Reoccuring Theme: Too expensive, Low paying jobs! (San Diego, Temecula: sales, foreclosures)

[socketz]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

My team was cut in half which means we'll have to prove our workload is rediculous and other depts will have to wait and wait...... and wait for information they need.

I hear you. I work at a Semicondutor company and am now doing the full time jobs of three mid level marketing managers. If we lose anyone else, basic functionality will essentially be lost. I realize that I am not alone as many of my close friends are in similar situations.

I think everyone universally agrees that 2009 will be rough for the unemployed, however, everyone is overlooking the sacrifices that will be expected from those which remain employed (no budget for anything, paycuts, benefit cuts, general feeling of fear, greatly increased workloads, etc). There is simply too much information available and companies are making daily adjustments to fixed costs in an effort to buffer the negative effect of what is looking like a 40% reduction in global spending (across the board).

[Olivenhain]

Originally Posted by dweej

Yes, the key here is that you did it 24 years ago. The area was much more affordable then. We, in our late 20's and early 30's, just now starting out with young kids, even though we love many aspects of the area, can't make it work without compromising on some major aspect of our lives. The older generation has a very hard time truly appreciating this fact because they don't have to live it.

Sorry, gotta call major BS on that premise... 24 years ago I was making $1100/month. So much for your theory that we had it easier. The difference between us, is that my wife and I were willing to sacrifice a bit, build for the future instead of having to have it all today. Folks today can do the same, if they choose to. Not many choose to. They want it all now. We didn't build our fabulous place in Olivenhain when we were 30, Sassoberto. We built it when we were 45. We spent our first several years building our asset base, not buying BMW's and eating at restaurants every night. We owned a series of homes, working up to the current estate. We invested diligently, and now at ~50 have close to enough assets to last the rest of our lives. You guys all want it now. Pay some dues, kids. Make some smart property trades. Invest well. Create something... We could have done it sooner, but our top priority has been our kids. Absolutely nothing has been as valuable as them having their Mom there to raise them. No one you hire will do that adequately.

You can do it here, or you can do it wherever. It really doesn't matter where you live, if you are disciplined and creative.
It's entirely up to you...

[dweej]

Originally Posted by Olivenhain

Sorry, gotta call major BS on that premise... 24 years ago I was making $1100/month. So much for your theory that we had it easier. The difference between us, is that my wife and I were willing to sacrifice a bit, build for the future instead of having to have it all today. Folks today can do the same, if they choose to. Not many choose to. They want it all now. We didn't build our fabulous place in Olivenhain when we were 30, Sassoberto. We built it when we were 45. We spent our first several years building our asset base, not buying BMW's and eating at restaurants every night. We owned a series of homes, working up to the current estate. We invested diligently, and now at ~50 have close to enough assets to last the rest of our lives. You guys all want it now. Pay some dues, kids. Make some smart property trades. Invest well. Create something... We could have done it sooner, but our top priority has been our kids. Absolutely nothing has been as valuable as them having their Mom there to raise them. No one you hire will do that adequately.

You can do it here, or you can do it wherever. It really doesn't matter where you live, if you are disciplined and creative.
It's entirely up to you...

We would *love* to make some smart property trades. Having a property to begin with is, however, a prerequisite of that....

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by Olivenhain

You can do it here, or you can do it wherever. It really doesn't matter where you live, if you are disciplined and creative.
It's entirely up to you...

You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it !
Aim for the stars, dare to dream!
If at first you don't succeed, try try again!

It feels good to know that everyone's life can be boiled down to a few cliches and soundbites.

Not sure if you read the paper or not, but I'm guessing that rapid property appreciation you enjoyed over the last 20 years is gonna be around for my generation. That's OK though, because if you work hard and try your best, anything is possible! Also, I'd like a pony.

[jghall00]

Originally Posted by socketz

I think the point that needs to be re-emphasized here is that San Diego only very recently became so extrodinarily over-priced (2000 was still reasonable based on salaries, which remain unchanged even today - 'Sunshine Tax'). The region has never been a powerhouse for high paying jobs (thank you Qualcom for CDMA, which brought some handset development to SD), but with the recent 'exuberence' in housing, I know people that were making more on their home in a year than they made at their job. This created an enormously inflated wealth effect, which allowed many to ignore the simple facts:

I think you hit the nail on the head here. I'm a 3rd year law student here in San Diego, and for awhile my wife and I wondered if San Diego was really someplace where we wanted to settle down, mostly because of the cost. I have two kids, and housing was definitely an issue. When people say SD is expensive, they are referring to housing prices.

In the neighborhood where I rent, houses were going for $353/sq ft at the height of the boom. Now they're selling for $234/sq ft and the price declines are not slowing. I think people will stop complaining about how expensive San Diego is when prices return to a sane multiple of incomes. Rentals never went up as much as mortgages, but many prospective home buyers got priced out of the market. The price inflation was especially hard on young families who were just starting out, and many of them stretched to make that purchase or fled to places like Temecula, and are now upside down and feel trapped.

I think as housing prices continue to decline, San Diego will become a more hospitable place for families and young couples. In three or four years, I sincerely doubt anyone will be complaining about how expensive San Diego is.

As for low paying jobs, I think that only became an issue because housing prices were so inflated. As an example, 100K in New York doesn't go far. I'm in Fresno right now, and pay is much lower than San Diego. It's not an issue, because Fresno has a low cost of living.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by jghall00

I think as housing prices continue to decline, San Diego will become a more hospitable place for families and young couples. In three or four years, I sincerely doubt anyone will be complaining about how expensive San Diego is.

As long as the economy continues to tank along with the housing market, I am not sure there are going to be enough young families able to afford to buy *anything* in 3 or 4 years.

[dweej]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it !
Aim for the stars, dare to dream!
If at first you don't succeed, try try again!

It feels good to know that everyone's life can be boiled down to a few cliches and soundbites.

Not sure if you read the paper or not, but I'm guessing that rapid property appreciation you enjoyed over the last 20 years is gonna be around for my generation. That's OK though, because if you work hard and try your best, anything is possible! Also, I'd like a pony.

Hahaha! I tried to rep you on this, but apparently I need to spread it around a bit...

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by dweej

We would *love* to make some smart property trades. Having a property to begin with is, however, a prerequisite of that....

If you want to own a home .... you need to make sensible choices in the way you spend your money.

Start at the bottom.

Owning property can initially be sensibly chosen stock market investments, which over time, can increase in value, and help you to save for a down payment on a home.

This advice may not help someone who is over 50, but if you start investing in your 20's, you can build up a nice nest egg over time.

Also, try to live beneath your means. Don't buy what you really can't afford, and pay your credit cards off in full every month. If you can't pay them off each month, then you are spending too much. Don't eat out as much. Rent DVDs instead of going to the movie theater. Or better yet, borrow them for free from the library Don't spend $3 a day at Starbucks. Buy a decent quality used car instead of a brand new one, and hold onto it for as many years as possible. Don't buy new clothes as often. Try to get by with what you own now.

Try to put 10% or more of your take-home into savings or stock market investments. If your company has a 401K retirement plan ... try to contribute the maximum you can afford. If not, invest the maximum each year in a personal IRA.

Also, when you finally do purchase a home ... don't go overboard. Initially start with a small home you can afford.

And try to maintain at least 6 months living expenses in some form of savings account in case you ever lose your job.

[socketz]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it !
Aim for the stars, dare to dream!
If at first you don't succeed, try try again!

It feels good to know that everyone's life can be boiled down to a few cliches and soundbites.

Not sure if you read the paper or not, but I'm guessing that rapid property appreciation you enjoyed over the last 20 years is gonna be around for my generation. That's OK though, because if you work hard and try your best, anything is possible! Also, I'd like a pony.

[dweej]

Originally Posted by RD5050

If you want to own a home .... you need to make sensible choices in the way you spend your money.

Start at the bottom.

Owning property can initially be sensibly chosen stock market investments, which over time, can increase in value, and help you to save for a down payment on a home.

This advice may not help someone who is over 50, but if you start investing in your 20's, you can build up a nice nest egg over time.

Also, try to live beneath your means. Don't buy what you really can't afford, and pay your credit cards off in full every month. If you can't pay them off each month, then you are spending too much. Don't eat out as much. Rent DVDs instead of going to the movie theater. Or better yet, borrow them for free from the library Don't spend $3 a day at Starbucks. Buy a decent quality used car instead of a brand new one, and hold onto it for as many years as possible. Don't buy new clothes as often. Try to get by with what you own now.

Try to put 10% or more of your take-home into savings or stock market investments. If your company has a 401K retirement plan ... try to contribute the maximum you can afford. If not, invest the maximum each year in a personal IRA.

Yes, yes....we are *extremely* frugal, but we already have three kids and a single income. We drive a Toyota and a Nissan. We haven't seen the inside of a movie theater in 3 years. We're crammed into a two bedroom apartment while we observe the market. The question we have to ask ourselves is this "Is living in SoCal itself important enough to us to make "starting at the bottom" worth it when we could get a decent house elsewhere for half the price?". The prices here are much more reasonable than they used to be, but on avg. in Temecula are still over $100 per sq./ft for a foreclosure with no appliances. It's the same old cost vs. benefit analysis. I get how someone in certain circumstances could make it happen, but why?