our bid for a house just got accepted!

[Maximus96]

the wife and i with our 5 month baby girl put in an offer for a house last night. agent just let us know that our offer was selected among 3 offers. this will be our first house together...so exciting. 8 year old house in the best area of Castro Valley, CA, 1940sqft 4bed/2.5bath for 835k! its a big chunk of change but we're excited as hell.

 

[isekii]

wow.
835k is a lot of money.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

wow, that's quite a bit! :Q

Pictures?

 

[EKKC]

how much down are you putting?

congrats

 

[MercenaryForHire]

omgwtfhousingbubble?

Pics of what that buys you?

- M4H

 

[MrsBugi]

Congrats!

 

[z0mb13]

where is castro valley?

 

[Maximus96]

ah sorry no pics. the asking price was 825k. we offerd 835 and still another offer that was same priced. but our terms are cleaner. the other homes we saw for sale in the area are 950-1M...

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: z0mb13
where is castro valley?

kinda, sorta in the bay area of CA, past hayward, before union city.

 

[EKKC]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
omgwtfhousingbubble?

Pics of what that buys you?

- M4H

i dont get this housing bubble BS. ok so the market is inflated, but is it coming down? no. are there signs of coming down? no but theres talks about it but its going up and up!

so what is the OP supposed to do, continue to waste money on rent? rent is money you spend 100% and 100% of it is unrecoverable, its not invested. whereas for a mortgage, you lose out on some % for interest, but at least in the long run, its your property. if your buying for yourself, then do it, dont bother waiting, bubble or not. if you're buying to rent out, then hold off i say.

congrats again to the OP, especially with children, one can't afford not to have a house, just in case the kids grow up to be some losers, they can still live at home, you know? and if you're that unfortunate, at least you get to yell at them for still living at home when they're 25!

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: EKKC

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
omgwtfhousingbubble?

Pics of what that buys you?

- M4H

i dont get this housing bubble BS. ok so the market is inflated, but is it coming down? no. are there signs of coming down? no but theres talks about it but its going up and up!

so what is the OP supposed to do, continue to waste money on rent? rent is money you spend 100% and 100% of it is unrecoverable, its not invested. whereas for a mortgage, you lose out on some % for interest, but at least in the long run, its your property. if your buying for yourself, then do it, dont bother waiting, bubble or not. if you're buying to rent out, then hold off i say.

congrats again to the OP, especially with children, one can't afford not to have a house, just in case the kids grow up to be some losers, they can still live at home, you know? and if you're that unfortunate, at least you get to yell at them for still living at home when they're 25!

it is very possible that house prices can go down as much as 5-10% within a year or so. Heck condos are already seeing that drop in price.

If the OP is capable of making the mortgage payments comfortably (without the help of an exotic type of mortgage) and expect to live in the property for at least 5 years, there is no reason why he should not buy the house. Yes the house price might dip in 2 or 3 years, but it will go back up again in the long run.

 

[Lola]

Oh dear goodness thats a lot of money! :Q

CONGRATS to you and your family! i hope moving is a painless experience!

 

[Maximus96]

we've been watching alot of HGTV the last couple of months, 835k buys a house 3-4 times bigger than what we're buying in some parts of the country...but we have no intentions of packing up and moving east because of the rest of our family here in the bay area. we plan to live in this house and raise a family for the next 20-30 years unless the area turns to sh!t. but by the looks and prices it looks highly unlikely. the school is also the best in area...this is really an investment for our baby and future kids...

 

[ViviTheMage]

you're rich.

sweet house if you get it!

 

[trmiv]

Congrats.

But holy criminey, that's a lot of money. My wife and I will NEVER be able to afford something like that in this area (I'm in Fremont). We resigned ourselves to the fact that we will be apartment dwellers until we are able to move to a different state. Sucks because both our families are in this area, but it's just too pricey for most young couples to live.

 

[777php]

Castro Valley is a nice area, my GF's family is from there and I've spent a lot of time there as well? Which community are you living in Palomares? Five Canyons?

I'm also in the hunt for a house, and I've noticed a significant drop in housing prices over the last few months as much as $50k in some instances. However, I'm not sure if waiting for a housing bubble burst is a good idea, especially if you plan on living in your house for any significant amount of time. While you may save $50k on the purchase price, the hike in the interest rate will have you paying more in the long run. If you plan on living there for at least 5 years you will most definitely make money down the line when you sell.

I personally like the Dublin/Pleasanton area which is where I am currently shopping, did you consider either of those two cities?

 

[SampSon]

Congratulations.
If you don't mind me asking, what type of career do you have that you can swing a $5,000 a month mortgage, not including taxes and insurance?

 

[FP]

Congrats... I live about 3 cities over from you. We bought last year after I held out for 2 years hoping for a bubble. We couldn't forego our future any longer so we purchased.

Like you we bid about $15k over asking and finally got one.

As much as people talk about the dangers of an interest-only loan that is the route we went. Not because we couldn't afford P&I but because I don't want my money tied up in equity. Appreciation I'll take but paying principal only makes the bank sleep better at night . I am sure people will reply talking about being this being a crazy plan but I spent those 2 years doing the math and I can find investments that have a return high enough to offset any increased interest we am paying. Additionally since our money is working for us instead of sitting in the house we plan to have it paid off in half the time.

 

[mitaiwan82]

835K daymn....congrats on the acceptance

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: 777php
Castro Valley is a nice area, my GF's family is from there and I've spent a lot of time there as well? Which community are you living in Palomares? Five Canyons?

I'm also in the hunt for a house, and I've noticed a significant drop in housing prices over the last few months as much as $50k in some instances. However, I'm not sure if waiting for a housing bubble burst is a good idea, especially if you plan on living in your house for any significant amount of time. While you may save $50k on the purchase price, the hike in the interest rate will have you paying more in the long run. If you plan on living there for at least 5 years you will most definitely make money down the line when you sell.

I personally like the Dublin/Pleasanton area which is where I am currently shopping, did you consider either of those two cities?

the house is in Palomares hills. we looked at five canyons, the houses there are like 80-90k less but its surrounded by high power transmission towers. we were scared of the potential health affects on the baby so decided not to buy there. people there must be moving for this same reason because therea are 3 houses for sale withing a block or so of each other.

 

[Slew Foot]

Sacramento prices are DOWN about 5-10% this year, and there's a record amount of homes for sale and foreclosures(48 homes foreclosed this month within about 4 miles of me) going on. I hear San Diego is in similar shape. This will probably spread to the rest of CA within the year, hang on....

 

[777php]

Palomares hills is where my GF's family lives as well...its a nice neighborhood. Kids playing in the street, people walking their dogs, it's definitely a good place to raise your kids.

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: 777php
Palomares hills is where my GF's family lives as well...its a nice neighborhood. Kids playing in the street, people walking their dogs, it's definitely a good place to raise your kids.

yea, even the townhouses in the area are 750-800 depending on the view. so we figure 835 for a single house is a good price for the area. its like night and day compared to the house and area we live in in Oakland.

 

[Dirigible]

Congratulations! That's a nice area. I'm in the same situation, with deep family roots in the Bay Area. I'm glad I bought and you will be too. Even if there's a bubble that pops, there's so little land near the bay and so many people want to live here that it'll go up in the long run. But you knew that already.

 

[arcenite]

Originally posted by: SampSon
Congratulations.
If you don't mind me asking, what type of career do you have that you can swing a $5,000 a month mortgage, not including taxes and insurance?