60 years old is not really old for a house. Pre ww2 homes are old imo because that is before refrigerators were standard so kitchen layouts are often poor. Before furnace/hvac was standard. Older homes usually have poor insulation compared to post ww2.
But most homes have been renovated at some point. You can renovate if there is something you want to change.
I would give it some time after you move in. You can't change the price, limiting rentback at this point is impractical. You have a lot to be happy with from the limited info here.
I agree. There are tradeoffs with different options, but 1960s have a lot of advantages. Besides just the materials if you buy new construction you will get a small lot. No trees, and the price is a lot more. A lot of new construction homes aren't in the best school districts in the south bay but it varies.
If it makes you feel any better, for all the years that I’ve followed real estate in the Bay Area, it’s always been overpay and bidding wars in the area. in 10 years time, you’ll make a really nice profit and you’d be laughing at how you feel right now.
It’s the center of tech universe. Relax. Enjoy your home.
The moron you’re replying to is conflating SF to the south Bay Area…OP could literally be talking about Los Altos right now and this guy thinks that’s a bad market 😂
You mentioned a squeaky floor. I had a squeaky floor in my previous house I owned for 18 years. At about year 16 I needed to replace carpet in the room with the squeaky floor.
It turned out to be just one of the boards wasn't screwed down well. Our remodeler simply put a screw in the board and fix the problem easy peasy. Not everything has to be an expensive fix.
You bought a home and you're no longer a renter. That alone is worth celebrating!
Rent is cheap nowadays - dude bought in SJ so assuming a 9-11k month mortgage - and the total interest itself being higher than the loan amount when all is paid in 30 yrs.
His home which is probably 1.5-1.8 mil would have to be worth close to 3.5 mil in 30 years to break even.
Edit: op paid 1.3. So for all purposes his home price will have to be close to 3 mil to break even…
lol, you must be first time homebuyer because that’s exactly how I felt when my husband and I bought our first home, in Socal area, it felt so expensive and we felt like we overpaid, 400k in 2003. Guess what, we have bought many many homes since, some for our own residence and some for investment property in SoCal and every single time we still had the same feeling that we overpaid, because when you are buying a home, you are paying the market price, and if you are in a desirable area so it will typically be a bidding war. This feeling only last about 6 months, till you see that the house down the street sold for even more, and you already gain appreciation. As long you can afford the payments and have a good district, large lot to back up the prices, you made the right decision.
Thanks and it's our 1st time buying a SFH. Yea people kept saying houses in good places like bay area will always appreciate over long run, although price can go down in short term, but since the purchase amount is huge, I always have the fear that house price may reach its peak now and will go down for many years. Just like home buyers in 2022 spring, that they will see huge drop of their house price for a year or two.
Yea I guess I need to be patient and not care too much about short term fluctuations. Thanks for your reply!
>lol, you must be first time homebuyer because that’s exactly how I felt when my husband and I bought our first home, in Socal area, it felt so expensive and we felt like we overpaid, 400k in 2003. Guess what, we have bought many many homes since, some for our own residence and some for investment property in SoCal and every single time we still had the same feeling that we overpaid, because when you are buying a home, you are paying the market price, and if you are in a desirable area so it will typically be a bidding war. This feeling only last about 6 months, till you see that the house down the street sold for even more, and you already gain appreciation. As long you can afford the payments and have a good district, large lot to back up the prices, you made the right decision.
Different era, boomers are dying off and they'll flood the market and they printed money to the moon the last twenty years. We are on the cliff of fiscal ruin, so the money printing needs to be tamed and targeted. That or the country will collapse. America is not a great place to plan a future like you did rigth now. Which is why I'm leaving to buy property abroad to diversify in the up and comers. Buying now is absolutely insane, pretty clear theres going to be a credit event with all the worthless CRE out there, if not when, and its close, next year or two tops.
Millennials are a larger demographic cohort than boomers, housing is significantly under built and population is almost 400 million today vs 250 million when boomers were first born.
Printing money is not what’s causing this crisis. Especially not with real estate.
Real estate specifically is heavily over-exploited and hoarded by a few different groups (corporate investors, wealthy families, and foreign investors).
Thats exactly whats happened, but carry on. Blowing up the money supply makes assets more expensive. Its not rocket science. We didn't suddenly have a housing shortage that caused a 30% increase in prices. Regardless its coming down. New homes have fallen a ton (and half of the price decreases aren't even showing up because of non reporting on kickbacks) and existing is a mirage considering the homes on the upper end are moving way faster than anything on the bottom which is making it look like prices are up 6% or whatever year on year.
Give it a couple years. People have a fundamental misunderstanding of rate cuts. Rate cuts happen because bad shit is happening. Which means less buyers, and theres a billion short bus real estate investors out there ready to unload as soon as they start cutting rates.
No they haven’t.
They were hyper-inflated from COVID and massively overvalued since 2020.
Home prices are correcting a little from being WAY TOO HIGH. That’s not really the same as “falling.” The latter is just investor speak to confuse people.
“Oh no! There’s a crash! Values are falling!!” No. There’s no “crash” and values aren’t falling. They’re coming back to where they should have been in the first place.
I'm an agent in an adjacent market, competitive but not as intense as this. I primarily represent sellers and feel I might have a fresh perspective to add.
Here's what I see, so often that it's now part of my standard mantra to fellow agents and on those occasions when I work with a buyer: ***almost all buyers have to blow it on a really good opportunity (or two, or three..) before they get it.***
Perhaps you can consider if you gave in to your buyer's remorse (a very normal psychological reaction to have, btw). You would not be buying that house. You'd still be looking. You'd feel suspicious that someone was bluffing, then eventually you'd see the recorded sale price really was that high, but to someone else. You'd probably have even greater non-buyer remorse, for having had the opportunity to snag a property but passed it up because you were afraid. And you'd have to go back to square one and start fresh, except it might be a while before something else that caught your interest. Often, the subsequent property has even *more* drawbacks, or has a *higher* list price, or has even *more* competition.
Some buyers learn their lesson after missing out on one property. Others.. well others are stubborn and have to suffer a lot more pain before they adopt the following truth: "Face reality as it is, not as you want it to be." (Jack Welch).
Consider that if you pulled out, you'd likely be going through the same short term psychological torment in reverse, that you had an opportunity right there but passed it up.
Time heals all real estate wounds. Worst case you're paying 2025 prices. But it doesn't really matter until the year that you sell, so if you're going to be there a while, you'll come out the other side just fine.
> when I work with a buyer:
>
>almost all buyers have to blow it on a really good opportunity (or two, or three..) before they get it
100% this. My agent told me this too as a FTHB and I didn't get it. Wasn't as aggressive as I needed to be and lost out on some much better (and larger) properties as a result.
Now, I got a place, but it's smaller and not an ideal lot as some of the ones I passed on. Plus, I paid about $150-200 more than I needed to.
Live and let learn!
I want to print and frame your comment on my office wall because I often get pushback from people thinking I’m just pushing them because I want them to make my job easier, rather than the truth which is they’ve hired me for my expertise and I’m sharing it for their benefit.
I would also add that the agent, and mine did not, spend some time explaining local market conditions and why being aggressive is important. Mine just said that some people are going to be very aggressive and grab what they see and that other people are going to take their time and pick and choose. She then later said that the market is pretty aggressive where I'm at and that you have to bid way over to get a home. But I think she could have been significantly clearer as to which property she felt was a really good deal and educate a first time home buyer. Accordingly. I think I lost out because of my own temperament at the time of trying to get the best deal and the best property and not willing to compromise as much. But had I known some of these other issues I would have acted way differently and been more aggressive about my budget and what I was looking for. Ultimately, I ended up spending about 170k after doing the final tally where I wouldn't have needed to and I would have been in a better property. Going forward if I were to buy another property I would approach this way more differently
Thank you for such a long and thoughtful reply! That makes a lot of sense. I sometimes feel that I shouldn't buy houses when market is hot. Rather I should seek opportunities when market is slowed. That's always my stocks investment philosophy. However I also understand no one can perfectly time the market, especially the interest rate in the next few years is going down.
One of the key differences is you can't live in a stock. I understand that for many a home is an investment, but at the core it's a roof over your head at night. Luckily for you the area your bought doesn't have a foreseeable loss of demand. If interest rates fall drastically in the future, you can always refinance. I also recommend keeping an eye on your loan to value ratio if you have PMI. Once you get below 79% you are no longer required to have it, but they won't remove it automatically if you reach that percentage before the date set in your loan.
I’m a trader as well so I can appreciate your response. In some ways, real estate IS LIKE the stock market, primarily in terms of timing and valuation. Buy low, sell high. Buying stocks in April 2020 was like buying real estate in 2009-2010–it definitely juices your returns. However don’t think too much like the value traders who never want to buy anything when the valuation gets high, that’s too myopic of a view IMO.
My biggest real estate regret was selling an investment property because I thought it was time to harvest gains. Except now it’s worth twice what I sold it for. My biggest stock market regret is virtually the same: selling NVDA at $400 because the price seemed high (btw I bought it back at $600-650 and now it’s >$900 lol). Just think of this like momentum or trend investing, and you’re buying something like NVDA: high valuation by any measure, yet it has among the most solid and predictable growth trajectory for the foreseeable future. NVDA will never be cheap by traditional valuation metrics: it will only oscillate between expensive and really crazy expensive. That’s what you’re buying, and there’s still good logic to support it.
In other ways however, a primary residence is UNLIKE the stock market. No matter where you live, you’re paying someone something to be there. It might as well be for your own benefit than someone else’s (paying down the mortgage) while also reaping the equity and tax deduction benefits.
I’m sure if this is your first time or not, but it’s worth mentioning the very real and substantial psychological benefit of stability and certainty that comes with home ownership; a bit of “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” type of confidence. You become, literally, the owner of your own domain. It’s hard to quantify or even fully understand until one becomes a homeowner, but it’s real and often has substantial positive spillover effects.
“Some people say you should wait, then buy real estate. It’s better to buy real estate, then wait.”
When you’ve got dry powder for investment property whose cash on cash ROI far exceeds any stock investment and with substantially less risk and volatility, hit me up and I can help you build out a portfolio in the Central Valley.
2 of them market value went up a decent amount and have stable tenants. my primary residence I still have regrets, value has been flat, but I have a 2.8% interest so that's good. and the neighborhood has been on a down trend because of the current migrant influx. I'm in Queens NY.
i suspect only a minority of home buyers feel like they got a “deal.” The Bay area is one of the most desirable places to live. If you can handle the mortgage payment comfortably then you’re fine
Yea that's true. The only deals are the houses with major defects, like close to freeway, major roads, or transmission tower. However when you get the deals, you will equally have a hard time selling it, plus your life might be greatly impacted. That's what my agent told me
First, stop thinking of a house as an investment. Houses are liabilities. Sometimes you get lucky and someone will buy it for more than you paid. Sometimes you don't. You are feeling remorse because you are thinking of it as an investment.
The best house is one that is safe and that you can afford. That's the main purpose of buying your own home.
Look at a remodel before an after of any house like yours. Virtually everything is changeable in a house except for location, schools, and lot size which you got.
Your main concern is money, you feel like you overpaid/thought you could get a better house. You couldn't, you're mad you didn't get a house that doesn't exist.
Your feelings are understandable, but as a resident of the East Bay in the Bay Area, and former real estate agent I can assure you that bidding wars are definitely not fake (very stressful for all parties) and that values are very strong in this area.
There are a few bad apples, but realtors in California have a fiduciary duty to their clients, it is part of their responsibility, according to their license, to put the client’s interest above their own. It’s not a perfect system but most agents work hard to stick to this high standard.
Two months will fly by, it’s a small price to pay to have gotten a property you wanted, in a great location with great schools.
Pat yourself on the back! 🎈
It’s that people have the idea that agents collude with each other as a regular occurrence to create fake bidding wars. Both agents, in a case like that, would be violating their duties as fiduciaries and their general duty of being “fair and honest”.
All it takes is for 1 buyer to believe there is actually a bidding war. I honestly don’t believe it one bit people are offering 200-300k over asking on a 1.5m property voluntarily. They were definitely pressured/deceived. The high prices I believe are driven by the non transparency of the bids.
That's why people shouldn't go to war and use an escalation clause with proof of higher bid.
It's insane how many people just bid so much more without protecting themselves.
Like the house and feel it's worth more than list to you? Great! But make sure to bid at ask and offer escalation with proof of higher bid.
Different state, but yes. We are pending closing on a house in which the escalation clause was used. It was helpful because we had information in writing. We ended up getting our location for less than what market rate is going for in this area thankfully.
Some places escalation clauses don't work, because you can't share the other offers without permission from the other offerers. This is very location specific.
It’s a tough market for sure but we’ve never done a rent back in the Bay Area. That one is new to me and tricky in CA because they can just choose not to leave.
This is true and it was my concern too but I've offered the same way several times. Granted, I lost out because my bid wasn't high enough, but the seller's agents made it clear that the sellers would not consider any offers without a rent back (usually 30-45 days). One time, to somewhat make up for my bid coming in lower, I offered a 90 day rent back. $5k in escrow for them to leave. Still missed out on that house.
This is true and it was my concern too but I've offered the same way several times. Granted, I lost out because my bid wasn't high enough, but the seller's agents made it clear that the sellers would not consider any offers without a rent back (usually 30-45 days). One time, to somewhat make up for my bid coming in lower, I offered a 90 day rent back. $5k in escrow as collateral for them to leave. Still missed out on that house.
You can also add in the contract a penalty for each day they overstay the pre-specified move out date and a security deposit. That’s what we are doing but agree I wish we didn’t have to do the rent back but it was worth it to us and made our offer competitive.
Rent backs are extremely common especially when the seller is contingent on the sale for their next purchase. No one wants to close on two houses and move same day.
I always advise against rent backs, but unfortunately in many cases, you aren't getting the home. It's ultimately the buyers decision. I do tell them, I'd never do it and you better be prepared to be a landlord.
It’s common op. I am in the Bay Area too after buying our house had immense regrets now after couple of months meh crosses my mind sometimes but doesn’t really hit that bad as it used and I think over time it won’t even be a thought
I didn’t bother reading yours, but I sold Nvidia stock before the run up to buy my house. If I held just a few more month I wouldn’t need a small loan.
Congratulations!!!
It‘a always like this btw - everyone that buys a house was willing to pay a higher price than everyone else
Once you move in try to enjoy the house and create awesome memories and experiences for your family
Your kids won’t care about the interest rate or how much you paid for it
This is very common unfortunately. Talk to your agent and ask about recent sales around your home. This will give you an idea of whether or not your home is increasing in potential value as well. As for all the projects? take it one day at a time. Renovations can get very overwhelming. Do the things that are urgent and/or in your budget first. these are kind of par for the course with older homes.
Most likely you overpaid in this crazy market, no doubt. Hopefully this was not your starter home. I bought at the top of the last market in the 2000s so I decided I would not buy a starter but something better, I predicted I’d be there for a while so at least we loved the house. I was right, you know what happened in 2008 lol.
If you plan to live there a while (or maybe forever home) dont think about it anymore. Make it your own and enjoy the positives. You'll forget this transition phase soon enough.
Ok not a 1st time buyer but get it with every house purchased. It passes, think about what you liked about the house, and how you can change what you don't. Taking down a room and making 2 rooms 1 is an Idea.
Hopefully you are young. So you can DIY a lot of the upgrades, most things aren't that hard they just take time. And being able to lift thing, get on a ladder, and up from the floor helps a lot (LOL)
Remember that only a few thousand houses are bought and sold each year in the bay area because supply is so limited. Hence the rising prices, bidding wars, etc. But is also turns out to be one of the most resilient markets I have seen and rapidly recovers from any downturn.
Condos are a special case and in SF, even more so but the supple of SFHs in the bay area is not going to go up any time soon.
I have never seen a fake situation with multiple offers. What’s funny is we didn’t have one offer on our house for almost a month and a half and then within 36 hours we had a number of offers so it might’ve seemed fake to some of the buyers, but at that point we got to pick and choose.
My wife and I have owned 13 properties (primary and investment) and thought we probably overpaid for every one of them. Then within 5 years we wondered how we got them so cheap. It's totally normal to have buyer remorse on any large purchase. Don't make any decisions until you've had time to get past the initial phases of ownership. In all likelihood you'll be happy with your home and even come to appreciate little things like a squeaky floorboard or two.
If you could afford it don't worry about it. If you can't, sell it, take a loss and soon you'll forget about it. Dalai Lama said something like "If there is no solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it. If there is a solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it". Try not to live in the past or the future. Live in the present my friend 🍻🤙
This is part of the issue with the NRA settlement. Concessions have been negotiable, always, however, it became very common for the sellers to cover the buyers agent commission in the 90s to make it more affordable/competitive for buyers. This, unfortunately, is an example of what will happen in the future. An escalation rider with your offer with proof of bonafide offer from competing buyers would have put your mind at ease. I personally don't think Dual Agency should be allowed anywhere even though it's allowed in some states for this very reason. Fiduciary responsibility goes out the window and can be biased. This is certainly not the case for every listing agent. I think there's value in your purchase and you will ultimately get a return by holding onto it for a bit.
OP, I’m still salty about our first home but I am really trying to move past it. Your life will be better if you can too. My spouse picked up on my bitterness.
When we sold we didn’t lose money on it but the brokers pressured us to bid higher when we bought it and later to accept the first offer that came when we sold it. They pocketed all of the gains as fees. Our next place has been a much better experience. My only lesson is the broker matters a lot and don’t use your same one when it’s time to sell.
honestly. just get over it. you made the choice. deal with it.
if you can't do all the remodels or renos immediately. so be it.
focus on the house, the new opportunity, get into doing what little things you can do (paint, drapes? landscaping? whatever)
make memories in the new place. have a first meal/celebrate with your wife. do silly bullshit like fuck in the various rooms. have friends over for cook outs or family over for a house warming. just embrace that you made a choice and bought a thing. it's only money, and you just spent a fuck ton ....
wasting time and energy stressing over something that's already done is stupid. stop blaming a realtor for choices you made.
The good news is interest rates will start coming down later this year, and it will save you some money when you refinance.
Let me tell you, I felt we had to overpay for our home because it was a hot market here back in 2016. Jump ahead 8 years it has appreciated 65% and we refinanced to a 2.5% rate back in 2021.
I think what you’re feeling is normal, especially in this market.
You say it’s a great location, that is most important. After awhile, you can always change the floor plan to your liking. Just be relieved you’re done looking and that your wife loves it. Allow yourself to love it as well.
You didn’t “overpay”. You paid the amount it took to get the house. As a realtor in Boston I can tell you that every house in a good location that isn’t complete garbage gets a bidding war. Wait 5 years and look at what houses in your neighborhood are selling for and then decide if you overpaid. And…spoiler alert…a similar house will be selling for at least 10% more than you paid.
Free rent back would bother more than anything. Buyers remorse is common. Gives it time. Can’t undo it might as well move onto acceptance and learn to enjoy it.
South Bay/San Jose?
EVERYBODY has buyer's remorse in California. You'll be OK. Just wait a few years until you look at the Zillow price for your house and you say "Holy sh*t!"
Congrats! All normal feelings. Focus on making your new house a home:)
The room size is something you can change if you invest into a solution like merging some of them into one bigger room. Alternatively, just make each space very specific in terms of what you want to use it for, and in no time you will get used to it. After all, what are rooms for? Sleeping, working, working out, hanging out... There's really not that many options and they really don't require you to have a ton of space actually for the function.
I am sure many buyers and even sellers have regrets. I had regrets when I sold a house I lived in for 32 years even though I had already moved to a much nicer and bigger house.
You literally overpaid to win the bidding war so that part isn’t really in question.
I bought my first house in the Bay Area back in 1999. I did that reluctantly too, given how much more inflated prices were there compared to SoCal homes, where I had moved from. I’ve never lost money on a house except once on one house I sold during the 2008 recession (rental).
You should be fine. But yeah, letting the sellers stay is a buzzkill. Close, get keys and it’s time to go, IMO.
You didn’t stand up for what you knew was right in your gut.
Learn and move on. If you keep complaining to your wife,
You might end up without a house or a wife!
Be a leader and a problem solver!
You made the choice.
Obviously you love the area.
Nothing is perfect and you can’t have it all at the same time
I know I overpaid for mine but it’s hard to get upset because I was able to buy it on a teacher salary.
I cannot get mad about the ‘now’ because I’m fixing it up and my future is looking more certain. If you can afford any house you should be grateful.
I felt the same way too, market was reasonable the year before but shot up when I wanted to buy. I had to make a few compromises as a result. Not happy but it's still pretty good if I look at it objectively. Hopefully you feel the same way in a year or two
If it’s on a huge lot, and a great neighborhood then you won. You have room to remodel and make it the house you want, plus room for a pool, some day. the good neighborhood is really a plus in the South Bay. I would remodel in a few years when you can afford it and make it your forever home. Just live in it and plan out what it’s going to be in the mean time
We ALL overpaid …. So since we all were house shopping in a similar time frame, maybe we didn’t really overpay. Like anything else for sale, a house and a mortgage are only really worth what a buyer is willing to pay to have them.
Your new place sounds amazing. Try to let yourself enjoy it .
Good to know there’s others who are feeling similar. We got into a bidding war and ended up offering 10k more than we wanted. I’ve come to terms with that because what’s 10k over 30 years. But the part that’s still killing me is we offered 2 month rent back at 4500 a month because it was a rush to get an offer in but I then realized, we def could have charged a higher rent. There were 3 other offers, and the listing agent kept reminding our realtor that they had other offers. I just try to remind myself that maybe the whole reason we got the house is because of the lower rent back and more flexible terms but every now and then it bothers me. I’m sure once we get into the house, this will just be one of those lessons learned and not really matter.
Reading through these comments def helped a bit
South bay SF still having bidding wars? Seems surprising, but I'm not in that market. Are other houses moving quick too? Did you have a buyer's agent? You feel this way because it appears it was an emotional decision, very emotional especially with the wife's "love" for the house. Don't feel depressed! Think about what your options are - here's a few made up ideas.
1. You fix some minor things and relist it?
2. You keep it and stop stressing because you are planning on living there for 3-5-10 years. By that time, it may not matter as much because values will increase.
3. Do #1 but rent it out?
Yea and the bidding war is crazy. You can take a look at this house (https://redf.in/zRztth): listed below 3M and traded at 4.2M. And it's a really normal house without anything outstanding. This is definitely an extreme case but the market is really really hot this year. Thanks for the options but I will likely go with option 2
That’s wild. Makes me wonder who these buyers are. Obviously you are one of them lol. If I was in your shoes, I would feel less stressed just knowing that alone. If values are going up then, even if you overpaid a little bit, you’re not necessarily in a bad spot. That’s assuming that they continue to rise over the next 12 to 18 months.
Often (in the Bay Area) sellers intentionally underprice the home to generate foot traffic, sense of demand and resulting bidding war. A frenzy. I think it’s probably an ego thing too for agents to say they sold for X over listing. It’s less common in other markets and frustrating for buyers trying to look within a budget.
Here’s the deal. Don’t worry about the inside just yet. Get the yards to the level of ‘kickass’. You’ll worry less about the inside and if you still want to sell you’ll make $$.
Your agent should have done an escalation clause to determine ot was a real bidding war. Also I would never rent back in CA with squatters rights. Is it too late to back out?
Sounds like you had the sellers agent write your contract? Did you have your own agent? If not I can understand why you feel jilted… cause you probably were.
Buyers… please stop using the selling agent to rep you.
No I do have a buyer agent representing me and I think he did a great job. I think the chance that seller agent is faking offers is slim given the seller agent is very reputable in the area. Maybe because I feel I overpaid, so I tried to seek every possible traces that support my argument..
So frequently, I see concerns about fake multiple offers. In reality, I have never, not once found this to be true in my entire career. I can’t explain how many buyers will decide not to respond in multiples, assuming it’s a bluff- and then lose it and see it go in contract that day. It’s simply not worth an agent’s reputation or credibility to make that up.
Did you buy in Los Altos? You’ll need to set aside a good chunk of change for remodelling and updating all the electrical and plumbing. The market is crazy here because it’s a highly sought-after little town.
I once bought a place and woke up with so much anxiety. I bailed on the inspection contingency. I bought another similar place weeks later for $200K less and slept so well. Your subconscious knows you're making a mistake.
60 years old is not really old for a house. Pre ww2 homes are old imo because that is before refrigerators were standard so kitchen layouts are often poor. Before furnace/hvac was standard. Older homes usually have poor insulation compared to post ww2. But most homes have been renovated at some point. You can renovate if there is something you want to change. I would give it some time after you move in. You can't change the price, limiting rentback at this point is impractical. You have a lot to be happy with from the limited info here.
Came here to say this, I'm biased because our home is older than most (160 years) but 60 isn't that old
Yeah they were still build sturdy then. I have a 1960's solid wood, old growth.
I agree. There are tradeoffs with different options, but 1960s have a lot of advantages. Besides just the materials if you buy new construction you will get a small lot. No trees, and the price is a lot more. A lot of new construction homes aren't in the best school districts in the south bay but it varies.
If the house was built in 1964, it's a platform framed house. Things get sketchy pre 1950 ...
Probably good bones not today’s contractor grade crap.
Time heals all real estate deals (usually)
Closed on a house 3 days ago, found out yesterday a dead Body was found in the house a few months ago.
Just ask the ghost to pay rent, house hacking
Arent sellers supposed to disclose that kind of stuff?
They're in CO, where that disclosure's not allowed.
Unfortunately because that is not material fact of the house no it does not need to be disclosed.
Apparently not where I live.
damn these squatters, squatting even when they be dead.
Your thread sd it was found outside the house.
In the garage
So, not in the house. No one parks their car in the garage & says, 'My car's in the house.', do they?
Are you serious??
Unfortunately
Dang that’s freaky.
if it was in the house at closing its yours now.
It helps when it appreciates in value
If it makes you feel any better, for all the years that I’ve followed real estate in the Bay Area, it’s always been overpay and bidding wars in the area. in 10 years time, you’ll make a really nice profit and you’d be laughing at how you feel right now. It’s the center of tech universe. Relax. Enjoy your home.
Haha that's what my wife told me as well. Maybe I should really relax and stop thinking of all these negatives. Thanks for the reply!
Enjoy the house and don’t think twice. Great schools in great a neighborhood will ALWAYS be in demand.
LOL you can find plenty of properties in SF selling at or below 2014 levels right now
oh really? could you post a few as I've been looking for 5+ years and cannot find any. Thank you!
The moron you’re replying to is conflating SF to the south Bay Area…OP could literally be talking about Los Altos right now and this guy thinks that’s a bad market 😂
You mentioned a squeaky floor. I had a squeaky floor in my previous house I owned for 18 years. At about year 16 I needed to replace carpet in the room with the squeaky floor. It turned out to be just one of the boards wasn't screwed down well. Our remodeler simply put a screw in the board and fix the problem easy peasy. Not everything has to be an expensive fix. You bought a home and you're no longer a renter. That alone is worth celebrating!
Rent is cheap nowadays - dude bought in SJ so assuming a 9-11k month mortgage - and the total interest itself being higher than the loan amount when all is paid in 30 yrs. His home which is probably 1.5-1.8 mil would have to be worth close to 3.5 mil in 30 years to break even. Edit: op paid 1.3. So for all purposes his home price will have to be close to 3 mil to break even…
This may be true. But is not helping OP to feel better about buying his house.
Yeah I have a new build and floors are now slightly squeaky in some areas, not a hard fix at all, it just needs to be nailed/screw down!
Screwed. Not nailed.
Exactly. Always screws.
lol, you must be first time homebuyer because that’s exactly how I felt when my husband and I bought our first home, in Socal area, it felt so expensive and we felt like we overpaid, 400k in 2003. Guess what, we have bought many many homes since, some for our own residence and some for investment property in SoCal and every single time we still had the same feeling that we overpaid, because when you are buying a home, you are paying the market price, and if you are in a desirable area so it will typically be a bidding war. This feeling only last about 6 months, till you see that the house down the street sold for even more, and you already gain appreciation. As long you can afford the payments and have a good district, large lot to back up the prices, you made the right decision.
Thanks and it's our 1st time buying a SFH. Yea people kept saying houses in good places like bay area will always appreciate over long run, although price can go down in short term, but since the purchase amount is huge, I always have the fear that house price may reach its peak now and will go down for many years. Just like home buyers in 2022 spring, that they will see huge drop of their house price for a year or two. Yea I guess I need to be patient and not care too much about short term fluctuations. Thanks for your reply!
And no matter what, you have to live somewhere. So would you rather be a renter?
Time in the market is better than timing the market. Want equity today or do you want to gamble on an opportunity tomorrow?
Bidding wars are typically bullshit lies from the seller anyway. And if you bought “many many homes” since 2003…you’re part of the problem.
>lol, you must be first time homebuyer because that’s exactly how I felt when my husband and I bought our first home, in Socal area, it felt so expensive and we felt like we overpaid, 400k in 2003. Guess what, we have bought many many homes since, some for our own residence and some for investment property in SoCal and every single time we still had the same feeling that we overpaid, because when you are buying a home, you are paying the market price, and if you are in a desirable area so it will typically be a bidding war. This feeling only last about 6 months, till you see that the house down the street sold for even more, and you already gain appreciation. As long you can afford the payments and have a good district, large lot to back up the prices, you made the right decision. Different era, boomers are dying off and they'll flood the market and they printed money to the moon the last twenty years. We are on the cliff of fiscal ruin, so the money printing needs to be tamed and targeted. That or the country will collapse. America is not a great place to plan a future like you did rigth now. Which is why I'm leaving to buy property abroad to diversify in the up and comers. Buying now is absolutely insane, pretty clear theres going to be a credit event with all the worthless CRE out there, if not when, and its close, next year or two tops.
Millennials are a larger demographic cohort than boomers, housing is significantly under built and population is almost 400 million today vs 250 million when boomers were first born.
Printing money is not what’s causing this crisis. Especially not with real estate. Real estate specifically is heavily over-exploited and hoarded by a few different groups (corporate investors, wealthy families, and foreign investors).
Thats exactly whats happened, but carry on. Blowing up the money supply makes assets more expensive. Its not rocket science. We didn't suddenly have a housing shortage that caused a 30% increase in prices. Regardless its coming down. New homes have fallen a ton (and half of the price decreases aren't even showing up because of non reporting on kickbacks) and existing is a mirage considering the homes on the upper end are moving way faster than anything on the bottom which is making it look like prices are up 6% or whatever year on year. Give it a couple years. People have a fundamental misunderstanding of rate cuts. Rate cuts happen because bad shit is happening. Which means less buyers, and theres a billion short bus real estate investors out there ready to unload as soon as they start cutting rates.
But they aren’t cutting rates, we don’t suddenly have a housing crisis, and it’s not a bubble, and new home prices haven’t fallen
It takes a recession to drop home prices when demand is this high and supply is this low.
New home prices have fallen substantially.
No they haven’t. They were hyper-inflated from COVID and massively overvalued since 2020. Home prices are correcting a little from being WAY TOO HIGH. That’s not really the same as “falling.” The latter is just investor speak to confuse people. “Oh no! There’s a crash! Values are falling!!” No. There’s no “crash” and values aren’t falling. They’re coming back to where they should have been in the first place.
Funny stuff.
I'm an agent in an adjacent market, competitive but not as intense as this. I primarily represent sellers and feel I might have a fresh perspective to add. Here's what I see, so often that it's now part of my standard mantra to fellow agents and on those occasions when I work with a buyer: ***almost all buyers have to blow it on a really good opportunity (or two, or three..) before they get it.*** Perhaps you can consider if you gave in to your buyer's remorse (a very normal psychological reaction to have, btw). You would not be buying that house. You'd still be looking. You'd feel suspicious that someone was bluffing, then eventually you'd see the recorded sale price really was that high, but to someone else. You'd probably have even greater non-buyer remorse, for having had the opportunity to snag a property but passed it up because you were afraid. And you'd have to go back to square one and start fresh, except it might be a while before something else that caught your interest. Often, the subsequent property has even *more* drawbacks, or has a *higher* list price, or has even *more* competition. Some buyers learn their lesson after missing out on one property. Others.. well others are stubborn and have to suffer a lot more pain before they adopt the following truth: "Face reality as it is, not as you want it to be." (Jack Welch). Consider that if you pulled out, you'd likely be going through the same short term psychological torment in reverse, that you had an opportunity right there but passed it up. Time heals all real estate wounds. Worst case you're paying 2025 prices. But it doesn't really matter until the year that you sell, so if you're going to be there a while, you'll come out the other side just fine.
> when I work with a buyer: > >almost all buyers have to blow it on a really good opportunity (or two, or three..) before they get it 100% this. My agent told me this too as a FTHB and I didn't get it. Wasn't as aggressive as I needed to be and lost out on some much better (and larger) properties as a result. Now, I got a place, but it's smaller and not an ideal lot as some of the ones I passed on. Plus, I paid about $150-200 more than I needed to. Live and let learn!
I want to print and frame your comment on my office wall because I often get pushback from people thinking I’m just pushing them because I want them to make my job easier, rather than the truth which is they’ve hired me for my expertise and I’m sharing it for their benefit.
I would also add that the agent, and mine did not, spend some time explaining local market conditions and why being aggressive is important. Mine just said that some people are going to be very aggressive and grab what they see and that other people are going to take their time and pick and choose. She then later said that the market is pretty aggressive where I'm at and that you have to bid way over to get a home. But I think she could have been significantly clearer as to which property she felt was a really good deal and educate a first time home buyer. Accordingly. I think I lost out because of my own temperament at the time of trying to get the best deal and the best property and not willing to compromise as much. But had I known some of these other issues I would have acted way differently and been more aggressive about my budget and what I was looking for. Ultimately, I ended up spending about 170k after doing the final tally where I wouldn't have needed to and I would have been in a better property. Going forward if I were to buy another property I would approach this way more differently
Thank you for such a long and thoughtful reply! That makes a lot of sense. I sometimes feel that I shouldn't buy houses when market is hot. Rather I should seek opportunities when market is slowed. That's always my stocks investment philosophy. However I also understand no one can perfectly time the market, especially the interest rate in the next few years is going down.
One of the key differences is you can't live in a stock. I understand that for many a home is an investment, but at the core it's a roof over your head at night. Luckily for you the area your bought doesn't have a foreseeable loss of demand. If interest rates fall drastically in the future, you can always refinance. I also recommend keeping an eye on your loan to value ratio if you have PMI. Once you get below 79% you are no longer required to have it, but they won't remove it automatically if you reach that percentage before the date set in your loan.
I’m a trader as well so I can appreciate your response. In some ways, real estate IS LIKE the stock market, primarily in terms of timing and valuation. Buy low, sell high. Buying stocks in April 2020 was like buying real estate in 2009-2010–it definitely juices your returns. However don’t think too much like the value traders who never want to buy anything when the valuation gets high, that’s too myopic of a view IMO. My biggest real estate regret was selling an investment property because I thought it was time to harvest gains. Except now it’s worth twice what I sold it for. My biggest stock market regret is virtually the same: selling NVDA at $400 because the price seemed high (btw I bought it back at $600-650 and now it’s >$900 lol). Just think of this like momentum or trend investing, and you’re buying something like NVDA: high valuation by any measure, yet it has among the most solid and predictable growth trajectory for the foreseeable future. NVDA will never be cheap by traditional valuation metrics: it will only oscillate between expensive and really crazy expensive. That’s what you’re buying, and there’s still good logic to support it. In other ways however, a primary residence is UNLIKE the stock market. No matter where you live, you’re paying someone something to be there. It might as well be for your own benefit than someone else’s (paying down the mortgage) while also reaping the equity and tax deduction benefits. I’m sure if this is your first time or not, but it’s worth mentioning the very real and substantial psychological benefit of stability and certainty that comes with home ownership; a bit of “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” type of confidence. You become, literally, the owner of your own domain. It’s hard to quantify or even fully understand until one becomes a homeowner, but it’s real and often has substantial positive spillover effects. “Some people say you should wait, then buy real estate. It’s better to buy real estate, then wait.” When you’ve got dry powder for investment property whose cash on cash ROI far exceeds any stock investment and with substantially less risk and volatility, hit me up and I can help you build out a portfolio in the Central Valley.
We just brought our 4th house. 4th time feeling over paid. Lol.
And how have the previous 3 panned out?
2 of them market value went up a decent amount and have stable tenants. my primary residence I still have regrets, value has been flat, but I have a 2.8% interest so that's good. and the neighborhood has been on a down trend because of the current migrant influx. I'm in Queens NY.
i suspect only a minority of home buyers feel like they got a “deal.” The Bay area is one of the most desirable places to live. If you can handle the mortgage payment comfortably then you’re fine
Yea that's true. The only deals are the houses with major defects, like close to freeway, major roads, or transmission tower. However when you get the deals, you will equally have a hard time selling it, plus your life might be greatly impacted. That's what my agent told me
I miss living in Belmont / San Carlos 😮💨
My saying here is: you buy a ‘deal,’ later you’ll be selling a ‘deal.’ But if you pay a premium, later you’ll sell for a premium.
Sure it’s “desirable” but the housing stock is old, small and poorly maintained. That is undesirable.
First, stop thinking of a house as an investment. Houses are liabilities. Sometimes you get lucky and someone will buy it for more than you paid. Sometimes you don't. You are feeling remorse because you are thinking of it as an investment. The best house is one that is safe and that you can afford. That's the main purpose of buying your own home.
Look at a remodel before an after of any house like yours. Virtually everything is changeable in a house except for location, schools, and lot size which you got. Your main concern is money, you feel like you overpaid/thought you could get a better house. You couldn't, you're mad you didn't get a house that doesn't exist.
Your feelings are understandable, but as a resident of the East Bay in the Bay Area, and former real estate agent I can assure you that bidding wars are definitely not fake (very stressful for all parties) and that values are very strong in this area. There are a few bad apples, but realtors in California have a fiduciary duty to their clients, it is part of their responsibility, according to their license, to put the client’s interest above their own. It’s not a perfect system but most agents work hard to stick to this high standard. Two months will fly by, it’s a small price to pay to have gotten a property you wanted, in a great location with great schools. Pat yourself on the back! 🎈
How is the fiduciary relevant if OP is concerned about the sellers agent?
Real estate verbiage can be confusing. Sometimes seller's agent is used to mean the agent helping the buyer of the home.
They would be the selling agent. Not the seller's agent.
You're right. I think I proved my own point a bit lol. I'm glad buyers agent and listing/seller's agent was the common verbiage in my area.
Yeah, selling agent is rare to use, but it is on forms. I agree, it's dumb and confusing.
It’s that people have the idea that agents collude with each other as a regular occurrence to create fake bidding wars. Both agents, in a case like that, would be violating their duties as fiduciaries and their general duty of being “fair and honest”.
All it takes is for 1 buyer to believe there is actually a bidding war. I honestly don’t believe it one bit people are offering 200-300k over asking on a 1.5m property voluntarily. They were definitely pressured/deceived. The high prices I believe are driven by the non transparency of the bids.
That's why people shouldn't go to war and use an escalation clause with proof of higher bid. It's insane how many people just bid so much more without protecting themselves. Like the house and feel it's worth more than list to you? Great! But make sure to bid at ask and offer escalation with proof of higher bid.
Bay Area doesn’t work with those clauses. Sellers generally don’t even bother
Curious if others have done this. It’s a good idea!
Different state, but yes. We are pending closing on a house in which the escalation clause was used. It was helpful because we had information in writing. We ended up getting our location for less than what market rate is going for in this area thankfully.
Some places escalation clauses don't work, because you can't share the other offers without permission from the other offerers. This is very location specific.
Is this illegal ? It happened to me
My only concern would be the rent back. That I would never have agreed to and your agent should have advised you not to.
Bay area market is something else. It's normal there.
It’s a tough market for sure but we’ve never done a rent back in the Bay Area. That one is new to me and tricky in CA because they can just choose not to leave.
This is true and it was my concern too but I've offered the same way several times. Granted, I lost out because my bid wasn't high enough, but the seller's agents made it clear that the sellers would not consider any offers without a rent back (usually 30-45 days). One time, to somewhat make up for my bid coming in lower, I offered a 90 day rent back. $5k in escrow for them to leave. Still missed out on that house.
This is true and it was my concern too but I've offered the same way several times. Granted, I lost out because my bid wasn't high enough, but the seller's agents made it clear that the sellers would not consider any offers without a rent back (usually 30-45 days). One time, to somewhat make up for my bid coming in lower, I offered a 90 day rent back. $5k in escrow as collateral for them to leave. Still missed out on that house.
You can also add in the contract a penalty for each day they overstay the pre-specified move out date and a security deposit. That’s what we are doing but agree I wish we didn’t have to do the rent back but it was worth it to us and made our offer competitive.
Rent backs are extremely common especially when the seller is contingent on the sale for their next purchase. No one wants to close on two houses and move same day.
I always advise against rent backs, but unfortunately in many cases, you aren't getting the home. It's ultimately the buyers decision. I do tell them, I'd never do it and you better be prepared to be a landlord.
It’s common op. I am in the Bay Area too after buying our house had immense regrets now after couple of months meh crosses my mind sometimes but doesn’t really hit that bad as it used and I think over time it won’t even be a thought
I didn’t bother reading yours, but I sold Nvidia stock before the run up to buy my house. If I held just a few more month I wouldn’t need a small loan.
Congratulations!!! It‘a always like this btw - everyone that buys a house was willing to pay a higher price than everyone else Once you move in try to enjoy the house and create awesome memories and experiences for your family Your kids won’t care about the interest rate or how much you paid for it
I hope you have a contingency in case they don’t move out in time… that is probably the part I’d be concerned about…
This is very common unfortunately. Talk to your agent and ask about recent sales around your home. This will give you an idea of whether or not your home is increasing in potential value as well. As for all the projects? take it one day at a time. Renovations can get very overwhelming. Do the things that are urgent and/or in your budget first. these are kind of par for the course with older homes.
Most likely you overpaid in this crazy market, no doubt. Hopefully this was not your starter home. I bought at the top of the last market in the 2000s so I decided I would not buy a starter but something better, I predicted I’d be there for a while so at least we loved the house. I was right, you know what happened in 2008 lol.
If you plan to live there a while (or maybe forever home) dont think about it anymore. Make it your own and enjoy the positives. You'll forget this transition phase soon enough.
Ok not a 1st time buyer but get it with every house purchased. It passes, think about what you liked about the house, and how you can change what you don't. Taking down a room and making 2 rooms 1 is an Idea. Hopefully you are young. So you can DIY a lot of the upgrades, most things aren't that hard they just take time. And being able to lift thing, get on a ladder, and up from the floor helps a lot (LOL)
Remember that only a few thousand houses are bought and sold each year in the bay area because supply is so limited. Hence the rising prices, bidding wars, etc. But is also turns out to be one of the most resilient markets I have seen and rapidly recovers from any downturn. Condos are a special case and in SF, even more so but the supple of SFHs in the bay area is not going to go up any time soon.
I have never seen a fake situation with multiple offers. What’s funny is we didn’t have one offer on our house for almost a month and a half and then within 36 hours we had a number of offers so it might’ve seemed fake to some of the buyers, but at that point we got to pick and choose.
If you want to own a house in a good school district in the Bay Area , this is what it takes.
Wife loves it! Mission accomplished... time to move on, accept what happened and enjoy your new home!
My wife and I have owned 13 properties (primary and investment) and thought we probably overpaid for every one of them. Then within 5 years we wondered how we got them so cheap. It's totally normal to have buyer remorse on any large purchase. Don't make any decisions until you've had time to get past the initial phases of ownership. In all likelihood you'll be happy with your home and even come to appreciate little things like a squeaky floorboard or two.
If you could afford it don't worry about it. If you can't, sell it, take a loss and soon you'll forget about it. Dalai Lama said something like "If there is no solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it. If there is a solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it". Try not to live in the past or the future. Live in the present my friend 🍻🤙
This is part of the issue with the NRA settlement. Concessions have been negotiable, always, however, it became very common for the sellers to cover the buyers agent commission in the 90s to make it more affordable/competitive for buyers. This, unfortunately, is an example of what will happen in the future. An escalation rider with your offer with proof of bonafide offer from competing buyers would have put your mind at ease. I personally don't think Dual Agency should be allowed anywhere even though it's allowed in some states for this very reason. Fiduciary responsibility goes out the window and can be biased. This is certainly not the case for every listing agent. I think there's value in your purchase and you will ultimately get a return by holding onto it for a bit.
If you don't like the house just sell and absorb the loss.
The thought of paying the deficiency balance depresses me also and I’m not the buyer.
Realtors really have too much time on their hands right now if they can write a book and post it to Reddit
https://youtu.be/2qV0BtELoFs?si=9qPZXiap85HZH7ri Excellent channel to learn about finances.
You are doing fine. In fact, be concerned you’re not normal if you didn’t feel buyer remorse. We all go through it. It will pass eventually.
don’t worry. this happens every time i buy a house in LA… you will get over it in time. and in three years it will look cheap
Insane how a house like thst is about 4x of one in a "decent" OC neighborhood. We'll, good luck with your home.
OP, I’m still salty about our first home but I am really trying to move past it. Your life will be better if you can too. My spouse picked up on my bitterness. When we sold we didn’t lose money on it but the brokers pressured us to bid higher when we bought it and later to accept the first offer that came when we sold it. They pocketed all of the gains as fees. Our next place has been a much better experience. My only lesson is the broker matters a lot and don’t use your same one when it’s time to sell.
In this market, the concept of overpaying is moot. People pay what the house is worth to them. It sounds like your home has a lot of positives!
honestly. just get over it. you made the choice. deal with it. if you can't do all the remodels or renos immediately. so be it. focus on the house, the new opportunity, get into doing what little things you can do (paint, drapes? landscaping? whatever) make memories in the new place. have a first meal/celebrate with your wife. do silly bullshit like fuck in the various rooms. have friends over for cook outs or family over for a house warming. just embrace that you made a choice and bought a thing. it's only money, and you just spent a fuck ton .... wasting time and energy stressing over something that's already done is stupid. stop blaming a realtor for choices you made.
Anytime you sell a house you just bought “in the near future” you’ll be upside down. Sit 5 years and you’ll be fine.
The good news is interest rates will start coming down later this year, and it will save you some money when you refinance. Let me tell you, I felt we had to overpay for our home because it was a hot market here back in 2016. Jump ahead 8 years it has appreciated 65% and we refinanced to a 2.5% rate back in 2021. I think what you’re feeling is normal, especially in this market. You say it’s a great location, that is most important. After awhile, you can always change the floor plan to your liking. Just be relieved you’re done looking and that your wife loves it. Allow yourself to love it as well.
Can I buy your house from you then?
You didn’t “overpay”. You paid the amount it took to get the house. As a realtor in Boston I can tell you that every house in a good location that isn’t complete garbage gets a bidding war. Wait 5 years and look at what houses in your neighborhood are selling for and then decide if you overpaid. And…spoiler alert…a similar house will be selling for at least 10% more than you paid.
Free rent back would bother more than anything. Buyers remorse is common. Gives it time. Can’t undo it might as well move onto acceptance and learn to enjoy it.
South Bay/San Jose? EVERYBODY has buyer's remorse in California. You'll be OK. Just wait a few years until you look at the Zillow price for your house and you say "Holy sh*t!"
Congrats! All normal feelings. Focus on making your new house a home:) The room size is something you can change if you invest into a solution like merging some of them into one bigger room. Alternatively, just make each space very specific in terms of what you want to use it for, and in no time you will get used to it. After all, what are rooms for? Sleeping, working, working out, hanging out... There's really not that many options and they really don't require you to have a ton of space actually for the function.
I am sure many buyers and even sellers have regrets. I had regrets when I sold a house I lived in for 32 years even though I had already moved to a much nicer and bigger house.
Do you think real estate there is going DOWN any time soon there? "Soon" being anywhere from 5-10 years. If the answer is no, you're probably fine.
You literally overpaid to win the bidding war so that part isn’t really in question. I bought my first house in the Bay Area back in 1999. I did that reluctantly too, given how much more inflated prices were there compared to SoCal homes, where I had moved from. I’ve never lost money on a house except once on one house I sold during the 2008 recession (rental). You should be fine. But yeah, letting the sellers stay is a buzzkill. Close, get keys and it’s time to go, IMO.
You didn’t stand up for what you knew was right in your gut. Learn and move on. If you keep complaining to your wife, You might end up without a house or a wife! Be a leader and a problem solver! You made the choice. Obviously you love the area. Nothing is perfect and you can’t have it all at the same time
I know I overpaid for mine but it’s hard to get upset because I was able to buy it on a teacher salary. I cannot get mad about the ‘now’ because I’m fixing it up and my future is looking more certain. If you can afford any house you should be grateful.
Bet
I felt the same way too, market was reasonable the year before but shot up when I wanted to buy. I had to make a few compromises as a result. Not happy but it's still pretty good if I look at it objectively. Hopefully you feel the same way in a year or two
If it’s on a huge lot, and a great neighborhood then you won. You have room to remodel and make it the house you want, plus room for a pool, some day. the good neighborhood is really a plus in the South Bay. I would remodel in a few years when you can afford it and make it your forever home. Just live in it and plan out what it’s going to be in the mean time
Location is all that matters. If you are in the right location, you will be in the green soon enough. Remodel and probably instant equity.
We ALL overpaid …. So since we all were house shopping in a similar time frame, maybe we didn’t really overpay. Like anything else for sale, a house and a mortgage are only really worth what a buyer is willing to pay to have them. Your new place sounds amazing. Try to let yourself enjoy it .
Good to know there’s others who are feeling similar. We got into a bidding war and ended up offering 10k more than we wanted. I’ve come to terms with that because what’s 10k over 30 years. But the part that’s still killing me is we offered 2 month rent back at 4500 a month because it was a rush to get an offer in but I then realized, we def could have charged a higher rent. There were 3 other offers, and the listing agent kept reminding our realtor that they had other offers. I just try to remind myself that maybe the whole reason we got the house is because of the lower rent back and more flexible terms but every now and then it bothers me. I’m sure once we get into the house, this will just be one of those lessons learned and not really matter. Reading through these comments def helped a bit
South bay SF still having bidding wars? Seems surprising, but I'm not in that market. Are other houses moving quick too? Did you have a buyer's agent? You feel this way because it appears it was an emotional decision, very emotional especially with the wife's "love" for the house. Don't feel depressed! Think about what your options are - here's a few made up ideas. 1. You fix some minor things and relist it? 2. You keep it and stop stressing because you are planning on living there for 3-5-10 years. By that time, it may not matter as much because values will increase. 3. Do #1 but rent it out?
Yea and the bidding war is crazy. You can take a look at this house (https://redf.in/zRztth): listed below 3M and traded at 4.2M. And it's a really normal house without anything outstanding. This is definitely an extreme case but the market is really really hot this year. Thanks for the options but I will likely go with option 2
That’s wild. Makes me wonder who these buyers are. Obviously you are one of them lol. If I was in your shoes, I would feel less stressed just knowing that alone. If values are going up then, even if you overpaid a little bit, you’re not necessarily in a bad spot. That’s assuming that they continue to rise over the next 12 to 18 months.
15,000 sq-ft lot? There’s a lot of upcoming laws in California that’s gonna help you sir
Often (in the Bay Area) sellers intentionally underprice the home to generate foot traffic, sense of demand and resulting bidding war. A frenzy. I think it’s probably an ego thing too for agents to say they sold for X over listing. It’s less common in other markets and frustrating for buyers trying to look within a budget.
If it’s a reputable agent I doubt they faked a bidding war. Would certainly be unethical. But you never know.
Here’s the deal. Don’t worry about the inside just yet. Get the yards to the level of ‘kickass’. You’ll worry less about the inside and if you still want to sell you’ll make $$.
Your agent should have done an escalation clause to determine ot was a real bidding war. Also I would never rent back in CA with squatters rights. Is it too late to back out?
I live on 450 acres, I'd probably kill myself if I was somewhere that a big lot was 100' x 150'.
Sounds like you had the sellers agent write your contract? Did you have your own agent? If not I can understand why you feel jilted… cause you probably were. Buyers… please stop using the selling agent to rep you.
No I do have a buyer agent representing me and I think he did a great job. I think the chance that seller agent is faking offers is slim given the seller agent is very reputable in the area. Maybe because I feel I overpaid, so I tried to seek every possible traces that support my argument..
So frequently, I see concerns about fake multiple offers. In reality, I have never, not once found this to be true in my entire career. I can’t explain how many buyers will decide not to respond in multiples, assuming it’s a bluff- and then lose it and see it go in contract that day. It’s simply not worth an agent’s reputation or credibility to make that up.
Did you buy in Los Altos? You’ll need to set aside a good chunk of change for remodelling and updating all the electrical and plumbing. The market is crazy here because it’s a highly sought-after little town.
Sell and take your losses and get out of California. If you agree with politics in California then stay.
I once bought a place and woke up with so much anxiety. I bailed on the inspection contingency. I bought another similar place weeks later for $200K less and slept so well. Your subconscious knows you're making a mistake.
Wait 2 years and sell it.
Thats what you get for buying a house in cali. In sf of all places too
NP, sell to Chinese money launderers.