Buying a problem

The most recent homes I have been looking at all have had slab foundations. While this may not be so bad, these homes have also been located on a hill. The fact that the soil her in the Bay Area isn't the greatest, really puts some of these homes at risk. While they may not yet slide or have foundation problems (floor buckling, etc...), it's hard to say is something will happen or not. Especially with older homes, there has to be some point that things will start wearing out, just because of normal wear and tear. But that doesn't make it any easier to let go of a house that you like just because of the foundation or the *risk* of something bad happening.

The more I think about it, the more I realized that some instances of buying a house are similar to buying a used car. While you can track the history of used car alot better these days, some people still don't. For example, if a car has been in a serious accident, I certainly don't want any part of the car. Sometimes, you can even see the bondo put into fix the car (a poor job). BUT, someone always ends up buying the car - either someone that pays alot less given the accident OR someone that doesn't know and gets taken. Of course the person doesn't know that he or she gets taken until the car is in another accident and it collapses because of all of the bondo.

I guess my point is that even if a house is obviously flawed, there is someone out there who will buy it. Most of the time, it's some other sucker who hasn't done his or her homework. While house hunting can be very emotional - I have determined that the process I about 10% logic and 90% emotion, it is very important to keep a level head. After all, I know for a fact that I would never want any car with bondo in the rear quarter panel - nor would I want a house that had obvious drawbacks. The 90% emotion really pulls you to overlook some flaws - but it is best to keep everything in perspective.

Either way, house hunting is not easy. I'm still waiting for sellers to start asking more reasonable prices. We'll see what happens. SFGate.com has a good article on the real estate market in case you are interested.