San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

Sorry to hear that, but it will probably save you money in the long run.

BTW: how is RE holding up in S.F. area? My relative and the soon to be a significant other is about to pull the trigger on a $2mil 2500 sqft place in S.F. downtown (Pac Heights or Presidio). And I've been out of the loop up on the R.E. situation up there, and wanted to get feel for how things are up there.

I know, i know... Now's not the time to buy...Yada, yada yada. BUT has SF R.E. fallen in the better locations yet, particularly Pacific Heights and areas around the Presidio? They claim they it's an ok price at the given the location(s).

Sorry to hear about your particular situation. Unfortunately, it still seems like there are too many dollars chancing homes. I was hoping you would have found a place. Frankly, while wife would like to live in something larger in the future, I really don't want to be competiing with the likes of some folks like you who will sideline things for now. :)

selfportrait

----- Sour grapes for everyone!

How is your realtor handling all of this??

Where is the rental, what is it like, and how much is the rent?

BobS
Sorry to hear about your plight, especially after you've done everything right. Don't be so hard on yourself...one slipup out of a dozen offers is not a bad record.
Here is one that I just learned about--may be too big and too expensive for your parameters, but it is brand new and looks impressive: 8193RunoftheKnowlls.com Most likely your agent has already exposed it to you.

FLU. I don't know how the market is holding up in SF proper. On the penninsula it is not dropping all that much the the areas I would look in. There are "LOTS" of sticky sellers in those areas and many homes have been on the market for over a year with not a single price drop. In Los Altos hills, a 50 yr old 4,500sf house will still cost you $4-$5M. In San Jose, where I live, prices have come down quite a bit in areas, including my own. Still much higher than SD though, much higher.

ILCV. My realtor is holdling up about as bad as my wife, who is not speaking to me at the moment. Times are tough for realtors, and she is no exception. I did promise her I will stick with her until the end though.

Asragov. I have not started looking for rentals yet. We have some time. Don't even know where to start. A 3-4br house in CV will do just fine for now.

BobS
Sorry Raptor, but the site I just posted is not coming up. The listing agent is Daniel Beer, Daniel [at] Doughtery-Taylor [dot] com SDLuxuryEstates.com 858 759-5958

BobS. Thanks, nice, but that is above our price range. We run out of a comfortable down payment at $5M purchase price.

Obviously I will now be able to continue to save considerably each month and once I sell my current house, save a little bit more per month, but I don't plan on ever going above my max of $5M, even if I could. If I can't find our dream house for under $5M, there is something wrong with me. Heck, I should find it for under $4M. I found that you don't get incrementally more house for the extra $$ you pay once you get to $4M or so.

I did get real close to becomming your neighbor on one house in Santaluz, but the seller and I reached a stalemate and his house remains unsold one month later.

While you are choosing to look at it as a failure it is not. Think of it as a learning experience. You have displayed all the right attributes about how to go about searching for a home. The most important part about the search you have performed is the portrayal about the differences between finding a house you like and a house you love. When you find the one you love you need to go all in or not at all.

Fortunately Raptor, in the end it will be fine for you because while it may not seem possible, you will indeed find a home that is just as fitting as the one you missed. I can say that with all the confidence in the world. Additionally your diligence in the search you have performed has pretty much been unmatched as far as I can tell on this site. Hopefully Piggington has served as a good outlet for the frustating experience you have gone through.

There are plenty of rentals in CV. Have your realtor look on the MLS and have her look on Craigslist for a start. There are also a few services she can check with as well.

SD Realtor

BobS
Raptor: The upside of this decision to rent near to your target market is that your search efforts will become much more efficient and informed, thus lowering your eventual transaction costs.

Although you are clearly looking at higher end homes, I think there will probably be other opportunities in the future. Do not feel like a failure. That particular one wasn't meant to be for whatever reason. Maybe something better for less down the road. Think of it as a good thing and keep your eye on the prize. "THE" house. You're getting close. Be positive :)

I am just curious...Is there an agent out there who would show 150 homes??? I assume you are an agent yourself but was wondering at some point, even in this market an agent would get tired of showing over 100 homes to a client without an accepted offer.

Was just wondering....Also, check Craigslist, I think there is a rental in the Meadows which might suit yor needs if you want a CV rental....Also there is a large home in Derby Hill for rent...

I'm not a Realtor but would get my license and show Raptor 200 homes for the kind of commission on the table. The question isn't if she will get paid, its when.

Out of curiosity

Does it cost you more if you build your own house or palace in RSF?

I am not rich and do not have $5M to spend, but I wonder why you are trying to buy if you can build it.

Raptor,

Plenty of rentals in CV. Both on Craigslist and on MLS. Check out www.carmelvalleyteam.com for cool, color-coded MLS rentals (but don't forget Craigslist as well, as many are only found there).

A piece of advice: don't rent a crappy place. Your best bet is to rent a nice house that was intended for sale but failed to sell. You know, the "never before rented" type. Also, asking prices are all over the map, so pay attention to that and don't be afraid to negotiate. And check on your landlord to make sure that he/she isn't likely to get foreclosed on.

vagabondo. Both my NorCal and SoCal agents will tell you I am a high maintainence client, but not a rude one. When I bought my current house with my current NorCal agent, I toured 60 homes and wrote 17 offers. We beat that easily this time, with both agents. That same NorCal agent is selling my current house. No I am not an agent.

fromnj. I have been down the build from scratch, remodel a tear down, etc path before and written about it a few times on this board and lets just say we have hired architects and contractors in the past and the only thing we will consider is a "project" house that needs work and perhaps an addition or two, but not a tear down or build from scratch. Building costs in SD are about half of what they are here, but that is but one factor for us.

And I don't want to spend my max, just enough to get the house that will meet our needs in the area that we want.

SD Realtor. Thanks. I have always appreciated your posts and those of others and have gotten a lot out of this board and learned from everybody. The effort I put into my own posts is simply a reflection of what I get out of it as I am trying to give back what I get, to the extent my posts are useful to folks.

Once my wife decides to speak to me again, it may be a while, we will start looking for rentals. Not looking for the big house to rent. She does not want a place where I might feel too comfortable and want to stay longer than a year.

When your wife is speaking to you again, it might be nice to discuss the possibility of renting in your target neighborhood. That way, she could make some friends and start settling in your chosen community. While you would still be technically moving twice, it seems to me that moving down the block would be MUCH easier than completely starting over in a new neighborhood. Just an idea.

And I agree with everyone else. Don't dwell on the one that got away. It sold for $50k more than you bid, but who's to say that it wouldn't have gone much higher if you had joined in the bidding war. I have no doubt you will find "the one" and I am looking forward to reading all about it!

Somewhere out there on the internets I picture a realtor message board where there is thread started...

"Let me tell you about this crazy client from NoCal"....

Truth be told, she has informed me that folks in her office do talk about me and ask her about how things are going all the time. My creative offers seem to get the most attention.

I hand picked her and was looking for a "hungry" agent, rather than an RSF pro. I knew one of the handful of seasond RSF agents I have met would not have the patience for me as my buyer's agent. Good thing, because they are the same group I keep running into as listing agents. A small group of agents has a majority of RSF listings it seems.

We have developed a good relationship. She knows I am not trying to waste her time and am very picky and regimented in my approach and she is sticking with me and me with her.

My NorCal agent has stories to tell as well. Her favorite is when I wrote an offer during the boom up here (yea I know I know) and wrote in a BMW as part of my offer for the seller's daugheter who was at Stanford. I still did not get the house.

I frustrate them both I know sometimes, but I always give them logical reasons for things and treat them with respect and collegiality.

I am curious, as if that wasn't obvious, what does this mean?

Once my wife decides to speak to me again, it may be a while, we will start looking for rentals.

I mean, is she really angry at you for not buying her a 5 million dollar house, and not talking to you?

What kind of self absorbed life that must be! I may be young, only 29, and I have never been married but I can't even grasp that mindset. So does she shun you between her botox appointments and bridge games? Does she inform the servents that they are not to make you dinner because she is pissed? This is hilarious. Probably not to you, but do you know how that sounds?

Tell her to get her pampered ass off out of the beauty salon and get a job if she is that pissed. She probably has nannys raising your kids anyway, hopefully, so that entitled attitude doesn't rub off on them.

Well Rap I have read your adventures with interest, I hope that you find what you are looking for in a house, and maybe even in a new wife. Good luck, I will be watching for an update.

I wasn't going to say anything, but truly your wife should be thanking you, unless you guys have a money tree in your yard. I mean, great if you have that kind of wealth, but I'm sure you didn't accumulate that kind of wealth by making stupid, careless decisions.

Well, like you said, you aren't married so it makes sense that you don't get it. My wife has her MBA, makes more than me and is most certainly blessed with more brains then me. That being said, her desire to "nest" and have her children in a place that is "all ours" trumps her 30 pound head. She understands what this market is doing, but she still wants to buy. It doesn't matter whether you are looking for a 150,000 condo or a 2-4 mil dollar place in RSF. Raptors wife wants to do what my wife wants to do; buy a house to call her own. In my experience nature is taking over and I get it.
Begrudging someone who has more money than you is childish. Painting Raptor’s wife as bourgeois and lazy because she wants to own a home is presumptive.

j

edited

j

bourgeois means middle-class or worker-class. I don't think that's what anyone was implying. They were implying she's a pampered, spoiled, sheltered whiner and expects to be treated like royalty.

I'm not married but have dated enough women to know that they are not all like this. I have more of a nesting instinct than many of the women I have dated. Like homes, there are different classes of people.

I sense people on this board are very jealous..It is perhaps tainting some opinions....RSF Buyer(raptorduck) has some serious coin, what's wrong with that???

I think it is funny that all the "know it alls" and financial geniuses on this board live in a backwater like Temecula and are satisfied with a 2000 sq. ft. house. Who cares if you get a Temecula house for 30% off?? I wouldn't live there for 90% off.....Neither would RSF Buyer..

Nos
You are right; the French definition of bourgeois is indeed a class below the aristocracy. I was using the term in the way it is used in America. Rich, spoiled, pampered elite. That is a bastardization of the original term but I believe most posters understand my meaning. If that isn't apparent you may remove bourgeois from my post. That should clear it up.
You say you have dated a lot of women, but my post was from the standpoint of married women with children. Again, it makes sense you cannot grasp what Raptor is going through. You have not walked a mile in his shoes. I have, so I understand. My wife is not a pampered, spoiled, sheltered whiner who expects to be treated like royalty. She just wants to buy a house to provide stability for her family. Like I said in the original post, it is a great assumption to place that type of label on someone you don't know just because they have the money to buy a big house. You don't agree with that?

j

Wow, a bit of discussion about my wife. Not my intention to incite that.

I may not completely agree with her, but can understand her perspective. She is entitled to it. Spoiled is a relative term. We don't have nannies or servants. Some friends do, others don't.

Please don't call me rich, I work for a living. That is a word better used for people with far more capital than I have. I do well enough to buy what I can buy and provide for a large extended family, but that does not mean what most people think that it means. I know enough people with obscene amounts of money to be clear that I am not one of them.

If I have to work for my money rather than my money working for me to support my lifestyle, then by definition, I am not rich. I live below my means, but I have to work to support my means. That is not rich. If I loose my job, Houston we have a problem. After a few years of cushion I need to find a similar job to support my lifestyle or start slashing expenses.

A rich person does not need a job to support a lavish lifestyle. Donald Trump does not need his job, nor Bill Gates, nor many ibankers who lived below their means, nor trust fund kids, nor an inventor who sold his invention for $500 million. There are of course lots of folks who don't need jobs, because they live modestly and saved the little they did make. They are rich by another definition of rich, financial freedom. Lots of people who make gobs of money are not financially independent because they live above their means. I don't live above my means, but I am not financially independent either.

My wife may appear spoiled, and while she collects shoes and handbags like some people collect baseball cards and while she may be stay-at-home, she is not a lazy person, quite the contrary. Heck, I can be spoiled too. I have a wasteful obession with nice cars and watches. Nobody is perfect. She wants what she wants, simple as that. I am trying to give her that as long as it is within my boundries and means.

Neither my wife nor I were born into any kind of wealth. We grew up poor actually (not middle class, lower class). I am not ashamed of that, so have no problem saying it in an open public forum. Nothing builds character like the gift of struggle. I paid attention in school and did well and went to gobs and gobs of college and grad school paid for from work study and scholarships (not rich daddi) and then worked my butt off and tried to make smart decisions. It has worked out so far.

She will talk to me again, I hope. ;)

Like nost I am much more of a homebody than my wife. She still "withholds" more than I do and I find it intolerable from a psychological maturity and fairness point of view and ask her to snap out of it. Since she realizes this is her short coming she does. Of course being an amateur psychologist I educated her gradually. My wife is the best but we are not perfect and should try harder than to put the silent treatment on IMO. (or other types of withholding). It is not healthy for the relationship which is more important than a house. Not saying this is your experience RD just my 2cents. I'd ask her to snap the hell out of it though.
Maybe there is more to the story. My wife dislikes my biggest short coming, my modest temper;).

Maybe next time you go out into the market be prepared not to vacilate so much. If I were her I would have killed you.

Good luck Raptorduck

Here is a toast to R.duck and his wife, may they find their dream home. I admire people who worked their way up. They truly epitomize the American dream.

raptor - I hope by my post you did not take offense. I did not mean to be in any way derogatory and I respect you for whatever wealth you have and from your posts I never sensed any form of arrogance or entitlement, but on the contrary, levelheaded and sure of what you want, and persistent, determined, all good qualities that I admire.

That said, I guess I might as well say that being I woman I understand the urge to have/own a house and that desire is strong in me. However, I also understand the value of money and that keeps me from getting a house if there's a possibility that money will be lost. Work too hard for it. Don't like losing it.

Still, that doesn't mean if I found that special house, I wouldn't want to buy it. It's happened before. I've made offers that were not accepted. Walked away over 100k on one place. Funny thing is that the person who bought it has a NOD on it. Maybe I got lucky not buying it.

raptor, again she's a lucky lady and hopefully she'll realize the decision and small sacrifice to rent now may work out better in the long run.