House hunting in SoCal as a normie eng: feeling like NorCal

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pfRI84

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pfRI84
Feb 23 30 Comments

I thought house hunting would be a breeze in SoCal, since I weathered the storm when buying my first house in the Bay Area; but boy, was I wrong. Made an offer for $100k over list with no contingencies on a house that will appraise at list or lower. Got ghosted by the seller’s agent, even though they told my agent, after having already received several offers, that a competitive offer will be one $50k less than what I offered. All of the prospective buyers I’m seeing at Open Houses are Chinese (not ABC Chinese) as well as the listing agents. My agent also thinks that the seller’s agent might be a dual agent for another buyer, reason why my competitive offer was ignored. I’ve been house hunting for 4 months already and have had no luck.

TC: $250k (would be $350k if stocks didn’t drop after I joined); spouse’s TC in similar range

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TOP 30 Comments
  • Amazon
    sRTw76

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    sRTw76
    Yea I’m in similar situation. Not sure why because average earning power in LA is less than SF/Seattle
    Feb 23 11
    • Meta
      fondo

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      fondo
      I disagree with most of what you said.

      The grandma problem doesnt explain why Im able to take the benefit when Im renting out and making a profit on my secondary unit.

      Property taxes are a healthy way of taxing wealth and hit high wealth the most.
      Feb 23
    • PayPal
      helllll

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      helllll
      Average buying power doesn’t matter when you look at only specific good pockets of LA. Businessmen, celebrities, sportsman, etc have lot more spending capacity than tech employees to buy all cash in prime pockets of LA.
      Feb 24
  • Okta
    ooookokta

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    ooookokta
    Just curious, how do you tell Chinese from ABC Chinese?
    Feb 23 3
    • Okta
      ooookokta

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      ooookokta
      Dressing?
      Feb 23
    • Twitter
      pfRI84

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      pfRI84
      OP
      I’m part Chinese (ABC), so I guess it’s easy for me to tell? The give away is usually that they’re speaking in Chinese, although I can also tell by mannerisms. The listing agents have actually on several occasions defaulted to Chinese when talking to me (I can’t speak Chinese), since probably every person who had visited the open house was Chinese.
      Feb 23
  • I would expect any area with good schools (Arcadia, La Canada, Palos Verdes, South Pasadena, Irvine, etc.) to be very competitive. Did you lose out to all cash offers?
    Feb 23 3
    • Okta
      ooookokta

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      ooookokta
      It’s a seller’s market, but 100k over a week is still crazy, 100k over 1 or 2 months makes more sense. The time started when the offer was presented to the seller.
      Feb 24
    • I have been looking more in the Hollywood Hills / Sunset Strip area. First house I put an offer on lost to an all-cash offer $500k over list. Second house I won with $300k over list, 25 day close and waived inspection contingency.
      Feb 25
  • Sony
    Djata

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    Djata
    What part of SoCal?
    Feb 23 3
    • Sony
      Djata

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      Djata
      I'm kinda surprised by that level of competition out there as well. Wow, good to know
      Feb 23
    • Meta
      EWbG84

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      EWbG84
      You're competing against likely all-cash buyers in Asian areas with good schools from a culture that believes in buying property as the best place to stash money (as opposed to the stock market). Best bet is to either find a Chinese agent or overbid.
      Feb 24
  • Is San Diego the same too?
    Feb 23 1