<p>jshain, Moraga is a wonderful town. have meetings at that Golf Country Club every month. For investment, I cannot afford there as every thing you buy is negative income. Pleasant Hill and Brentwood do have opportunities and IF the price is right, I will buy there. I saw one in Pleasant Hill that is attractive, but I did not bid on that one, price is a bit too high.</p>
<p>Is Antioch ever going to affect Brentwood?</p>
<p>interesteddad - congratulations! Glad it’s over so quickly and (so far) successfully.</p>
<p>VeryHappy - hope you’re very happy soon.</p>
<p>The inspector DW recommends to people (and that we have used on all of our properties) takes at least 3 hours for a house, and 4 hours is not unusual. On some of my multi’s it was more like 5 hours.</p>
<p>He is very thorough, he does things like check every single plug and switch in the house for proper wiring, or jab a metal rod into the wood of every single joist cavity in the basement looking for rot or termites. He will crawl around attics and climb up on roofs, he tests all the walls for moisture, etc etc etc.</p>
<p>So I wouldn’t call that the “inspection from hell”, I just think he is being very careful.</p>
<p>
That’s an expensive option, that was probably a $500 inspection.</p>
<p>In the overall scheme of things, a $500 inspection is really just a drop in the bucket.</p>
<p>(That’s what I keep telling myself as we spend more and more and more to make our house "sparkle!" – my realtor’s word.)</p>
<p>two weeks on market, two showings. Positive remarks but no action… I’m patient so its cool BUT it is interesting what people ask the agent if we could include with the house… there are custom bookshelves on either side of the fireplace, I expected a question about them. Theres a nice dog kennel in the back, I anticipated inquires about that BUT they asked if we would include the trashcan!?</p>
<p>What odd questions have you encountered?</p>
<p>Trashcan?? Good grief. How bizarre. I don’t understand how people can be contemplating a $500,000 or $800,000 purchase and have the spare time to worry about a $29.99 item.</p>
<p>Sistersunnie…do you live in the boonies? Wondering because 2 showings?</p>
<p>That’s just weird, SisterSunnie. </p>
<p>We’ve now got a draft of the offer from the nominee buyer from the church, written up by the RE agent who is on the church vestry…who has written himself in as both our agent and her agent, though we were quite clear with him that we did not want to engage him as an agent, though he offered, and we have certainly never signed any agency agreement. I’m wondering if he did this because he wants “credit” in the MLS for being both the selling and buying broker on the transaction, and whether there’s any issue with that for us if we’re not paying him. (We reduced the price based on not paying a commission.)</p>
<p>Yes in the boonies, agent said my house has the most showings in a short period of time in the area. Its a small house, very solid and well maintained with a large yard. Surrounded by farmland. It will not appeal to everyone. </p>
<p>IT IS a very nice trashcan :)</p>
<p>:)…</p>
<p>arabrab,</p>
<p>Its all in the contract. You should tell him that he is not your agent and you are not responsible for his commission. And refuse to sign the contract when it is presented to you and if you disagree on any items in the contract, be very careful reading the contract, do not just look at the price, at the end of the contract, there is a section about the broker’s commission and you should step on it that make sure YOU don’t pay any commission. Whether the buy pays any commission is not of your concern.</p>
<p>Agree with artlovers, arabrab. You should have IN WRITING that he is not your agent and that your sale price does not include any commission - that you are selling by owner. Do you have real estate attorneys in your state draw up the closing contracts? If so this needs to be clear.</p>
<p>I would like to know what everyone thinks the housing market is doing now, and what your thoughts are for the next 12 months. I know it’s crystal ball gazing, but here’s the deal. Now that my mother has passed away and we’re empty nesters, I don’t feel a strong need to continue in our current location. We’re a couple of years away from retirement, and will probably re-locate once we retire. I’m mobile in the sense that I can get to work easily from multiple places. My H is a 70 minute drive from his work, though. </p>
<p>I was wondering if we should sell our house now, rent a place closer to his office, then buy a retirement home later on. The downsides I see are that the housing market could improve, and we’re left having sold low, then having to buy high. The upsides are that we can look for a retirement home without worrying about timing, plus he could save 2 hours of total commuting time per day. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Hayden…only you and your husband can answer those questions.</p>
<p>How much is it worth to your husband to live closer to work?
Can you rent a place and keep your house for a little while to see if you like that transition?</p>
<p>If the rental move saves you money…then the bigger chance you can take by selling now and buying later…the cost savings will pay part of the cost by sellling low and buying high.</p>
<p>And is the area you are leaving picking up…so it is likely if you sell in two years…you will get a higher price than if you sell now?</p>
<p>And the areas that you are interested in…are prices firming?</p>
<p>I think prices are going to go up in many places now…</p>
<p>If you sell now and prices go up 3 percent a year for two years where you want to live…would that bug you?</p>
<p>agree, in general the home price will go up in the next three years. how much, that depends on the location.</p>
<p>We cannot help you because:</p>
<ol>
<li>We don’t know your area and the price of your house.</li>
<li>We don’t know how much costs you to live where you live and the rent you are going to pay.</li>
<li>We don’t know what value you put on not to commute 70 min. per day</li>
<li>We don’t know where are you going to retire, or you don’t know either. </li>
<li>To sell or not to sell a house is too personal for anyone’s guesses.</li>
<li>Even if we do know where you are going to retire , how can we look into the crystal ball how much more it will cost three years from know?</li>
</ol>
<p>dstark / artloversplus, I can’t give you any of that information. What I wanted to hear is exactly what you’re giving me - the questions to ask myself, and the considerations to take into account. Very helpful.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>dstark, My parents are still living in the same house in Moraga that I grew up in, since 1956. It’s about half a mile from Rheem Shopping Center. Back in those days, Moraga had a population of less than 500 residents and the Rheem Center had just 3 stores-- a market, a drugstore, and the Rheem movie theater. There’s a very good chance my family and/or I know your brother!</p>
<p>Well…we will have to leave the rest a mystery. :)</p>
<p>Moraga is a very different place than downtown Walnut Creek.</p>
<p>Things have changed since I sold my last house 14+ years ago. My realtor had me sign up on a web site that handles showings and sends a text to my phone when an agent requests one. I can then approve or reject the showing by text. </p>
<p>Later I can see the buyer realtor’s feedback. Ah technology.</p>