All Forum Posts by: Gaurav S.

Sorry if I wasn't very clear. On auction.com this property is listed as trustee sale. It also states that the only way to bid on it is to go to the courthouse where someone will verify my cashiers check and I will then get a chance to bid on it. Also my realtor got the title searched by a title search company only.

If the total bids are less than the amount owed to the bank it could go to the bank.

Currently the starting bid is set to the total amount of debt the bank is owed(= 360k). Since the recent comps on the same block have recently sold for around 600k I am wondering why the owner just didnt sell the home outright and pay the bank instead of going through foreclosure.

There has to be something wrong here. It doesn't add up. But the title search came out clean.

Yes there is someone living inside it. The property looks in ok shape from outside. Will definitely need some work but can't really tell until seen from inside.

I will try offering cash to the owner to let me see the insides.

I found this property on Auction.com which has a stated starting bid of $367k. The unpaid balance on the loan to the lender is the same 367k. But the going price for a SFH in this neighborhood is around $600k.Since this is a trustee sale I will have to go to courthouse with cashiers check.

I asked my realtor to do a title search and it came out clean with no second mortgage,no lis pendens,no tax liens,no hoa liens.The loan holder is Bank of America.

The realtor said that its illegal for the bank to ask for more that what is owed and any bid higher than 367k would go to seller.

My question is,
1) is this worth pursuing ? I am first time homebuyer with no prior experience. I don't have that amount in cash but I can borrow to just make it there. Is it worth the hassle ?
2) How do I see the property ? What tactics do you use to judge the condition of property without seeing insides of it ? Can I go to the owner and offer him some money to let me see the property ?
3) Do I have to pay all cash on the same day or do I get sometime to pay cash if I win the bid ? Do I have to carry cashiers check for the full amount I am willing to bid to the court house ?

Thanks.

@Michael Lauther : I am the sole earner in the family. Hence, I am motivated to buy something that does not loose money over time. Also, if I loose my job we won't have a fallback income to support payments.

@Brian Hoyt: Yes, buying a home is definitely more than just a investment. But as Jon said there is a price for everything. At one price its worth it and at another its not.

@Michelle Marty: At present I live only 1 mile away and come home for lunch. In my opinion buying 1 hour away to buy a home for 150k less is not a good tradeoff.If it was 50% less than it would make more sense. There is a bus from Ventura to Santa Barbara which is why I am looking at Ventura in the first place.My guess is that Santa Barbara will have a higher appreciation in the long term than Ventura but I could be wrong.

@ Zachary Dosch: I prefer going South of Santa Barbara vs North since I would be closer to the city life, can go to LA in half an hour and closer to the shopping malls. North of SB is very nice and peaceful but not a life style I want when I am young.

Can someone give me some tips from your experience of buying a fixer upper. I wouldn't call myself a handy man but being an engineer I feel I have the patience needed to understand and fix things.

Specifically,

1) What characteristics do you look for in a fixer home ?
2) How do I estimate the cost of fixing a home ?
3) What strategy do you follow to buy these kinds of home if they are listed at a similar price to good condition homes in the neighborhood ?

Maybe I should find an agent who has experience in fixing and flipping homes.This way I will get a reliable initial estimate of the cost.

Thanks

Someone in the forum suggested hiring a agent whose company lists most of the REO`s in the town. I found such an agent but I found him to be almost trying to market/sell the home to me. It seemed like he was more interested in off loading these run down properties(it needed 100k work of work by his own estimate) than to find a good deal for me. But atleast he showed me homes that were not available on MLS yet.

The other agents I have talked to tell me that all homes come on MLS and there is no other way of buying properties.

Yes, I do think that buying a duplex is the best bet. Only problem is,based on banks pre-qualification, I can afford to buy a duplex worth 700k. But in that price range I am finding duplexes in a bad school districts. In good school neighborhoods the cost is much higher.

To follow Jon`s advice I used deluxe version of MichaelBluejay`s Rent vs Buy which is the most comprehensive calculator I have found.

http://michaelbluejay.com/house/rentvsbuy.html

To do an apples to apples comparison I ran two scenarios.

#1 Renting a 3 bed/ 2 bath home vs buying one in the same school district. Assuming a 30 year fixed at 4.25%

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/XD_3I0rcw7nsczIljCuy5NMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

#2 Renting a 2 bed/ 1 bath condo vs buying one in the same school district
Assuming a 30 year fixed at 4.25%

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/T04ejznvVXEyPsr8a5Yle9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

#1 Renting a 3 bed/ 2 bath home vs buying one in the same school district. Assuming a 15 year fixed at 3.3%

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8YII3BJMlN-YhAesXG0QFtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

#2 Renting a 2 bed/ 1 bath condo vs buying one in the same school district
Assuming a 15 year fixed at 3.55%

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LzOr_gGHU97cfqHFlkHhk9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink

Seems like even with a [/b]0% appreciation I would be better off buying a 500k single family home than renting one. This is true for both 15 year and 30 year fixed interest rate. This comes as a surprise to me but I guess I was always comparing my current apartment rent(1bd/1ba) with cost of owning a SFH.

In reality cost of renting is going to be somewhere in the middle. If I was going to rent for next 30 years I would have most likely rented a condo for 5-6 years and then a single family as family got bigger.

So now knowing the numbers what would you do ?

I have been waiting on the sidelines to buy a home since 2006. I live in Santa Barbara and after 5 years of renting a one bedroom apartment frankly my patience is running out. We are planning to have a kid and need to move into a bigger place. I am paying 1500$/month right now and would be paying over 1800$ to rent a decent two bedroom.

Median price of a home in Santa Barbara is 550k.

So here are our options

1) Pay around 430k to buy a SFH(3bed) in a very poor condition but in a good school district in Santa Barbara.This home will probably need another 50k over time to make it a home.

2) Move to Ventura(40 miles away) and pay around 330k for a decent home (3 bed). Commuting would be 1 hour one way.

3) Buy a condo for around 300-320k and pay 400$ HOA :(. I am totally against condo's based on what I have heard on biggerpockets.

4) Keep renting

5) Move away by changing jobs. I have a very stable job,like the town and people and earn more than I would earn elsewhere for a similar position.

Someone who has lived/worked in an expensive neighborhood please let me know what you did in this situation.

For now I feel even though the price appreciates you don't get enough for your money when you buy a house in SB. Here the properties are run down 70 year olds while in Ventura the same sized property costs 40% less and has granite counter tops,newly painted,new roof,etc..

I am looking to commute using the commuter bus service between SB and Ventura.