It’s not my day to write today, but Thursday’s writer is a bit tied up for the time being, so in an effort to appease our readers, (all two of you) I thought I’d fill the white space with something that has been on my mind a lot recently. Despite the dramatic slide in home prices since October 2005, houses are still freaking expensive any place where someone actually wants to live in So Cal. I mean sure, I can live in the freaking inland empire, but I don’t want to have a 3 hour commute and 100 degree weather every day. It’s so freaking annoying that after two years of double digit declines in housing, I still can’t even afford a starter townhouse??? I’ll admit, I am kind of picky about where I want to live, but still it’s freaking annoying. My wife and I make a decent salary. I’m not boasting or by any means wealthy. We live very frugally on a budget and save her entire salary. We have 1 car, which is paid off, and no consumer debt. We make a lot of sacrifices such as carpooling and leaving early/late to/from work in order to not have to pay for a second car. We rarely buy new stuff. We don’t go on extravagant vacations or anything. Yet when I look in the area of San Diego that I want to live in, I can’t find a freaking 3 bedroom townhouse for less than $400K. WTF? It’s so annoying and I am pissed. So when I hear about the bailout, higher federal and state income taxes, higher sales taxes, etc, I get annoyed. I always hear the argument that saving someone from foreclosure helps the entire neighborhood from having declines in their home prices. WHAT ABOUT THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO AREN’T HOMEOWNERS!!! I want the neighborhood to be blighted so prices come back from outerspace to reality. Who can afford these prices? Really who? The median income in San Diego is like $40K.
Last 3 posts by Jason
- Reply To All - March 16th, 2010
- You Can't Make This Stuff Up - February 19th, 2010
- Washington Gridlock - February 11th, 2010
Yeah, it really bothers me a lot. Let all of these people get foreclosed on and prices will return to normal levels. Our economy will be sustainable. People will live within their means again. Aren’t you stoked too that you’re going to pay an additional $1,00/year to California in taxes that will go straight to state workers’ unions?
Agreed, things are out of control. I think you misspelled ridiculous.
Here’s what just happened to us. We put in an offer for a house that has been on the market for 9 months (6 months at its current price). Naturally, our offer was lower than the list price. After countering a couple times, we walked away because their best offer was still too much. That sucks.
But here is what makes me mad. We know what they built the house for. We also know that they refi’d last year to do some home improvements. Now they want to sell their house. But they are only willing to sell it for what they owe, not what it is worth in today’s market! Basically, substitute us for them as the underwater homeowner!
At some point,if anyone wants to move or sell their house, homeowners or banks will have to start taking losses. And I think both sides deserve it. Banks for lending to people to whom they shouldn’t have and even for giving home equity loans to good candidates based on the false idea that their home would appreciate forever, and home owners who took and used that money. Remember NO ONE is taking losses for money that didn’t change hands.
Thanks Matt.
Amen, Amen, AMEN. This is a conversation Casey and I have all the time. If owning a home is such a “right” (since the gov’t needs to SAVE all these idiot homeowners who overbought)….then yea, what about OUR needs to own a home??
We live similar to what you’ve described and we scratch our heads as to why we can’t make it work. I guess $400k is still a lot of money no matter much (or little) home you’re buying. We’ve found some small homes in Pasadena for $400k, but often they’re in the junkier neighborhoods or need major fixing.
Maybe I was born a decade too late…
(btw, the words I had to type were “blackfish, scheduled”. Sounds like some covert operation. I’d like to set a blackfish scheduled for all those idiots out there that are keeping me from owning a home.)
Even though prices in Houston are less than CA, getting a home inside the loop (i.e., the desirable parts of the city–not the burbs) costs a min $400K for a 1930s bungalow. Right now, we’re looking at townhouses in our neighborhood and it’s hard to find one for <$350K.
Hopefully, we don’t have the same experience Eric and Laura did. We’re looking at some 8 months on the market (never been lived in) townhouses and hoping to get a deal. We’ll see what the builders have to say about our offer.
You guys make me want to be a renter forever. (Obviously not really, but ugh, the headaches that come from being a real grown up…) Guess I’ll keep throwing away my mortgage-sized rent. Boo.
You are running into the same issue we did: LOCATION is everything. Despite price depreciation in most areas, there are certain stable areas that have seen zero declines.
These areas have challenged my belief that home values are overstated as they have risen so much compared to incomes. I’d like to buy in one of these better areas but have been nervous because I keep thinking the prices must eventually drop. But now I am rethinking….
It seems now, that even if home values are inflated relative to incomes, that certain locations will always retain their value simply because there will always be a certain core group of people who will not default. Even if XYZ happens, they will still be able to pay their mortgages.
Amen! Drives me crazy when these B.S. realators talk about how prices are so great. When they’ve doubled in prices and gone down like 5% then claim that it’s a “buyers market”!
Beck on house prices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUOAZaiiXXc