For all you young guys out there...scroll through this list of stuff to do....(I have to get up at 4:30 AM, about the time these places are happening, LOL)... http://www.thecircuitlv.com/viplists.htm Don
I live in LA and it's just insane. Alice in wonderland type economics. All the housing bulls talked about low supply, population growth, immigration. But none of that matters. How are people going to afford it? I fully expect to read, on the front page of the LA Times, people swearing off real estate, all kinds of investigations and hearings into ARM's and exotic financing. There will be testimony from Joe and Jane Smith..."but I didn't know it could decline like this! They didn't tell us..." There will be bodies in the street when the dust settles.
LOL. I know how expensive the Westside is so I decided to randomly pick 600k in the San Gabriel Valley just to get an idea of prices throughout the basin. Holy smokes. Here's 600k in Arcadia. Be forewarned. What you're about to see is really ugly. http://realtor.com/FindHome/HomeLis...75395F63A85C&snumxlid=1068530810&lnksrc=00001
I live in South Tenerife in Spain where beautiful sceneries of oceans are over flowing. Its kind of hot here. I think there's no exemption to the placed where people chose to live. Prices are really up to the neck! Especially to places where economic development like that in LA are increasing. I got my other unit as property for sale in Tenerife, and fortunately, really comfortable place to live in. I may even have to invite my colleagues for a stay there for free.
I grew up in Malibu, don't think my dad even made six figures but in 1970 right before I was born he and mom bought nine acres for 160,000 in what is now a very exclusive gated canyon community. We just had a normal 4 plus 3 ranch home with a pool on incredible property with a creek running right through it, it was so damn nice! They split the property in half seven years later and were going to build a bigger house on the hill of the remaining five acres but there was a class action lawsuit against the builders, then their bankruptcy followed so we ended up living in the smaller house at the lower end of the property which we were going to just live in while building the bigger house...that never got built. A few years later comes the divorce, mom gets the house but loses it in foreclosure in '94 She simply didn't handle business....now that property is worth upwards of 2 mil. I have no trust fund to help me from my dad who passed away in '95 and mom became ill and lived on SS until she passed on last year. The reason I bring that up is because if anyone here has a trust fund or any other inheritance just be glad you do, never take it for granted! Things are tough when there's no help, as I'm sure many of you know from experience. You think there are no poor kids in Malibu? Think again! lol Anyway, I never started making any decent, consistent amount of money until around 2002 but my credit was crap and I could not save enough money to do anything with anyway. I want to say is that it is so damn aggravating to be making the same amount of money that would easily have bought me a condo or at least a mobile home in my home town a few years ago but to be pretty much priced out and forced to rent a shoebox to stay here today! I know so many people who make similar or even less income than I do but got in before the big explosion so they are "haves" while I remain a "have not" unless I move to a much less desirable neighborhood, and even that is generally too expensive. Still, it's either do that or make more money so that's why I got involved in trading/investing in stocks and futures as well as being my own boss in the construction business rather than working for others. Well it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming months and years, hopefully we will see a buyers market here again so that those of us who missed the boat can get another chance!
I gave up on waiting I personally know at least 20 people or couples like tradewarrior who are thinking the same thing: "buy in a good area as soon as the market goes down" every single house i looked at in december is now sold, all 20+ of them, some didn't even remain on the market for 1 week before they sold, and yep, some attracted the bid war scenarios (4 of the 20 id say) What I came to realize in my opinion is that the "have nots", professional landlords and foreign people have put a floor under the market in the good areas, way too many people waiting to buy, not nearly enough inventory.... (I am talking prime real estate areas: brentwood, palisades, santa monica, west LA, westwood, beverly hills, malibu) Be interesting to see how it turns out long term. I still maintain that inflation is what will bail the real estate market out.
Maybe the reason those other people who made the same income as you were able to buy their home was because they made good financial decisions from the get-go. You said your credit was crap -- why? You didn't buy a house before the boom -- so what did you spend your money on instead? And why do you bring up thing about not having an inheritance or trust fund? I know many people who became successful without an inheritance.
============= Agree; makes no sense [or cents at all] to pay that much in taxes. Lookout mountain [signal mountain also ]has no state income tax either; Tennessee . There also is a mini trend with homes below 900 square feet.Below average for sure; more than enough room for i person for sure
California has lost its coolness factor. Its becoming Asiafornia. It would not surprise me if a lot of the new innovative companies are started outside of California in the future.