<p>oaklandmom-
If the other houses around it are valued at, or sold for, much more, this is a good thing! You don’t want the mose expensive house on the block.</p>
<p>By the way, wht’s the status with your PIA former buyers? Did you at lest get to keep the deposit?</p>
<p>I had a Victorian, built in 1858, which I adored, wrap around porch, original leaded glass, original wide plank pine flooring, but perfectly restored. I was lucky, but it was too small for family and it would have been ruined if expanded.</p>
<p>Now I live in standard issue 60’s colonial – five bedrooms, living room, dining room, huge eat in kitchen, family room, and a tiny computer room/sunroom (I made this out of laundry room) but now I have a lap top so I don’t really need it.</p>
<p>Victorians are the most prized here, but that’s probably because they maintain the heritage of the town which is an old whaling village.</p>
<p>It’s a horrible process. I sold my house and the house I was going to move into fell through and I had seller’s remorse, but the truth is you can always find something to buy. It is the selling part that’s more difficult.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Oakland, I am glad you said it felt like home, that means more than saying I like it more than the other. Keep up your hopes in the next few weeks the market will start churning up again…people always move, always will. Traditional market starts @ Presidents weekend with hopes of closing in May, and kids can be driven by the folks for the last few weeks, but get to know neighbors at the same time.</p>
<p>Good luck, keep us posted :^)</p>
<p>Having lots of showings is a great sign…it says you’re at the right price, and confirms that, yes, there are still buyers out there alive and well. We’re all rooting for you. I think that a lot of the “panic” in the housing market is caused largely by the talking heads saying there’s a “panic” in the housing market…—makes people think they should start to panic. Grrrr.</p>
<p>jym, as for my PIA former buyers - we’re headed to mediation then to arbitration (the PIA former buyers keep saying “court” but when the contract was signed we all agreed to mediation/arbitration). I’m waiting to hear back from the local mediation board, the first step is a consultation with them and then they’ll contact the buyers and arrange for a meeting. As of now I have half the deposit which was released to me when they asked for one of the many extensions in December.</p>
<p>Bullet, to quote our former president, it is a “fairy tale” to believe housing prices are about to churn up anytime soon in most of the Country. I follow these things pretty closely. Here in CA, in most places, inventory in at record highs, developers are underwater, our Rep. Gov. just announced major budget cuts and we can smell the start of a national recession.</p>
<p>I bring all this up because I am worried about Omom here. If this is a large part of what she owns, she should inderstand this. I think the house for sale in Oakland was $400,000. If I remember right, then $100,000 is a huge swing. She could see a home she buys now go down more easily. If that is not a problem and this is not a huge part of her net worth, that’s one thing. If this is a mom alone with 1 child and that’s a lot of their money, it’s another thing.</p>
<p>The new homes look cheap because most existing home owners have not gotten real yet. The developers, with construction loans, always get real first in a bad market. </p>
<p>To my MBA thinking, falling in love with a house is not the way to get the best deal, so love the one you’re with!</p>
<p>I would look like crazy, after selling and becomming a cash buyer, for an underwater developer who will sell the house at below cost in some places now. Especially if you are moving away from Oakland into recently developed areas. There are about to be fire sales and she could save that $100,000 for son’s house down payment in a few years!</p>
<p>Cee,</p>
<p>You misunderstood what I stated…the market always churns up in the spring/summer…I did not say the prices were going to go up. The market has not stabilized yet due to foreclosures, however, NAR expects the market to reach stabilization this summer. The reason why is that the bulk of the subprime loans will have come due by the end of the summer.</p>
<p>I too have an MBA…buy low sell high theory have caveats, the product must be correct. Studies show that buying the wrong house can cost more money. Why? Simple answer people will start spending money because they try to make it better, or something they would like more(I always hated this kitchen counter, maybe we should put in a new one, the appliance look horrible against the new counters, etc…) . Homeowners will spend time away from the house if they feel it is too small which costs money. (I hate this kitchen lets go out to eat)</p>
<p>Beware of the developers that have gone belly-up, remember they tried to keep a float as long as they could, what does that mean to you? They start using inferior products, less experienced subcontractors, removing the finishing items, 5 piece crown molding, chair molding, garage door openers, decks, finished basements, etc.</p>
<p>I’m laughing this morning - my original buyers (the ones that backed out due to the “barking dog”) have noticed the price reduction and they want to buy the property at the newly reduced price(and I get to keep the deposit money from our original contract) - I guess I was right all along, there was never an issue with barking dogs - it was simply an excuse to get out of the contract. My agent called me and thought I’d be furious. I’m not. I want to sell. Now the question is Victorian? new construction? hope for a Craftsman to come on the market? Go back to the L-shaped house and see if they still want to sell? (Though I think its rented).</p>
<p>Does this mean that, through keeping the original deposit, you make good some of the shortfall caused by the price reduction?</p>
<p>Yes, marite, it actually looks like I’d come out with the same amount of money as I would have in the original contract or very close to it.</p>
<p>Oakland, as a realtor I would make it air tight with a short leash…in other words, want the lenders number and if the title search has been done, we know the inspection was done, they should be able to close within days. All of the paperwork should be there at the title co., so there is no excuse not to be able to close in days…Not a CA realtor, but if I recall correctly they backed out hours b4 only a few weeks ago. They might have also changed their minds knowing that they will lose the mediation (my guess why they are doing this now) Also are they still using a realtor?</p>
<p>oaklandmom: I didn’t read all the posts, so someone may have mentioned this already. I lived in a Victorian for years. I absolutely loved it-- I loved the tall ceilings, the spacious rooms, the plaster walls, the working fireplaces in every room, the slate roof-- loved it all. That said, Victorians in this country (or maybe it was just my house) were, I believe, completely underbuilt. The maintenance costs are ridiculously high. Not only that, we always had trouble finding people to do the work. Everything–everything-- will cost you more. We spent every weekend working on that house. Even when it was “done,” we spent every weekend maintaining it. And the maintenance costs really were astronomical. We finally moved to a house built in the 1920’s. What a difference a few decades makes. I would advise any woman who is not handy with rebuilding, fixing, etc. herself-- not to move into a Victorian. I’d advise anyone that doesn’t have a trust fund, or is not making inordinate amounts of money, not to move into one.</p>
<p>Again, I only read your post. Sorry if this has been covered. Good luck.</p>
<p>bulletandpima, thanks for the advice - its my feeling exactly that this contract has to be airtight. They did cancel last time within hours of when we were to close. My agent said he’s going to take charge of making sure they can get a the loan before we even sign any agreements. All the paper work except the loan docs are at the title company. </p>
<p>janieblue, thanks. I’m thinking now that though I love the Victorian, I’ll probably go for a newer home. I’m not sure I want all the work that’s involved in this particular Victorian. So I’ll be scouring the MLS searching for the right home.</p>
<p>Omom, do the towns you’re moving to have any new developments where there is a new phase but most were already built and sold? These can be especially good values now. Some developers even know how to put charm into new homes. I used to be one and took pride in doing so. Add the right colors and furniture and you can have a very appealing home that’s low cost to maintain.</p>
<p>Agreed with above post. We built a pretty standard Colonial about 12 years ago. I wanted something old…but DH said NO NO…to much work. And he also wanted level floors. We did some custom moldings on our first floor, a custom made mantel over the fireplace, wood floors, and had the moldings stained instead of painted. It’s not an “old house” but it feels older because of the extra touches we added. You can try to purchase a home that is almost complete, and perhaps be able to add some custom touches, and still have the new features of a new home (like energy efficient appliances, windows, HVAC systems, etc) with the charm of an older one.</p>
<p>In this part of California very few new developments are being built in desirable neighborhoods close to the urban centers - there just isn’t room. And, when they are new, they tend to be targeted at the multi-millionaires and everything is festooned with brass or glass or marble (if one can festoon of course with marble that is…).</p>
<p>Oakland have you looked for a development that has a “walking town center” in NoVA, many of the new construction developments in our area now have this…it might be a great idea for you since you have a dog and from what I can understand you are a single parent. In our area thay have restaurants, banks, manicurists, ice cram shops, very much like an old town effect. You get a new construction home and a small town effect all wrapped up in one</p>
<p>Alum, I think Omom is moving to the boonies.</p>
<p>Bullet, we don’t in gereral have those because land is too expensive. In fact I can only think of 1 in NorCal which is built around a very high end mall. Hard to imagine land values here, but vacant acres that can accomodate dense housing is multi millions per acre.</p>
<p>We don’t even have many “communities”, gated, themed or otherwise. Just a lot of suburban ranch houses that have not been updated since the 50s that go for millions!</p>
<p>The rest of the world is a different world in terms of real estate excluding a few places like London and Tokyo.</p>
<p>Oaklandmom, are you moving to the boonies? We don’t really have any here until you get down south around San Jose, or out east at the edge of Fremont. Other “boonies” such as Woodside and Portola Valley LOL anywhere else in the coutnry would be a “holler” but here they are millions of $$$ as you know…</p>
<p>I had assumed Omom was moving near to the SJ airport, since she talked about changing airports.</p>
<p>Victorians you can find in San Jose…</p>
<p>And actually in Menlo Park they are doing some inbuilding but it sure as heck ain’t cheap.</p>
<p>Anyway, not that you have to tell us Omom where you are looking to move, but I personally share your fondness for houses with a little history…even if history here mostly does mean as ceebrown says, a 1950’s rancher.</p>
<p>I lived outside of London for almost 4 yrs, it is very similiar to DC…actually the metro map looks identical to the tube map, and the feeder lines into the tube are similiar to the metro…in other words, you can live 30 miles out, but take mass transit.</p>
<p>I will never try to say I know your market, I don’t, I never will, I am only trying to give ideas to think about. The more anyone is informed, the better decision they will make. A contract is a legela obligation, b4 you sign it make sure you don’t have any questions, or at least the majority are answered</p>