Buying A Home
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Home Buying Woes
My husband and I work in Carson, CA and are looking close to this area without getting into bad parts and not getting so far that we have to deal with too much traffic. However, all the homes around here seem way to small for our price range. The few that we have seen are 2 bed/1ba homes and both already had offers on them so we placed a back up offer. Is it always like this when you first start looking? I feel like we are never going to find something that fits our budget and is big enough to stay in for a while. We currently don't have children so a 2 bed/1ba will work for now but not later.
Re: Home Buying Woes
in southern california, even though the market's definitely down, it's still not that affordable. also, the good places do get snatched up quickly despite a decent inventory, and many are still receiving multiple offers.
we've been looking for awhile, but we knew it would take us awhile and we were prepared to be patient. mostly because we don't want to be rushed into something we're not totally happy with, because we're happy in our current rental, and since we have a month-to-month lease and can leave at any time. not being in a rush and being patient puts you in a really good position since you don't *have* to do anything, but potential sellers or other buyers might.
i'd rethink buying a 2 bed/1 bath in most areas near carson. if that's all our budget allowed for, which is the position we were in a few years ago, i'd just rent, save, and wait. most areas near carson aren't the safest, don't have good school districts, and won't retain value/appreciate as much or as quickly as other areas. if you're looking more south bay or nicer areas of long beach, the above doesn't apply. also, 2 bed/1 baths will be harder to sell when it's time to resell.
if you're planning on having kids any time soon and don't think 3 of you would fit in a 2 bed/1 bath, don't buy one now. you need to be prepared to stay in whatever you buy for awhile as the market may stay depressed or continue to decline. personally, i am not comfortable with buying anything that i wouldn't be happy staying in for a minimum of 7 years right now. you can always rent a 2 bed/1 bath pretty easily around here, but being a landlord, especially in california, can really suck and is not for everyone.
oh, and it took many of my friends with much larger budgets to find a place in different parts of southern california. most of them eventually found great places. their experiences have greatly encouraged me. just be patient, make absolutely sure you're ready to buy, and don't settle.
ditto all of this, especially the bolded. We are in a similar situation, but up in the Bay Area (I imagine our markets are similar)...hang in there, don't buy something just "to have" a house, and remember that renting is not a bad option until you find something that truly fits your needs.