Prices Are Falling Faster Than Sales In California
The Union Tribune reports from California. “Although the current real estate market downturn eventually will reverse itself, agents should prepare for difficult times, California Real Estate Commissioner Jeff Davi yesterday told about 300 members and guests of the San Diego Association of Realtors. Several years ago, during the fevered housing boom, some agents could make sales simply by going to work and answering the telephone, Davi said. ‘Well, those days are over.’”
“Because the ranks of agents grew rapidly during the recent boom, competition now is keen, he said. ‘One in 53 adults in California has a real estate license,’ Davi said, drawing laughter from the crowd.”
“Taking the stage after Davi, Greg Smith, the county’s assessor, recorder and clerk, predicted that the housing market will soon rebound. ‘We’re going to be in a trough for a while, but ‘08 is basically the bottom,’ Smith said. ‘This is an outstanding time to buy real estate.’”
“Smith criticized the loose loan underwriting standards that enabled people to continue purchasing homes as prices soared. ‘We had people offering 1 percent teaser rates, no down (payments), stated income. How in the world do you suspend the laws of economics?’”
The Los Angeles Business Journal. “Los Angeles County home sales are sharply down from a year ago…a 43 percent drop year-over-year. Foreclosures rose 130 percent in Los Angeles County in the first quarter year-over-year, with 20,339 homeowners receiving foreclosure notices, according to DataQuick.”
“In Lancaster’s 93536 ZIP code, sales fell 42 percent in March year-over-year, but in April jumped 28 percent year-over-year. At the same time, the April median price fell to $285,000 –$9,000 less than March and $90,000 less than a year ago.”
“Conversely, home sales in the county’s priciest neighborhoods were at a virtual dead standstill – the opposite of last year when luxury home sales were propping up the market. In Beverly Hills’ 90212 and 90210 Zip codes, where median prices top $2 million, there were a total of just 10 sales.”
“Cal Poly Pomona finance and real estate professor Michael Carney said he is worried about the sharp drop in prices, especially when compared to the last real estate bubble that burst in the early 1990s. He believes it may mean the bottom is even further off than most people expect.”
“‘That prices are falling faster than sales is not a good sign in terms that the bottom is near,’ said Carney, noting that in the 1990s housing bust it took almost six years for prices to drop 20 percent. ‘You’ll start seeing year-to-year sales volume pick up long before we see a turnaround in prices.’”
“In Covina’s 91722 ZIP code, sales volume rose 80 percent to 27 homes, as the median price fell 30 percent to $345,000. In Palmdale’s 93550 ZIP code, the median price fell 39 percent to $202,000 as sales rose to 62 homes, 35 percent higher than a year ago and 63 percent higher than March.”
“Even so, just three years ago a typical month in that once fast-growing Palmdale neighborhood might see more than 150 sales.”
“Rhett Winchell, president of Beverly Hills’ Kennedy Wilson Auction Group, has an auction scheduled June 1 to help builders in the Palmdale-Lancaster area dispose of 17 luxury model homes. Winchell said that given the current market conditions, the starting price will range only between $125,000 and $250,000 – for homes that during the height of the boom would have sold for $289,000 to $605,000 on the open market.”
“That’s much lower than the discounted minimum starting bid Kennedy Wilson normally sets.”
“‘There are properties in this area that have been on the market six months to a year,’ Winchell said. ‘We don’t have that much time to sell these (model) homes. Our program works for builders because we price them below market, and let the buyers determine the market.’”
The San Fernando Business Journal. “Developer Rick Caruso’s Americana at Brand in Glendale has enjoyed nearly two weeks of immense publicity surrounding its May 2 opening. But success of the so-called ‘lifestyle center’ could come down to two issues – parking and the development’s residential element.”
“These are tough times for those in the luxury living sector of the industry, with a large supply of both high-end apartments and condominiums recently opened or coming online soon between Pasadena, Downtown L.A. and Woodland Hills.”
“The Americana has two categories of residences: 238 luxury apartments aptly named The Residences were 20 percent leased prior to the grand opening, while 100 condominiums are expected to open later in the year. When asked what his target market was for the residences, Caruso quipped, ‘Anybody with a buck.’”
“Rents for the apartments range from $2,000 to $5,500 per month. According to Glendale native and Realtor Phyllis Harb, those prices are going to be a tough sell. A typical one-bedroom in Glendale rents for about $1,100.”
“Jodi Taylor-Zens, director of marketing for the retail portion of the project, said the biggest challenge of the apartment-over-retail concept is noise. ‘I think you have to be the kind of person who understands you’re living in a downtown environment where trash trucks come early and stores get deliveries early in the morning and at night restaurants and bars are open late with music and people,’ she said.”
“The Paseo has one thing the Americana doesn’t – its own grocery store. ‘It certainly makes it easier,’ said Taylor-Zens, but it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker, she added.”
The Desert Sun. “Real estate professionals at the sixth annual Commercial Real Estate Investors Forum on Friday talked about making concessions to weather the current storm, finding opportunities and bargains where possible, and being prepared for the eventual market turnaround.”
“‘The truth is, the market is still declining,’ said Peggy Sue Lane, VP of Stewart Title Insurance in Palm Desert.”
“‘We’re not quite at ground zero, but many economists and appraisers are suggesting that we’re close. Economists expect the Coachella Valley to recover before the rest of the Inland Empire,’ Lane said. ‘We’re going to recover first. We have too much to offer.’”
The Press Enterprise. “State officials will probably decide within the next two weeks which agencies will teach idled construction workers the skills they need to work on state-funded projects, a spokesman said. California has allocated about $4.5 million in emergency funding for the retraining efforts.”
“Construction workers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties are among the biggest losers in the housing slowdown, according to the Employment Development Department’s latest report on the job market. Once seen as a sure thing by Inland blue-collar workers, construction has sent nearly 15,000 workers to the unemployment line within the past 12 months, the report shows.”
“The state also has a $5.6 million federal grant to retrain financial services workers idled by the housing slowdown. The Inland area has lost 3,600 financial services jobs within the past year, about 7 percent of the work force in that sector.”
The Bakersfield Californian. “On Miranda Court the little things have been left undone. And some worry big things — such as home warranties — may vanish. The developer of Tehachapi’s partially built Alta Estates neighborhood filed for bankruptcy protection April 25.”
“‘We have seen or heard nothing from them at all,’ homeowner Fayetta Lapham said of the San Bernardino County homebuilder behind her new house.”
“These days, empty dirt lots surround Miranda Court and nearby roads. Streets need finish work. Residents complain about peeling paint and cracked windows. If and when such tasks will be finished is up in the air.”
“Lapham and her husband moved into their $250,000 house in September, comforted by the idea of being in a new development where a builder could fix any small problems that might arise.”
“‘My husband just didn’t want something he was going to have to put a lot of work into,’ she said. Now they worry they’ll be stuck doing repairs.”
“Chapter 11 allows a company to operate while it restructures finances. But that doesn’t mean the Laphams and their neighbors will have access to a familiar company that will fix broken windows as expected.”
“‘It’s not that simple,’ said Empire’s attorney, Richard Pachulski, ‘because the company will probably not survive at the end of the day.’”
The Merced Sun Star. “Zack Guettinger’s alarm sounds at 3:45 a.m., bringing with it a cruel reminder that he must drag himself out of bed for another three-hour drive to his job in San Ramon.”
“On a typical day, he drives 200 miles there and back. It’s not a short drive, but as he explained, it’s what must be done.”
“Guettinger, along with other Merced County residents, is willing to trade endless hours on the road for their own corner of the American Dream. There’s a phrase, ‘Drive until you qualify,’ meaning that a Bay Area worker can afford a house only if he moves farther from his job.”
“‘I struggle through every day with the drive so they can have somewhere nice to live,’ the 31-year-old Guettinger explained. ‘I really wanted to get a house down in the Valley for everyone to grow up in.’”
The Recordnet. “Caroline Latham, CEO of RealFacts, said some analysts of the troubled single-family home market have speculated that people forced out of foreclosure houses would move into apartments. But the RealFacts survey suggests that this isn’t happening, she said.”
“‘There has been no increase in demand for apartments, as would be the case if former homeowners were turning into apartment renters,’ she said.”
“Latham said many people bumped by foreclosures may be renting houses rather than apartments and are part of a ’shadow market’ not being measured.”
“Ada Ulloa and her family of four will be moving out of their Morada home next month after four years because their monthly adjustable-rate mortgage is jumping by $500, to $3,300. Knowing they’ll not be able to make those higher payments, they’ll be walking away, giving up a house now worth $100,000 less than what they owe on it.”
“But from a renter’s perspective, she said she’s having no trouble finding at least a half-dozen good house rental possibilities at pretty good prices.”
“‘It feels like it’s a good time for renters,’ she said as she was checking out a three-bedroom, two-bath rental house with a huge backyard in the Country Club area listed at $1,450 per month.”
‘State officials will probably decide within the next two weeks which agencies will teach idled construction workers the skills they need to work on state-funded projects, a spokesman said. Once seen as a sure thing by Inland blue-collar workers, construction has sent nearly 15,000 workers to the unemployment line within the past 12 months, the report shows.’
‘The state also has a $5.6 million federal grant to retrain financial services workers idled by the housing slowdown.’
IMO, this is significant as it is actually moving past the bust and trying to head in a new direction. These people aren’t ‘idled,’ those jobs aren’t coming back. Now if there was just something for them to do.
“Now if there was just something for them to do.”
Build, sell/finance & install solar panels?
Play in the sand box tell Palson/ DC boys come home with more “printed money”.
I hope that these funds are not used to upgrade the skills of illegal aliens.
The Press Enterprise. “State officials will probably decide within the next two weeks which agencies will teach idled construction workers the skills they need to work on state-funded projects, a spokesman said. California has allocated about $4.5 million in emergency funding for the retraining efforts.”
If it’s California, the illegal aliens are probably first in line for the funds or else they’ll sue for racism.
http://www.longbeachworkforce.org/
There is this program called the Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network centered in the Long beach, southbay, south LA Area. It is a large jobs network which would be one of those agencies seeking CA/ fed Dollars for retraining out of work, laid off, displaced workers & current long term unemployed.
They have a WIN- WIA-city of long beach 10-week intensive training program for EU workers which is a combined program training U in basic contruction skills and enviromental hazmat/osha safety training. Funding provided in part by FWA and EPA.
U have to submit an original SS card, Drivers licence, and proof of resdency, and show that u were out of work for several months, and other qualifications.
They also have logistics training programs. They have connections to the hugh LB/ LA harbor/ports jobs instrastucture and port unions.
Please google the PGWIN for more info as it is a large complex job training and jobs networking site, if you are one of the unfortunate displaced or EU in the South Los Angeles County region and U are not an illegal alien seeking to latch onto scarce state & Fed jobs training funds which should only be for amercian citizens.
Greg Smith, the county’s assessor, recorder and clerk, predicted that the housing market will soon rebound. ‘We’re going to be in a trough for a while, but ‘08 is basically the bottom,’ Smith said. ‘This is an outstanding time to buy real estate.’”
Now we have psychic readings about the future. This bozo’s salary paid by the taxpayer. What a true expert to be talking about a bottom. The county assessor, recorder and clerk.
A swift kick to the groin would be appropriate here.
He probably loses his job if tax revenues fall too much.
He will lose his ‘Enron-by-the Sea’ oceanview office if prices keep going down.
Okay, I’ve posted it before,…. but still:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEtk_WENKZA
And what happens when Zack gets sacked from his far-away job?
“Zack Guettinger’s alarm sounds at 3:45 a.m., bringing with it a cruel reminder that he must drag himself out of bed for another three-hour drive to his job in San Ramon.”
“On a typical day, he drives 200 miles there and back. It’s not a short drive, but as he explained, it’s what must be done.”
IMO, the writer misses a key point; this guy was probably a speculator. There isn’t a nice rental neighborhood near his job? And wouldn’t it have likely been cheaper than his house, especially considering the commute?
This drive til you qualify was just code speak to explain away speculation, IMO.
When I worked in Silicon Valley (I have a house in Sunnyvale), I’d meet a lot of people who had crazy 3 hour/day commutes. And if I knew them well I’d ask them if they thought their quality of life would be better if they rented an apartment nearby and had a 5 minute commute each day. Most of the time, they claimed to be talked into it by the wife, but there was also an underlying common belief that they’d simply sell the house in a few years, make a killing, and “step up.”
I never tried to argue that point. To me it was patently ridiculous. If a house in pleasanton or gilroy would appreciate, certainly a house in Palo Alto would appreciate more. The real way to get ahead would be to rent cheap and save money, instead of hoping the house will magically provide value for you.
Now with gas over $4/gallon, these folks are screwed, even if they got a fixed mortgage. (Most of them are driving big SUVs “because of the kids” even though statistically they’re no safer).
Man, that’s no lie. I live in sunnyvale also and worked with a guy that lived in Los Banos — about 2hrs ONE WAY!!! 4hrs a day on the road with at least 8 at work. No wonder he hated his job in Mt. View.
That is the worst commute ever. There is nothing redeeming about that long road to hell.
I did the drive once on a trip back from Yosemite to Mountain View. I’d kill myself if I did that stretch daily.
The guy that won the prize was the commute from Mariposa to Palo Alto and return last year. Got a bunch of stuff from the Cronicle.Not an urban legend either.
–
“When I worked in Silicon Valley” in 1980s I lived 1 1/2 blocks from Sunnyvale in Mtn. View (sold the condo way before the prices skyrocketed). I left and came back to work for Cisco in late 1990s.
Jas
It’s hilarious how quickly the “but they’re safer” SUV camp capitulates when they’re facing $75/$100 fill-ups every couple days. They’re shedding these beasts as quickly as they can. It was never really about safety, it was always about looking down on others from your high horse.
I pointed out to one of my coworkers who fills up 1-2x per week w a 30 gallon tank that she could buy a new corolla to commute and probably make the monthly payment, and insurance payments with the money she saves on gas. Still driving her SUV.
And how f’ed up is his marriage? Who would let their spouse drive 3 hours to work day in, day out???
NY times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/business/11storage.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
“A “residential unit” is one where the renter tries to illegally live in the unit. “We used to see one or two residential units a month,” Mr. Reger said. “Now I’m seeing 6 or 8 or 10. At one facility in D.C. the other day, we had three residentials.”
“residential unit” =
Living la vida storage
The money quote:
AWESUMMMMMMMMMM!!!
We once had to clean out a penniless relative’s apartment when she was found in a drunken stupor, in coherent, and got checked into a nursing home (at age 60 or so). She had no money, a fair amont of credit card debt. Been living on SSI and a string of husbands and boyfriends.
We simply sold everything; mostly junk, and used the money to pay off expenses.
Months later, she miraculously was on her feet again and ready to leave the nursing home. And, get this, she was MAD at everyone for not putting her stuff in storage (or stroring it ourselves.) Like we were supposed to foot the bill to store what was essentially garbage indefinately?
One of the things she complained most about were some QVC “collectables” she insisted were worth a fortune. A quick check on eBay revealed that you could barely give them away.
Anyway, back to my point. From my experience with storage places, most people would be better off having a garage sale and an eBay marathon, getting rid of everything, and if they ever need that used sofa or dining table again, buy another one used.
That NYT article was hilarious. I was reading that article on my Blackberry on my way home today. People are actually LIVING in these storage units for ~ 50.00 a month! And there’s the “teaser” rates: one month’s FREE storage!
One hundred square feet and no running water = what the heck!
My grandma is facing that same reality right now. Pissed away a fortune on home shopping and my irresponsible aunts and uncles. My grandfather must have seen it coming as he had several investments that she couldn’t sell but got to collect the income each month. My Dad is on his way up to liquidate, when the sht hit the fan the one guy who didn’t spend like a drunken sailor get’s stuck with the bills and responsibility. Could have been worse, go to Vegas and see how many are pissing away their lifes work on the slot machines.
Ben,
I did not get the feel of speculator when I read the article.
“”Guettinger works for a company that installs Internet-based phone lines for businesses. He simply hasn’t been able to find a similar job nearby.”"…
“”He landed a job in 1999 with a communications company and has spent the past nine years moving up the ranks.
While in San Jose, he watched the dot-com bust firsthand and weathered his employer changing names and owners.
He fled the Bay Area in 2005, feeling tired of a go-go-go lifestyle.”"
Of course you are much more capable of sorting through the B.S than I. (RE: picture of him and son in front of HUGE vehicle, but OK, he does cable).
Seems to be a note of truth in this one (yeah, I’m gullible).
Best,
Leigh
I bet there are some nice rentals in San Ramon or even Dublin. I used to live in Dublin and its not Atherton but it sure is a typical decent bedroom community. I think you are right about the speculating, and the stuff about his family living in a rough neighborhood is total BS. OMG the idea of live in Livermore!
1st he says ‘This is an outstanding time to buy real estate.’ and then he says ”How in the world do you suspend the laws of economics?’” If the law of economics is back in play then it doesn’t make it a great time to buy, not by a longshot.
He’s the County Assessor. Taxes are a percentage of housing prices. You get the picture.
Several years ago, during the fevered housing boom, some agents could make sales simply by going to work and answering the telephone, Davi said. “Well, those days are over.” (That’s the good news.)
“One in 53 adults in California has a real estate license,” Davi said, drawing laughter from the crowd. (Those licenses are likely to lapse for many)
He said he needed the help of Realtors to regulate the industry. (Are you kidding me! That’s like asking Bear Stearns, LTCM and mortgage brokers to help regulate their industries. Thieves regulating thieves.)
“We’re going to be in a trough for a while, but ‘08 is basically the bottom,” Smith said. “ . . . This is an outstanding time to buy real estate.” (the county’s assessor, recorder and clerk). It’s hard to tell the difference between government clowns and NAR Bozos house price bottoming spiels.
RE agents don’t have sufficient ethics or knowledge to regulate the industry. They just need their commission. I was disgusted today to overhear one of them suggest to a young couple that they could borrow a down payment from Nehemiah. Of course I was also disgusted by the young couple who were lusting after a house they clearly couldn’t afford. It was your typical over-updated flip full of travertine, stainless steel and granite. Jeesh.
“‘I struggle through every day with the drive so they can have somewhere nice to live,’ the 31-year-old Guettinger explained. ‘I really wanted to get a house down in the Valley for everyone to grow up in.”’
That’s so dear of him! Of course, his kids won’t even know him. Shucks, they might not even RECOGNIZE him. ‘Mommy! There’s a stranger lurking in the kitchen!’, sort of thing.
‘…He stays awake for the drive home by drinking energy drinks. At one point, he was downing three a day, though he’s cut back to one because he knows they’re bad for his health…Guettinger arrives home about 8 p.m., depending on rain and accidents, which leaves enough time to eat dinner and to tuck his sons, ages 4 and 1½, into bed…He’ll usually spend another couple hours in front of his computer, filling orders for his online business before getting in bed around midnight…He’s looked for jobs locally but has never found anything that would give him a similar lifestyle.’
You know what? If I was this guy I’d be asking friends, neighbors, handy cashiers: ‘Please, oh please, just shoot me now.”
“He’s looked for jobs locally but has never found anything that would give him a similar lifestyle.”
Gasoline costs have got to be eating this guy alive. And his health must be taking a beating too.
Ooh, some “lifestyle” he has there.
Olympiagal, I”m with you, if that’s living, I’d rather be dead.
There are few things more disgusting than people invoking their kids as a pretext for buying a house they can’t afford or spending three hours a day driving to and from work. Did the kids have any say in this “American dream”? Most would much rather be able to spend quality time with their dad in a modest rental than see an exhausted husk of a father a few minutes before bedtime.
Guettinger meet STANLY JOHNSON..
Like my new house, my new car, I even got membership at the local golf club..Somebody help me I’m in debt up to my eyeballs. Plus I drive 400 miles a day and pay 4.00 a gal for gas. That has got to be a really nice neighborhood for all he is sacrificing
Lol, that ad came out years before the bubble popped(at least ‘05), the only mainstream recognition of what was ahead.
His marriage HAS to suck too.
If he is tired from driving etc, then his ‘marriage’ doesn’t suck.
Too tired.
At least he is too tired to cheat~
You know what? If I was this guy I’d be asking friends, neighbors, handy cashiers: ‘Please, oh please, just shoot me now.”
Hey! Didn’t I ask you to shoot me, Olympiagal? Though I believe the terms of the deal were unlikely to occur: I believe you had to catch me in Barstow wearing ostrich skin boots. I mean, there’s no way I’d ever go to Barstow.
He’ll die soon from those energy drinks. They are nothing but liquid sugar and amino acids. Either cancer or diabetes or both will be in his future before he hits 40
Look on the ‘good’ side! His wife will get a big insurance settlement when he croaks, asuming he qualifies ,and has a big policy. The kids and wife will get his SS. Good deal. Then she can get another idiot and start again. hehehehehehe
“Taking the stage after Davi, Greg Smith, the county’s assessor, recorder and clerk, predicted that the housing market will soon rebound. ‘We’re going to be in a trough for a while, but ‘08 is basically the bottom,’ Smith said. ‘This is an outstanding time to buy real estate.’”
Do these idiots even realize that there is a second wave of resets at the high end on its way as they make these predictions for 2008? Or, as I suspect, they are basically lying to the ignornant public, most of whom have no idea what is coming?
They just don’t get it:
More defaults = More foreclosures = more auctions = lower comps = continued downward spiral
Not to mention loans are getting hard to come by…
I think we’re in the bottom of the fifth inning as far as the playing out of this bubble is concerned…
“Not to mention loans are getting hard to come by…”
More accurately:
‘Not to mention people actually have to qualify for loans now…’
We are not even in the first inning of the Alt-A, HELOC, Credit Card, Student Loan game. Still warming up.
Smith is a piece of work. He adjusts assessed values upward if he thinks properties sold for too little. There was no such concern about adjusting assessed values downward when sold at inflated prices due to fraud.
He says problems were just due to the financing with no mention of the fraud component. With listing/wishing prices still upwards of $400/sq ft, it is certainly not yet an “outstanding time to buy real estate.”
He will not be getting my vote when he comes up for reelection. I’ll be voting for anyone but him. I’m just hoping there will be someone running that’s not in bed with the industry.
Anybody have any insight into rents in San Francisco. Going up, down, sideways? Looks like I’ll have to rent a place there. Work will be downtown. Not interested in Guettinger’s lifestyle!
Up 14%. I don’t know why, but rents were insane before and now they’re just plain stupid. My theory is that people are desperately trying to pay for their overpriced homes and renters are still willing to pay the price.
Why not rent in an outlying community and take BART to your job?
A possibility, but commuting is a waste of life. Plus I’ll need easy access to airport. Near a BART in the city would be ideal.
Too bad about rents being up 14%. A bit discouraging. Have a link? Might be able to use for bargaining.
we see here where SF high-price support comes from..
Cities like SF are filled with people who are more than willing to suffer what is, imo, a lower standard of living, for the few conveniences and ammenities of city life.
Amenities OTA. I still love SF. Rent was out of reach for me even in ‘68.
Patience, if you can. I have been dealing with the rental sittuation in So. Cal for a year and a half. Incidentally, I am originally from the San Francisco Bay Area.
A the houses get foreclosed on, the theory is that rents go up because people need to move and live “somewhere”. Landlords, apt. mgrs. etc. eagerly embrace this theory and avenue: raising rents etc.
However, the reality is people are doubling up, downsizing and moving out of the state. I can’t speculate what the time frame for you is in SFO, but after being scoffed at and rejected looking for lower retals on homes, I now have people approaching me and offering deals. Good luck.
My son’s girlfriend is renting in Richmond and taking the train to SF everyday. Very exhausting. She’s looking for a job in Sacramento now.
Answered my own question. Craigslist based rent chart for SF:
http://mullinslab2.ucsf.edu/SFrentstats/data/time.html
Wow, two beds for $3k. Property managers will be under even more intense pressure to convert new condos to rentals.
foo;
This site tracks SF rents using data from Craig’s List.
http://mullinslab2.ucsf.edu/SFrentstats/
The rents for SF and all of the feeder communities saw a big run up in 2007. I am in one of the feeder communities at the south end of the peninsula, Menlo Park. At the beginning of 2007 a studio went for $900 a month and now the asking prices are $1200 a month. The same studio near downtown SF with out parking would be $1700 a month. Parking is a problem in SF.
Living in SF with no car is possible. Downtown studios can be found. If you have a car, then look west down one of the MUNI rail lines, N-Juda for example. You can find studios in the fog belt, west of highway 1, for $1 to $1.3K per month. MUNI will get you downtown in 30 minutes most of the time.
If you are working near the end of Market, There are some interesting options. Rent in Sausalito, the area near the pier. The rents are in the mid-teens for a one bedroom. There are ferries to the terminal at the end of Market. It is a very interesting and invigorating ride. Somewhat pricey. Water born fairs are twice land-based fairs. Another option is downtown Oakland, somewhere near one of the BART stations. Rent for one bedrooms range from $1 to $1.4K a month. With a transit pass you can keep the cost under $200 a month, less for BART.
Looking south down the peninsula and limiting the commute below 30 minutes, look in Daly City down to Millbrae near one of the BART stations The rents are around $1.2K for one bedrooms.
/phill
We are renting a 3 bedroom, 2,000 sq. ft. house in Danville for $2,500/mo. We take BART from Walnut Creek. Very nice, quiet area with good schools.
Thanks for the great responses. I’ll add many of the ideas to my notebook as I prepare to deal with SFs rather astonishing rental market.
The ferry from Marin is a neat idea, but poor airport access.
I sold my house in South Chandler AZ and I’m now renting in Northern California. I know someone with 4 homes and are upside down on all of them…to the tune of a total of 475K. I heard it on this board a while back: “you’re not going to get rich borrowing money….”
“Cal Poly Pomona finance and real estate professor Michael Carney said he is worried about the sharp drop in prices…He believes it may mean the bottom is even further off than most people expect.”
You remember Prof Carney, don’t you?
Lanser on Real Estate
June 24th, 2006
“Q. What’s your outlook for Southern California and Orange County?
A. I believe we’ll still see price increases for the foreseeble future – for at least a year. There may be some decreases – like in San Diego. On average, prices are still increasing at about 10%. That rate will slow down. But it will stay positive.”
…
“Q. Housing bubble?
A. I don’t see one bursting. When you ask “Bubble?” you imply a bursting. I’ve never agreed with a concept of bubble, or a burst. Perhaps a leveling off.”
Looks like someone finally got religion.
nice to see someone calling out people who made these claims… if they were not lying then, they were idiots (not sure which is worse…)
“But from a renter’s perspective, she said she’s having no trouble finding at least a half-dozen good house rental possibilities at pretty good prices.”
“‘It feels like it’s a good time for renters,’ she said as she was checking out a three-bedroom, two-bath rental house with a huge backyard in the Country Club area listed at $1,450 per month.”
Check out the photo of Ada in the story. Laughing like a hyena. Oopsie, my mortgage went up, time to walk away, but hey, I can find some pretty good digs as a renter. What a piece of crap, not a hint of responsibility. I hope she doesn’t work as a nurse.
I’d be willing to bet there was some fraud on her Mortgage application. Like misstating her income. How come I’ve never seen any individual prosecuted for this?
–
For the latest available Radar Logic data for all the 5 CA metros the PPSF for 2008Q1 is falling between 20.8% (San Jose) -31.0% (Sacramento) Annual Rate. Overall the prices in CA are falling at 28-29% Annual Rate since the beginning of July.
Listings keep rising every week and prices must come down to accommodate the rising inventory. Classic case of supply and demand controlling the direction of prices.
Jas
Greg Smith, the county’s assessor, recorder and clerk, predicted that the housing market will soon rebound. ‘We’re going to be in a trough for a while, but ‘08 is basically the bottom,’ Smith said. ‘This is an outstanding time to buy real estate.’
You wonder if anyone has any liability when making statements like this. A legit brokerage can’t say something like “The mutual fund has hit bottom and it’s a great time to by”. They give very careful statements like “it’s for someone who wants to take advantage of new opportunities in Central America” followed by clear disclaimers, and footnotes.
Here’s a government representative telling people about investment opportunitues. How can he get away with that?
My guess is that as an elected official, he’s not liable for anything he says.. and there can be no sanctions or punishment beyond the prospect of being officially reprimanded by his fellow politicos, or being recalled or replaced by the voters.
If i were an interested San Diegoan, i might file this tidbit away for use in his next campaign..
–
“In Lancaster’s 93536 ZIP code, sales fell 42 percent in March year-over-year, but in April jumped 28 percent year-over-year. At the same time, the April median price fell to $285,000 –$9,000 less than March and $90,000 less than a year ago.”
The PPSF for this zip is down 40%, for SFH, from the peak and for the other two zips it is down 50%. This level of price drop would spur some sales, but further price drops is likely to chill the market.
Jas
Cal Poly Pomona finance and real estate professor Michael Carney said he is worried about the sharp drop in prices, especially when compared to the last real estate bubble that burst in the early 1990s. He believes it may mean the bottom is even further off than most people expect.”
Finally a smidgeon of accuracy?
The bottom being further off, is what I mean for accuracy.
–
“Winchell said that given the current market conditions, the starting price will range only between $125,000 and $250,000 – for homes that during the height of the boom would have sold for $289,000 to $605,000 on the open market.”
PPSF in these areas is down 50-60% from the peak. The new homes can only sell at prices lower than the cost of the structure, approx. $100 Sq Ft, i.e., land is for free.
Jas
Double-bubble, toil and trouble:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_sperling&sid=a.X91SkgOd8g
–
The Bakersfield Californian. “On Miranda Court the little things have been left undone. And some worry big things — such as home warranties — may vanish. The developer of Tehachapi’s partially built Alta Estates neighborhood filed for bankruptcy protection April 25.”
Look at the attempt at overbuilding:
http://www.towerinv.com/map.php?map=maps/TehachapiTracts/AerialPhoto-TractMaps.jpg
http://www.towerinv.com/map.php?map=maps/TehachapiTracts/6218TractMap.jpg
http://www.towerinv.com/map.php?map=maps/TehachapiTracts/6508TractMap.jpg
…
These tracks don’t include even bigger development by KB Home.
I cannot overemphasize the overbuilding of commercial real estate in Tehachapi during the last five years. All the businesses and CRE developers were planning for new homes and residents that would not show as hoped (maybe in twenty years they might).
Jas
..took a detour into Tehachapi on a ride to Vegas a few months ago.. wanted to see what it was like.. got lost in the hills for about an hour. For a town in the middle of nowhere, it’s nicer than i expected.
–
I am visited by many lost travelers because I live at the end of the civilization and they can’t go any further (the back dirt roads do loop back to the main road). I don’t mind because it is real peace and quiet and it is nice to greet some strangers. I direct them to what they were searching for.
Jas
I am not against Latinos or nationalized immigrants. The problems described were management failures-going for the quick buck!
“These days, empty dirt lots surround Miranda Court and nearby roads. Streets need finish work. Residents complain about peeling paint and cracked windows. If and when such tasks will be finished is up in the air.”
With regard to illegals, whether Mexican or Irish, the answer is NO. The US was lazy to allow them to enter or refuse to evict them after they overstayed their Visa. By the way, I may be wrong here, but someone on a visa, is not allowed to work.
Correct me if I am wrong.
/rant off
–
Look, 90%+ of the economic problems is the US are due to one simple fact — some people profit handsomely. These people, as a group, are in a minority but they have enormous influence on our policies and laws, including what laws are not enforced.
Bubbles happen, and are allowed to build up, because some people (mostly businesses) make a killing during the bubbles and the majority loses out in the end.
Jas
So.. by eliminating the quest for profit we can eliminate 90% of our problems.. hmm.. i think i’ve read that somewhere.
Do you really believe what you are saying, in spite of the fact that illegals as employees are undercutting the wages of US citizens?
i didn’t mention illegals.. i commented on what is or is not the source of our problems.
Illegals will leave of their own free will when they can’t find jobs.
But business is business.. it’s all about money, always has been and will be. It gravitates towards whatever offers the highest profits and lowest operating costs. Business (think jobs, goods and services) shrinks and dies without profit or when it cannot keep up with it’s competition.
Business can’t change it’s spots and to think we should try to force it to is a waste of energy.
We can stop them hiring illegals if we choose to.. that’s easy.. but I defend business in the same way i defend the wild animal which enjoyed having a few village children and puppies for breakfast.. it’s only doing what comes naturally.
So, would like to compete with someone from China or India or Vietnam for “your wage”. I suspect you would be very upset.
Do not mis interpret what I am saying, it really comes down to “whose ax is gored”.
Do not count on legals leaving. They will bury themselves in the US. They will marry Americans or have children out of wedlock.
I am not going to go into the criminal activities that they get may involved in. Like everyone, people, illegals and citizens will do what ever it takes to survive. They( and mean in the general term everyone) will do whatever it takes for personal survival, including robbing and killing you!
/rant off
Illegals will leave if it’s in their best interests to leave.
My thought is to offer a healthy bounty on employers. When an illegal reports being hired, he gets handsomely rewarded. That employer is fined and punished.
Employers wise up fast, jobs dry up and illegals leave. No new arrivals because there are no jobs. No policing necessary.. no wall necessary..
Getting rid of those who live off the land is another problem.. it’ll require political will (meaning the will of the people) that has yet to be exhibited, but it’s not a problem we are forced to live with if we choose not to.
So it still comes down to who picks your strawberries and cleans your toilets…
–
I hope that the line between legitimate, or honorable profits, and profits via trickery, or unfair and unjust means, is not a fine one but clear-cut.
Allowing illegal immigrants, by not enforcing laws, and making mortgage loans that make no sense if one were lending his, or her, own money are clearly examples of immoral conduct on the part of the govt and businesses. We do need to draw lines as to what should not be acceptable, or allowed freely. Looks like we, as a nation, have not been able to.
My main point is immoral conduct that is permitted under some guise. I am all for profit motive. 100%. Ethics really are important to create and maintain prosperity.
Jas
Best line of the day- Ethics really are important to create and maintain prosperity.
Except instead of ethics I would have put enforced rules.
If the rules are ignored or changed during the game to benefit one group over another, eventually the other players will pick up and go home, and try to hoard their wealth. This is what happens in the third world, people don’t hold money they buy goats, chickens, land, cars and stick them under the mattress. They stay in clans as a way to defend their economic interests. This is extremely inefficient and slows growth for all. It amazes me that America’s elites have not figured this out.
You can’t blame business. Of course, “business” made these foolish loans possible. But it was the greed and mathematical illiteracy of the American Public that’s most directly responsible for this
Reuven,
I should apologize in advanced, if I am saying anything in appropriate, however do you believe in our educational system that an individual, other than a math/endineer/hard science college educated understands.
Look it, my generation, baby boomers went in marketing and the law upon teir graduation. Marketing sales pitches were brutal before my generation. What chance did individuals have?
Unfortunately, inspite of the greed of people, and there was a lot of it for what ever reason, were outclassed by college educated individuals who ended up working for advertising/marketing companies.
It wasn’t even a fair fight!!!
/rant off
I agree!!!
I hate to say it, but the dumb, the ignorant and the stupid always gets sc*ewed!
Its an unfair playing field when they contribute at minimal wages for their piece of the pie by rules written by others who will change them on a moment’s notice for a situation that was well known in advance!
Amen Lost.
Too bad, all the others make/change the rules.
Gordon Gecko. Greed is good.
I do not know about you, but this war on terrorism is really a war on society. Do you want to add to the opposition the poor of the US?
I am sorry, but the bu^lshit sales pitch made to the poor by the educated classes and the rich is that If you play by our rules and not rock the boat , we will perform on our promises.
Please tell me is a middle income/educated/rich person’s child more important/valuable than a poor person? Do you think that each parent, whether rich or poor or uneducated will not sacrifice any less than the other? Are you looking for economic warfare? Believe me, the poor are the greatest majority in the US and the World. I do not you want this to happen.
/rant off
I hope you are joking, otherwise you bring terrorism home to America between the economic classes.
I apologize for being so harsh, however that is how i see it.
Greed is good, but only when it is harnessed by morals rules and prosecution. Unchecked greed leads to anarchy and rule by the gun.
Since there are no longer morals-see elites of our society, I am afraid that we will eventually end up like Latin America.
If you live in or around LA, you know what I mean.
Imho
I believe the elite/wealthy 2% are in complete control, and
the rest of us, some boobs are still voting As If they think they are the wealthy 2%. When in fact they side with those who have terrorized our nation into submission and
the “threat” of being called unpatriotic has made all middle class cower, unless they still think they are the 2%.
I have never understood why people vote against their best interests and turn a blind eye to what is happening.
I think the ‘terrorism’ is perpetuated on the middle class. Period.
Something bad happened on 9/11, but it continues to this day on us all. And it isn’t ’someone coming into our shores’ any more than it is allowing our elected officials and radical right wing fundamentalist religious nuts, to ‘threaten’ us daily.
Yeah, when airport security recently took my smidgen of toothpaste (OMG, it’s a bomb) it so angered me that we’ve allowed our gov’t to condition us to accept the rule of fear. Most of us would fight to the death to protect ourselves and our country, and that’s what scares the Powers that be. They don’t want citizens, they want compliant consumers.
I don’t think it is business, per se.
I think it was short-sightedness by everyone involved. Government deficits? No problem. Savings rate going negative? No problem. Asset bubbles? Better to clean up after than prevent.
Lifestyle built on serial refi? No problem.
I think it was short-sightedness by everyone involved.
I wouldn’t just call it just short-sightedness, I’d call it a propagandized population. Consolidation of the media, and corporatization of the media has lead to the general news being worse than no news at all.
–
The Merced Sun Star. “Zack Guettinger’s alarm sounds at 3:45 a.m., bringing with it a cruel reminder that he must drag himself out of bed for another three-hour drive to his job in San Ramon.”
“On a typical day, he drives 200 miles there and back. It’s not a short drive, but as he explained, it’s what must be done.”
This borders on ridiculous. God forbid the gas prices go to $5. I wonder when he bought the home because prices are down 45% in Merced.
Jas
add to that global warming, support for middle eastern despots, air pollution, all in the name of home ownership!
–
America’s enemies have found a way to get back at Americans — Oil!
Victims, as usual, are mostly the innocent and hardworking.
Jas
The ‘Real’ enemies are the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense terrorists who won’t let us build nuks, build refineries, and drill for our ‘own’ oil. The Chi Coms are drilling in the Straits off Florida with the Cubans for those who don’t know and just want to watch MTV, Idol, and dancing with the stars. Read a book on economics you idiots. Or just read a book not printed by Marvel. Boy I feel good. Time for a jigger of single malt.
This guy has to be underwater. A house in my former neighborhood in Merced was selling for $169K last week. A 4 minute drive from UC Merced. We are talking early 2002 prices now.
venice in a standoff. “Hughes believes there’s pretty much a $200,000 stand-off happening in Venice. Buyers want prices to come down about $200,000 right now, and if that happened, she believes inventory would start moving again. Is that the magic number? Something to think about when you’re out looking at these Venice homes this weekend.”
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2008/05/weekend_open_ho_25.php
“venice in a standoff”
Venice zip averaged 10 sales a month at around a million apiece all last year. This for a community which has a fairly large no of homes, i’m guessing 20,000. Those few sales were flipped former teardowns or posh remodels by wealthy flipper/investor-speculators . Nothing else sold and the market was and is completely frozen. Wait till end of 2008 and 2009 when the credit spigot and helocs dry up and many sellers on the sidelines have to sell. It take just a half dozen distressed sales at $100,000 -200,000 below current valuations to implode the entire venice market.
I know venice and most homes are stacked 2-3 story condolike cramped units on 2500-3000 postage lots. The owners are living on their CC’s and extracting all possible mew to wait out the bubble collapse but they will cry uncle later this year and the venice sale prices will implode neg 15-20% YOY within a year.
“Many analysts blame the current market downturn on weak loan underwriting standards. Davi said the blame for the subprime mortgage crisis extends beyond real estate professionals. In cases of consumer loan fraud that his department investigates, borrowers often are in complicity.”
Where are those investigations? When are the prosecutions for fraud? All of the income information on the flood of stated income loans the past few years was accurate?
“He said he needed the help of Realtors to regulate the industry.”
What’s next, having foxes monitor egg production?
http://www.labusinessjournal.com/article.asp?aID=48545082.3380679.1624974.9735092.9963236.577&aID2=124989
This is regarding two hugh proposed LA county housing develpments : the 21,000- unit Newhall ranch and 26,000-unit tejon ranch, both in the Santa Clarita area off the 5 fwy and north of the 14 split :
My comments - Part I
There is already quite a bit of urban development put up in that area along the 5 fwy north of the 126. last i checked back in 2007 there was a massive new nascent industrial park in place as well as some new housing tracts. It seems as if this region is primed to grow as the corp parks are rapidly expanding into this area. The newhall ranch would be immediately to the west .
I reallly do not see how envornmentalists can fuss over this as the entire areas of nearby santa clarita, valencia, newhall ,saugus, canyon country , castaic, have already been in full blown development last 20-30 yrs but most of it has been relatively orderly with regards to proper environmental planning as compared to ther environmental disaster i’ve seen out in the IE.
the only problem is increased traffic along the 5 into LA but if they continue to put in the industrail parks infrastructures then maybe in time that area could be a self contained cimmunity with its own localized jobs sectors. It is not being planned with just housing alone as was the IE but to have housing, factories, warehouses, shops, retail, another words a complete integrated community.
–
Thanks, Peter. I know of boom projects of 1980s that went into a bust and freeze before revival during 2003-07. These two major developments could be in deep freeze for decades if the economy is in a protracted recession. I think that the general area is far more overbuilt than during the 1980s boom.
Just look at how many developers are going into bankruptcy.
Jas
Tejon Ranch just ‘bought off’ the national Sierra Club to build another Newhall Land type development. Will give some open space easements. Local Bakersfield Sierra Club officials resigned in protest by the ‘national’ sell out. ‘I know what you are, just wanted to find out your price’.
OT - Thank you in advance for your contribution.
Some months ago, there were discussions on limits a bank would allow one to withdraw per transaction.
My question: Is there a limit to how much cash one can stash in the matress?
Hubby says I’m crazy, IIRC, there was innuendo that an individual(s) could only posses X amount of physical cash.
I used every possible syntax and looked at all the .gov sites and could not find a limit.
Again,
Thank you in advance,
Leigh
Sort of OT in re to Leigh, in going through customs the other day, the officer questioned me about carrying over $10,ooo. in currency. I looked at him quizzically, and stated, my corp just reduced my pay 35%,now where would I get $10k to carry around. Haven’t you read the news lately?
I find so many who are clueless still to what is going on in the World.
Thank you Desert - I do know one cannot transport more than $10K.
Best,
Leigh
A few years ago, when I was still flying, customs came aboard the plane to search the crew. When I asked why, they explained they were doing a “currency check.” I didn’t think much about it until a few months later, another crew member was caught with a sh*t load of money in his possession. Turns out, he was a drug mule (in addition to being a “stew”). Dude was trafficking Ecstacy from Germany. We always wondered how he managed to be attired in high-end couture. We assumed it was a “sugar daddy”.
Not long after the bust, I heard he tried to kill himself by jumping out his NY apartment, but he survived. The whole thing was totally bizarre.
So, if you are carrying over $10,000, you must declare so. And then I bet immigration and customs takes a real, long and thorough look at your a$$.
I figured you already knew that one!
there’s no law against going into a bank and asking for your $509,724.81 in cash. When the bank can’t comply since they don’t have that much cash on hand, they’ll ask for time to get it.
Meanwhile, the feds will be alerted and Homeland Security will keep their eye on you.. and more than a few people will know that it ended up under your mattress.
So, it’s better to do it in small, inconspicuous chunks..
Thank You Joey,
Small notes (dollars) withdrawn inconspiously - check.
How will they (HLS) know?
P.S. Not under mattress.
Curtsey,
Leigh
homeland security.. well.. i mention them only because they are most interested in large amounts of cash being moved about these days.. shutting off terrorist cash flow seems to be working.
Any well connected arm of govt has the manpower and know-how to access anything they want.. phone calls, mail, library books you take out.. chinese food you take out.. etc. They can easily do any sort of surveilance with little chance of being caught, not necessarily with the intention of creating admissable evidence.. but just to follow interesting things and people.
If i wanted to stash a large amt of emergency money or whatever i’d prefer that nobody was spying on me.
Damn, HLS knows about my chinese take out order?
Were doomed!
Well having recently had dealings with Customs/Immigration/Agriculture, can tell you unequivocally, it is all a government mess.
The only potential problem I can think of is that large amounts of cash are a red flag for money laundering activity. Keep in mind that using the full power of RICO pretty much anyone can be prosecuted. Make sure that there is a paper trail and that friends and family understand what you are doing.
Thank you MM,
Hubby and I are completely legit - it’s our money.
Nothing on RICO.
Uncheck papertrail - this is my fear - some crazy person thieving what is ours.
Question: Is there a limit to the amount of cash you can physically hold in one(s) posession?
With gratitude,
Leigh
Leigh, if you give me $5 mill to hold, in my arms, in my pockets, in my hat, in my underwear, in my bra-oops no room, and on and on. I will try my best!
Is that what you mean?!?!?! lol
Under the RICO laws the government can confiscate cash from you under the flimsiest of suspicion of criminal activity, and you have to go to court and prove yourself to get it back.
There have been cases of travellers carrying a few hundred in cash on domestic flights for business transactions having it confiscated on ’suspicion’ that it was for illegal drug deals, and the process to get it back is not simple.
This strip-mining of individual rights is courtesy of the ‘War on Drugs’ hysteria.
The RICO law was actually created to fight organized crime, especially gambling and extortion.
“‘We’re not quite at ground zero, but many economists and appraisers are suggesting that we’re close.”
——————————————
uh, ground zero and a market bottom are 2 different animals. another REIC dope
That crunching sound is of the exoskeletons of the scumbag RE tools under the foot of reality. I could listen to this all day.
I get this moronic note from my congressperson, which pi$$ed me off, since it was another one of those pandering gas price moans. I wish I had been more eloquent in the following response, but so it goes.
Dear Congresswoman Slaughter (NY 26),
I appreciate your update about gas prices, but this “disaster” as you call it has been a long time coming and I find it amazing that Congress has finally made it an issue. Better late than never, but it just shows how far behind the curve Congress is, since they have to spend so much time raising funds for another election and making sure the lobbyists are taken care of first.
While I don’t blame the Democrats for most of the country’s current problems, it seems as if the country is held hostage because the Senate is afraid that the Republicans may filibuster! My goodness, why not have them filibuster and make some noise, since the Democrats seem incapable of doing anything substantial besides sending out checks so people can buy more junk. This is another shortsighted move that is bound to accomplish little besides raising the deficit and devaluing the dollar further.
The housing crisis is also something that Congress is also shortsighted about. Why do you think that propping up housing prices is a good way to address a market problem? I am very disappointed by Barney Frank’s proposed legislation that bails out irresponsible home buyers who may be either flipping homes for profit or are investors who have no connection to the area from which they purchased a house. This horrible legislation rewards those who made bad decisions. How can anyone support lowering the principle balance on a home? Why do I get punished for being responsible? Are you going to reduce the principle on my home so I can save money and feel more secure? People bought more home than they could afford, many times with no money down with the hope of flipping the house in a year or two for substantial profit. I hope you can convince Mr. Frank that this is the kind of legislation that rewards bad behavior and encourages others to make bad decisions so they can be bailed out by responsible tax payers. Bailout the savings and loans, bail out the Enron types and now bail out the home flipper investor? I hope not again.
The Republicans have put this country on the edge of a financial precipice that could turn into a major recession and the Democrats seem powerless to do anything besides cry foul over Republican parliamentary gamesmanship. A sad state of affairs that is bound to get much worse before it gets better because Congress can see no further than the next gift for the next vote.
In closing, I would like to say that I am a registered Democrat, but will likely change to Independent because I see that both parties are incapable of leading. I have always admired you dedication, but when you can only contact your district with some ill fated gas price whine, it’s embarrassing. Please try and talk to people as if they have more than a third grade education and tell them that government can’t bail them out of everything and that there are difficult choices ahead, or you will be leading them into a hole that none of them can escape without completely losing what’s left of our democracy.
Excellent letter.
Someone explained to me yesterday, that the majority of dems are ‘blue dog dems’ and what that means is that they tend to vote along with republicans on major issues.
It seems that the majority, while on paper is Dem, the fact remains, the majority like LIEberman are or were dems on paper only. So, when checking on who voted for what, I am seriously going to be contacting the “dems”/bluedogs and start calling them on their Fake-ness. Their charade. When they are really so far, republicans.
Bizarro, very good letter.
Well said, Bizarro. In California, I switched to “decline to state” because Independent is an actual party.
If Hillary really wanted to stick it to OPEC she would introduce a bill yesterday raising the fed gas tax another $1 a gal………..opec would get scared that maybe we are serious about conservation, and oil would probably drop $40 barrel. overnight
Just drill in Anwar and along the coast of California. Plenty of Oil for all or build some more Nucs like France!
You’re assuming that the US consumption controls the price of oil worldwide. You’re assuming the population would accept $5/gal gas when they are already screaming about $4/gal. You’re assuming that there would be enough supply of oil if it dropped to $40/brl. Many oil wells would be capped if prices dropped under $60.
I’m a little confused by the people who were upset by their builder going bye-bye because it would mean they would have to fix problems like peeling paint and cracked windows. Aren’t you normally expected to fix things that go wrong with your house? What the hell next - do they expect the builder to stop buy and change their burned-out lightbulbs?
“‘My husband just didn’t want something he was going to have to put a lot of work into,’ she said. Now they worry they’ll be stuck doing repairs.”
WTF?
Do you expect everyone to be able to fix anything in a house? Sure, replacing light-bulbs is a no-brainer, but repairing windows is not something just anyone is qualified to do. Of course unless you subscribe to the Heinlein idea that everyone must be an ubermenschen or they’re worthless.
Ok, so reading all this can anyone tell me how we’re not on the verge of a systemic collapse resulting in Great Depression 2.0? This economy is based on nothing but fluff.
easy question
in 1929, the Fed caused the Great Depression by refusing to lower rates and rescue the banks. The Fed caused the run on the banks.
the Fed knows better than to repeat that colossal mistake again
I live in San Jose. The other day my neighbor, whose house is on the market for 860k, offered to sell it to me for 800k. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I wouldn’t pay 700k. I have been looking at houses today - we stopped at one and the listing agent strolled up to us and said “would you like to make an offer?” as if we were going to do it on the hood of the car or something. Reality has NOT set it in San Jose yet, but it is coming. SJ is a long way from the bottom.
On a typical day, he drives 200 miles there and back. It’s not a short drive, but as he explained, it’s what must be done.”
“Guettinger,
When I look up ’stupid’ in the dicitionary, I expect to find this clown’s face. 200RT says it all.
I lived in San Ramon rentals for several years. They are pretty darn nice. Much better than slow death in a car.