Bressi Ranch…25% cheaper than a year ago!!

[sdrealtor]

I already offered it and I offer it again. Here is part of my frustration, you seem to be blaming realtors for this mess when it is in fact the general public that is to blame as much or more. I read your posts as to why anyone would not sell and it seems to me that you view a house as a finacial instrument. I do not, I view it as a home filled with love and surrounded by a community which I support and which siupports my family. You seem to have missed out on the community part and it appears as though you are attempting to find it on this board. My advice, take the time and independence you have gained by selling your home for a large cash profit, walk away from the keyboard and spend more time out in the community. You are surrounded by many warm and caring people that are what make this country great.

As for me, I will probably be checking out for a while. I just got some very bad news about one of my children and if tommorrows visit to Children’s confirms things, I will have a young child immoblized in a wheel chair for the next couple years to heal an ortopaedic condition. The fact that we are surrounded by wonderful friends and neighbors that will be there to support us and that my child will have the support of his long time friends means more than any capital gain I could have realized by living a nomadic life.

Peace to you and I wish you all only the best!

[powayseller]

Sdrealtor, I actually think that realtors with a conscience, such as you, are having a harder time justifying their professions. It’s difficult to be a contrarian on your own product.

The housing runup was caused by greed, loose lending, and the powerful influence of the realtor lobby. The public believed the realtors who said prices could only go up. A realtor in Poway told me that last week: prices in Poway cannot fall, because people love the Poway schools.

As I said before, a person with a conscience must use all kinds of denial tactics to convince themselves they are doing the right thing. So in your case, you believe a house is a collection of emotions, and you can only connect with neighbors if you pay your monthly payment to a lender rather than a landlord. If you admitted that renting a house is superior to buying a house, in today’s market, then you wouldn’t be able to do your job. So you cannot admit that.

A house is not just a home anymore. As millions of people are about to find out as they face foreclosure. A house has become a financial instrument of devastation to personal lives.

As far as my personal time, and spending too much time on the keyboard, I probably do :). You’re right about that. My two weaknesses are reading and running. But I’m also a social butterfly, and dote on my family. This morning, my husband went to work 3 hours late, so he could spend the morning with me. Enough for the personal stuff. I regret that I feel the need to defend myself.

I do like having you on this board, sdrealtor. I hope we didn’t chase you away by asking some tough questions.

Best wishes to your child, and I hope you can stick around. I for one won’t pick on you any more. I think you’re working hard to provide for your family, and that’s honorable in itself.

[RightSide]

Hi SdRealtor,

First off, I’m deeply sorry to hear that there may be any bad news about your son. I have two youngsters and there could be nothing worse. Please keep us informed.

Second of all, I’m coming to your defense big time here. Anybody who thinks a realtor should be responsible for the housing bubble is a total ignoramous. I know powayseller is just a little obssessed about the housing bubble, but its clear by comments she has made, that she is herself quite an ignorant investor and has little knowledge of how our capital markets acutally function. She sounds deeply distraught that she sold her house that she built for the sole purpose of financial gain and I think if the housing market doesn’t crash like she thinks it does, she is going to feel deeply foolish for having done that. She is going to be really upset if inflation takes off and the housing crash is brought back down to its median with no actual nominal price decline. That would be a realy humdinger. Sorry Poway, I like you , I just think your motivations here are more then a little strange.

I happen to be a sophisticated investor and even though I think there is a high probablity of a signficant housing crash, there is also a good chance I will buy a million dollar plus home in San Diego in the near future.

Why?

Because I have a young family and I want to own the house I raise them in. I’m wealthy and I can afford to lose all of my investment. I do so with full knowledge of what I’m spending my money on. If there is a housing crash, I will buy another couple houses when it gets ugly and average down my exposure to the SFR market in San Diego, or use the new futures market to hedge my investment if that emerges as a viable platform.

If I were single, sure I’d just rent a home, but with a family, there is simply no comparison between ownership and renting. When I buy, I’m certianly not going to blame my realtor for any loss I may or many not sustain.

I think a quality real estate agent like SDrealtor is a facilitator of market transactions. They do NOT make a market, they do not drive a market and they are in no way shape or form responsbible for what happens to the prices of housing.

Here is a question, if the realtors were responsible for this market, how come some of the mid-country real estate markets have not shown any price increases during this big bull market? Was it because the realtors were not good as promtions? Please…

So Sdrealtor if you are still reading this, what are some good neighborhoods to check out that are off the beaten path….Poway looks interesting, but it seems that its very hot there in summer. Which is funny, because who knew there was bad weather in San Diego? The Bressi Ranch looks interesting, I’ll have to check it out…I like the new urban design ideas they have incorporated and seems like a lot of families there. How far along is that one?

[powayseller]

Rightside, how did you get the idea that I regret selling my house? I’ve been bragging about it, and perhaps that’s not so good either. It’s the best financial decision I ever made. The second best was staying out of tech stocks. I feel very confident about my housing move, but lack knowledge about what to do with my profits and retirement portfolio. That’s why I’m trying hard to read, to learn more about the capital markets.

Poway is hot, but we moved here for the schools, which are consistently ranked as the best in San Diego Country. Poway has more open space than any other city in SD County. We have 13,000 open space acres, whereas the other 18 cities combined have 25,000 acres. It’s the City in the Country, and if you’re middle class like me, and can’t afford Torrey Pines schools, then Poway is the next best thing. If I had more money, I would live in one of those good school districts near the coast. But even though now we rent, I will not uproot my kids just be near the coast. Stability of schools is important. Yes, even renters can have stable lives 🙂

As far as berating my financial understanding, I guess I’m fair game. I don’t have all the answers, I readily admit that, so I’m here to learn, as well as to pass on what I’m learning myself. In previous posts, I’ve asked for your opinion, and appreciate the feedback you’ve given me.

You poked some fun at me, so I must ask: What did I write that upset you, that made you come out swinging? Was it my post about Sell Now?

May I suggest that we all behave a little more civil. Let’s stick to attacking ideas, not people.

[lendingbubblecontinues]

What about listing agents who deliberately encouraged sellers to list a bit lower than current market value, knowing this would set off a bidding war? Think some of this might have happened the last couple years?

“Used-house salesmen” must share in some of the responsibility of the current mindset, that citizens might be “priced out forever”. Whether they are merely “parrot”-ing what their figureheads are saying or if they truly believe it, they have added something to the game.

Secondly, tell one of the more seasoned Realtors around here that she is merely a “facilitator” and I bet she would laugh at you. After all, her “investors” have all made millions due to her foresight and wisdom and I am sure she would let you know that she has a LOT to do with that.

Last thing, I found it amusing that you described yourself as a “sophisticated investor” who is “wealthy” and can “afford to lose all of my investment”. While it may be true that you are a sophisticated investor (“we’re not worthy..we’re not worthy”) most of the people I have met, who describe themselves as sophisticated, are ANYTHING BUT. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, of course 😉

Most of the people marching unwittingly towards financial ruin do not have it as good as you sound like you do, so your “can afford to lose all” viewpoint probably isn’t relevant for about 99% of the population.

[rockclimber]

Did anyone else think that sdrealitors post giving personal information was pretty creepy? Rich, what’s up? Is there a way people can get our personal info? I don’t want some wack-a-doo hunting me down if I make them mad…

[lendingbubblecontinues]

I thought it was kinda weird, too. Hey wait a minute, don’t you drive a brown Pacer with the license plate, LVMCHINE?

[privatebanker]

RightSide, please define your sophistication? Are you a sophisticated futures trader? Do you run a hedge fund? Do you run a REIT? Are you a home builder? You’re going to need big bucks and a lot of futures/options knowledge to play this game. The thought of hedgeing your SFR with complicated futures contracts is interesting.

BTW, what type of sophisticated investor would want to lose all of their investment?! I’ve never met one.

That was a very strange post you wrote. Especially lashing out at other folks that post on this page. I think we’re all here to share our takes of what’s going on in the RE market. We’re not here to boast and act like we are above one another.

I’m calling your bluff.

[an]

No sophisticated investor would want to lose any money if he/she can help it. So, either you’re extremely wealthy and don’t mind losing several hundred grand. In that case, why are you looking at these relatively “cheap” places instead of getting a custome built home in Rancho Santa Fe? Something just doesn’t add up. Last I check, wealthy people don’t waste their time posting on web forums.

[privatebanker]

Well now, there are a lot of “wealthy” people who enjoy these types of forums. Just because you have money doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be well informed of the market activity and public sentiment.

Most wealthy investors would really be upset to lose a few hundred thousand. Believe me I know, my job is to make people money while minimising risk but when things go the other way, I have to hear it. It’s all about setting expectations I guess.

[powayseller]

I must say, I was uncomfortable that he figured out who I was, searched for me, and then posted my personal information. I knew all along that by giving out personal information, such as my city, kids’ school district, dates of sale of my house, that someone could find me. As a realtor, he found me only via the information I posted here. That’s all that happened.

It was fair that he looked me up, but he looked pretty foolish as a realtor, getting the info all wrong.

Another question for Sdrealtor, if you come back: Would your neighbors and sons’ friends be just as supportive in a time of need if you had been a renter instead of homeowners? My guess is: yes.

[Bugs]

I do believe we’ve milked this thread for all it’s worth. Perhaps it’s time to call this one quits and move on.

[speaker]

…
“End of line.”

[speaker]

WHOA WHOA…..let’s get back to civility, please.

First, PowaySeller, I have found your posts to be very enlightening and informative. Judging you (strictly by your posts), I get the impression that you are a very honest and a decent person. In no way am I trying to suggest that everyone else is not as honest or decent as Poway; I am merely pointing out my amazement at all of the personal barbs directed towards Poway.

SdRealtor:
I mouthed off recently (you called me smarmy) and you called me on it by showing me how to use current inventory with respect housing sales to calculate supply. Now, you have been caught with your hand in the proverbial cookie jar by looking up Poway and posting incorrect information (which was creepy, by the way). How does the humble pie taste? Regardless, please accept my apology to you SdRealtor for mouthing off.

What this thread has shown me is that is all too easy for us to take persoanl jabs at one another because we can remain relatively anynymous? (I’m too lazy to open a dictonary, sorry). We all live here and we are all neighbors and we all have some things in common:
we are obviously bright, educated (street smarts and book smarts), we question what we read in the paper and we are looking for some thoughtful analysis.

In closing, I would like to add…
Poway, in no way should you ever, ever, feel guilty for selling your house for whatever price. Don’t. Unless you sold your house to an unwitting young couple with an infant then I could understand your guilt but for the most part people make foolish decisions with their money every day in every corner in every market.

SdRealtor, right now realtors are getting hammered on all of the blogs so unfortunately despite your good intentions I think you can expect the occasional flame from some random hotheads. I hope you keep posting because this site needs the diversity.

Last, you can’t even begin to imagine how creeped out you would REALLY be if you knew how much of your personal info is out there for anyone to see at anytime for a small fee. It is truly frightening.

“End of line.”

[sdrealtor]

Just a few randon thoughts:

Speaker you are right on target and echo my intentions exactly. It’s easy to attack someone unjustifiably while being anonomous. Powayseller found it easy to do so to me and I wanted to show her how it felt as well as let her know that she’s not as anonomous as she thinks. Civility should always rule the day.

Powayseller-my attack was to show you how I felt and I think I proved my point. I immediately posted a second post to let you know my intentions and never posted any personal information as I have no intention of revealing your identity. The information i posted wasnt wrong, it was what was in the public records which I clearly pointed out. I suspected it was incorrect (as it often is) and was trying to get under your skin. I have apologized for doing so and apologize once again. I do find a couple things incongruent about you. I have never met a “Social Butterfly” that focuses on such solitary pursuits as reading, running and trolling the internet while being content living in what could be considered the middle of nowhere for several years. Also advertising your home as located in Poway because it is the Poway School district is akin to advertising a Carmel Valley Home as being located in Del Mar, a University City Home as being in La Jolla or a Southwest Escondido Home as being in Rancho Santa Fe. It’s inaccurate, plain and simple.

Seasoned successful realtors understand that our role is as facilitators between buyers and sellers. Our job is to provide maximum exposure to the market, negotiate on behalf of our clients, explain the legal responsibilities of the client and most importantly work with the other agent to bring the buyers and sellers to a place where both are satisfied being. Sure there are some “hotshots” running around in leased fancy cars, with big hair and big sunglasses, pictures that must have been taken at their high school prom and running around like their **** doesnt stink but they are kidding themselves that they had anything to do with their clients making money. Anyone that bought real estate between 1997 and 2002 looks and feels like a genius. They had the good fortune of good timing. I am one of those that feel fortunate to have nothing more than good timing.

Lastly, my neighbors and son’s friends are supportive because we’ve been together for 7 years and expect to be here for another 15 to 20 years. There are 3 or 4 long time rental homes on my street purchased by astute investors who have 30 yr fixed mortgages, positive cash flows and will own them forever. The tenants come and go every year or two and the neighborhood rarely gets to know them. I’ve met several of them and my son played with one of the neighbors yesterday. They are a very nice family and I dont think anyone else in the neighborhood even knows their names. If something happened to one of them, my family would reach out to them because my wife is a social butterfly. I doubt anyone else would.

[Author]

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