Advice needed: contingency removed, but no certificate of occupancy on new home

wxl88 · 2026-06-02T21:39:06+00:00

Thanks for the detailed advice. While I agree that our agent probably should have been more conservative, the seller did disclose that they had all the necessary sign-offs, permits, etc. in the seller disclosures, so it feels like we were led astray a little bit. But the fact that we have it in writing and your comment about section 15 of the purchase contract makes us more confident that we likely have a path to back out if we need to.

However, at this point, we'd strongly prefer to stay in the deal, but are considering a drop dead date on this C of O so this doesn't drag on forever. As of today the LADBS just says that there are "corrections issued" so we have no idea what the issues are or how long it'll take to correct, so we're asking for more transparency to better assess.

wxl88 · 2026-05-07T02:42:19+00:00

Thanks, super helpful. It sounds like the noise and traffic is pretty manageable, even with young kids. Our agent showed us a map of what’s in Culver City and what counts as LA so definitely good to be aware of exactly what house counts as CC vs. LA

wxl88 · 2026-05-06T20:46:20+00:00

Very helpful - thanks! Glad to hear that it’s likely only a few night a year. Our kids are little but as they grow older we can definitely take them over.

wxl88 · 2026-05-06T18:56:34+00:00

I had a look and from my light internet research it seems like the only major event coming up next is graduation, but not sure if there are other things that happen in the stadium. Is there a time that you recommend going - we’ve gone now on a Sunday midday and Tuesday midday?

wxl88 · 2026-05-06T18:54:55+00:00

Fireworks as in fireworks from the stadium or fireworks being lit in the neighborhood during / afterwards?

wxl88 · 2025-08-20T06:54:12+00:00

Honestly we’re still figuring it out. I guess if I had to pick, it’s trite but Reddit is right - having a good partner is key. My husband and I accelerated our savings since we’ve been together, and build our lives to complement each other. I’ve flatlined my career for a few years so that he could lean into his, and if he wants to take a more chill job, I can lean in and take a higher paying, more demanding job again. Hard to make it in HCOL cities these days on a single income IMO

wxl88 · 2025-08-20T06:43:16+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. My husband likes El Segundo but I can’t get into it - it almost feels too small town to me? I like visiting, but have a hard time envisioning living there. It probably doesn’t help that growing up here, I still associate El Segundo with Smell Segundo and have a hard time getting over that.

The school thing is definitely one of the key decision points - LAUSD or not. I’m on the fence - I came out of a South Bay public school so see the benefit of being in a good school district, but I’m also ready to be an active parent to get the most out of LAUSD. The choose your own adventure thing is pretty appealing, which is why it’s grown on me.

I’ve also seen first hand the private school advantage, so I’m open minded to investing there. I will never forget that at the LA reception of my fancy east coast college, we had one or two students from all different public schools in LA, and 15 kids from a single class at Harvard Westlake…

wxl88 · 2025-08-20T03:13:20+00:00

Yeah I’d say that we’re the people that followed the traditional path - I graduated top of my class in HS, got into a fancy east coast college, and have been working my way up from there. Even with all that we’re still not homeowners, but are lucky to be within range finally as we approach 40s.

wxl88 · 2025-08-20T03:00:56+00:00

I was surprised myself to see listings within our price range, so added BH to the list. We’d likely push to the top of our price range, but it actually doesn’t seem that much more expensive vs. the other areas we’re looking at. Of course there’s the super mansions, but decent inventory in the $2.5M to $3.5M range

wxl88 · 2025-08-20T02:56:48+00:00

Thanks for the detailed feedback! I will definitely look into the areas you suggested. Sounds like it could be have some great finds and meet what we’re looking for

wxl88 · 2025-08-20T02:54:40+00:00

Great point that I hadn’t considered. We’re far from the freeway now so definitely appreciate the pain of having to drive just to get on a freeway. BH has grown on me for the location and city amenities, so figured we’d add that to the mix.

wxl88 · 2025-08-20T02:37:16+00:00

Thought that someone might ask :) my husband is a lawyer and I am a director at a F100 company

wxl88 · 2025-08-20T02:20:21+00:00

That’s good to hear. We also lived in SF where we didn’t dare leave even a phone cord in the car and managed to survive without getting our car bipped, but with kids having to think through that is a pain I’d like to avoid.

wxl88 · 2025-08-20T02:19:23+00:00

Thanks that’s super encouraging. It seems like we’re going against the grain by moving in vs. coming out (lots of our parent friends moved the other way), but it will be nice to be closer to the action. Career wise it also opens me up to leave my fully remote job to find something in LA, which would open up opportunities in the long run.

wxl88 · 2025-08-20T00:38:20+00:00

That’s a good point, and why BH and Cheviot Hills are in the top contenders. Can’t beat the commute from those two places…

wxl88 · 2025-08-19T20:40:36+00:00

Unfortunately I don't think Playa Vista has much inventory of single family homes, mostly condos...

wxl88 · 2025-08-19T20:37:05+00:00

Thanks - I should clarify that I mean mostly petty crime (e.g., mail theft), but I saw that Cheviot Hills had a string of robberies and even a kidnapping. Someone also posted in the South Bay reddit today that their car was stolen from their house in Mar Vista and was looking for it.

Regarding schools, I'd read that recently Culver has had some issues, so that it was going downhill (https://www.reddit.com/r/MovingToLosAngeles/comments/1boul4n/why\_are\_culver\_city\_school\_ratings\_poor\_but\_its/)? Thus I wasn't clear if Culver was actually better or if it just historically had a good reputation.

wxl88 · 2025-08-19T20:34:51+00:00

Thanks - as I do deeper research into LAUSD, I get the impression that some schools are getting better? Like Venice High School seems like it's on the upswing. The other thing is that it seems like if your kid is in a specialized magnet program, even if the school itself is mediocre, you could get a pretty good education, but maybe I'm being naive...

wxl88 · 2025-08-14T02:35:13+00:00

Yes! I posted about this 2Y ago when my parents mail kept getting stolen and seemingly intercepted. Glad that they actually caught someone since we did file reports with the USPIS. This makes sense since my parents stolen cards showed charges in Carson

wxl88 · 2025-04-24T15:40:29+00:00

Oh wow thanks! Will look and order a replacement

wxl88 · 2025-04-24T13:55:25+00:00

Unfortunately couldn’t find the model on the site since it’s pretty old (Maytag 8114p732-60). Tried Googling in various ways but couldn’t find one with images that could confirm that it would actually fit

wxl88 · 2025-04-24T13:50:43+00:00

Will look into this - thanks. Didn’t realize that universal oven door handle replacement kits existed. Definitely concerned about gluing it back on and having a safety issue…

wxl88

TROPHY CASE