New York is just as bad, if not worse. There are dozens of projects sprouting up everywhere, and you cannot get anything remotely decent under $1M.
Bravo. The bullshit on this board is hilarious. Guy's are pissed because the most DESIRABLE locales in America cost a left-lung for a nice SFO. Jeez. The whole nation isn't NYC, West L.A., Tahoe, San Diego or even Miami (which is CHEAP to California). Next there will be a thread "Gosh how can a normal working guy ever afford to live in a penthouse on Waikiki Beach?" There's DOZENS of cities, hell MAJOR LEAGUE cities where one can buy RE on the cheap. Does anyone ever hear of Milwaukee, Cleveland, Pittsburgh or St.Louis as "bubbles." Those cities have seen ZERO appreciation. I'm sure many ET'ers live in places like that and enjoy great homes with good schools or if single know of neat places to hangout with normal, grounded people. WTF is so great about Brooklyn, NY? WAGES! So if you want to earn 3x in NYC for doing some shit litigation work or trying to make partner at Lehman then be prepared to enter a housing market that demands 3x Utica. If you want to live in LaJolla next to some guy who unloaded CMGI in March of 2000 then you also better be holding something fungible for paradise. If you think 750k on the Westside should buy a mansion then realize you're not just competing against Jennifer Aniston but the key grip on some NBC sit-com who's making 6k a week during season.
Jennifer aniston in my neighborhood? yeah right its a good neighborhood but nowhere near amazing certainly not brentwood, beverly hills, bel air, santa monica or similar the point STILL remains that I know what the owners of these houses and recent buyers earn..... and they shouldnt be in these houses at these price levels (unless they bought 5+ years ago) and id love to meet a key grip who pulls in 300k+ a year which is what you need for one of these bunghole 1920s starter houses meanwhile im renting a house which is rent controlled area, 2000 sqft, next door to all these 1.2 million dollar homes for $2200 a month - for me to service a similar place by buying id I'd have to pay out almost 10k per month its all perfectly logical if you elect to ignore reality im actually a happy renter in the end when i look at my options i guess
Typically housing seems least attractive at the bottom. Usually prices are down because rates are very high and/or employment is in trouble. So affordibility is still an issue. The price is lower maybe but higher rates offset it.
I imagine you're well south of Wilshire but north of Pico. Eh? I know that condo's around there are 750k. Expensive. Anyone would agree. But I bet it's 4k a month to rent those places, correct? What I'm saying Jason is if you want to live in a solid neighborhood in arguably one of the dozen or so premier cities on the planet, then be cognizant that you're COMPETING with thousands and thousands of rich people for space. What percentage of your income is L.A. dependant. IOW's what would you make in Chattanooga? (nice city by the way)
ive had them on my screen for ages now but they just dont suite my trading style not sure how liquid they are either
bingo, north of olympic south of santa monica u can get a pretty good 2 bedroom condo rental here for about $3k per month the junk 2 bedrooms will start at $2k per month, sometimes even slightly under you can rent a decent house for $4k last year I made 200k working my business and about 250k trading (on 900k capital) yes yes i can actually afford these houses I am moaning about easily, but I just refuse lol its like a bad trade setup, I find them easy to resist after being burned many times while i was a new trader yeah i actually been to chattanooga lots, I was a drifter in my early 20s I used to go to lookout mountain to hanglide often btw I am banging my head in frustration NOT because I am jealous I dont have a house, or because i cant afford it, but because this thing is going to take so long to settle down to what I consider "safe" buying conditions that the time frame element of it is just very annoying, i wish the housing market was natural gas, that thing sorts itself out in 6 months tops, lol >>>>> prolly sidelined till 2009 is the way I see myself
I'm guessing that L.A. has seen at least some contraction this year? Are inventories high? Homes at a "Mexican standoff"? Sellers not lowering offers, buyers on strike? If that's the case (that's how SoFla is and also San Diego from what I read) then my suggestion is that you find a handful of homes you like and then throw in "low balls". I bet 4 out of 5 sellers aren't really serious about selling UNLESS they get lifted in their "JIC" offer. However you may correctly identify the one seller who must sell. I'm sure there's one on every block so to speak.........