Keeping Up with the Joneses (Pasadena, Orange: middle-class, lawyers, big home)
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As a rule of thumb, generally a house costs you 1% of the purchase price to maintain. For example a 500K house would cost you apprx 5k to maintain a month. What this means is mortgage, tax, insurance, repairs, water & power,etc.
poor poor souls. how can you have so much money and not afford a house!?!?! i have an LAUSD teacher friend who has been in the district for less than 10 years, but gets paid close to 50 or 55 g's a year. he has a house in SAMO that he bought a little over two years ago. thats santa monica which is still expensive. of course it helps that he has a roomate, but he has a new ford truck, spends his free time vacationing in chile, cuba and places like that, he has a great life really. granted he has no kids, but one income is good enough for him. i look at him and wonder if he can do it, how can others in these post not? really baffles me. oh and i make less than my friend and also have a nice house. schools might not be the greates, but parents are really the most important teachers. i went to crappy schools, but had mom and dad push me. its possible people. i love my neighborhood. kids still play futbol in the street. and ocasionally throw around that oblong ball when they are bored. no stick ball tho, too many broken windows!
poor poor souls. how can you have so much money and not afford a house!?!?! i have an LAUSD teacher friend who has been in the district for less than 10 years, but gets paid close to 50 or 55 g's a year. he has a house in SAMO that he bought a little over two years ago. thats santa monica which is still expensive. of course it helps that he has a roomate, but he has a new ford truck, spends his free time vacationing in chile, cuba and places like that, he has a great life really. granted he has no kids, but one income is good enough for him. i look at him and wonder if he can do it, how can others in these post not? really baffles me. oh and i make less than my friend and also have a nice house. schools might not be the greates, but parents are really the most important teachers. i went to crappy schools, but had mom and dad push me. its possible people. i love my neighborhood. kids still play futbol in the street. and ocasionally throw around that oblong ball when they are bored. no stick ball tho, too many broken windows!
I just want to point out that it seem as if you have made a contradiction.You said that he is doing this on one income,but then stated that he has a roomate.Roomates normally split the mortgage and household bills so that would make his lifestyle attainable on two incomes not one.I also just want to point out how important schools are.First school districts greatly contribute to the resale value of your home.Secondly peer pressure is one of the most influential causes of teenage mischief.For you to simply say that parents are the most important teachers is naive and schools are irrelevant is wrong.As has been proven in many studies parental influence comes secondary to the influence of high schooler peers.So it is oh so important that you put you children in the best possible school that is affordable to you.
Also, large urban districts tend to offer choices in schools - So parents should try to consider as many options as possible. Just because someone is zoned to a low performing school doesn't mean he or she is condemned to go there.
In my opinion, small low income districts like North Forest ISD in northeast Houston are worse than large urban districts like Houston ISD, as HISD offers some attractive school choices for the kids who are zoned to not-very-good schools, while NFISD does not (NFISD only has two high schools yet has more problems than HISD).
Quote:
Originally Posted by WINNIEK
I just want to point out that it seem as if you have made a contradiction.You said that he is doing this on one income,but then stated that he has a roomate.Roomates normally split the mortgage and household bills so that would make his lifestyle attainable on two incomes not one.I also just want to point out how important schools are.First school districts greatly contribute to the resale value of your home.Secondly peer pressure is one of the most influential causes of teenage mischief.For you to simply say that parents are the most important teachers is naive and schools are irrelevant is wrong.As has been proven in many studies parental influence comes secondary to the influence of high schooler peers.So it is oh so important that you put you children in the best possible school that is affordable to you.
boy do i know peer pressure. who doesnt. and i should make a clarification, my friends "roomate" is family, so its more of a mutual favor. and you know how it is with family. they get specials on everything. tune ups, dentistry, rent. you just have to know people. and if you know people or rather good people and teach your kids how to be good people then great things can happen. i seen enough good and bad to know whats right and wrong. of course as i have said elsewhere that doesnt mean my life cant end at the hands of bad people, but in the meantime i know i do no harm and thats what matters baby dolls. no matter what, if you got your head right as an adult, parent, brother, uncle, your kids will follow that example. there might be desviations. but thats life. big city life offers more opportunities to do wrong than rural bay area life, but big city LA also offers every opportunity to do right. wouldnt you rather keep up with the jesus' than the joneses. LA is not the greatest place, but many succes stories exist here. mine and my families and uncles and cousins being many. seriously people need to be better parents. know you kids. it really is that simple.
Also, large urban districts tend to offer choices in schools - So parents should try to consider as many options as possible. Just because someone is zoned to a low performing school doesn't mean he or she is condemned to go there.
In my opinion, small low income districts like North Forest ISD in northeast Houston are worse than large urban districts like Houston ISD, as HISD offers some attractive school choices for the kids who are zoned to not-very-good schools, while NFISD does not (NFISD only has two high schools yet has more problems than HISD).
Los Angeles does offer a choice program for parents who want to send their child into a magnet school and most districts also offer charter schools here.These schools are usually smaller, perform better, and have less trouble as far as child safety.As a parent whose child attends a charter school I greatly appreciate what most have to offer.However I was very lucky to get my child in when I did.Now it is extremely hard to get in my child's school. Unfortunately charter and magnet schools are only availible to a very small percentage of the population.I happen to know several charter schools only because I do an extensive amount of research on schools.However many people are unaware of these schools as well as how to get into these schools.The schools districts need to do a better job of making more people aware of the programs that are offered. The majority of children in lower income area do attend the local school.
no they dont, but there has been a surge of new charter schools within LAUSD. especially south and east of downtown. mostly south. but i got family and some friends kids attending high school at LAUSD schools and charter schools. nuevo camino off temple and college ready by alameda in HP, the kids at the charters likethe attention they get from teachers, and enjoy the flashy new schools, but these kids seem to have the same complaint. it feels like a jail. standardizing education into smaller institutions is beneficial, but has its flaws. i think the schools are begining to do their part, but you are right not too many people know about tese schools. if it wasnt for teacher friends or an old college friend that works in our local LAUSD district, we wouldnt know about these places. that gap still exists on the part of the district. i understand why. once people find out, those meetings are packed!!! waiting lists as long as schindlers. fortunate are those that have that opportunity. those schools do help kids and their families more. but sometimes it all falls on you. and friends, eventhe ones in low places. its good to know good people. cant say it enough, each one teach one folks...
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Originally Posted by UB50
Housing prices should come down over the next couple of years. I would keep saving and sit tight! When the $700K houses fall back to $500K (or less), you can afford to buy one!
I suppose anything's possible, but it doesn't look likely. What's a lot more likely is that the 1.5MM houses become 1.1MM houses. Either way... I can't afford em'.
You can buy a 1BR condo for 180k in my neighborhood. I think these are going to become the new 'starter homes' for a whole lot of people.
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Originally Posted by Sassberto
I think you mean 70% of buyers in 2006? People actually bought houses before the last couple years.
[quote=the one;261237]poor poor souls. how can you have so much money and not afford a house!?!?! i have an LAUSD teacher friend who has been in the district for less than 10 years, but gets paid close to 50 or 55 g's a year. he has a house in SAMO that he bought a little over two years ago. thats santa monica which is still expensive. of course it helps that he has a roomate, but he has a new ford truck, spends his free time vacationing in chile, cuba and places like that, he has a great life really. granted he has no kids, but one income is good enough for him. i look at him and wonder if he can do it, how can others in these post not?
Hmmmm......I wonder how many credit card bills he has? Sometimes looks can be deceiving. I'm also wondering if he got a fixed rate loan. Don't be too baffled.
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