[kazlx]

Finally took the plunge. I am in the process of purchasing a house and I am scheduled to close at the end of August. Nothing says excitement and mind-numbing tension like buying a house. I have done all kinds of research and still feel unprepared. The house is in Southern California, Anaheim Hills to be exact. Needs some work, but I am ready to get started as soon as I close....

All of the pics here:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v409/kazlx/House/

 

[Abstrakt51]

Congrats on the new pad Joe! Place looks like it has plenty of potential, but first thing I would do is pull out that white picket fence in the backyard and open her up a bit...unless of course you're into that kind of thing.:biggrin:

House party b*tches!

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Congrats on the new pad Joe! Place looks like it has plenty of potential, but first thing I would do is pull out that white picket fence in the backyard and open her up a bit...unless of course you're into that kind of thing.:biggrin:

House party b*tches!

Wrong. Live in the house for a full year before you undertake any major changes. It's too easy to go overboard until you have had some time to understand your house and its environment.

 

[I Are Baboon]

Congratulations! Looks like about an $11 million house in Southern Cal.

 

[ire]

Congratulations! Looks like about an $11 million house in Southern Cal.

$5.5 million, prices halved in California

 

[splat]

congrats ,

and your right , the whole process can be very intimidating

 

[Jimmy_Pop]

congrats and that house has tons of potential.

pull of the rest of that tile in the kitchen and have the whole house's foundation stained. Stained concrete is great looking and easy to care for.

Having the carpet pulled out and the tile hammered up get your floors stained for the $2.50/sqft here in Dallas.

 

[Nick]

Congrats!

How close are you to a riding spot?

 

[kazlx]

Congrats!

How close are you to a riding spot?

The back side of Santiago Canyon is about 5 minutes away

 

[laura]

congrats and that house has tons of potential.

pull of the rest of that tile in the kitchen and have the whole house's foundation stained. Stained concrete is great looking and easy to care for.

Having the carpet pulled out and the tile hammered up get your floors stained for the $2.50/sqft here in Dallas.

That's fantastic. Probably the way we will go if we ever decide to take the plunge.

 

[J-Dubs]

Congrats and the place looks great.

I also like the stained concrete idea. My ladyfriend has a lighter color splash in her building and it looks great.

 

[dhmike]

congrats !

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Sweet place!!!!! Looks like you need a new roof

 

[Arkayne]

Very cool man. I'm closing on my place tomorrow in fact! All my ish is packed up and ready to go as soon as I get the keys.

 

[SkaredShtles]

No wonder you're intimidated - that house is going to be $hitloads of work.

Congrats.

 

[dan-o]

What's the story with that place? Looks like a flip that ran out of cash mid-way through.

 

[moose99ps]

if you dont know what your doing with a project call homedepot and see what kinda free classes they have. usually like sat or sunday mornings... from the looks of things theres nothing inside that cant be done by the average person. congrats on the new home!!!

 

[CBJ]

Wrong. Live in the house for a full year before you undertake any major changes. It's too easy to go overboard until you have had some time to understand your house and its environment.

I can only agree and if you have the opportunity spend a little money on an architect. Plus remember if you want to do it all yourself say good buy to your bike.

Looking at the pictures I now see that there are a lot of things that kind of needs work now but if you want to make serious changes take some time to think about it.

Congratulation.

 

[xy9ine]

congrats and that house has tons of potential.

pull of the rest of that tile in the kitchen and have the whole house's foundation stained. Stained concrete is great looking and easy to care for.

Having the carpet pulled out and the tile hammered up get your floors stained for the $2.50/sqft here in Dallas.

is that your handiwork? cool sliding door. i'm a huge fan of the industrial aesthetic. i loved my old loft; unfortunately not baby friendly, so had to go.

 

[kazlx]

It does need some work, but I got it for the price I wanted. The picket fence is going to go. It has been tough to get approved by myself and get everything set up. I will be renting out to one other person, so that will make it a bit easier, but it is still a good chunk of change. I know how to do most of the work myself. I will most likely finish all the drywall and do the floors unless I have to cheap out and get carpet (which I hate). I definitely need a new roof, as it is currently wood shake and AAA has already told me they won't insure it. I am going to try to get the bank to cover at least half of it. I have the home inspector coming out on Monday, as well as a roofer that was recommended, so I will have a better idea of what all is needed. I have been looking for about 6 months and have been outbid on a few other houses. This popped up and I jumped on it. There ended up being 10 offers total.

The housing market is crappy, but you still can't find houses in nice areas. I don't think there are any houses in the neighborhood that are for sale under $500K. I paid $440K for this, which was really stretching it, but it has a lot of perks. I work for the city and so does my most likely roommate, so I can carpool, as well as ride my bike. There are a lot of incentives that the city offers for doing so. I would as intimidated if I wasn't renting, because I could live with concrete for a while, but I need to make it at least presentable to rent to someone.

I like the concrete staining, what does it cost for something like that?

 

[SkaredShtles]

You didn't get a sub-prime loan, did you?

 

[kazlx]

Na, I went with the 3 year ARM

 

[SkaredShtles]

Na, I went with the 3 year ARM

 

[Emkay3]

Congrats! That is an awesome first house. Very nice