Still living with the Schuberts. Still researching for housebuying in the not-far future.

Planning on getting into an apt sometime in May/April depending on Michelle. More on that later.

But for now …

I’d like to take this opportunity for a public thank you to Fernando and Jessica. Because they bought a house, and are inviting Andrew over to hang out (and help renovate), Andrew has FINALLY expressed an interest in buying a house. It’s taken … what? 5 or so years of me totally obsessing over wanting to buy a house for him to recognize the value and be part of the process too. It is SO nice for me that buying a house is now one of Andrew’s goals and not just mine.

But, based on the current economic situation, both nationally and specifically in Southern California, I am willing to wait another year+ as prices continue to go down (and hopefully our income+savings will go up). And the more I learn about the current economy, the more and more it makes sense.

Ex: With the CA budget in total deficit leading to more unemployment + all the mortgage/building related jobs being eliminated (more unemployment), it is likely house prices will not be going up soon.

Combine that with the fact that EVEN with prices lowering, and EVEN with the fact that my job is totally stable (so much so that I recently got a raise), Andrew and I still can’t afford more than a 2 bd condo or teeny tiny totally trashed single family home.

So, at this point, pretty much I’m just gearing up my research. I used to just go on realtor.com once a week or so to get a feel for home prices, but I didn’t feel like that was totally thorough. Recently, though, I learned about several other websites for real estate research. If you haven’t ever bought a house, or haven’t in several years – it is AMAZING how much information is online.

I’ve been spending my time on zillow.com and trulia.com

Basically using the tools on those sites to take a look at home prices, and narrow down the area we want to look. We know the general region we’re open to (Tarzan/Reseda/Encino/Sherman Oaks/Studio City/Woodland Hills/Canoga Park), but there are a million different neighborhoods there.

So, my plan has been to narrow down by where we can afford, and then of those neighborhoods look at the other factors (crime, schools, etc).

• I HATE shopping when I can’t buy something, plus our budget severely limits us in SoCal – that’s why the cost is the #1 factor for neighborhoods.

So I’ve been looking at homes up to $300,000 – assuming some of the ones in the search are overpriced and will/should drop again before we go to buy. Using info on the site to maybe think about further price drops.

(It’s kind of sad for these people to see the house-flips in the last few years. When there are sale prices only 16 months apart in some cases … sad. I could never have the stomach to do that)

(Also sad, trulia lists the recently sold homes … and you KNOW some of those people overpaid. And they are probably the same kind of people who will panic when their home value drops again. Sad for them).

Any house-hunting advice/tips are welcome.

sidenote: I miss having our own home … I overheard a couple co-workers discussing kitchen appliances.

Oh, the mundane.

But, really – talking about making waffles and about George Foreman grills and all made me wish I had my own kitchen. Our own home that Andrew and I are in charge of.

We’re so grateful to Andrew’s parents for letting us live with them these past many months, and it has been soo helpful in letting us save money as we transition to a much high cost of living in SoCal. …

… but it does lack the autonomy of our own apt.

P.S. I know we cannot base any decisions solely on what we see online. However. This is a GREAT starting off point.

To see previous installments of The Schuberts go House Hunting, please click here.