The Beginning - House hunting in LA...what your real estate agent won't tell you.

"It's a buyer's market!" screamed all the headlines. "This is the best time to buy!"

Yeah, right. That may be true for some parts of the country, but in sunny L.A., that was FAR from the truth.

My wife and I moved here to Los Angeles at the end of April, 2007. At the time the housing market was still optimistic and a small two bed, 900 square foot place was going for over $500,000. In a decent neighborhood, even more. So we didn't even consider that we'd be house hunting before long.

Well, as you know, the market and the economy crashed and there were foreclosures everywhere due to people taking out those stupid ARM loans and being approved for mortgages they couldn't possibly afford. We watched the news reports, we watched house buying shows on HGTV and we drove around trying to familiarize ourselves with the different neighborhoods, decide where was safe, find out what 'hoods the gangs operated in, figure out where the pretty, qaint neighborhoods were and how much prices varied from zip code to zip code. The news reports on the crashing market and falling prices gave us hope, the HGTV shows gave us inspiration and our neighborhoods survey gave us confidence that we knew where the best, most affordable parts of L.A. were. Hell, we even scanned the real estate listings and drove by a few houses. I thought, hm, this will be great. We'll look at a few places, ask questions and make an offer. The hardest part will be working our way through all the mortgage forms and deciding where we'll get the best rates. HA!

We've been at it since February and have had a crash course in the realities of house buying in L.A. This blog will chronicle our journey, give you real advice and warnings on house hunting and will hopefully have a happy ending. Next; getting preapproved and the benefits and pitfalls of FHA