You are going to have to "overpay" a bit. Perhaps loosen up on whatever inspection contingencies and appraisal contingency you may have...
When I got my primary residence 2 years ago (duplex) there were 8 offers on it in Southern cal! I wrote a hand written letter saying I'm a hard working young professional, a RN who will work in this community and make improvements to the property. That this place won't be just some investment in property for me, it will be where I plan to live and take care of as my own for a while. Talk about family and so on and so forth. There were offers more than mine, and cash offers, but met previous owner in person and he decided he wanted me to have it (even though I was FHA) loan and a hassle). Some food for thought next time your in a bidding war and don't have the deepest pockets like myself
Once again, seattle leads the nation in property value increase. Been looking to purchase for a while now but it seems like everyone is offering way more than asking, some are even doing straight cash. Transplants and the Chinese are f'ing things up for us natives
Just picked this one up on Friday. Seller bought it last year and wanted to flip it. He’s been working on it for 6 months and basically ran out of money. We came in and made him an offer and he accepted it. It’s already 80% done...seller demo’d EVERYTHING, did a new roof, new exterior and interior paint, new electrical, new HVAC and i just have to finish it. Probably cost me like $25-30k and 2-3 weeks to finish. Not too shabby...
Majority are off market nowadays. Been doing this for 3 years so the people I’ve met along the way will hit me up when something comes up so i get first dibs. I still look on the MLS but the bidding wars are ridiculous. I don’t know how some of these other investors but i like to keep my margins profitable. Just recently, this guy who reached out to me a couple years ago on biggerpockets wanted to learn about flipping. Met up with him and taught him a couple things and all of a sudden, didn’t hear anything from him. Fast forward to last week, he hits me up saying he wants to restart getting into wholesaling/flipping and he would spend his own time and money for marketing, etc... I told him cool but didn't think anything of it because I’ve met quite a bit of people wanting to learn and after a couple meetings, they quit. Lol. Some people are just not built for this. They expect me to hand them the secret sauce right off the bat and I’m totally up front with them. I tell them this is gonna be hard but the payoff is so worth it. So i try not to waste my time and put stock in some of these people. But the dude who reached out to me again, sent out mailers and was getting calls. He hits me up and set up meetings with these sellers and he was able to get me 1 property already and working on a 2nd. So he’s gonna get paid a good chunk from just 1 letter which cost him like $1. Crazy! Anyways, if this guy wants to continue hustling and wanting to learn, I’m all for it. I’m super happy for him cuz he has a family and wants to ditch his 9 to 5. I always like seeing people succeed as long as they put in the work. Sorry for my long story.
Yea me and my girl would love to move to Seattle but that dream was quickly ended when we saw the price of homes. Even outside the city its crazy. Charlotte, NC is kinda the place id want to move now but i know its highly unlikely I make it there before retirement
sheesh, cant help but smh and laugh a bit when i see these post of people saying they got homes to pick from 100K, 120K, 130K, even 200K. you know what those kind of numbers are in the bay area? a downpayment for a crappy place in a crappy part of town. haha
@pdino man, I was able to chop it up with the sellers for a couple hours days before the open house, met his family and he met mine ... threw all that out there, work for the county and this is gonna be the house where we grow old in etc, but can’t compete with dudes w bigger pockets. Looks like we’ll have to bump up our budget by a bit to even consider staying in our area. Our lease is up in June, so lets see.
Damn, yeah it's very difficult for buyers in certain areas around here too for fixer uppers. Owner occupants have to overpay pretty significantly if they want to beat out the investors. Sometimes it does make sense though, depending on the numbers and how much you really want to be there. A lot of investors that I work with use the post-rehab ARV x .75 and then subtract the rehab cost to determine their purchase price of the fixer upper. So going by that rule of thumb, you would have to come in at a number that is high enough in which they would be worried that it won't be profitable. Obviously as an owner occupant, you'd like to have some equity to once your done fixing it up, but depending on how long you plan on living there, it's something you may just need to suck up. The seller could very well still go with the cash offer because cash is king, but it could make the decision more difficult for them.
Don't worry I appreciate it. Always like hearing stories like that. Very happy to see your (and others) successes in here.
I hear ya man, took me several different offers and about 8 months of looking to get my place. There will surely be another place you like
Update The house I wanted ended up selling for higher than listing price So the search continues Currently my loan is at 4% with a high pay out of 1100. through chase I feel like I could get a better deal through another place Is quickenloans any better?
Hey guys, i had another quick question for all you experienced home buyers. So I'm close to closing, however there is an open permit that the current sellers are trying to close. The sellers wants us to proceed to close, and they will also hold a certain amount of money in escrow (over 10K) until the permit is closed. Do you guys think this would be a good idea?
To be clear: If they dont close the permit the 10k goes back to you? I would talk with a lawyer and get a strict deadline without any crazy contingencies. Would their permit being open delay your rehab?
if permit isn't closed, their 10K is still held in escrow until they close it out. And this is a 2 family home that doesn't need any repairs. it is move in ready.
Open permits can be a butch. City hounded me on an old permit from the previous owner. Threatened jail time for not complying. Had to go to a hearing where they sided with me after reviewing the facts but make sure you’re covered before you take title
lost my first home bid. house hunting cherry popped. excited to find my first home and actually make it through that process
To be honest I'm not even sure The points column says -0.375% Payment with Taxes, Insurance and Mortage Insurance is actually 1015.86
A week into the project and we’ve painted the interior, added a wall to make it into a 3 Bedroom, laid the floors down, and finishing up the kitchen.
Its my first house and im new to all this so im just salty it probably happens all the time.... But we had a 59 day closing and the original worksheet we got had an interest rate of 3.75. Now that were within 30 days and can lock my rate its up to 4.25. Thanks Trump (not srs)
Rates are really volatile. Just had some lenders at our team meeting yesterday and they said we'll probably be around 4.5 mid-year and then 5 by the end of the year. If any of you guys are on the fence about buying, you should be doing it now, or else you're going to end up paying more money for the same house.
yeah i was able to lock my rate at 4.375. Back in December, i had a rate of 4.0 and last May, it was at 3.75.