patiently, don’t feel bad, Christmas in London is almost unbearable for So Cal natives, Solvang is better. Save your money and go in the spring, I went in winter and it took four months to get the feeling back in my toes and ears.
HLS, great posts, good range, nice sarcasm and irony blended with wisdom, a pleasant read. I enjoyed your mom’s quote and will likely use it on my children. I like how you didn’t throttle or attack your counterpart but made your point, this is how the top ten or so piggy’s play and it works. btw, I sold out my interest in that property and am off the loan, thanks for the off site advice.
CMB if you read this after your weekend, most of those who have been around have laid out their R/E plays, read the old threads. I know most of the regulars situations but I learned them over time and have learned from them over time in forming my own decisions but mostly the bears know what to do, we just use each other to stay strong. We all know R/E will return to 125-150x rent but we doubt ourselves because of how slow things move, then looking back we feel good yet we think it can’t keep going down and then it does. This isn’t bearish, it’s logic and history. Unfortunately at 35 you haven’t yet experienced a full cycle as an adult, in ten years you will have and you will be able to see the big picture. Here’s my data that I will bring. To allow you to apply it to any market and income level I will take out the specifics, they are available upon request or with little effort in reading old threads, use these formulas for any income, down payment or market.
My first home purchase price was 3x my income, I made the median, bought a median home and this was at the peak of the last market, about 1991. In the mid 1990’s prices were near the bottom, sold for almost no profit but moved up to a home twice the size and cost of the median because my income had risen and I was making over the median, purchase price was 2x my income (in today’s terms, would be a 700k home on 350k income). I am cashed out now, renting, making well above the median, yet in 2006 I refused to buy because the purchase price of my chosen market was 4x to 5x my income (which has increased more than inflation). I am waiting for 3x or lower. This week I can buy that house for 3x but I chose not to, in six months I will re-evaluate. If it is 2x my income I will buy, otherwise I will wait. with inventories rising and foreclosures increasing, time is on my side. 18 months ago rent was 300x, six months ago it was 250x, today it is 150-200x. The person I rent from is down more than 30% from when they bought 2 years ago, when it hits 50%, I stop renting. That’s my data, i will buy at 2x income and I will get what I want within one year, I guarantee it.
