Casa Kassim - Is it time?

[rizwank]

Graydon and I used to have lunch together on a weekly basis; and I'd often stop in at the Bank of America by my apartment mid-afternoon; and we'd glance at the Bank of America list of mortgage rates; and muse about what type of home we'd buy eventually

Comments

[freudinshade]

Looks like sound reasoning to me. If you're looking long term, there's mortgages to be had under 4% with full down and maybe a point or two (which doesn't pay off in the short term, but really can in the long). Now is pretty much the right time to be buying. Not only will interest rates go up at some point (quite possibly a lot) but once inflation is allowed to return, debt becomes cheaper, relatively. I think it's only another year at most before that comes back (with a vengance, by some estimates).

And yes, we have a realtor we love. We found him by referral from Ray and Cynthia and we've used him for both the Glendale house and this one. He also helped us with the paperwork on the Glendale house sale, though we never listed it with him and noone was getting commission.

[rizwank]

I'd be interested in seeing the estimates on the market and inflation coming back; with the Fed talking about more QE; I thought the consensus was going the other way.

4% with a point or two? That's ... insane.

I'd to talk to you more about your Realtor later --- do you know if he/she has any experience on the Westside?

[freudinshade]

A lot of the direction of things like QE will depend on the results of the election in Nov, so it's hard to make predictions. I don't know that I can point to any hard numbers indicating that inflation will come late next year, but with the amount of money that's been pumped into the economy by the central banks (not just the Fed) it will happen at some point (might be tied to China finally changing their policy of rigidly controlling the Yuan.)

As for our Realtor, the westside isn't his specialty these days, but he did find Ray and Cynthia's place and I know he's worked the westside before, though maybe more high end than you're looking, I dunno.

[rizwank]

There's nothing cheap on the Westside. =p

I'm going to scramble to find someone in the next few days; I've done a few walkthroughs (and shown the parents) of a location that's mispriced enough to put aside most of my fears about asset prices... Hopefully I'll find someone with recent knowledge on the Westside; but if not; I'll ping you. =)

[jimkeller]

Before committing yourself heart and soul to the plan, make an appointment to go look at a few houses. Granted, we haven't been in the market in about a year, but in the declining market we found prices hadn't returned to reason as much as the numbers indicated, because of a preponderance of distressed properties on the market. So tear-downs were selling at the "average" price, and desirable homes were still sparking bidding wars

[rizwank]

Thanks for the note on the permits; doing my due diligence now.

But that said, even in a declining market, I don't regret owning a home, even with all the headaches. As long as you don't need to sell, it doesn't matter if prices continue to come down, as that money you're paying on rent is money out the window anyway.

Thanks for this, put some good thoughts in my head.

[newtoniancat]

Owning a home is like

[rizwank]

I reached out to a friend; an RE investor and he confirmed a lot of what you said about rental markets; which was one of the big variables.

[bec_bec]

The realtor I work for is awesome: Monica Florian. I've known her for over 4 years now. Worked with her for 3.

I have an odd disconnect in my head trying to picture you living in a house... I think because I've always pictured you as being Metropolitan rather than Suburban. But I'm going to be happy to change my view on that... especially if you pick a neighborhood near me ;-)

[rizwank]

Does she do any Westside work?

You should see this home. It's a duplex combined into one; probably five bedrooms, two kitchens. I kind of want to remake the Asylum.

[gina]

Alex and I loved our realtor. Let me know when you get to the point where you're ready to consult and I'll pass along her info.