4.30.2009

The House Stupid Mister is on Board

Welcome House Stupid Mister!

Christmas Comes Early

We got a call today that our loan funded today. It means we close tomorrow instead of next week!!!!!!!! Closing early, almost as good as Christmas morning!

4.29.2009

Final Walk Through






We did a final walk through of the house with Rick. We still love the house and how it makes us feel when we walk in. It has great energy and it feels like it belongs to us. We took some measurements for the zillionth time today because each time we have measured, our numbers never add up. It should not be that hard to get it right darn it! Because I have OCD, The Mister knows that left to my own devices, it will take me hours so he took care of the measurements.

There was a surprise waiting for us on the kitchen counter. It was a hand written letter by the seller. It wasn't an e-mail, it wasn't typed, it was an actual letter on beautiful paper. Gone are those days. I had thought of writing a letter to the seller a while back but didn't know if it would be appropriate. But after receiving her letter, and especially after knowing how special this house was, it only seems fitting that we return the gesture. I want to assure her that we are going to do what we set out to do from the get go. We want to have modern conveniences without sacrificing the charm and character that we fell in love with.

The Lender Has a Condition



Turns out we can't get the loan unless we have the security bars taken off of the windows. We are supposed to close in 6 days but the lender won't lend us the money until the bars are taken down. Why? They are considered a fire hazard because they don't have an emergency release.

We checked to see if we could take them down ourselves so that we can get this done faster. The seller did not complain. We want to close on time so we don't mind taking care of. Closing late over security bars? Not an option.




Forms, Forms, and More Forms!

We got a call from West Coast Escrow that we needed to go and sign our loan documents today. When we get there all of a sudden Jud our broker appears and slides into the empty seat next to us. When we first met him he told us he would be there when it came time to sign our loan documents. We had completely forgotten about that so it was such a nice surprise because we had a few questions and having someone we trusted next to us answering them helped.

We must have signed a million things and it wasn't as scary as I thought. Closing date still looks like May 5th. Crossing our fingers!

The Three Amigos


Rather than bore you with the escrow process, I'm going to keep it short. Most people don't know what to expect during escrow, but we did. Remember how I said we had a great team? Well between Rick, Jud, and Jud's right hand man, Eli Pindler, there were no surprises. And I mean NONE. During our escrow process we have been fully informed every single step of the way.

I have talked about Jud and Rick plenty, but I want to talk about Eli because he was a huuuuge part of our experience. He works with Jud to make this process a smooth transition for the buyer. Anytime I had a question, and I'm not lying or exaggerating, Eli got back to me within minutes!! Responses always came in a timely manner even when I would e-mail after business hours. Some days that was just the only time I had time to catch up. Eli returned my e-mails when he should have been at home relaxing after work. I was shocked that we got so much personal attention and care. When we asked stupid questions, he was so gracious and patient with us. We can't praise him enough. He was a dream to work with.

I know I may sound like a broken record, but our team was awesome and in Los Angeles, sometimes it is hard to weed out the bad apples. I don't cut anyone breaks and I am very hard on people so when people are good to the Mister and me, we like to share. If you have any questions, or experiences you want to share, please feel free to comment or e-mail.

April 2, 2009



We heard back from the seller, and they accepted. One more time, we heard back from the seller, and they accepted!!!!!!! Happy dance! WE ARE OFFICIALLY IN ESCROW. Lord willing we close May 5th, 2009. Cinco de Mayo party at our house!!!! Ajua!

4.28.2009

The Counter Offer


After sleepless nights, and crunching numbers, and many discussions, The Mister and I decided to try and see if we could come to a meeting point with the seller. We had nothing and everything to loose. Everyone must have thought we were crazy to try but we had been looking for a long time, and if anyone knew what was out there in our price range and in the areas we liked, it was us. This was the safest neighborhood we had seen, there were excellent schools a few blocks away, and we were already spending a majority of our time in that part of town anyway. It made sense to us.

After our agent spoke to the seller's agent, he asked us to come up with a letter to accompany our counter. We wrote it off and our agent presented it. Even though we loved the house, at the end of the day, we were prepared to loose. If we lost the house, we knew it would be for good reason. We had never been steered wrong before and we knew this would be no exception. We turned in our counter April 1, 2009.

The Estimates

After talking to Rick, and before completely giving up on the house, we decided to get some real world estimates to see what it would cost to take care of all these problems. We didn't have much time left. I found three reputable companies that were willing to come and give us an estimate over the weekend to see what bringing our house up to code would cost.



Saturday we had Carlos from Try Me Electric. This guy was awesome and he reminded The Mister and I of friends from back home in San Antonio. He gave us a complete estimate to redo the entire house. One con from this company is that they charge to come out and give an estimate. We were short on time and most people we called couldn't come on such short notice over the weekend.



Then we had Jim from Schuelke Plumbing come out to do an estimate. He told us we would have to replace the plumbing in the entire house. He gave us an estimate to replace the plumbing and get it up to code.


On Sunday we had Shawn Kyles, one of the parteners from Julian Construction come out to look at our foundation. We called them because they have a great reputation when it comes to foundation work. To the foundation estimate he added the cost of grading the back yard which is the main source causing all of the foundation damage.




We have a lot to think about. Our original offer doesn't make sense after all the work that needs to be done.

The Dreaded Inspection


After calling around for we settled on a company called Prime Home Inspection. A fellow by the name of Prentice Sherman was the gentleman who showed up to do our house inspection. We scheduled a 9:00 a.m. appointment and he was there on time and ready to inspect.

The inspection went well through to the afternoon. He had warned us that it would take a while. Prentice was thorough and very detailed and since this was potentially our first home purchase, we really appreciated that. He gave us an incredible report. If you click on the link, you can see a sample report of what we got after the inspection.

The results weren't great. We had a lot of problems in that house and unfortunately they weren't just cosmetic. Among the many small problems that eventually add up to big problems, there were big things that needed immediate attention.

  • Foundation work had to be done to the back room.
  • The electricity was obsolete and therefore needed to be completely replaced.
  • There were exposed water pipes running next to the electricity which translates to a fire hazard. The plumbing needed to be completely replaced.
  • There was also a termite problem. Fun right?
Our stomachs sunk. The guy I took home from the bar, didn't look so pretty in the morning after all. The Mister and I were about to embark on a lot of heart to heart talks.

The Event



After we signed the papers, we took our niece shopping down Melrose. You know how when catastrophic events happen, people always remember where they were when they heard the
news?

It was March 20, at approximately 5:30 ish p.m. We were inside Fitzsu when the phone rang. It was Rick and he had news. I stepped outside because I didn't want to cry inside the store if we lost the house. He said something like, "So I heard back and, (a few other things and a then a long pause) they accepted your offer." Mascara running down my cheeks, trying to keep it together, I go inside so Rick can tell The Mister himself. The Mister reacts like a coma patient. I panic because The Mister is not reacting like I am. Our niece's eyes darting back and forth in concern not for us, but for the shops that are going to be closing soon.

We are in a frenzy. Do we call people? No not yet, we aren't even in escrow. Ahh screw it, we call the parents because if we loose the house they will know exactly what to say. We don't tell friends because if we loose it, we just don't want to deal.

We get to the bank before it closes. Just in time to move our money around so when we cut the deposit, we don't bounce our check. Everything is in sync. Everything is moving according to plan. We are desperately hoping and praying it continues to be a smooth ride from here on down.

4.27.2009

Somebody Pinch Me


Tuesday, March 17th and we saw another home we loved. We quickly put in an offer and actually heard back right away. The bank was considering us along with two other offers. We needed to submit our best and final. Sound familiar?

My niece was in town for Spring Break and we had planned a full day of activities on Wednesday, so we we didn't have time to think about it. Ok, I lie, we checked our phones every thirty minutes to see if Rick had heard anything. At the end of the day we heard back. The bank went with an all cash offer.

Thursday, March 19th, Rick had two properties to show us. The first one was in Eagle Rock. Awesome location, great street, kids were walking home from school, and the property seemed nice. We couldn't get in because someone had stolen the keys. Funny how things work out. But not to worry, Rick had another property up his sleeve.

He handed me the second listing we were going to see. The house looked gorgeous. I prayed this one looked as good on the outside as it did on the inside. When I read the address out loud it rolled off my tongue with familiarity and I knew why the minute we drove up. When I stepped out of the car, I had come home. And when we walked in, I knew with certainty this one was meant for us. While the Mister looked at foundation and structure, I was planning my house warming party.

It was near the end of the business day so we put the offer in early Friday Morning. And then we waited. A process we were very familiar with.

4.25.2009

It's Not Me, It's You

Our search was long. Some days were great and we were confident and others had us completely drained of hope. There were many times we didn't think it was going to happen and we wanted to give up and call it a day. We were only certain of three things. We knew it wasn't because we didn't have a good agent. We had the best one. We knew it wasn't because he didn't show us good properties. He showed us stellar properties. Most importantly it wasn't because we didn't have faith. We had all the faith in the world that God would make it happen when it was meant to happen for us.

I can't stress enough how unique our situation was. We were having a difficult time getting a home for three reasons. One, we were competing with all cash offers. Almost every house we lost, we lost to an investor. Two, we were also competing with other buyers who like us, had saved up for the day prices finally dropped in LA. It was a tough time to buy even in the downturn economy. Three, most of the homes in our price range were bank owned or foreclosures. In a city where you have more renters than home owners, you bet competition is going to be stiff.

Our budget was minuscule and everything in our price range was going to need work. We had to look at homes differently. We couldn't just say, we love it we'll take it. Some of the homes we loved, we couldn't afford to fix. The homes that didn't need that much work, everyone fought for. So as you can see, this wasn't your ordinary run of the mill home buying experience.

Rick was amazing at keeping us feeling confident. If our offers got rejected, he made sure to show us properties the following day. This gesture did not go unnoticed. He always went above and beyond. He made us feel like we were one of his million dollar clients. And anyone in this town who would do that for the Mister and me, is someone we will always give our business to.

4.24.2009

Jud "The Great" Whyte


After our pre-approval expired we had to begin the search for a new lender. We didn't have time to start from scratch and shop around again. Because the market was so competitive, the minute we found a house we liked, we had to submit an offer right then and there. Taking a week or two shop around for a lender was not feasible. Rick suggested the idea of using a mortgage broker. The advantage of using a broker is that they are able to shop around to get you the best rate because they have access to hundreds of lenders. Sounded good to us. He suggested we sit down with Jud Whyte at First Capital Mortgage.

Two minutes into the interview, my first thought was, why did I not meet this man before?!?!? I had never received that much information about the lending process. I learned things that no one had ever told me. He literally mapped out how we would get from point A to B. Yes, there were diagrams involved, yes he moves at the speed of lightning, and yes he still manages to be thorough and concise. And the best part? He broke it down in simple English. Let me put it this way, I recommend anyone who is interested in buying to sit down with Jud even before getting their agent. I say this because if for example there are problems with your credit, or if there is something that would worry a lender, Jud can get you in in good shape or at least put you on a path to become more attractive to a lender. See him before you go off falling in love with a home. Trust me, it will save you a lot of grief.

The Mister and I lucked out. Between Jud and Rick, we had the best team we could have possibly asked for.

Anyone have any good/bad experience with any other mortgage brokers? Please share!

4.23.2009

Shady Loan Officer


Our pre-approval with Bank of America had expired and we needed to get pre-approved all over again. We wanted to go through B of A but we didn't have the best experience with our loan officer. She was offering a very competitive rate except she kept doing things that raised a few red flags. For example:


  • Each time we were in her office she pulled out a stack of MLS listings and kept pushing for us to use her realtor because according to her it was taking us too long to find a home. The first time she said that to us, we were on week two of our search.
  • When we put in our first offer she asked the address of the property. We gave her the address and after a long drawn out pause she responded with, "I don't think that one is going to happen, so keep looking".
  • And she would constantly say to us, "Remember this is not your dream home, it's your first home so don't be too picky."
Um... Yeah, we thought that was a little strange. So as you can see we had no desire to go back to her. And luckily we didn't have to because we found someone else!

Anyone have this experience with a Loan Officer at B of A or anywhere else? Or if you know of anyone who you would highly recommend and had a good/ bad experience with please share!

4.22.2009

The Jerks, The Bastards, The Heartbreakers

When people say this house hunting business gets emotional, it's true. Below are just some of those we fell head over heels in love with, that ones we were warned to stay away from because they would end up breaking our hearts, and the ones that didn't love us back. P.S. They are not in any chronological order. Enjoy!~

The Craftsman in Highland Park
BED: 2
BATH: 1
SQFT: 1254
LISTING PRICE: $191,900
OUR OFFER: $192,000 (and we thought that was gooooood)
COUNTER: Yeah, no counter on this one. They didn't even consider our offer.
SOLD FOR: $265,000

I'm not gonna lie, I wept. Not cried, but wept over this one. It was our first offer. When our contractor told us it was going to need a ton of work, I didn't bat an eyelash. When our real estate agent pointed out there was no parking and reminded us it was something we didn't want to budge on, I made an exception! When we didn't get a counter, I was heartbroken. On the floor, pounding my little fists, snot face and all.



The Spanish Charmer Near Elysian
BED: 2
BATH: 1
SQFT: 832
LISTING PRICE: $299,000
OUR OFFER: We didn't get to make one because the home was being gutted and the bank won't loan money if a home doesn't have a functioning bathroom/kitchen.
SOLD FOR: $299,000 Cash

This one was a gem! It had a great layout, the lot was huge, and it had a garage. Neighborhood was quiet and safe. We however did not have $299,000 cash.




The Steal in Adams Hill
BED: 2
BATH: 1
SQFT: 1254
LISTING PRICE: $299,900 I think... I don't remember
OUR OFFER: $320,000 It was over our budget but we wanted to have a strong offer
COUNTER: Bank came back and asked for a final best offer. I don't get it. I can understand if we had offered under the listing price but I guess they do it to create a bidding war. We had it inspected and offered $340,000 with all contingencies removed. I don't even know if we told our parents how much we offered on this one because we thought they would freak out.
SOLD FOR: $371,000

This one hurt the most. This one was in Adam's Hill on a great street. We never thought we would even be looking in that neighborhood. In 2006 it sold for $600,000. The picture doesn't do it any justice. The inside was solid. It was well maintained. Not much work to be done. Huge rooms, huge closets. Hardwood floors. You could tell the owners really loved that house. When we lost it, we were sad, sad, sad.




A Tiny Spanish in Highland Park
BED: 2
BATH: 1
SQFT: 780
LISTING PRICE: $349,900
OUR OFFER: $250,000 However, the Mister swears we offered $200,000. Either way, we low balled. Yup. God Bless our Real Estate Agent Rick. He must have been so embarrassed. The house was tiny, it didn't have a yard, it was going to need a lot of work, and there was only one closet. We thought they were asking for waaaaay to much. Although, it was charming it didn't take away from all the work that needed to get done.
COUNTER: We didn't even get a response! Not surprised.
STATUS: Still on the market.




The House Near Occidental College
BED: 2
BATH: 1
SQFT: 1246
LISTING PRICE: $340,000 ( I think it was around that price)
OUR OFFER: Our agent humored us and called to check and see if they were going to be accepting low offers. We saw this house, and like every house he showed us, we saw it the same day it went on the market. Just to give you an idea of how competitive things are in LA, we saw it at about 3:00 p.m. The house had like 8 offers on it already. So we didn't bother. It was already over what we wanted to pay and we knew it was gonna go for a lot of money.
SOLD FOR: $360,000

This house was amazing and whoever got it, got an awesome property. We fell in love with this house because we couldn't afford it... and also because the lot size was amazing and it had original built ins, a great porch, a garage, an old amazing bathroom, and a great layout. Oh that house was a beauty.




The Time Capsule
BED: 2
BATH: 1
SQFT: 1120
LISTING PRICE: $320,000 I think.
OUR OFFER: We were going to offer way under.
SOLD FOR: $305,000

Ok, this house was so cool. We didn't end up making an offer because we saw this at the same time we put an offer in on the Adams Hill house but I had to mention it. It had tall ceilings with exposed beams. All the original built-ins were pristine and completely intact. No one had changed a thing in that house. The floors were beautiful. The kitchen was super funky but in the coolest way. From all the houses we saw, this was probably the neatest. It's a dream house for someone who likes restoration. When that house is completely restored, it is going to be jaw dropping. The con was that it had a shared driveway, and the street was not my favorite. But if I could have bought that house and transferred it somewhere else... I would have been the happiest gal. I really hope the person who got this house is someone who is going to restore it and not tear it down.



Great House, Neighbors Not So Much
BED: 2
BATH: 1
SQFT: 936
LISTING PRICE: $299,000
OUR OFFER: We ended up not offering
SOLD FOR: $370,000

Ok, this was another pristine Craftsman. The yard was actually a yard. It didn't have a retaining wall to worry about, it had a huge oak tree in the back, and it was a flat normal picture perfect yard. The layout was great, the floors were awesome, and I was ready to sign on the dotted line. It must have been about 2:00 p.m. when we saw the house and halfway through our tour, the neighbor started blaring music. It felt like an earthquake. The owner who was still living there and happened to be showing us the house said, "Oh yeah, it happens everyday. Always during my daughters nap time". She said she had talked to him about it before. We didn't feel like paying that much money to have a confrontation. We appreciated her honesty though.

Echo Park Essssssey
BED: 4
BATH: 1
SQFT: 1389
LISTING PRICE: $283,700
OUR OFFER: $300,000
COUNTER: $300,000 The bank asked for a our best and final offer. We countered back the same offer because we thought it was fair. We were one of three offers. Once again all cash won out.
SOLD FOR: $295,000

The ceilings were the tallest I had ever seen on a home. It was walking distance to Echo Park Lake. It was flanked by apartments on all three sides. However, the Mister thought this would make an excellent income property. It was zoned R3 so eventually you could build up and make it a three apartment building. Prime Echo Park location? Can't get better than that.



Eagle Rock Nuf Said
BED: 2
BATH: 2
SQFT: 1110
LISTING PRICE: $265,000 I think.
OUR OFFER: $320,000 was going to be our offer.
COUNTER: It took us a day and half to get through to the bank to get pre-approved. The bank asked us how much we were planning on offering. We said $320,000 and they told us that unless we were prepared to go up to the 400's we shouldn't bother. We weren't prepared.
SOLD FOR: $400,000

This house we saw the first day it was on the market and there were tons of people looking at it while we were there. All of us were salivating and crunching numbers while the real estate agents compared what they thought it would go for. Our real estate agent nailed the price it would sell for. It was walking distance to bars, restaurants, shops. When I say walking distance, I don't mean a couple of miles. I mean I could have walked from this house in my heels to the bar and not complain. That close.


I'm curious to know if anyone looked, made on offer on, or bought one of these properties? Please Share!

Rick LeMasters, The Last Name Says it All

Rick LeMasters, Realtor

Coldwell Banker 1917 Hillhurst Ave. Los Angeles, CA. 90027
Tel: (323) 632-3313







When we finally made the decision to start shopping for a home, we knew agents would not take us seriously unless we were pre-approved. So we sucked it up and got it done. With a pre-approval in our hands, we set out to look for a real estate agent. We had narrowed down the areas we wanted to live in. On our list were, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Highland Park, Mt. Washington, and anywhere else that pointed East and fit into our budget. We made a list of agents that were known for working in those areas and started interviewing them. We didn't care if it took weeks (which it did) to find the right agent because we knew that in the end, if we weren't with someone that was a good fit for us, we would not have a good experience.

Our budget was $300,000. For Los Angeles this is chump change. However, the market had shifted and prices had dropped for the first time in years, which meant it was our only opportunity to try and buy in the city. We didn't know how long the prices were going to stay low so we had to act fast.

Some agents upon hearing our budget laughed, some told us they didn't waste their time with the lower end of the price ranges, others said it was impossible. One agent with Sotheby's in the Los Feliz office told us that we had to go see houses on our own and call his assistant if we saw something we liked because he was too busy to deal with us. Another agent who is supposed to be "the" Highland Park agent to go to, didn’t even show up to the interview that HE scheduled at Antigua Bread! Then, (cue the angels singing) we found Rick.

Rick LeMasters was too good to be true. We literally walked out of the interview speechless. We couldn't believe we had found someone with honesty, integrity, and who was upfront and realistic about the properties we could expect to find. He listened to our needs, never pushed us to make an offer we didn't want to make, and he had to have earned enough good karma points to last him a lifetime because we were not the easiest of clients. We can honestly say he is a true advocate for the buyer. We highly recommend him to everyone from first timers like us to real estate veterans. So, with all that said, we put all of our trust in him and started our search at the tail end of August of 2008. And the race to the finish line, although bumpy, was only possible because of him.

Anyone have a good/bad experience with a Los Angeles Real Estate Agent? Please post and share!