Good luck in your search. Most times, especially in California, it's all about luck and timing. We've used up a lifetime of that. Even in the high priced Bay Area, we've been able to buy in great neighborhoods at just the right time. We've tried to buy the least priced house in the best neighborhood we could afford. Our previous house was bought in 2003 when Bush just declared war in the Middle East. We got it under asking and sold last year for a 65% profit. We lucked out in our current house because it's a mid century style that you either like or hate (Eichler). Even in this bad market, we figure we've made about 20% already, considering neighborhood houses have sold for almost 7 figures above ours. Yes, that a 7, CRAZY CRAZY market in the SF Bay Area. Blame the 25-year millionaires at Google/Facebook and the Venture Capitalists...

The moral is keep looking. You just gotta find that diamond in the rough. This last house took us about a year of looking, while at the same time we were drawing up plans for a remodel because we'd just about given up being able to afford a bigger house.

Last edited by oldskoolboarder; 08/25/08 09:04 PM.