying these houses have allowed me to make money and pay for things that i could never do if i was renting.

[kitano]

I invest in real estate pretty much full time. I do rehabs out here (San Diego) and pretty soon, I'm forming an LLC with friends to purchase apartments.

What I would do is write down a list of goals. Your must haves, etc.

Take a look at yourself financially. Income vs. expenses.

Condo/Home

Single? Looking to be married in a few years?

Anywhere but NY, forget about 1 bedroom places. Hell of a time to try to sell those in the future.

Maybe a duplex would work for you? Live in one and rent the other.

If you do buy a place, make sure you get your own inspector to do the inspection. also, if you get a 1 year warranty on the place, make sure you do it again around month 10. It only costs you a few hundred bucks, but it may save you thousands in repairs.

Hope this helps.