We have a new discount record here in Irvine at 59% off. The low end continues to get crushed.
Asking Price: $125,000
Address: 243 Pineview Unit 2b Irvine, CA 92620
Tonight is the night. We will be gathering from 6:30 to 10:00. I look forward to seeing all of you there!
Hey listen here,
Now I got mortgages on homes
I got stiffness in my bones
Ain’t no beauty queens in this locality.
Fat Bottomed Girls — Queen
Ugly, cramped, dingy, old condos are an acquired taste. If you learn to like them, you can save much money on your housing bills — either that, or you will be locked in your prison for years.
The low end of the market must find a bottom before there will be any price stability in residential real estate. Until the low end finds a bottom and begins appreciating, there is no move-up market because first-time homebuyers — the people who buy these properties — have no accumulated equity to help finance a move-up purchase.
In an appreciating market, prices are pushed up from the bottom. Subprime lending and Option ARM loans inflated condo values a great deal, and the equity this created pushed up home values for all market strata. The process also works in reverse. When the low end falls, it pulls down prices of the other market strata because people will substitute by sacrificing some quality for significant price savings.
The low end will eventually find a bottom. Units like those featured today will bottom about 25% below rental parity. At those price levels, cashflow investors will find the prices attractive, and they will buy and hold the properties as true investments.
The fools out there buying these properties as quick flips are going to be very disappointed because these properties will not strongly appreciate anytime soon. When the high end crashes, the substitution effect will work in reverse as people abandon these low end properties in favor of more desirable properties at lower prices. That phenomenon will occur as the mid to high end prices stabilize.
The bottoming process takes much longer than most realize as nothing happens quickly in real estate. Many seem to think our real estate market will but in a “V” bottom and everyone will be priced out again. That is not going to happen. The sequence goes like this: (1) low end stability, (2) mid to high end crash, (3) renewed low end weakness and slight decline, (4) mid to high end stability, (5) low end stability and appreciation, (6) mid to high end appreciation. When appreciation finally returns, it will not be “rapid”; tepid is a better word. It isn’t until we reach stages four and five in my list that the move-up market functions again. I doubt we get there before 2013.
Gary Watts
Many real estate bloggers — me included — have ripped apart Gary Watts’s economic forecasts. Well, he must have been reading our stuff because in Gary_Watts_2009_Economic_Outlook.pdf he actually gets it right:
A Final Perspective
The recession has gone on so long and has been so crippling that any small piece of
economic data that comes out favorably leads one to think that things are finally going to
get better. Unfortunately, this is not so!
Housing has low prices and extremely low mortgage rates. This should have been enough
to turn us around. However, when you balance this against shrinking access to credit,
instability of American workers to receive higher wages and crippling unemployment, the
outlook is not good.
The current increase in foreclosures is beginning to look very similar to what occurred in
early 2007. The difference is that we were reaching a peak in housing prices. This time
around, we have no price buffer for the next onslaught of foreclosures.
Although the low-end of the market is fairly strong, in the past they took their equity and
“moved-up” to the next pricing tier. These sellers are leaving their homes with nothing
and therefore the next pricing tier (over $500,000) has no support coming.
Pent-up demand will soon wane, investor purchases will begin to decline and inventory
will grow. This will put a new round of pressure on an already price-declined market. To
add to the housing woes, the Treasury is issuing a lot of money. The market is beginning
to wonder who is going to buy all these notes and bonds. This will force interest rates
upwards, putting more pressure on our already weak housing market.
Mr. Watts just took his first step toward regaining his credibility. The rest of the report is not bad. There are no “green shoots” or other suggestions that we might be at the bottom. Perhaps everyone will develop a case of selective amnesia, and he can regain is standing as an economic forecaster. Too bad that pesky internet keeps such good records….
Asking Price: $125,000
Income Requirement: $31,250
Downpayment Needed: $25,000
Purchase Price: $305,000
Purchase Date: 3/15/2006
Address: 243 Pineview Unit 2b Irvine, CA 92620
| Beds: | 1 |
| Baths: | 1 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 684 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $183 |
| Lot Size: | – |
| Property Type: | Condominium |
| Style: | A-Frame |
| Stories: | 1 |
| Floor: | 2 |
| Year Built: | 1978 |
| Community: | West Irvine |
| County: | Orange |
| MLS#: | P693076 |
| Source: | SoCalMLS |
| Status: | Active |
| On Redfin: | 1 day |
Is a “Lowe Unit” the new realtor code word for being a fixer?
This property was a 100% financing deal near the peak in 2006. The owner paid $305,000 and used a $244,000 GSE insured first mortgage and a $61,000 second mortgage. The US taxpayers are eating much of the loss on this one.
Foreclosure Record
Recording Date: 05/20/2008
Document Type: Notice of Sale (aka Notice of Trustee’s Sale)
Document #: 2008000239587
Foreclosure Record
Recording Date: 02/04/2008
Document Type: Notice of Default
Document #: 2008000051876
The owner quit making payments on this property in late 2007, and it was purchased at auction on 06/19/2008. Now, one year later, it has finally left our shadow inventory. Are you starting to see how much shadow inventory is out there? What was the loan servicer doing with this property for the last year? How big of a loss are the taxpayers really taking on this property considering no payment have been made since 2007?
What a mess.
If this property sells for its current asking price, and if a 6% commission is paid, the total loss you and I are covering will be $187,500. But actually, it is much worse than that. This loan was insured by the GSEs which means some investor somewhere has been receiving payments from the GSEs while the loan was delinquent; therefore, we need to add in the sum of the payments the GSEs made on their insurance policy to the total loss, and this property may need to be discounted further in order to sell.
The original loan the GSEs insured was $244,000; this property may be a total loss.
Asking Price: $169,000
Income Requirement: $42,250
Downpayment Needed: $33,800
Purchase Price: $290,000
Purchase Date: 1/23/2006
Address: 148 Orange Blossom #118 Irvine, CA 92618
| Beds: | 1 |
| Baths: | 1 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 471 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $359 |
| Lot Size: | – |
| Property Type: | Condominium |
| Style: | Other |
| Stories: | 1 |
| Floor: | 1 |
| View: | Lake Front, Lake |
| Year Built: | 1976 |
| Community: | Orangetree |
| County: | Orange |
| MLS#: | P692269 |
| Source: | SoCalMLS |
| Status: | Active |
| On Redfin: | 6 days |
trickling waters and watch the ducks swim by from your livingroom &
private deck overlooking this beautiful water feature. Upgraded end
unit. The cozy kitchen has a bar seating area and features, grey
granite countertops, stainless steel sink, free standing gas range
w/hood, G.E. Profile dishwasher & newer disposal. Adjacent is a
closeted stackable washer/dryer. Neutral designer paint and carpet,tile
entry. Bedroom has an included wardrobe for additional storage and
custom window coverings; granite counter top in bathroom. Unit has
central air & heat. Lake Condos have two community pools, spa, gym,
basketball court, tennis court, playground and clubhouse. Great complex
near Irvine Valley College.
That is a well-written description. It is a little cheesy with the “trickling waters” and duck watching, but I think she pulled it off.
The kitchen is definitely “cozy.” Do you think realtors would describe an 8′ x 10′ prison cell as “cozy” too?
This property was also a 100% financing deal from the peak. At least the GSEs did not insure this one and cause the taxpayers to eat the bill. The loans on this property were issued by IndyMac… Oh no! We are going to pay for this one too.
BTW, someone in our forums spotted the most interesting home in Orange County.
The current owner is the bank? If so, did the lender pay to have this staged? Or is this being rented out currently? I don’t think those bananas and apples are from 2007 or 2008.
If this is being staged, that strikes me as quite odd. Staging a condo that’s under 200k in order to take a 59% loss?
If this is being rented out and is for sale, that’s a good sign. That would mean that at least one bank had the desire to rent property instead to dumping yet another vacant place on the market. Banks could have major economies of scale if they wanted to be landlords.
The first listing is an REO; the second listing is a short sale with the “owner” still apparently living in the unit.
On the west coast of FL, these condos would be worth $45k (+/- $10k depending on the specific location).
Comparing the prices of the two areas says a lot.
Glad to see the pick up on the year + of paying interest on the bond backed by the mortgage.
I really hope BF & Co don’t get their condo extension into the GSE’s. In FL there are many condos that have sold for 75% off peak, almost always after FC. Some condo complexes, including one I lived in for 4 years growing up, has not had an organic sale – non auction/bank sale, since Sept 2007! 450 unit complex! It prob won’t get that bad in Irvine, but I’m sure some areas of SoCal have felt that.
The 2nd unit is a short sale – per redfin, the 1st has no real picture.
Is that 2nd unit really 471sqft? Do people buy 470sqft apartments in NY? Looked and I think they do, for a whole lot. I’d rather rent at that size if only to hold onto the idea that it was a very temporary situation. But if the temp situation is to live there for a couple years and book a 100k or so profit, it would feel a whole lot better (two owners got that).
My last apartment was almost exactly this size. I can’t imagine actually buying such a small place, outside somewhere like NYC as you said, or for a cash flow investment. But if you were going for an investment, the first listing is cheaper, larger, and not a short sale, so why bother with the second?
Geotpf,
An offer for a short sale is sometimes real offer, a pipe dream or at worse a stall tactic by the pseudo-owner for a few more month of free rent.
IR, Remember to include the back property taxes on the FC. Pre-FC HOA fees will be eaten by the other paying tenants (aka homeowners). After FC, the bank (taxpayer) will need to pickup the post-FC HOA.
The green shoots are actually alligator tails.
Are falling prices towards a reasonable level a calamity? I called it back to sanity. Excessive debt is an abnormality or moral disease.
I also personally consider short sales to be mostly fictional, although apparently they are closing more often than they did a few months back.
I have cut back on my short sale coverage because so many were a fantasy, but since many are selling now, I will probably cover them more.
From the Gary Watts outlook:
Option ARM mortgages total 1.5 trillion, with California holding half.
90% of Option ARM borrowers are paying the minimum.
This year, 47% of all Option ARMs will be recast.
I am really becoming tired of being bearish. But, when you develop a rich understanding of how and why this happened, then you connect all the dots, one word comes to mind — calamity.
Calamity? Not if you are like Nancy and all of those “long-term owners” in “established” neighborhoods without a mortgage deduction because they are debt-free – they are impervious to everything else happening to the economy (job losses, tax increases, etc.). Their places are “special.” So don’t go sounding a general alarm…there are plenty of places, apparently, that can simply sit back and watch as the rest of the state implodes…
But an informed source on the OC Register’s blog told me that Option ARMs aren’t a problem and that 90% of people are gainfully employed and there’s tons of cash buyers out there. I’m so confused. Do I believe actual data or the opinion of a ranting unemployed Realtor?
Yeah, whats the Dealeo?
The OC register blogs have no informed sources, only bloggers. Would you trust some blogger with the biggest financial decision you will ever make (buying/not buying a house)? I hope not.
Option ARMs can be found but they are very few, and even if you apply for one, the terms may not be to your liking (high down payment, etc.). There are cash buyers (buyers with all cash or substantial down payments) waiting on the sidelines (like me), true. But we/they are not biting.
90 percent gainfully employed? Search the web for real unemployment statistics (underemployed, part-time, new graduates not included), and then think about all of the real estate agents, appraisers, loan officers, etc. who are “employed” but have no business (i.e., no income), not to mention all of the articles about hotels, restaurants, etc. and what they are going through right now. Do you really think some blogger is to be trusted? Do your own research, friend.
I believe you should take your sarcasm detector into the shop for repairs. It seems to not be operating properly at the moment.
🙂
You can never be too sure, and so many people are asking questions facetiously, but there is a grain of truth in there. Lest they not be misled by the silence…too many people buy houses without thinking it through. We owe them a free check now and then…
So right! Our own family is easily making 15k less this year. Hubby works for Toyota. Last week only one car sold. ONE! That’s it. Times that but the 100’s of dealerships not selling anything. Fortunately my hubby is in the back room working the repairs but that is also so slow. Every hourly employee was laid off in December and now it is straight commission for the people who are hanging on. A lot of people have jumped ship. I’m not sure where they are going.
Watts finally broke down – while i want to say he had a moment of clarity, he probably sees clients leaving in droves.
Gary Watts just follows the sentiment that’s in vogue at the moment. You guys know that. Hearing him in the bear camp should make you wonder if this is like seeing this story on the cover of Time.
Anyone knows if the first one (The Lakes) is on a leased land?
MLS says: Land Fee
I think I will swing by this unit tomorrow and see what is the dealio. Just may work as a rental.
Does is say how much is the land fee?
I just called the agent of a nearby unit that is listed for $150k and she received 20 offers and the highest one is $190k cash. She said there is no land lease for her unit.
This is the unit I am talking about
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/76-Lakepines-92620/home/4787779
Land fee means you buy the land with purchase. So these are not on leased land.
The one you are looking at is a short sale. Put in an offer an who knows, you might be one of the lucky 20% that get approved.
Question for anyone: I was told yesterday by a realtor that the government’s home rescue plan included a ban on prepayment penalties on any loan for properties purchased after the plan took effect – not retroactive. I can find nothing to this effect. Anyone know?
“I was told yesterday by a realtor..” well, that’s your problem right there.
very helpful, eat that!
Thrifty, have you searched the text of the law? In 5 minutes time I looked up the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” on Wikipedia. That article links to an electronic version of the law.
I was then able to search for “prepay” and found two occurrences. You could do the same.
It’s possible they were confused by this text (which relates to Small Business Loans not residential investment):
FEES.—The Administrator of the Small Business Administration is prohibited from charging any processing fees, origination fees, application fees, points, brokerage fees, bonus points, prepayment penalties, and other fees that could be charged to a loan applicant for loans under this section.
Thanks, wtbbab. I did not know the name of the Act. Found exactly what you reiterated scanning the entire Act.
Looks like the kool-aid detox program is finally helping Gary Watts see straight again. With the dire economic situation in California, I see no reason to be a buyer in real estate until I see clearer skies ahead…and that will be many years. I simply do not trust one word from the following group: realtors, NAR spokesholes, politicians, main stream media, etc.
Can I add one? The shills at the OC Register. Minus Matt Padilla of course.
OK, I nominate “community lake” to join “estate-sized lot” and “light and bright” in the lexicon of California realtor-ese. My grandfather’s little fishpond was the size of this affair (he dug it and arranged the rocks and piped the little waterfall himself), and we called it a “fishpond”.
It’s boring in here today, compared to yesterday with Nancy. I’m going over to TMZ :coolsmile:
The description for Pineview states it’s in West Irvine. I thought it was in Northwood (corner of Irvine and Yale across from the shopping center). Did the bank just redraw neighborhood boundaries to their liking?
Its 683 sq ft. The sq root of 683 = a 26.2 x 26.2 ft area. And that’s your home.
My 2007 Honda Accord is ~16 ft long.
Brutal! Thanks for the reality check.
For 680sf on two floors or ~600 usable sf. That’s $1180 for interest, taxes, misc. expenses and HOA. I rather rent.
I am interviewed over at Irvine Homes Blog:
Blogger: Irvine housing market nowhere near bottom.
What’s the dealeo on 26 desert willow? Flip?
Ladies, Look for LARGE in your man’s endowments (multiple meanings apply); not in your home size.
Likewise, LARGE homes and living LARGE are perfect for building and early grave for your breadwinners.
This condo may be perfect for an elderly who’s moving DOWN, down-sizing.
Why does IR think the whole world must move-up? In psychology that’s called projection… can’t blame people for projecting, we’re all caught up in our subjective little worlds (and money making schemes).
Your absolutely right. Elderly people LOVE second story condos. Well, with all the positive benefits of exercise, climbing a flight or two of stairs everyday is just the thing to keep those geraitric limbs and bloated ticker going.
And ALL the grandparents I know never like having their family over for holiday dinners, or have the grandkids overnight while the parents get out for a night?
Oh, do forgive me… maybe I should have said, it’s suited for an elderly who *wants* to move down (to the first floor?)
Keep in mind, we only have the land managers and developers to thank for the inventory available in Irvine. They build what they think we want.
Perhaps this one was built for a young rental-disgusted single and happy-to-be-single lad celebrating his independence from debt and rent.
Land managers and developers build to maximize profits, not what people want. Who really wants a two store place where 50 to 60 sf (10%) is lost for the stairs and landings? Everybody wants higher utility cost? I’ve worked on a few building where the designers were not really interested in function. They were more interested in winning a design award for a poorly functional building that looked great but were terrible for the occupants and a health/safety hazard.
Maybe if they spent less time blogging… ?
but it is about the right size to fill with earth and call it a grave.
Since you have a winner’s spirit, this home is definitely below you.
[Edited – No personal attacks]
Field News: When I first started reading this blog a month ago, I found homes in my Irvine neighborhood in Backup-Offer Status within days, something I had not seen since the early bubble days. The newer listings have had the courage to raise their prices since then; I figured they may stay on the market and lower their prices; they didn’t; they’re higher, and they’re staying on the market a few weeks rather than days, but they’re in Backup-Offer status again. These are mid-priced SFR homes in highly desirable school systems. One got a half-cash offer, and one went for above asking price in just days on the market. I found out from their owners/agents.
This is what’s happening that is NOT being paraded by the Prophets of Bad News, profiteers of Market-Timing schemes.
IHB, Meet Irvine Pride of Ownership.
ownership always makes my endowment swell with pride.
This blog is essentially endorsing Market Timing of buying a primary home. The blogger claims buying a home can be profitable if you analyze it with some form of technical analysis as applied to stocks – trend analysis of rent vs home price over years. He pulls out of his hat a few graphs and a formula for what is a reasonable price, and claims the whole city of Irvine will fit into his simple model. He has mapped into a graph and a formula the secrets of home valuation in Irvine. A major achievement for a non-economist.
Add to the recipe references to pop-culture (high wisdom from the song “Fat-Bottomed Girls”) and he’s managed to find himself a die-hard follower crowd who manifest themselves with enlightened sayings such as “ignorantoutsider’s” above.
In low transaction areas, home valuations don’t follow graphs and formulae. They follow supply and demand and no one has the crystal ball to predict value; and trend analysis has little bearing on areas that were just 5 years old when the bubble began. Chances are, with Irvine being one of the most prolific centers of job creation in Southern California, its inhabitants having one of the highest levels of education, and unusually high median incomes ($150K), there’s a brighter future here down the road than I see in the high-priced WestSide.
When I buy a 15-yr bond, I don’t lose sleep over what how its value fluctuates. And a home to me is an inflation-protected 15-year bond that pays your housing cost forever, once your debt is paid-off. Don’t bother with rent-ownership analysis, it’s all a chickenhawk’s weird fantasy.
Just imagine if Market Timing and Trend Analysis was applied to another once-in-a-lifetime event, marriage. What would the blogger of the Irvine Marriage Blog advertise? He’d probably serenade his party with Queen’s endearing song, “Fat Bottomed Girl.” He’d work on her self-esteem, parading a slew of bad marriages and grotesque people. He’ll ensure she feels worthless and cheap, before proposing to marry her. That’s an analogy of the mentality at played here. A little pathological, you think?
If you’re not getting a fair and balanced representation of the Irvine housing market, you must ask, why.
Could you please cite the source of the 150K median income in Irvine.
SoCalMLS, under the “neighborhood” tab for a listing. You can also compare neighborhoods by clicking on “Compare”
Your median income stats are bogus.
Here is a link to tax rolls by zip code.
http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/taxzip.asp
Price to income is not technical or trend analysis, it is Fundamental analysis. In the short run all markets are a voting machine (supply/demand), in the long run they are a weighing machine (fundamentals).
Yep, and the Euro is “fundamentally” worth $1.10 in US Dollar terms, based on purchase-price-parity Fundamentals. But sweetie, so what. If you want to buy Euros today, you’re paying $1.40. Go ahead and postpone your vacation to Europe until your Fundamental value take hold.
You never corrected your ludicrous income claims.
Not necessary market timing to make a profit, but timing to avoid a large loss. I don’t think those that purchase houses in Riverside during the high will be able to sell near their purchase price for over 20 years. The govt and banks have and are rewarding those that promoted the housing pyramid scheme.
Nancy, Where do you find that the median income is $150,000? Even with $150,000 the medium house cost is still too high. The analysis of income and house price is not technical analysis (charting) but fundamental analysis (income and cost of ownership). Technical analysis prices can go up forever — it doesn’t matter if people can afford the house. Creative financing will rule the day. Sort of cooking the books.
The latest census has median household income with kids in the house at TR at $120,000. The average household income in Irvine is lower. Much of the job creation in OC was with the creative lending programs (subprime, opt-ARM with negative amortization, alt-A lending) that got the country in such a mess. Those high paying jobs are mostly gone. Hopefully for good.
For mdian income and other stats, check out SoCalMLS, under the “neighborhood” tab for a listing.
If you think Irvine is too high now, what do you think of Westside, LA? Astronomical? When 80% of homeowners there retain their home on the average 30 years, it really doesn’t matter what the median income there is, there’s absolutely no correlation. The charting analysis I found dates back to IR’s earliest 2006 blogs, it’s where I found he flipped his magic ratios.
If you buy for long-term and in good areas, there won’t be *any* loss compared to renting, no matter major loss. Agents are well-aware of areas that hold their value during corrections, and Riverside never made the that list. This is not the first time SoCal had a housing correction, people. The people I know who sold in the last correction only lived to regret it.
Have you checked Irvine’s unemployment history, compared to, say, Westside LA? You’d be pleasantly surprised. We were 4% last year, 6% the past few months with signs of decline; still much better than CA overall.
http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/blsla/laupa06460003
Many new jobs are coming to Irvine; Kaiser just built a major hospital, FDIC’s western bank liquidation center is headquartered here (yes, there’s lots of job opportunities from liquidating banks), UCI and its hospital are major employers, medial services and R&D is still bustling. Irvine is diverse, and none of our neighbors works in real-estate.
There’s one family moving in from the East Coast with 50% down, another family bought a house nearby, both husband and wife are doctors, and another family had a recent graduate from a professional school who was hired at twice the median income for this neighborhood. Notice, these people can afford a lot more “home” than what they have or bought here. Those who can, usually don’t live large.
So you just happen to know what your new neighbors incomes are?
[Edited – No personal attacks]
Nancy: The vast majority of the new jobs you describe would not provide an income sufficient to support buying a median priced home in Irvine. They are commuting from elsewhere in Orange, L.A. or Riverside county.
I second John’s request (see below) for full disclosure. This blog’s creator has made his professional position clear so that the reader may judge for themselves any potential bias.
thrifty, just be glad you’re not buying in Westside, LA. I guess sideline renters may just throw themselves off cliffs if they realized homes would never get back to pre-2001 levels in that part of LA.
Nancy: I’m puzzled by the continuing comparisons between the Westside and Irvine in many of your posts. What’s the point?
Tale of Two cities:
I make references to Westside so that it may help put things into perspective for provincial-minded people with pigeon-holed scarcity mentality. Let’s compare to nearby job-districts, rather than Idaho vs Irvine!
Irvine is young and has a bright future as it is further developed and it is appealing to the cash-rich foreigner crowd; Westside is more established and is losing the younger generation to cities such as Irvine, as they are more than aware they cannot afford to settle in Westside.
The buyer pool for both are similar.
Oh.. and did I mention the rent-to-income or rent-to-buy ratios are not doing a good job of predicting valuation for either one. But for Westside, buyers seem to get it clearly. For Irvine’s prime areas, our blogger is still in denial. Irvine may very well be SoCal’s Westside in maybe a decade.
Sounds more like westside envy.
Envy of the Westside homeless accosting you at every block? Yes, definitely.
A recent graduate from a professional school making 2x median income (2*$150,000). Not likely unless your the relative of the CEO of a public company. If its a private company, the CEO’s are lot less generous to their relatives. A fresh MD makes about $35,000 to 75,000 for the first 3 years for intern/residence. Then $100,000 to $350,000 for the next 7 to 15 years are so. Some hotshots (usually eye, plastic or heart or other surgical specialist) can break the $1 million mark with other MD’s working for them.
Your stated Irvine median incomes are unrealistic.
“Your stated Irvine median incomes are unrealistic…” – First, it’s my zipcode’s, not all of Irvine, second, it’s SoCalMLS’s stated median incomes, not my invention. If it’s rolled up at the household level, it may be more accurate than the report based on IRS data, since multiple earners in a household may file separately.
The top 2% of the tax strata does live here, quiet and unpretentious lives.
If you really want to get ticked off, hear this: there’s a professional sports player on an active contract in the area too.
Nancy, you sound a bit like a disgruntled realtor eager to counter the market “pessimism.” Come clean, please.
John, if I were a realtor, wouldn’t you think I’d want to scare you into selling your home by saying home values will decline?! Isn’t that what EVERY agent is doing now-a-days, to create inventory where there is none? Is it too hard to believe I’m a proud homeowner and in a profession with no relationship to real-estate, and interested to share positive homeownership outcomes to open the eyes of this one-sided blog’s audience about the realities NOT paraded here?
On the flip side, have you noticed IR’s relationship with Evergreen Realty? Why do you think they’re marked as the “Recommended Realtor” on this blog?
That said, I don’t endorse home buying for just anyone. In fact, I’d rather pessimists NOT move into my neighborhood.
I agree with John. Frankly I’m getting a little tired of Nancy comments and think it’s time she start her own blog for Westside, LA.
Irvine: $98,923
California: $59,948
Median gross rent in 2007: $1,829.
Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2007: 8.7%
Household income is better than most places $98,923 (before job losses started rising) but still a lot lower than the $150k that Nancy is claiming!
Here’s the link for that:
http://www.city-data.com/city/Irvine-California.html
“Ugly, cramped, dingy, old condos are an acquired taste. If you learn to like them, you can save much money on your housing bills…”
This just became my personal mantra. I guess everyone has a life philosophy, but often we await its most eloquent distillation.
I’m currently pondering continuing my renting habits here in Denver if and until the 1992 condo crash repeats itself — $20K cash would buy a dingy 2 bdrm at that point — and pouncing. Live rent-free until retirement, then retire early with my pile of savings, and the rental income from the dingy condo.
Thanks for that!