Becoming a Homeowner
This is gonna be a quick update because yesterday I officially closed on my first ever property. When I have projects ongoing I’m extremely neurotic until I’m happy with the state they’re in, so I’ll be heading over there shortly to put in some work. The process has been ongoing on for a couple months, but finally, the deed is done (ha ha).
First off, I want to acknowledge that I couldn’t have done this without the support of my parents. The down payment was mostly with their money. I am insanely grateful to them. My parents grew up in Poland, standing in bread lines, eating state rationed meat once a week. They came to the US in the late 80’s with no money, and no strong family connections. They didn’t plan to stay, just to work for a bit and go back to Poland. They decided to stay, and my father worked two jobs while getting his masters at night, my mother worked as an au pair. They got their green cards through a lottery. Over the course of my life our family climbed the class ladder. Through a combination of talent, luck, sacrifice, and discipline my parents hit the jackpot with the American dream. I’m just reaching the age where I recognize that achievement, but it is truly inspiring.
Back to me. I’ve been living in Irvine for the last year for the start of my PhD. I moved here during COVID, and it has been, with rare exception, miserable. I do not like living in Irvine, it is the most soulless and isolating place I’ve ever been. So I had to figure out how to change my situation, life is too short to be unhappy. While I was fantasizing about my escape from Irvine, I realized that I’ll be here for a fixed period of four more years, with low but guaranteed income. I sat down with Excel, and did the math. Over four years, at $1,200 / month I’ll spend $57,600 on rent, that’s not great. If I can buy a place, in all scenarios other than the place losing a significant portion of its value, the math is better. If I can add value, and maybe a lot of value, now we’re talking baby. I put together some slides, pitched to my dad, and he was open to it. (In securing the loan I had to swear that this was a gift and not a loan from my parents, but I’m planning to give them an even bigger (but totally unrelated) gift when I sell it.)
After several months of triple-checking my math, I hopped on Redfin. I went to see a place and met my realtor. He showed me a place that was decent, but had been on the market a long time and would probably be hard to sell. I asked him if he knew of anything that I wouldn’t have seen listed on the MLS. In fact, he did. He seemed reserved about it, warned me that it’s not in good shape, but it would be a good deal for me. Intriguing.
So, we went over there and he was right, its not in good shape, but would be a good deal for me. The seller, due to personal circumstances, was underwater on the mortgage and would be losing his house to the bank imminently. The place was in disrepair, and the seller wanted out. Out of respect for his privacy I’m not going to give more details there, but it was a rough situation. I did struggle with whether it was ethical and landed on it being more ethical than the alternative. I did my best along the way.
Buying a place takes a while, and there’s a lot of box ticking. I read about every step and worked to understand what’s going on, but the details are not terribly exciting. If anyone wants to talk about it, I’m happy to. The deal almost fell apart several times through the process. Circumstances evolved such that it became unclear whether this was gonna go well for me. I talked to an attorney, he calmed me down. My parents told me I should pull out of the deal, it’s not worth the risk. I wasn’t ready to bail yet, so I covered my bases, pissed off my realtor a bit, and saw it through. And in the end, it worked out.
So, I’m moving to Long Beach. The outcome was exactly what I’d hoped for. A place that I can make my own, in a city with some life. I am undeserving of the good things I have and I feel incredibly lucky.
I will be doing my best to document the rehabbing of the place for this blog. My friend Mario is coming to visit soon, and I’ll put him to work. Stay tuned!