Monthly Archives: March 2021

What soil tests should I be getting?

I'm looking to buy land and build a house on it. I've found a 5 acre parcel that is mostly wooded with a small portion cleared and a creek running through the wooded portion of the property. There is a marsh on the adjacent property that the creek runs into. We would need to put in a well and septic tank.

I know that there are soil tests needed for the septic tank and some to make sure the land can support the weight of the house, but I can't figure out what that test is called or who offers that service. I don't want to buy the land if I can't build a house on it. The seller wakes is through the lot and showed us the boundaries and continuously insisted "the army Corp of engineers" had done tests on the land and determined there were several sites suitable for house building, but couldn't offer any documentation. Is that normal?

Tl;dr- what's the name of the soil test to make sure I can build a house on currently vacant land and who do I contact to get the test done?

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Lived in SoCal 20 years. Want to buy here, wondering if we even stand a chance? [CA]

So my wife, daughter and I live in North County San Diego, Poway School District area. We've lived here since we were 10 years old, now getting into our 30's. Most of my family lives back in the Midwest, Minnesota/Wisconsin area. My parents moved to NorCal about 8 years ago. We really want to stay and buy a home here. Currently renting. But honestly I'm starting to wonder if that's just a pipe dream and if we should just give up and move to the Midwest for cheaper home prices and crappy weather.

We make about 105K annually. We have $20,000 in savings. Obviously that means PMI for just about anything out here. Just a tiny amount in 401k as our employers both do not offer any matching. My wife has had her job for 10 years, got into upper management. I've had my job for one year. We don't have any debts other than a car loan that still has about 10K principle left and we've never missed a payment. Our credit bounces between 680 and 720 depending on our outstanding credit card bills which get paid off every month (or so).

Other than that we have regular bills, cell phone, groceries, utilities etc but we pay all that in cash/credit that gets paid off routinely. We pay $1800 to rent 2 BDR/1 Bth, not including utilities.

I am currently going back to school for I.T./Programming in the hopes of increasing my wages and moving career fields. But those are eggs that haven't hatched yet.

We want more space. We'd like to build equity so our money isn't just disappearing into a hole every month. We'd like to own property. We'd like to stay in the Poway school system, as we've lived here most of our lives.

But is that even a possibility for us? Home prices are basically 500K+. Condos/Townhomes don't go much lower than that either, maybe 400K+ at best. Anything below that is a trailer in a trailer-park which just seems like a bad investment as literally everyone I know who lives in trailer parks has lived there a long time and never gotten out.

Honestly prices here make me feel defeated like we should just give up and resign ourselves to move to the Midwest closer to some of my family and buy a huge house for half the price.

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Should i go for it?

I’ve been thinking about whether or not i should be a real estate agent, since it takes a lot of commitment and hard work. I just wouldn’t know where to start and how to work my way up. I believe in myself but i would like to know if i would still get time for family, having children and what not. Does being an agent take your life away?

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Builder’s Risk vs Homeowner’s Insurance

Sorry if this is not the right forum for this… appreciate any suggestions.

We're adding onto our house and building a detached garage. It's an expensive, but not altogether massive project. Adding a bedroom/bath and then a good sized detached garage. As most of the work is occurring outside the existing living area, we're living in the house during the work.

The builder asks that we have Builder's Risk insurance. However I've now spoke with 4 different insurance agents and have gotten the same answer repeatedly, which is that if we're living in the home during renovation, our Homeowner's insurance policy will provide the needed coverage for construction. Of course, we'll have to increase the coverage on the homeowner's to include the increased value of the dwelling and the new separate structure / garage.

The builder seems uneasy about this… what do others think? When I google it all I find is insurance companies spewing info about builder's risk insurance.

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Another buy vs build post!

So my wife and I are getting ready to purchase an estate home built in '55 and we're planning to pay $175,000-$180,000 and then put about another $120K to $150K in renovations. We're under the impression this home has not had much in the way of updates since it was built plus it's been vacant for close to 2 years, though one of the heirs lived next door to this house the entire time.

Building, on the other hand, is looking like ~$50K for a lot worth buying, plus around $400K (so $450K all-in). This is based on the back of the napkin estimate my brother in law did, and he builds homes for a living.

We still need to walk through this property- but is buying to renovate the way to go given the costs of materials? Or do we pay the extra $100-$150K to build?

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Do I not pay my rent in CA?

I have 3 months of rent left on my lease ending in July totaling to about $1500. I have student loans to pay of $3000. I'm graduating but no job lined up. I have close to that right now. If I do, I won't get my deposit back which is half of the total rent left. If I don't pay, will they send the debt to collections even before the eviction moratorium ends? What are other possible implications? Should I not pay my rent?

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Signed a 6 month lease and paid first months rent + Security Deposit but changed my mind, what to do?

Hi!

I signed a 6 month lease and paid the first months rent and security deposit but now I can no longer take the apartment because I am moving to another city for a new job offer that came after I signed my lease. I'm not sure if this means I will be losing all of my money? Should I at least ask for my first months rent back? How should I go about this?

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