1st time home ownership... Thoughts?

That's my neighborhood!  Outlook is pretty sweet, I almost bought there, but make sure you hang out there at night time, and prepare yourself and wife for the realities of east oakland life a block above MacArthur. It can and does get sketchy.  Not trying to scare you off, just be aware.  I almost bought on 64th right below outlook about 10 years ago and it was HELLA sketchy at night.  64th seemed to be one of the hot spots.  That being said, a lot has changed and the frisco chaps have moved in and turned this neighborhood around quite a bit.  About a month after I bought my house it was featured predominately on discovery channels gang wars oakland!  Not cool!  Good luck, and don't forget to duck!

Yeah, we aren't strangers to Oakland. Our realtor refuses to show us anything below Outlook. He says that's more or less the border of the "sketchiness" these days.

The neighborhood seems to be "up and coming", gentrifying, whatever you want to call it. It's pretty much the only decent neighborhood in Oakland that's still slightly affordable.

It's definitely up and coming.  It used to be the homes for the people that worked in the quarry and the chevy plant at eastmont.  The climate is nice here and usually warmer and sunnier then most of oakland.  There's shit for shopping, but laurel is pretty close and farmer Joe's is alright.  It's definitely a cool community with a lot of contractors, hells angels, and new city hipsters moving in.  Good luck on your offer, I know there's a lot of competition these days.  If you haven't looked at kings estates on the other side of Edwards near Greenly and Sunkist, that's a really cool, affordable neighborhood too.  I just did a bunch of work over there and it's super quiet and  country feeling.

We are looking EVERYWHERE. We really like the King Estates area. You're right, it's got much more of a rustic country feel, which I really like. It's just slim pickings right now. We were looking at one MAJOR fixer in that area that we guesstimated might have needed $100K+ to make safe and livable. It ended up selling for $110k over the asking price, even though it was literally crumbling down the hill.

We offered 11% ($46k) over asking price on the Outlook house, and haven't heard back. We shall see.

We offered 11% ($46k) over asking price on the Outlook house, and haven't heard back. We shall see.

Oakland is super HAWT right now!!  We do a ton of panel and electrical upgrades for the major real estate players around here, and it has kept us plenty busy for the last few years.  We probably do close do 15-20 services/panels a month.  Everything is going for over asking, but I think youre smart looking a little more east than a lot of the city slickers are willing to go. 

Dam Alex that's insane how the market is changing in Oakland.. I live down south in Ventura area and prices have gone back up to pre 2008 crash.. Lots of great advise given and I can offer something that has worked for me if your having a hard time..

My background if it helps.. I have worked for the largest mortgage company for last 12 years and also am a investor, flipper, landlord...

Prices will continue to rise for next 2 years at this point even through the election which normally slows things down on Wall Street but given the political landscape its appearing that the same party will continue in office so don't see any reason for market to not continue to climb.

Get in front of the market!! Meaning start to find homes before they hit the market by basically doing a few things that worked for me and some friends of mine in your situation.. Walk the neighborhood you are interested in moving to and start talking to the people living there and asking if they know anyone thinking of selling.. Bring a dog or kid so you appear more friendly and not stalking.. Find the crappy dump on the block and knock on the door and explain that your desperate to move out the neighborhood and if they wanted to sell you would be interested and could make it easier for both parties.. Most people hate the process of selling their homes and you would be shocked that is a reason but it is.. I have had this work for me on over 6 homes and can't even count how many friends have done this with success. You could also try writing a letter and mailing it to all the households but that has not resulted in much success for me.. Most people don't read these days or think it's junk is my assumptions..

Another option which is sure to piss your agent off but then again what's more important.. You finding a house or they earning a commission? Talk to different real estate brokers and tell them you will work with them if they have any pocket listings or homes that haven't hit the market.. They get double commission and you would be surprised how many care more about this than doing what's best for their seller... Spare me the ethics speech as I understand all to well about it.. Just in this kind of market all things get thrown out the window..

Good luck and I may be visiting Oakland soon to see what all the hype is about [emoji4]...

Btw anything with a view snatch it up!! Like previous poster said they aren't making more land and sure as heck not making anymore with views as well...

Mono fish - Thanks for posting! Great advice.

Our realtor is very proactive with mailers, walking the neighborhoods, etc, but I can definitely see how the personal touch of a motivated buyer showing up at the doorstep could be helpful. We don't have a kid or a dog (yet) but we could probably "borrow" one from friends and go for a walk.

When you mentioned double commission, you're talking about working directly with a selling agent instead of getting our realtor involved? Basically "bribing" the selling realtor with an extra commission so they'll pick your offer? I don't have any moral/ethical problem with that, as long as it's legal and the deal works in our favor.

HOLY CRAP!!!! THEY ACCEPTED OUR OFFER!!!!

Congratulations!!!!!!!

congrats alex.  You've still got a long way to go to get it done though, so hope it all goes well for you.

Thanks, guys! We shall see!

We are already pre-underwritten and set for a 21 day escrow. Hopefully it'll all fall into place for us.

Congratulations, that's a beautiful home, thy woodwork is primo.

Congratulations! Get the home warranty everything breaks in the first year.

Haha. Good advice. Luckily the washer, dryer, stove and dishwasher are all new or newish. But yes, they will probably still break.