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I'm seeing them at roughly 4% par rate currently, although they were 3.5% last year. The lower rates are possible of course, if you pay several points (several thousands of dollars of pre-paid interest, essentially) to buy down to the advertised rates.
Hmm...seeing at least one lender on Bankrate at 3.75% with 0 pts...a few more under 4.0%. I am sure there are requirements for certain ones (740+ FICO for example) but, as I stated, not enticing to refi when you are a point below their advertised rate in the first place.
The people earning less than 100K that live in Los Angeles and San Francisco are like employess at Disneyland. Behind all the glamour, glitz and perceived happiness are the people who are sweating and toiling away to serve rich people yet have a very poor qualify of life themselves IMHO. The wealthy are the only ones who enjoy California. They are like the guests at Disney who get enjoy all the rides and fun at the expense of everyone else. LOL The rest of the people living there are not thrilled. They can't afford housing. Utilites and gas are expensive. Taxes are high. Traffic occurs all day 7 days per week not just rush hour on weekdays like in Phoenix. They can't afford to attend professional sports and other events because ticket prices are outrageous.
And like these Disney employees. They all want to work there because of their perceived notion that it will be such a fun job. People move to these cities because they think they will live like the Kardashians. And when they move there, reality sets in.
Los Angeles and San Francisco are great places to visit but not live unless you earn a lot of money (over six figures minimum) otherwise, you really can't afford to have any quality of life whatsoever considering housing is not even an option and everything is so high from food, gas, utilities, and taxes.
Bingo. LA and a lot of CA in general is a facade. A fake front to make things look nicer than they actually are. Things are not what they seem. People overspend to make it seem they are better off than they are, but there are moths in the bank account.
300k house isn't starting range by any stretch of the imagination. Just compare it to what a starter home cost in the 50s even adjusted for inflation.
CA residents moving to AZ better understand fast why CA went to hell in a handbasket and not repeat the same mistakes.
The people earning less than 100K that live in Los Angeles and San Francisco are like employess at Disneyland. Behind all the glamour, glitz and perceived happiness are the people who are sweating and toiling away to serve rich people yet have a very poor qualify of life themselves IMHO. The wealthy are the only ones who enjoy California. They are like the guests at Disney who get enjoy all the rides and fun at the expense of everyone else. LOL The rest of the people living there are not thrilled. They can't afford housing. Utilites and gas are expensive. Taxes are high. Traffic occurs all day 7 days per week not just rush hour on weekdays like in Phoenix. They can't afford to attend professional sports and other events because ticket prices are outrageous.
And like these Disney employees. They all want to work there because of their perceived notion that it will be such a fun job. People move to these cities because they think they will live like the Kardashians. And when they move there, reality sets in.
Los Angeles and San Francisco are great places to visit but not live unless you earn a lot of money (over six figures minimum) otherwise, you really can't afford to have any quality of life whatsoever considering housing is not even an option and everything is so high from food, gas, utilities, and taxes.
This is so correct it's not even funny. So true!
I lived in the Bay Area and I can honesty so the majority of people I met are broke as a joke. Housing is a very serious problem there. You're either one of 4 people: 1) Rich. And by rich, you can comfortably afford a home over a million dollars. 2) Broke and milking govt assistance. People in many counties in the Bay Area qualify as low income residents of their salary is under $100,000 a year. 3) Are a 2nd or 3rd generation Californian and have access to cheap housing, and even more affordable thanks to Prop 13. You have people who are paying property taxes based on the value they bought their home at, while their tech firm exec neighbor is paying $20k more a year in taxes on essentially the same home. And then 4) the dwindling broke as a joke middle class. One car repair away from a $0 bank account because they spend $3k + a month on terrible housing.
To be middle class in the Bay Area (comparable middle class to Phoenix), you need to make at least $250,000 a year (and believe me, there are many of these folks). Anything less and you are making major sacrifices in quality of housing, safety, and quality of schools.
Unless you are from California, people in Arizona don't have a clue what it's like to survive there.
Arizona is so cheap to live in, even in places like Scottsdale. Arizona is a bargain for a large city with good weather and proximity to decent coastal areas.
Location: Escaped SoCal for Freedom in AZ!!!! LOVE IT!
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there's a lot more than just cost that has CA wonky... The reason I mentioned CA in the first place is because a lot of the complaints in this thread (even ones that have nothing to do with cost) are precisely what has happened in CA.
Location: Escaped SoCal for Freedom in AZ!!!! LOVE IT!
394 posts, read 343,214 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cactusland
CA residents moving to AZ better understand fast why CA went to hell in a handbasket and not repeat the same mistakes.
even more so, people that have never lived in CA and have no idea how it is and why it got there... those people should be cautioned not to make the same mistakes. I've seen boatloads of posts on this forum about how people think Phx should be patterned after CA... just clueless people.
I don't know that any of them made particularly bad choices other than I don't believe any have gone to college.
I would qualify that as a bad choice. Pretty simple concept: Play now and Work Later or Work Now and Play Later. But I agree, most people take things like that for granted.
I lived in the Bay Area and I can honesty so the majority of people I met are broke as a joke. Housing is a very serious problem there. You're either one of 4 people
Most homes are passed down through generations and many live with their parents to make ends meet. Others split rent with multiple people.
I lived in the Bay Area and I can honesty so the majority of people I met are broke as a joke. Housing is a very serious problem there. You're either one of 4 people: 1) Rich. And by rich, you can comfortably afford a home over a million dollars. 2) Broke and milking govt assistance. People in many counties in the Bay Area qualify as low income residents of their salary is under $100,000 a year. 3) Are a 2nd or 3rd generation Californian and have access to cheap housing, and even more affordable thanks to Prop 13. You have people who are paying property taxes based on the value they bought their home at, while their tech firm exec neighbor is paying $20k more a year in taxes on essentially the same home. And then 4) the dwindling broke as a joke middle class. One car repair away from a $0 bank account because they spend $3k + a month on terrible housing.
Arizona is so cheap to live in, even in places like Scottsdale. Arizona is a bargain for a large city with good weather and proximity to decent coastal areas.
Cheap isn't exactly good. Have you seen the parts of the country where real estate is dirt cheap? They're located in economically depressed cities & towns where poverty & unemployment rates are high, and growth rates are in the negative. No thanks! At the same time, being overpriced like San Francisco isn't good either. There has to be a happy medium where housing prices can be reasonable (not cheap), while real estate values appreciate at a decent rate so that existing/established homeowners have the opportunity to make substantial profits should they decide to sell. Also, an economy based heavily on real estate & construction isn't exactly stable. Remember the big economic downturn of 2008? The Phoenix market was very heavily affected.
Cheap isn't exactly good. Have you seen the parts of the country where real estate is dirt cheap? They're located in economically depressed cities & towns where poverty & unemployment rates are high, and growth rates are in the negative. No thanks! At the same time, being overpriced like San Francisco isn't good either. There has to be a happy medium where housing prices can be reasonable (not cheap), while real estate values appreciate at a decent rate so that existing/established homeowners have the opportunity to make substantial profits should they decide to sell. Also, an economy based heavily on real estate & construction isn't exactly stable. Remember the big economic downturn of 2008? The Phoenix market was very heavily affected.
San Francisco and the surrounding areas of the Bay will always be expensive because it's a world class city and area, an employment mecca, and it has the best weather and scenery of any city area in the USA. Housing is a serious problem because of lack of supply. NIMBYism and refusing to increase the housing supply all while every tech firm in the world sets up shop there further fuels the problem. Native Californians are set for life since the timed the market perfectly.
Phoenix metro got hit hard but it's slowly becoming pretty darn good. In my opinion it's the best place to live in the USA for an affordable area that any middle class family can be comfortable in and also be close to California.
California is the best place to live in the USA, but really only if you're a native 2nd/3rd generation California, or have an income of over $250k year. If you don't make a good income, Phoenix is a great spot to set down roots. It's only getting better in Az and no turning back. 2008 happened because people who never had any business investing in real estate were allowed to buy property. The rules have changed. We are not in a bubble in Phoenix again. It's real money, real credit, and real down payments buying property now. Until this changes, I see no credible reason to worry about another crash.
Phoenix isn't going to be a place like Tulsa, Oklahoma or some other flyover state where nobody really has a desire to live.
San Francisco and the surrounding areas of the Bay will always be expensive because it's a world class city and area, an employment mecca, and it has the best weather and scenery of any city area in the USA. Housing is a serious problem because of lack of supply. NIMBYism and refusing to increase the housing supply all while every tech firm in the world sets up shop there further fuels the problem. Native Californians are set for life since the timed the market perfectly.
Phoenix metro got hit hard but it's slowly becoming pretty darn good. In my opinion it's the best place to live in the USA for an affordable area that any middle class family can be comfortable in and also be close to California.
California is the best place to live in the USA, but really only if you're a native 2nd/3rd generation California, or have an income of over $250k year. If you don't make a good income, Phoenix is a great spot to set down roots. It's only getting better in Az and no turning back. 2008 happened because people who never had any business investing in real estate were allowed to buy property. The rules have changed. We are not in a bubble in Phoenix again. It's real money, real credit, and real down payments buying property now. Until this changes, I see no credible reason to worry about another crash.
Phoenix isn't going to be a place like Tulsa, Oklahoma or some other flyover state where nobody really has a desire to live.
You do not have to be a native...
Property has doubled in 5 years in my area...
Anyone that bought here 2009-2012 might as well have been buying in 1989-1992...
Property in parts of my city dropped 80%... Oakland CA
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