San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

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If things go to shit over the next couple years, you could possibly get your house for free if the government collapses. You just have to protect it from MZBs.

Feel better;)

Sounds like an awesome house for you.

If you can afford it easily, and the price is below peak levels (and not too high for current prices), go for it!

Alls I can say is if your wife really likes it and it gets away you will never, ever hear the end of it until you fork over some hush money for a diamond necklace or something.

Don't pay using any of your own money. Use FHA money. Get tax credits and cash back from the sellers or RE agents for the rest.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Scdyct,
Where do you buy your gold - is it gold stocks or gold mining companies or rights to a certain amount at places like Perth Mint? I ask becuase you seeem to have been doing it for a while.

I think you should buy the house, don't get overly worried about a couple of dollars too hi or low, if it's really the right one & you can afford. But definately make sure you get full credit from wife & remind her often.

"Terrified" is an appropriate emotion for somebody wiping out their savings to buy a house, given the current conditions.

Patientrenter has it right. Minimum initial cash into the deal (if you can't summon the strength to refrain from buying).

This is not idle commentary on my part. All my San Diego property is owned without debt, meaning it is no struggle to hold on to it. I just listed it for sale. My judgment is that in the coming years, mid-market and higher properties will decline in value by an amount significantly greater than the cost of selling it (7 or 8 percent).

Pardon me, but how long have you held your properties?

im guessing it won't go FHA. it needs work, just looking at the paint.... i think someone would have to come with some cash. so, probably less competition (it's already had multiple reductions over the last several months.

ive been dollar cost averaging through CEF and SLW buying weekly through automatic investing programs. also, GDX.

i guess i could hold on to some cash and borrow against retirement monies.

the plan would be probably to never leave, assuming i didn't lose my job, Id probably die in the damn place, at whatever future date that might be. Some people picture happy times when house touring, x-mas, weddings, etc. I picture myself keeling over and having a heart attack on the porch while I'm carrying a bag of mulch.

this house would make my wife exceedingly happy. I would score a lot of points.

GLD and SLV are someday going to be the subject of some major scandal. they don't hold actual metals. you can read about the risks on the internet. you're better off with CEF. Actual audited metals in a vault....i hate GLD ...

of course, anyone who advises another to buy gold is probably nuts. please don't take any investment advice from me. I think buying a house is the dumbest possible move in the unvierse, but I feel almost compelled to do it right now. it's the same momentum that happened when I got married and had kids. I was helpless to stop it all.

it's going to be ok. it's just money.

Hey scaredycat... Putting in the offer is just 1st step. Start fretting once your offer gets accepted :) Anyways you have 17 days after offer acceptance to back out. By that time you will be sure of it one way or another. Disclosures, inspection, additional comps from acceptance date to 17 days, etc. will also help you aid your decision.

now that we've seen the goddamned place, even i have to agree, it couldn't get any more perfect than that. in fact, that might be the only damned place that is that perfect! it's exactly us! it rings out for us to buy the damned thing. cursed, cursed, real estate websites with their easy access to various listings and searches.

here's the problem. I actually want it. i might even fight to get it. i keep running through numbers in my mind. what i'd like to pay. what i'd be willing to pay. what's the absolute max I could pay before vomiting. I don't know...i just don't know....

there's a lot to be said for renting...

of course, i was terrified to have children, and they turned out to be really good. and fun; that would have been awful, if Id been too scared to have them.... buying this house, even if i overpay a bit, probably won't be as disastrous as what runs through my mind. except of course that I will probably die there...or a nearby hospital, if I am less lucky...

Heh heh scaredycat, the real stress and anxiety begins once your offer is accepted and you are in escrow. I backed out of 2 houses due to the ambivalence--the realtor was not loving me. On the 3rd one, the only thing that kept me in the game was I bought with a friend. Thank God we closed in 30 days, cause I don't think she could have dealt with me much longer!

OK--yahoo says not to do it.
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/dont-b...

If your question ties in with scaredycat's considerations, please explain how. I don't participate in thread-jacking.

yaaarrrggghh. i went for a run and picked a number .. I'll offer it monday. I am resolved. I want this house.

Best wishes, scaredycat. As long as you like it, it will work out. But maybe you could see, after you make your offer, if it will be possible to finance it with FHA. Wouldn't it be nice if you only had upside?

FHA 203k program provides for combining purchase price and fix-up costs into one loan.

FHA limits in San Diego are almost $700K according to the FHA web site.

Formal quotes for fix-up projects are assembled. After approval/funding/close, fix-up money is sequestered in a separate account to be paid out as projects are completed.

no. i'm in for the long haul. no b.s 3.5% down. i will never walk. i will die in this f**king place. bury me in the backyard

You must know by now that I'm a major worrier, too. Funny what you wrote about weddings/xmas, etc. when house-hunting. When we tour houses, I consider whether or not we can live in it with a wheelchair when we get old, and how quickly EMS can get to us, and where the nearest hospital is...we're 40 years old, and perfectly healthy.

I've been a RE bear since 2001, and still think prices have a way to fall.
That being said, if we found our ultimate dream home tomorrow, we'd buy it in an instant IF we could easily afford it, and IF we were pretty secure about our income, etc.

If your finances are solid, and you can still easily live without debt and still accumulate savings after you buy this house, go for it, Scaredy!!!!

Please let us know how it goes. I'm excited for you! :)

"no. i'm in for the long haul. no b.s 3.5% down. i will never walk. i will die in this f**king place. bury me in the backyard"

Dude, you clearly have the will - have faith that no matter what happens, you will find a way.

Analyst,you are right, OP asked for something helpful and we shouldn't take advantage of the situation to spread our own versions of the Gospel :

"Anything you can say to calm me down would be profoundly appreciated. "

However, how does this help in calming him down :

"This is not idle commentary on my part. All my San Diego property is owned without debt, meaning it is no struggle to hold on to it. I just listed it for sale. My judgment is that in the coming years, mid-market and higher properties will decline in value by an amount significantly greater than the cost of selling it (7 or 8 percent)."

I just dont' see how slipping in a story about how easy you have it owning property and how you are about to sell while he is about to buy and he is clearly worried about the aftermath goes towards what the OP asked for.

ah well, i am beyond calming words anyway. screw it all, screw the downturn, screw the future, screw the savings. . with 20% down the payment is the exact same as the rent we've paid for the last 4 years, and the rent payment has seemed very small. we;re not really stretching, we're just starting over savings wise.

actually that's not even true, it's just a very large chunk of our savings. a majority sized chunk that hurts my stomach.

my wife was offered a job for a couple hundred k a few years back and turned it down to "nurture the children", but works part time and does pretty well. she could easily cover it if she ever worked full time we will (probably) easily make it. Nothing I have ever worried about in life has ever actually been a problem, it's only the things I failed to worry about that have given some difficulty. and nothing too bad has ever happened. i doubt something this petty would be the thing to break my streak!

so look, let's say 10 years form now, the place is down 20%. you know what? I wouldn't care. Honestly, I wouldn't, as long as there weren't some compelling reason I had to move. that's the only nub of worry.

still, i believe there is an outside chance it'll be down more than 20% in 10 years. just very unlikely. seems hard to believe that the govt won't just start sending cash or adding zero's to bills with a magic marker before that happens.

for some odd reason...

I am not afraid.

should that make me afraid?

Your full of shit.

You would not be posting looking for emotional support if you were not afraid.

Fear is an emotion as old as humanity and serves a very practical purpose.

Fear is why you look both ways before crossing the road. Which is not considered irrational.

What you are doing is crossing the road when you know very well it's not safe to cross because you see, what you consider, the promise land on the other side. With lots of people telling you to cross for their own reasons.

You know what the road looks like.

The question is do you feel lucky?

ok, I am afraid. i was just trying that statement on for size. it sounded kind of heroic and dramatic. i see now it looks kind of transparent and dumb.

i never feel lucky, though I usually win.

what were the rules again? figure out the limit I will pay beforehand? be ready to walk away from any negotiation? Not become emotionally involved in the property? uh, what else?