<p>The buyer’s home inspection is going on right now. It will last 4 hours. I already warned my realtor (who is representing both of us) not to have his buyer “laundry list” me on repairs/replacements. The inspector, who owns an independent company based in Yorba Linda, is the best I’ve seen. I used him on a home in Newport Beach last year that we walked away from during the contingency period.</p>
<p>If anyone lives in Orange County CA and needs a home inspector, I highly recommend this one. PM me and I’ll give you his name and contact info.
If anyone needs</p>
<p>When we bought our house, both the school district and specific schools were very important to me, so I contacted the school district and picked up maps. I also asked quetions about upcoming changes (we live in the area). If schools are important, it’s best to check it out yourself. So glad it worked in your favor artloversplus.</p>
<p>Well this is rich. The check that was sent to me for the refund from the previous closing (mentioned above) was returned! What the heck? They tracked me down, fedex’ed the check and then their bank doesnt process it? And I get hit with a returned check fee?This is like a double whammy from those guys. No, maybe a triple whammy. Stay tuned…</p>
<p>Oh, jym. This is just the gift that keeps on giving.</p>
<p>I had a check for TWO cents that I didn’t deposit because it wasn’t worth a trip to the bank or a stamp – and when I had left it long enough, they sent me another one. I did take that one in, just to get rid of the guilt trip for what it must have cost them to generate two trivial checks.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I’m still waiting on the $700+ refund from MIL’s Time Warner cable which she paid a year in advance. Requested February 9th. This will make the fourth follow-up. Grrrrrr.</p>
<p>After having very little on the market in our neighborhood we suddenly have 4 for sale signs pop up on our long street, and another 3 already for sale around the corner. Enough to make me uncomfortable. Ironically, I think it is shadow inventory, ie people who were waiting to sell until market improved and there have been some sales recently and indications that the market has improved, so out come the for sale signs.</p>
I think “shadow inventory” refers to houses owned by banks that have been taken via foreclosure, but not put on the market yet. No one really knows how many of these there are.</p>
<p>My home inspection went fairly well. Had a handful of “red line items”:</p>
<p>One of the GFCI (ground fault) circuitbreakers in kitchen “malfunctioned”, won’t reset.</p>
<p>Igniter buttons on my built-in backyard barbecue and side burners don’t work. (Not fixing. My barbecue igniter got serviced 3 times the first year befire the warranty ran out.)</p>
<p>Front porch stonework is at the weep screen of the house and supposed to be 2" below. (I"ve never bought or sold a home where this did NOT get pointed out. I’m not fixing since it is in a covered area that doesn’t get wet.)</p>
<p>Tub/shower diverter needs replacing in son’s bath. (Ordered from Moen at n/c on a lifetime warranty because I’m the original owner.)</p>
<p>No carbon monoxide monitor upstairs. (This is a code change that occured after I purchased my home new.</p>
<p>75 gal. hot water heater needs a 3rd earthquake strap. (My plumber said code in Orange County CA is 2 straps, but said he would add another strap at n/c if necessary.)</p>
<p>Haven’t gotten the “wish list” of repairs from the buyers yet…</p>
<p>RE market in my town still going strong. Another two houses around the block from me sold after maybe two weeks on the market. The one down the street from me still on the market and still asking too much (it’s quite large and very dated - needs pretty much everything updated even though it’s all in good shape.) At least $150-200K just to bring it into the 21st century, imo. If it was a smaller home which needed to be updated it probably would have sold, but since it’s large I think the amount of work seems daunting. So it’s just sitting.</p>
<p>Two financial advisors were on TV yesterday, and they both said that if it seems we might be entering an inflationary period, we should borrow as much as possible to buy the biggest house possible. In that way, your asset appreciates rapidly, and you’re paying back in lower-valued dollars. </p>
<p>Does that make sense to people? It seemed to me it would only make sense if you’re so rolling in money that you could take the hit if you’re wrong.-</p>
<p>They must be thinking about the go-go California real estate days of the 70’s and 80’s. I don’t think that is very good advice now. (They also sound like the kind of investment advisors who always think it is a good idea to use available money for investments rather than paying down debt.)</p>
<p>Arrgh! I knew it was coming, but here it is. We get home 8pm Sunday. Don’t take bids until 1pm Tuesday. House keeper comes 9:30-11:30 Monday. So, do I tell the realtors no showing until Monday afternoon? Or do I work around the few showings my realtor thinks are coming? And how do I keep my husband and daughter from messing up the whole house…</p>
<p>It is important to keep the house clutter free for showing, but it is not essential to keep it in show room conditions. Most buyers will look beyond what a little imperfection in the house. For those won’t, they are probably not serious buyers.</p>