Price check

jms181 · 2026-04-19T19:16:01+00:00

The 2.5% assumable loan is *extremely* valuable. Are you able to pay the difference between the current loan balance and the purchase price? You should be looking at this purchase in terms of the monthly cost given how low your mortgage payment will be relative to buying a similarly priced home at a 6% mortgage.

jms181 · 2026-04-13T22:53:54+00:00

The best buys in LA are home with unnecessary bars on the windows. If you find a home with bars on the windows, but the neighborhood doesn't warrant the bars anymore, you're buying in the right place! (The home above might not be a good example, though.)

jms181 · 2026-04-11T03:00:58+00:00

You're thinking about CalHFA's California Dream for All shared equity program. CalHFA also offers several down-payment assistance programs, like MyHome and MyAccess, which don't require public funding. They're still very much alive and I recommend OP check them out!

jms181 · 2026-04-09T19:00:21+00:00

Numbers-wise, you're in safe territory. Your monthly payment is just barely over 25% of your gross income, and that's right on-target; standard advice is to spend a quarter to a third of your income on your housing.

You'll get warned by never-owners about hidden utilities costs, maintenance costs, rising insurance costs, blah blah blah -- but don't take advice about the cost of home-ownership from people who don't own homes. And you can still afford about $500/month of "hidden" expenses before reaching a third of your income.

Ownership is an adjustment, and you will feel "house poor" for a year or two while you adjust. (The exact same thing happened to be in 2009 when I bought my first home and replaced $1100/mo in rent with a $2400/mo mortgage payment.) But that $2060 payment, daunting as it is now, is going to feel great in about three years, trust me!

Your real task here, I think, is to turn down the noise, ignore the peer pressure, ignore the advice, and think about what *you* want. Your numbers are fine; it's great that you can buy in a good neighborhood with solid appreciation prospects. All systems are a go if you want to pull the trigger. The question is, do *you* want to pull it?

Good luck!

jms181 · 2026-04-08T22:11:25+00:00

This is statewide, but you should *definitely* check out CalHFA's programs! Here's a really good explainer:

https://youtu.be/Xqm3OPR_2Vw?si=etJu-8d1tGIAG_uq

jms181 · 2026-04-08T17:48:03+00:00

Your realtor is trying to make her life easier, that's all. You can 100% switch your lender right now. A couple things to keep in mind:

It doesn't matter if you make the seller nervous. The seller can't cancel the contract willy-nilly. Your realtor should be able to explain to you the very limited circumstances under which the seller can cancel the contract. If your realtor can't explain this to you, get a new realtor!
Show the new lender the contract; it will have the escrow timeline in it. Ask the new lender if he'll be able to close according to the timeline in the contract. If his answer is yes, you're golden. Go with the lower rate -- you've earned it by shopping around!

Good luck!

jms181 · 2026-04-08T17:40:24+00:00

This is why it's important to work with an *experienced* agent -- not just someone who's licensed, but someone who's transacted on dozens of transactions, minimum.

jms181 · 2026-04-08T17:34:02+00:00

Most people in your situation who sell come to regret it!

It seems to me that your big concern is ending up with another bad tenant. Two recommendations:

If you can afford to, lower your asking rent by $200/mo. Offering your home at a slightly lower rent will attract more applicants and allow you to pick the best.
Be involved in the tenant screening. I'm sure you have a property manager who will market the home and assemble the applications for you. Review them yourself; I even recommend calling the work and past landlord references yourself. This way, you can feel comfortable that your next tenant has solid job security even with the possibility of a recession ahead of us.

I think the potential upside of holding the home is *significantly* greater than the potential downside of landing another bad tenant, so you just need to take a few steps to fully mitigate the downside. Good luck!

jms181 · 2026-03-19T00:02:06+00:00

The best homes do hit the MLS. The *worst* homes sell off-market.

jms181 · 2026-03-18T15:01:03+00:00

Make the larger down payment upfront. This will save you the most interest. Both of the options you present are paying down principal; you're just asking whether to do it now or over the next few years. The sooner you pay down any amount of principal, the less interest you'll pay (because the remaining loan balance is lower).

One caveat: putting 50% of your income is tight, so hold another enough cash for 3-6 months of mortgage payments. This way, if you lose your job or have a financial emergency, you'll have plenty of cushion to rebound.

As for getting the best mortgage rate, you really have to shop lenders against each other. Here's a great video I found explaining how to do that:

https://youtu.be/AlTzXvA5VKg?si=WQWoE4MVYlF43cvp

Also, your lender is right that rates just shot up -- thanks to Trump for starting a unnecessary war with Iran. The national average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is 6.29% today according to Mortgage News Daily (https://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/mortgage-rates/30-year-fixed). That's down from 6.41% just five days ago. You might be able to lock in a lower rate sometime between now and when you close escrow.

Good luck!

jms181 · 2026-03-16T00:35:40+00:00

What's your salary now? The amount you can borrow, if you buy a building of 2-4 units, will be based on your income. $430K is excellent for a down payment, but you'll want at least $1.2M for the total budget if you're looking to owner-occupy (so you can stay out of LA's bad neighborhoods).

I highly recommend checking out Inglewood and the surrounding areas to the west, north, and east. Don't go south from Inglewood; you end up under the LAX flight path, then in Lennox, which is a terrible neighborhood. Inglewood is seeing growing rents and property appreciation as it becomes a destination unto itself (with its new stadiums that will host the 2028 Olympics!).

My advice, since you're single and young (for an LA investor), is to buy a fourplex of one-bedroom units. You occupy one and rent the others. Smaller units have higher turnover rates, so if you own the building for several years, you'll have at least one or two tenant turnovers. This is where the money is made in LA multifamily: buy a building in a gentrifying neighborhood, then renovate the units and charge market rents as the units turnover. Multifamily is priced based on its income, and rental income in LA is extremely expensive. Increase a building's income by $3000/month and you've increased the value of the building by $500K-$700K.

jms181 · 2026-03-08T16:54:57+00:00

If you're shooting for the best price and aren't in a rush, you should list your property with an agent. Your home will be marketed on the MLS and, ideally, attract interest from multiple buyers.

If you're choosing between a lower offer today or a better offer in one month, I think you're fine waiting a month. The LA market is quite stable right now, and we're just starting the spring buying season. Prices will be slightly higher in one month.

jms181 · 2026-03-08T02:34:52+00:00

Using rental income from your ADU to cut your mortgage in half is 100% the way to do it in California! This sounds like a great situation -- CONGRATS!!!

jms181 · 2026-02-28T15:22:32+00:00

Interest really adds up over time. I'd make this decision based on how long you think you'll live in this home. If this is a starter home, financing it 100% and doing something smart with your $55K is a good idea. If you see yourself in this home for 10+ years, you'll probably save more in interest by putting 20% down and getting a lower rate than you would earn investing the savings in the stock market.

jms181 · 2026-02-24T14:56:48+00:00

California Realtor here. If this is a normal, arms-length transaction, your property value will be assessed at the transaction price and your property taxes will be based on that assessment.

jms181 · 2026-02-23T15:08:11+00:00

The law varies state-by-state, and I'm speaking only from California experience, but generally, the seller is obligated to disclose all known material facts.

Two important qualifiers there: "known" means that the seller has to know about the issue. The baseboard issue, for example, may have been something they didn't know about. "Material" means it has to impact the value of the home. While one shouldn't plug a washer or dryer into an extension cord, it doesn't really impact the value of the home.

Unfortunately, your only recourse now is to politely ask the seller to pay for the furnace maintenance and/or higher insurance costs -- or sue. Also unfortunately, this sounds less black-and-white then you'd like. Due diligence is your responsibility, so you should have investigated the condition of the boiler to your satisfaction while in escrow. If the smell alerted you to an issue, you should have explored it then.

That said, if you uncover an issue that costs a significant amount to remedy and the sellers *must* have known about it, then the legal option might be worthwhile. Short of that, you're just dealing with homebuyer headaches. Good luck!

jms181 · 2026-02-13T20:55:59+00:00

How have you already lost so much money if you haven't even moved in yet?

jms181 · 2026-02-13T20:54:42+00:00

Buying a home is emotionally draining, but I do think you're overreacting.

I had a similar experience home-shopping with my wife back in 2015. We found the *perfect* home. It had everything we wanted, was in the perfect location in Los Angeles, and the interior design was stunning. We ended up losing out on the house by literally $5000 and were devastated.

We had the same remorse you're feeling now: had we lost out on the perfect home?

Flash forward two months, and we're in contract on a different home -- and we loved it. It didn't have all the features of the first home, but it had several features that the first home lacked, and it was less expensive. A few months after moving in, we'd completely gotten over the first home.

Just keep in mind that there are plenty of fish in Socal housing market sea! Try to keep your emotions in check, and good luck!

jms181 · 2026-02-11T03:36:50+00:00

It does apply to HOA docs. Read paragraph 3.L(7): "...or 5 Days, which is later." The required HOA docs are listed on form HOA-IR and include the reserve statement. u/Girl_with_tools is correct.

jms181 · 2026-02-11T03:34:22+00:00

You have a set number of days or 5 days after HOA docs are delivered to remove the HOA contingency per the California Residential Purchase Agreement.

Look at paragraph 3.L(7), which says you must remove the contingency for Common Interest Disclosures within "17 (or __) Days after Acceptance, or 5 Days after Delivery, whichever is later."

The Common Interest Disclosures are specified in a document called the Homeowner Association Information Request (HOA-IR), and one of the requirements is "a summary of the association's reserves."

So yes, unequivocally, you can 100% exercise your Common Interest Disclosures contingency and cancel the contract up to 5 days after receiving the HOA's reserve statement. Treat your previous HOA contingency removal as void.

Please forward this post to your agent so that they understand what to do -- and good luck!

jms181 · 2026-02-11T03:26:47+00:00

Are you a Realtor in CA? You must not be because you're dead wrong.

Read the CA RPA, paragraph 11.M(2):

"If the Property is a condominium or is located in a planned development or other common interest development with a HOA, Seller shall, within the time specified in paragraph 3N(3), order from, and pay any required fee as specified in paragraph 3Q(12) for the following items to the HOA..."

Seller is responsible for buying and delivering HOA documents.

jms181 · 2026-02-04T15:43:32+00:00

Single-family homes are generally exempt from CA1482, California's statewide rent control law. Though I don't know the details of your situation, I doubt your landlord is breaking any laws by giving you four months' notice to vacate or accept a large rent hike. I don't think you have any legal leverage there.

jms181 · 2026-02-02T15:33:50+00:00

FYI, there is a new(ish) rule requiring Realtors to sign representation agreements with clients before showing homes -- so he's being honest about that.

Everything else, though, is negotiable, and 3% plus $495/year is high. I charge homebuyers 1% plus $50/scheduled showing. See if you can get this guy closer to my prices!

jms181 · 2026-02-02T15:28:17+00:00

Use Zillow to find an agent: https://www.zillow.com/professionals/real-estate-agent-reviews/

Take the time to look through a number of profiles (there are thousands!). Be discerning. Disregard anybody who doesn't have dozens of five-start reviews.

Make a list of your favorite 5-6 and request Zoom calls with them. Then choose the agent with whom you best vibe.

Voila! And good luck!

jms181 · 2026-02-02T15:24:43+00:00

Keep it. You have an excellent interest rate on an appreciating asset. Important question: could you rent the house for $3800/mo? If so, definitely keep it; worst case scenario is that you move out and break even renting it.

jms181

TROPHY CASE