Posted on 09/29/2014 8:39:21 PM PDT by Califreak
Our family just started looking for a home to purchase.
Just curious.... How long did it take you to find the perfect house?
Our lender took two years.
We are finding something wrong with all of them.
I wanted to live on a boat then I married and Iowa girl...
I'm not sure what your lender has to do with it in the search stage of things. You should find a broker to work with to help you find what you want.
What he said.
We are looking for a house now. There are things you can not change, like location or the size of the property. There you hold out for what you want.
Layout of the house and size of the rooms can be changed but it it is generally a pain to do. Here you also hold out for what you want.
Most other things can be worked around. It will take three times as much money and time as you plan but it can be worked around.
It's California. In order to qualify for a loan, one must pass two emissions tests, adopt an owl, grow a redwood tree without water, and demonstrate proficient Spanish language skills.
Lol
My business is in cal
Location, location, location.
Then buy the worst house in the best area you can afford.
For example that could mean the smallest house, in the best subdivision.
Or it could be a deep fixer, in a great neighborhood.
Unless you have a fairly large budget you will not find the perfect home, just one that you can make work for you.
So, we fixed up our own perfect house.
lol! Its like a wife! Get one and get started! lol
You will never find the perfect house. What is perfect today, will not be perfect down the road. Find one with your top 5 priorities and call it a day.
We found a wonderful country house in a month, then had kids, then the fire ants invaded, then the city decided to move the city limit through the middle of our house, etc.
Then we changed jobs so immediately onto another house which we gutted and remodeled into our new and improved “perfect” house. Contractor was a thief and made a mess of it so now it’s falling apart. And taxes have gone up 10% every year so we and everyone out here are getting taxed out of their homes. Neighbors are now renting out to vacationers so it is noisy. There’s new regulations encroaching on us and less regs that used to protect property owners. The VFD/EMS is wanting to quit which means new taxes.
Just today, I have been drawing up new house plans for when we can no longer afford this one’s taxes. There’s always something. So, no, there is no perfect home. Find one you like well enough rather than drag it out.
I found I could skip many homes by viewing them on the Internet first.
Pix are deceiving. They are usually angled so everything looks bigger and better than what it really is. Some houses lokk better than the pix. But usually they are worse. We’ve been scouring the intereebz for years.
It all depends on what your needs are. We found our house by accident. We drove past the neighborhood and decide to turn around and go look at the house on our list from the realtor. Huge lot etc.. And 14 years later have the most expensive house in the neighborhood. 3 phases so far of remodels and a few more left. Everyone’s homes in the neighborhoods have gone up in value over $100,000. : )
Good luck!
PS. We are in Ca also, Torrance.
Isn’t your realtor sending you listings directly for the mls? More up to date than most of the popular sites
One way it’s like looking for a spouse: all the good ones are already taken. You have to wait for the moment when the right one appears on the market.
The riding around technique rather than relying upon realtor MLS listings works in very popular neighborhoods where FSBO actually works pretty well due to demand. To land a house in such an area that you really like, patience is in order and also “flag” the ones you like the looks and location of. Eventually one on your list will pop up for sale, and you pay what they’re asking for it so long as it’s not totally out of line with recent comparable sales. Haggling too hard won’t work for a very desirable house, somebody will come along soon enough and offer list, sometimes better for it.
about a month!
I knew what type of home I wanted and the characteristics it should have. I didn’t let my realtor do all the work. Basically I wanted a modern condo with a garage and big closet. Didn’t get the garage but the parking is gated so all is good.
Not long - less than a month. I knew exactly which neighborhood I wanted to live in and that pretty well narrowed it down. Was about to close on one house when the home I purchased came back on the market. Snatched it up the minute I walked inside!
Never did. It took me 11 months to build it.
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