Tomorrow is August!

This has nothing to do with buying homes. But I saw the hashtag trending on social media and thought it was very appropriate. It's been a rough year and everyone is kind of marking time in a new way.

Zoom calling from the warehouse - July 2020

Days go slower and seem the same. And I think we're all super anxious to get this year past us. My favorite twitter GIF response to this is below.

In any case I hope you are holding on and getting through 2020 as best as you can.

Tomorrow is August and I’m just thankful we’re one month closer to this horrible year being over pic.twitter.com/w8g7VVFt4x

— Ethan Willis (@RealEthanWillis) July 31, 2020

We Buy Old Houses for Cash

Yes. We buy old houses for cash. As long as it's repairable we can buy it. What are the oldest houses in San Diego?

Clairemont where I live was built in the 50's. "Ok Boomer" would be the appropriate phrase today.

No, the oldest settled area in San Diego is appropriately called Old Town which became a town in 1834. Are there any houses available that old?

A quick bit of research shows it's easy to find homes built in the 1920's still in good shape and on the market. 

No old is not a problem. 

Investors will look at the foundation, the plumbing, the electrical and the roof and determine the cost to to bring the property back to "retail" condition. The age in and of itself isn't the issue.

So give us a call today and we can talk about your old house.

One Impressive Clairemont Flip

Like a lot of investors I closely follow others deals - especially ones in my own backyard.

Clairemont's 1950's built single family homes seem to hover around $723K at the time of this writing. So when I saw a recent sale nearby for a 3 bedroom house at $995,000 I was intrigued.

Here it is:  3320 La Junta Ave.

courtesy Zillow

This house sold on June 24, 2020. That's right: in the midst of #COVID-19 challenges.

The purchase was almost exactly a year ago - for $536K.

Of course that's not a pure profit of $459,000. The owner/investor for sure must have put some serious work into this place.

Luckily Google Maps hasn't had time to update yet so you can still see the "before" photo below:

courtesy Google Maps

From the Zillow description this job sounds like one done by Chip and Joanna Gaines. 

But man, even if these local fixer-uppers spent  $200K on this whole project they did very very well.

To get close to $1M in 92117 I kind of expect to be on the canyon with a view. This house backs up to another property. One of my close partners even thinks there is something "kind of tricky" about this price.  I don't know about that. Let me know what you think in the comments below...

We Buy Houses Video - who has the best?

This was one of my more fun posts. 

 I decided to compare the variations out there  in what must be hundreds of "We Buy Houses" video ads. The Greg Buys Homes website does not have one yet which inspired me to compare. Let me know your thoughts on the best one. So far there is one clear winner in my mind!

We Buy Ugly Houses




SUNDAE
 



We Buy Houses DALLAS TX




WE BUY HOUSES Memphis




HomeLight




EXPRESS HOMEBUYERS




SELL YOUR HOUSE FAST PORTLAND




We Buy Homes Richmond VA (this model does several)



NATIONAL CASH OFFER

Who are the Biggest Cash Buyers in San Diego?

These are companies that actually pay cash in order to  fix and flip or hold. Not wholesalers (like me).  Not the institutional iBuyers. Not just a franchisee. 

 These are those with a local headquarters (or at least in the state) and buy houses in San Diego with their own cash.

The list is surprisingly small. If you've seen ads on Craigslist, bandit signs, Google Ads etc., you might think there are dozens. I don't think so. Not companies that are prepared to close with their own cash (as opposed to flip the contract).

I've tried to rank them in order of buying volume using  publicly available data. I would like to hear if you agree with my list in the comments below. Did I miss any major players?

Click the image below to expand.

Should I fill in my pool before selling a house

In general I think the answer: Not right away....

Here's my reasoning:*

1. The average in-ground pool can be filled in for $5000.                    
2. An average 14x28-foot in-ground concrete pool potentially adds 5 to 8 percent to the real estate value.                                       
3. Let's assume 6.5% x 650K = $42,250 for San Diego.

So in the ideal world I find a pool-lover and make $42K more on the sale.

But what if most prospective buyers are young families that see the pool as a safety hazard for the young children?

So I list it like this:

Beautiful backyard pool. Seller will split the cost of of filling the pool if buyer does not want a pool.

And if that becomes a deterrent to a fast sale I can just fill it myself.

Let me know if you agree.

 


*References: 
https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/swimming-pools-hot-tubs-and-saunas/remove-and-fill-in-pool/

https://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/outdoor-remodel/does-pool-add-value-home