REMINDER: THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. has no obligation to monitor the Forums. However, THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. reserves the right to review any materials submitted to or posted on the Forums, and remove, delete, redact or otherwise modify such materials, in its sole discretion and for any reason whatsoever, at any time and from time to time, without notice or further obligation to you. THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. has no obligation to display or post any materials provided by you. THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. reserves the right to disclose, at any time and from time to time, any information or materials that we deem necessary or appropriate to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, contract obligation, legal or dispute process or government request. Click on the following hyperlinks to further read the applicable Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
***Official Real Estate Thread***
- Thread starter One-Off
- Start date
Kids these days.
We bought at rate of 8.25%, or was it 8.375%?
Worse than walking to school uphill, both ways.
It's been on the market a while. My guess was unpermitted structures and buyers' inability to secure financing. I also wondered about fire insurance. I think my guess was right.They just added this info- "CASH ONLY TAX ROLLS READ VACANT LAND." Our offer would be cash but with the contigency to sell our house.
What could happen in that case? Could the county require you to tear down properties? I'm guessing more than half the properties in Topanga are or have unpermitted structures. Do authorities look the other way? Of course I'm guessing there would be no possibility of securing any insurance of any kind on the unpermitted structures. I'd almost do it anyways, for one acre of land with a home and rental unit, 15 minutes to the ocean... but alas my wife is very risk adverse... and probably wiser than me.
20820 Fontaine Rd, Topanga, CA 90290 | realtor.com®
View detailed information about property 20820 Fontaine Rd, Topanga, CA 90290 including listing details, property photos, school and neighborhood data, and much more.
www.realtor.com
ps in the lottery house category in the same area- this one is cool and very much the style I like-
19833 Observation Dr, Topanga, CA 90290 | realtor.com®
19833 Observation Dr, Topanga, CA 90290 is pending. View 75 photos of this 2 bed, 2 bath, 1688 sqft. single family home with a list price of $2100000.
www.realtor.com
Last edited:
The only places I’ve acthally seen come back to earth are not move in ready. Seems the hgtv fixer upper sweat-equity facade has passed.
the ”comps” in my neighborhood paying a $100k lower appraisal still sold for what mine did in 2020 but are not nearly in as good of upkeep (70s neighborhood). The ones I like to think mine is more aligned with are currently selling ~$300k over my tax appraisal.
I often figure asking someone to take a closer look may backfire on one’s face.
That's pretty wild. It really depends on the city/county. If completely unpermitted, you should definitely start by talking to a reputable local architect and/or GC who is very experienced dealing with the city permitting process. There are sometimes some tricks to getting an unpermitted addition into the city building records and included in a new assessment- but I've not heard of an entire house slipping in. In addition to the county wanting their property tax on the existing structure, the current building codes have changed a lot in the last 20 years (not sure when the illegal structure was added but would at the bare minimum have to be upgraded to meet code). Worse case, consider the lower price as a teardown/vacant lot, and add the building cost of a new house when you run your numbers.It's been on the market a while. My guess was unpermitted structures and buyers' inability to secure financing. I also wondered about fire insurance. I think my guess was right.They just added this info- "CASH ONLY TAX ROLLS READ VACANT LAND." Our offer would be cash but with the contigency to sell our house.
What could happen in that case? Could the county require you to tear down properties? I'm guessing more than half the properties in Topanga are or have unpermitted structures. Do authorities look the other way? Of course I'm guessing there would be no possibility of securing any insurance of any kind on the unpermitted structures. I'd almost do it anyways, for one acre of land with a home and rental unit, 15 minutes to the ocean... but alas my wife is very risk adverse... and probably wiser than me.
20820 Fontaine Rd, Topanga, CA 90290 | realtor.com®
View detailed information about property 20820 Fontaine Rd, Topanga, CA 90290 including listing details, property photos, school and neighborhood data, and much more.
ps in the lottery house category in the same area- this one is cool and very much the style I like-
19833 Observation Dr, Topanga, CA 90290 | realtor.com®
19833 Observation Dr, Topanga, CA 90290 is pending. View 75 photos of this 2 bed, 2 bath, 1688 sqft. single family home with a list price of $2100000.
edit: I believe in some counties the sale will likely trigger a property tax assessor to come out and walk/view the property. So I think the likelihood that you could get away with it, "as is", is somewhat low. But you never know. You may get lucky. Besides, in that area... that price may be worth it for the land alone.
Last edited:
I can see liking that aesthetic.ps in the lottery house category in the same area- this one is cool and very much the style I like-
19833 Observation Dr, Topanga, CA 90290 | realtor.com®
19833 Observation Dr, Topanga, CA 90290 is pending. View 75 photos of this 2 bed, 2 bath, 1688 sqft. single family home with a list price of $2100000.
But about flash flood/mud slide risk (if it rains)?
my wife thought I was nuts for giving a chit about drawer slides on every home we toured. I told her it’s one of the items flippers more than likely do not address and is a smoking gun when everything else “looks great” on the surface.
Buyer beware of any flipped homes with new exterior paint.
I think it’s nice that sites like Redfin are keeping up the old listing photos so you can really dig at what changed, at least from photos.
^ - Google earth street view has a time based function too.
Hey look, the tree from the neighbor's yard fell on the roof in 2018. Time to check for for permits to see if it was repaired to code......
Hey look, the tree from the neighbor's yard fell on the roof in 2018. Time to check for for permits to see if it was repaired to code......
If you click on the map there is a tool showing flood zones. All mountain communities have a lot of them but this one is not at risk.
I'm a licensed electrician and from an electrical standpoint here in NY, Westchester County, there is the concept of "Legalization". You can pay the town a "Legalization Fee", file a "Legalization" electrical permit and have the inspector inspect it. For the last 7 years we've been required to have 4 hours of continuing education to renew our license each year. The class I take is given by an inspector and it's been very interesting to hear things from his perspective. When his company does legalizations they look at the wire and electrical panels, etc. and look for either manufacturer's dates or just the character of the installed wire and devices and the installation itself to try to determine the date of installation and then judge it as close as they can to the code at that time. On new installations, say in an existing structure, they will also let some minor things slide if there was no other practical way to do it and it's a reasonable well thought out compromise.
We did and won. The County was using incorrect numbers to calculate how much we paid for our house. We were able to prove to the judge that we paid less than what the County's assessor was trying to lock us in at for tax purposes. The guys from the Assessor's office were shocked when we told them, fine, let's go to court. The judge looked at how we arranged our purchase contract and determined that we were correct and our tax bill was lowered ~ $500/year.
The judge looking at your contract is interesting. When an appraiser is looking at comparable sales the appraiser is supposed to also look for unusual conditions of sale that might skew the sales prices such as sale to a relative (might skew low) higher purchase price but no money down, seller carries a mortgage (might skew high).
It had to do with how the commissions were handled. We presented the sales contract to the court and explained how the actual purchase price (the basis for the tax assessment) was less than the amount that the County had on it's books. The court agreed and our property tax bill was lowered.
Anon buyer scooping up tons of land that surrounds Travis AFB. Gov wants to know who and why.
52,000 acres so far
Bought at 5-10x going rate for land in that area
"Where did they get the money where they could pay five to ten times the normal value that others would pay for this farmland?"
www.sfgate.com
52,000 acres so far
Bought at 5-10x going rate for land in that area
"Where did they get the money where they could pay five to ten times the normal value that others would pay for this farmland?"
Officials worry as mystery company buys land encircling Bay Area base
They're now the biggest landowners in the county, and even the government can't figure...