San Diego Home Buying = joke (Carlsbad, Merced: to rent, health insurance, how much)

[JohnAlt]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

The foreclosure boom won't last forever either. My guess is another 2-3 years and we are already a year into it. They will be bought by people with enough cash to buy them, mostly investors. Many will become rentals.

Investors like to get a return on investment. They're funny that way.

Homes won't become rentals until they pencil out as rentals. Just not gonna happen unless prices decrease dramatically.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by JohnAlt

Homes won't become rentals until they pencil out as rentals. Just not gonna happen unless prices decrease dramatically.

I tend to agree with you here. I am really hoping that the next round of buyers are for people who will live where they buy.

Downtown SD is the perfect example. Enough with second homes and rentals already, it's time for primary residents to fill up those condo units. Can you imagine what downtown will be like when all of those units are occupied by owners? It will be urban bliss

[shannon94]

Originally Posted by JohnAlt

Investors like to get a return on investment. They're funny that way.

.

lol...That's what I was thinking!! lol

[Tradergirl37]

Ii'm a 37 yr old woman currently live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (that's north of Montana for those of you geographically challenged Americans). I have owned my house for 11 years now. I have just listed the house for sale, even in this declining housing market - thanks to you guys down south and the mortgage mess you've created. Anyways, I should still be able to make a cool $250k on the sale and plan to take my money and buy a nice condo in San Diego. The average house price here in Calgary is over $400k. So what are all you people complaining about SD having such high home prices? You can easily pay over a million dollars for a gorgeous home here, but obviously we have 6 months of snow & cold and there's no ocean & beach nearby. I am totally stunned at some of the low house prices in California. You can't get much up here for under $250k. Hasn't anyone on this post heard that in real estate it's location, location, location?

As for your mortgage/lending practices, maybe you all should learn some lessons from your neighbors to the north. We are not allowed to take out mortgages with nothing down. Why is everyone so greedy to think that they should be allowed to own something if they can't afford it? Try living within your means people!!! And these adjustable rate mortgages: is everyone that took those out so stupid not to understand what they were entering into? I would never take out any loan knowing the interest rate was increasing in 3 yrs to 12%. The people that did that were stupid and deserve to lose what they invested. Why should everyone else or the gov't bail these idiots out? Those of us who put 25% down when purchasing a home deserve to live there. Dumb as**ed people who put nothing down or took out ARM's should rent until they understand the workings of a mortgage or have substantial down payments. Lenders were too greedy and overlooked the fact that many people would default on the mortgages. Both lenders and borrowers should be responsible for their actions as they have no one else to blame but themselves.

[SD Lender]

Trader, thanks for adding perspective from an outside viewpoint. The sense of entitlement in this country is indeed remarkable. I'm hoping we can rebuild this mess and come out stronger and smarter.

The industry has been and always be cyclical. We'll see both ends of the spectrum again I'm sure.

That said, blaming isn't productive. Blaming is easy to do. Teaching and correcting yields a better foundation.

[macchiato]

Originally Posted by Tradergirl37

Hasn't anyone on this post heard that in real estate it's location, location, location?

Yes, but the issue is price gouging plain and simple. If the bank is willing to accept half the asking prics this means that there is an abundance of foolish invsetments on the buyers end who settled for less return.

As for your mortgage/lending practices, maybe you all should learn some lessons from your neighbors to the north. We are not allowed to take out mortgages with nothing down.

Actually there are many options available for first time buyers in Canada, possibly more options than here in the states. Not to mention your market is federally regulated. Actually most everything in Canada, not knocking it but the resentmet in the US is we believed we could do better and we didn't. Even if you disagree it is an honest answer. The real estate situation is currently a mess. Its bad for current home owners and bad for future home owners.

Why is everyone so greedy to think that they should be allowed to own something if they can't afford it? Try living within your means people!!! And these adjustable rate mortgages: is everyone that took those out so stupid not to understand what they were entering into? I would never take out any loan knowing the interest rate was increasing in 3 yrs to 12%.

I agree.

The people that did that were stupid and deserve to lose what they invested. Why should everyone else or the gov't bail these idiots out? Those of us who put 25% down when purchasing a home deserve to live there. Dumb as**ed people who put nothing down or took out ARM's should rent until they understand the workings of a mortgage or have substantial down payments. Lenders were too greedy and overlooked the fact that many people would default on the mortgages. Both lenders and borrowers should be responsible for their actions as they have no one else to blame but themselves.

Ultimately I agree, however if you factor weak economy, high cost of education who has 125k for a down payment on a nice 1st home? Or $125k/$600k, $75k/$300k, or $37.5/$150k home. It would be safe to say not many. "We the people, for the people, by the people" Some people call it an unwarrented sense of entitlement, others just call it freedom. We Americans are silly that way. The middle class isn't getting a fair shake, most of us simply believe that things can be better.

[revelated]

It's easy to say something when your government is smart enough to federally regulate something. Ours simply chooses to throw money at the problem (increased FHA limits, cuts and interest breaks for people who had no business getting a home before, tax cuts on capital gains which helps the wealthy and not the moderate).

That, however, does not automatically give us a sense of entitlement. I don't think I'm entitled to anything but a FAIR shake. If car buying worked like this, people would riot in the streets. Hybrids were always high priced, but they're no cheaper in areas where the gas is $.50 cents cheaper. That's what the home market in San Diego amounts to - "since we have the jobs you want, we'll just ramp the price to whatever we want". That's not the spirit of home buying. The spirit initially was, build a better house and people would pay for it. I don't expect a new 5 bedroom 2500 sq ft house in a new community to cost $200,000. I do, however, expect a 2 bedroom 2 bath 30 year old home with essentially no backyard and a single car garage to be priced at around that REGARDLESS of what area the house happened to have been built in!

Oversimplifying it, maybe I am. I just think prices need to be based on what the house, community, and lot are offering rather than some arbitrary price tagged onto the house based on solely on where it got built.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by revelated

Oversimplifying it, maybe I am. I just think prices need to be based on what the house, community, and lot are offering rather than some arbitrary price tagged onto the house based on solely on where it got built.

Take a look at home prices in Greenpoint, Brooklyn sometime. They are building brand new condos on top of a superfund site. When they drill for foundations, oil from a spill 40 years ago seeps out. These properties are selling for 500+/sf. and are selling like hotcakes. Google "newtown creek" for more info.

Location, location, location.

[kettlepot]

Originally Posted by revelated

Oversimplifying it, maybe I am. I just think prices need to be based on what the house, community, and lot are offering rather than some arbitrary price tagged onto the house based on solely on where it got built.

Real estate is about location. In San Diego the majority of your purchase price is the value of the land. In Kansas City, you are mostly paying for the structure. Therefore if you put a 200k structure on a lot in the KC area, the cost of the house is 225k. In San Diego when you buy a 200k structure your cost will be 600k out in the suburbs, 800k in a beach community, and 2m if it fronts the beach. If you want to only pay 225k, buy in El Centro.

[macchiato]

How much does one need to make to live comfortably in San Diego?