When get quotes you need to make sure which branch you want to take out uniformly. One branch over the roof could differ from the same branch in the clear or over the fence. Also take out the garbage and leave the wood in the yard could mean a lot of price difference. Access is a big issue, the worst case scenario could mean to hire a crane that costs $5000 a day.
I just asked H about the trees. We had some trees trimmed recently. The company we used was a small operation and they charged $1000 a day. In 2 days we trimmed a lot but none of them were close to the house.
We asked for a bid on taking down entirely 3 large pines in the distance on a neighbors property to clear out our ocean view. It was $5000. We didn’t do it. The price was so high because the trees were right next to the house. When it is so close to buildings the trimmer must take down the branches carefully to not damage the house. When it’s open space they just let them fall.
We also have a row of eucalyptus trees along the back hill of our house. A lot of the trees in our area have a disease that makes the leaves fall. They are sometimes blackened or have hard white growths on the leaves. They make a mess. The trees alternate between looking healthy and good and looking terrible and dropping leaves all over the driveway and yard. Artloversplus is right about the shallow roots and in a wind storm you can lose them. They also are terrible in high fibre areas as they are highly flammable. One day we need to take ours out but it will be expensive.
Yikes, not sounding reasonable to deal with the Eucalyptus trees. I will keep that in mind.
I’ve decided that I will not be raising my offer for Property #13 because there are too many issues and unknowns between the tree trimming and the foundation repairs.
I think that’s a wise decision CB.
Yes, you are wise. If broker is interested enough he will accept your offer as written instead of trying to get you to bid against yourself.
Property #15
A bank-owned (REO) foreclosure just went up for sale in the Bay Park area. REOs are very rare now in San Diego. House is in poor condition (what else is new!) but in a very good location. This one is priced somewhat reasonable for condition as compared to the other Bay Park property on Baker St (which… BTW just came back onto market. Listing agent obviously was a newbie and fell for the full price offer game with inspection contingency. Buyers came back and asked for big credits)
Went to the Open House today. I was surprised that it wasn’t swarmed with investors like some of the other properties I have viewed recently. Just some owner occupant type buyers with their agents. I asked the agent to represent me and she was all over it! She has already called me back to let me know that they already have 2 offers from investors who must have made their offers sight unseen because there isn’t a lockbox. Utilities aren’t on either
Nice layout with potential, small yard and minimal views. It’s interesting that there are no views because it is located on a steep street which worries me a little bit because it is difficult to get in and out of the driveway. Also, I’m having difficulty trying to figure out future fixed up value because there are not a lot of comps. Comp values run between $660k and $740k which is a very wide margin of error 
Now I need to figure out how I can get back in there with my carpenter to figure out how bad everything is.
Could there be views if certain walls were opened to contain windows? Or is it just blocked off?
Be very careful about the steep hill. Make sure it’s not undesirable and hard to sell later because of that.
Yes, I’ve asked my agent to go look at the house and give her opinion on the steep hill situation. The house is on a flat lot, so luckily the house is not built on stilts hanging off a steep slope or something. I stood outside trying to look for a view, but there were a lot of trees below, but even with the trees cleaned up, I couldn’t see much view.
Property #15 - did a thorough inspection of the property yesterday afternoon. We tried everything to see if there were any views, even went up onto the roof to see if a rooftop patio would capture some views. There are no water views from this property - just some distant Point Loma hills views. So, I need to determine future value without views and be careful with the comparable sales. The Listing Agent keeps telling me she thinks it will get $725k, but I can guarantee she is looking at comps with views in the mix and there is a big difference in value.
My agent went by the property yesterday and is concerned just a little bit about steep street, there’s plenty of room in driveway to park cars. She is more concerned that there is a big private school at the top of the street and there will be traffic in the morning and afternoon. She sets future value at $675k. I’m sticking with her value.
Based on value of $675k, and the amount of work required to open up the house, rewire, new roof, new furnace and ducting… I am probably not going to make an offer on this house. I know they have offers already at $550k. Listing Agent has set asking price at $595k, the bank selling it has some kind of appraisal at $600k, so I’m guessing that this may sell at $575k or so. Not enough margin
1818 Illion St, 92110
Property #13
Just had a discussion with the termite inspector who crawled deep under the house. I was concerned that the termite report listed ‘water damage’ under 2 bathrooms. It turns out that all of the structure under the master bathroom and 2nd bathroom has been replaced new when they remodeled the bathrooms about 15 yrs ago. The only issue is that there was some water damage extending on a couple of floor joists that was not replaced and the termite company called out ‘fungicide’ spray for those pieces of wood. No replacement needed, so I don’t need to tear up the floors or showers in the bathrooms.
Now I’m stuck with the decision on whether to tear out bathrooms for cosmetic reasons - update them to latest taste, or keep them with the design that dates it about 15 years - dark travertine, dark granite
Travertine and granite and other natural stones have not gone completely out of taste, IMO. I think you should be able to spruce things up with new lights and fixtures and maybe mirrors and/or some creative, useful shelving, like pull-out hampers and in-wall cabinets with electric plugs for hiding hair dryer cords etc.
I find property #15 awfully uninspiring.
Me too, Consilation. Only a good view would drag me up there.
Property #13 update
The Seller had two counter offers out from previous buyers. Both of the buyers are no longer interested and will not be responding to the Counter Offers (Gee… do you think it might have something to do with the scary words the agent added to the description??). So, the Seller is considering my low offer very strongly today. I offered a $3k incentive to Seller if we close escrow by Friday but I doubt that it will happen. He has a lot of heavy gym equipment in there.
Sounds good, cb. Will you provide us the address if this goes through?
Of course. Evidently the wife has already moved out, which will make this go smoother. She took most of the stuff and the garage is really nice and cleared out. Just one family room of furniture, master furniture and dining table (plus a lot of really heavy gym equipment) left to clear out.
Isn’t #13 the one on Brier Rd ? If so, @VeryHappy check post #165
Yes, it is. Forgot that I already put the address out there. Didn’t think they were going to come back and possibly accept my offer
Well, maybe they’ll sell it WITH the gym equipment. Good luck–hope you get the property, as you do a great job for everyone concerned while making a decent profit.
Can you rent the garage space to the seller for storage of the gym equipment until the seller can get a truck to haul it out?