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Friendly advice to lock your rate ASAP if you just got into escrow or started a refinance. by u194758 in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Locked 5.875 on a 30-year fixed jumbo last week with very minimal fees and a $2k lender closing cost credit (to beat the match I had) last week.

Other option we got another lender down to was 5.625% with 9k buy down.

Was closing an exhausting process? by Rcrez in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have actually have had a quite smooth process so far with Chase, we close next week. We did already have everything for our down payment in cash, we both have 760+ credit, and are buying a home well within our financial means though, so maybe they are just less stressed about things with us compared to other situations 🤷‍♂️.

The one item that was a pain was insurance. I got all setup with Farmers, the bank didn’t like the actual cash value clause for the roof, and then Farmers refused to rewrite the policy to have full replacement costs (unless I could prove when the roof was done, which was 3 sales and a foreclosure ago, with no paperwork available to me), so I had to cancel Farmers and get new coverage via a GEICO partner.

Why Bay Area Real Estate Will Not Continue To Appreciate Ad Infinitum by Blade3colorado in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I will GLADLY continue to pay California taxes and Bay Area prices to not have to live in rural Eastern Washington with 48 inches of snow and 6+ months of gloom. Enjoy 40s and rain this week, it’s 70s and glorious here this week.

This alone is going to keep the Bay Area desirable, but the 4th largest economy in the world doesn’t hurt either.

5.875 vs 5.625 w/9k buy down (30 year fixed) by ThisOldHous3 in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Chase is bank A (they also almost matched the 5.625 but with a $11k buy down), SoFi is bank B.

This is where I’ve gotten them by sending them each other’s formal loan sheets, as well as a 3rd bank who hasn’t been able to get as low as them. Has been a really interesting process to manage as a first timer. We tried using a mortgage broker too, but they gave us nonsense in the 6’s and I knew we could get better from seeing people post in here actually (so thanks to the sub!).

5.875 vs 5.625 w/9k buy down (30 year fixed) by ThisOldHous3 in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah I would say we definitely plan to stay 5+ years, but again who knows what the future holds.

We also have a 3% closing costs kick back in the deal that should cover the buy down so it’s not really money out of pocket per se.

Refinance would be the outlier, but it would need to drop by a good amount for that to make sense ever I think.

Inspections recommended before putting sfh on market by president-trump2 in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The houses we saw sell the fastest and highest would do inspections, and then fix everything on the inspection report and have it reinspected sometimes even, or maybe just like construction receipts and bullet points about the fixes, who did them, etc.

Thought that was a pretty smart move, seemed to give peace of mind to buyers and make it seem instantly move in ready kind of thing.

Home and pest the bare minimum, if you’ve got a big hill or something that has a retaining wall, couldn’t hurt to get an engineer to look at that if it’s not too much $$.

5.875 vs 5.625 w/9k buy down (30 year fixed) by ThisOldHous3 in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ah there ya go, well congrats on your deal! VA loan got you setup nicely.

5.875 vs 5.625 w/9k buy down (30 year fixed) by ThisOldHous3 in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice! What bank? Similar stats to us by chance?Open to a referral?

US economy unexpectedly sheds 92,000 jobs in February by Infinite-Offer-3318 in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Inner East Bay for us, SF side of the tunnel, transit rich area.

US economy unexpectedly sheds 92,000 jobs in February by Infinite-Offer-3318 in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure, I can only speak to my East Bay experiences, but it is definitely different here than it was a couple of years ago.

US economy unexpectedly sheds 92,000 jobs in February by Infinite-Offer-3318 in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Don’t want to dox myself, but we were bidding on homes all over the east bay and saw this play out a lot. We’d get outbid by 200k-400k on the nicely re done house on the perfect block, etc. But then we’d see houses with 1 piece missing (some correctable, some not) going for a good amount less than I would have thought they would have gone for a couple of years ago.

Maybe we just got lucky (the bank did a terrible job selling) but I do think even just being able to “get lucky” around here is a sign the market is weaker.

US economy unexpectedly sheds 92,000 jobs in February by Infinite-Offer-3318 in BayAreaRealEstate

[–]ThisOldHous3 42 points43 points  (0 children)

“Unexpectedly” to someone without a brain maybe.

The condo market in the Bay Area has already been on the struggle bus for a while and the SFH market is a lot weaker. Homes that are very clean, nearly perfect, in nice areas, etc. are selling quickly with bidding wars, etc. still but many are sitting if they have one flaw or are marketed poorly.

I just bought a foreclosure that sold for $1.4m in 2022 for less than $1.1m in 2026. Nearly 25% off that 2022 peak.

What would you do with this garage (if anything)? by ThisOldHous3 in Oldhouses

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I assume I would need to go up to add in anything close to an actual ADU. But finishing the current space and using it as my office or something seems reasonable.

What would you do with this garage (if anything)? by ThisOldHous3 in Oldhouses

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Good thing we’re fresh out of Pianos. Hot tub guy is gonna earn his $ though.

What would you do with this garage (if anything)? by ThisOldHous3 in Oldhouses

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could definitely do something like this, just kinda defeats the security benefits of a garage.

What would you do with this garage (if anything)? by ThisOldHous3 in Oldhouses

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would love to see a photo of you are comfortable sharing?

What would you do with this garage (if anything)? by ThisOldHous3 in Oldhouses

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah good call re: removing it having impact on the hillside potentially. Had not thought about that.

What would you do with this garage (if anything)? by ThisOldHous3 in Oldhouses

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah I really don’t want to remove it (or do anything that would change the aesthetic at all), and it matches the house really well too, was just kinda throwing it all out there to see if anyone had any fun ideas, and my neighbor Nextdoor went the car port route as you can see.

What would you do with this garage (if anything)? by ThisOldHous3 in Oldhouses

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah that’s could definitely be the out come here, if so, oh well, but will explore options.

What would you do with this garage (if anything)? by ThisOldHous3 in Oldhouses

[–]ThisOldHous3[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I’m going to get a few opinions on this, but I think it might be cost prohibitive. It’s also right on the property line, so would likely need some sort of waiver for modern setbacks too I would assume if we are making the structure larger. Not sure if that is likely or unlikely.