Homeowner Bill of Rights

[spdrun]

Sorry if the credulous Kool-Aid(tm) drinker in you can’t see the logic. 😀 You also have to realize that most of the people who bought during the Bubble aren’t owners at all. They’re renters who are renting from the bank, or maybe paid a few % key money. They had no equity, so nothing to destroy by letting prices go pre-Bubble or a bit below. This would allow the younger generation to buy at a reasonable price, and have home ownership being a saving, not a form of slavery.

BTW – I don’t see “libertarian” as an insult. I’m very libertarian on some issues, almost socialist on others. (read health care) The closest you can describe me is “anti-authoritarian”, whether that authority comes from government, banksters, employers, or corporations.

BTW, If you do cheap things in NYC then you are not living the NY lifestyle.

So, for example, plenty of small/indy bands aren’t worth seeing unless they charge at least $50 per concert? News to me.

I like the SoCal lifestyle. Note that I’m looking to pick up investment property in SD. Perfect mix of decent cap rate on some condos + a good chance that prices will at least stay stable.

But it would get old after a month or so, and I’d be back in NYC. Or a certain Eastern European city that’s also dear to me.

[briansd1]

I’m just realistic.

So, what would you rather have? Some inflation risk like we have here in America, or internal deflation like Ireland, Spain and Greece?

As far the government cooking the numbers, they might do so for a couple years, but over a longer period, the numbers have to make sense.

Don’t get me wrong, I love NY. When I read the NY Times, I want to at least go see what they are talking about.

I do agree that SD is different compared to NY. But at least in SD you can wear 10 yo clothes and nobody would care. The 4 season wardrobe in NY is costly even if you lag behind.

The culture of SD is that of a sunny, relaxed, healthy attitude. In SD, you’re not supposed to care about money. In NY, the culture of is all about money and being boastful of what you have achieved.

BTW, we have good bands in SD also.
San Diego is also a good theater city with UCSD’s theater program ranked in the top 3. People from around the world come here for their MFAs.

But in the end, the beach, the sunset and the relaxed lifestyle are really what SD is known for.

[spdrun]

Don’t get me wrong, I love NY. When I read the NY Times, I want to at least go see what they are talking about.

Wait, so you’ve never been, yet you claim to know what NY is all about by reading the Times?

And just because you’re not “supposed” to care about money in San Diego doesn’t mean that people don’t. Or rather, they care about the *appearance* of money without managing it well.

Spain/Greece/Ireland aren’t really comparable to the US. Different cultures, different economies, different starting points. And there’s no reason why something in between can’t be achieved — though I’ll always go with something that favors the ants over the grasshoppers.

As I said, the governor of my home state of NJ isn’t right about a lot. But he’s right about not spending a dime of state funds to buy out foreclosures. Market those f**kers, full speed ahead, let the chips fall where they may.

[sdrealtor]

FWIW, you don’t need money to find women in NYC.they outnumber men by a large degree. Additionally, NYers are among the biggest bullshitters on the planet.you can bluff your way through life pretty easily in NYC. There are also many successful single woen in NYC who just want to find a guy who will settle down with them.

[briansd1]

I’ve been to NY many times and it’s one of my favorite places.

NYC is the capital of the world in many ways. It’s the center of world finance and in NYC you see people from everywhere around the world.

sdrealtor, I agree that New Yorkers are big bullshitters. But the end, bullshit will only take you so far.

NY is also a crap hole if you don’t have money. For one thing, I would never want to spend the sweltering summer in NY in a small apartment with no AC or only a window AC unit, not with global warming.

Also, without economic growth and gentrification, thanks in great part to the finance industry, NYC would not be where it is today.

I will defer to you, sdrealtor, on the question of women in NY.

[spdrun]

NY is also a crap hole if you don’t have money. For one thing, I would never want to spend the sweltering summer in NY in a small apartment with no AC or only a window AC unit, not with global warming.

This gets better and better…

Your little rule would rule out probably 90% of apartments, including some very nice ones. Built-in/central A/C is rare, unless you’re in a building built after the 60s. The built-ins have the added disadvantage of being more expensive to replace, or being dependent on a building-wide chiller that throws a tantrum at inconvenient times.

Properly installed window A/C units will work just fine — mine drop the temp/humidity to comfortable levels even when it’s 95*F outside.

As far as women, nothing wrong with the late-30s to 40s professional types that sdrealtor mentioned. In fact they’re generally more fun to be with and talk to than 20-somethings, whose attraction often ends when they open their mouths.

Also, without economic growth and gentrification, thanks in great part to the finance industry, NYC would not be where it is today.

Don’t confuse real growth with inflation, or bubble-building with legitimate banking and lending. (here-we-go-again)

[CA renter]

Brian,

spdrun and NSR nail it here (IMHO):

[quote=spdrun]
What’s wrong with lower prices and less activity? Why should the average American family need to work two 45+ hr/week shifts just to make ends meet? Things slowing down would actually be a GOOD thing — let prices drop to the point that an average family can survive on 1 to 1.5 incomes, so parents would actually have vacation time/time with kids and be able to SAVE some money.

This is actually my goal before I get married. Have enough passive income to guarantee an annual cash flow that pays for housing, insurance, and some needs regardless of employment status, so we can basically live on a single income if we so desire. Or just travel a f**k of a lot and work the other 9 months. And have fun doing so.

I guess having low expectations of material things also helps. My car is 30 years old, my laptop is 4, and I keep my mobile devices basically till they fall apart and die. Do like good clothes, good food, and good music though.[/quote]

[quote=no_such_reality]
Letting it correct is what restarts the economic activity.

Everyone is forced to move on. Instead we have everyone, from business people to home owners just ‘hanging on’ waiting for it to return to what it was and it won’t.

We could have bottomed out 2 years ago. Home construction would have restarted, rehabbing the foreclosures would have been a two year boom, lots of people working, prices would be way down (probably another 20% from peak, maybe more).

Wages, probably would have gone up.

Rents would go down.

But instead, we have a stall that they keep pumping trying to keep in th stratosphere.[/quote]

And my 2 cents about women…the ones who would reject you because of the car you drive (or whether or not you “walk with elan,” or are slender and good-looking, etc.) are NOT the ones you want to marry. At least, not if you care about her being a good life-long partner who will support you and stick with you through thick and thin, and who will be a good mother to your kids. Just sayin’.

[briansd1]

[quote=spdrun]
Your little rule would rule out probably 90% of apartments, including some very nice ones. Built-in/central A/C is rare, unless you’re in a building built after the 60s. The built-ins have the added disadvantage of being more expensive to replace, or being dependent on a building-wide chiller that throws a tantrum at inconvenient times.

Properly installed window A/C units will work just fine — mine drop the temp/humidity to comfortable levels even when it’s 95*F outside.

[/quote]

Window A/Cs are so last century. They are noisy and ugly and they leak air in the summer and winter.

That’s why I’m a Southern Californian and not a New Yorker. Here in San Diego, a 1960 house is old.

In San Diego, we like everything sunny, fresh and perfect, like our weather.

[spdrun]

I rather like my apartment in a beautiful 1910s building. Infinitely prefer it to 1970s-2000s boxes of ticky-tacky.

Modern window A/Cs aren’t all that loud.

[briansd1]

Old and beautiful sounds appealing… but unless the building has been renovated property, it would lack in physical comforts. Plus you have to deal with decades of tacky renovations, layers of lead laden paint and asbestos galore.

Even the White House was gutted and redone to modern standards.

Think of it this way, there are plenty of old hotels around, but only the well-renovated old hotels can command premium prices.

In NY, you need money to insulate yourself from the discomfort of the inclement weather. In San Diego, it doesn’t really matter if your house has bad insulation and leaky single pane windows.

Look at how historic El Cortez (1926), in San Diego, has been a bloodbath for buyers.
http://www.sdlookup.com/Forums/CondominiumCommunities/tabid/59/forumid/25/postid/15077/view/topic/Default.aspx

[spdrun]

What comforts do you need other than a comfy place to sleep, a functional living room, a decent amount of sunlight, and a working kitchen and bathroom? Guess I have low standards — location trumps amenities every time.

[briansd1]

I need a new modern dishwasher that doesn’t need rinsing first. I hate doing dishes.

I can’t stand mold and layers of paint that’ve been misapplied.

I don’t not want old dirty kitchen cabinets and old countertops, or a nasty old stove. Old dirty bathroom are a no-go. I don’t like old round toilets. I want new elongated toilets.

I want modern front-load washer and dryer, definitely not the top-load apartment kinds that can’t wash anything.

I want windows that seal well and block out the noise from outside.

I want good climate control because, being from San Diego, I have little tolerance for inclement weather.

In an apartment, I want good ventilation because I don’t want my neighbor’s cooking to stink up my own unit, as so often happens in old buildings in NYC.

As other longer time posters here know, I love Europe and dense big cities like NY. But the downside is that the housing there generally sucks. As an arrogant American, and Southern Californian, I want my cake and eat it too.

[spdrun]

Have to say that bathrooms and kitchens are cheap to do if you DIY. New cabinets, appliances, and terlit cost a few grand to ten grand if you’re really extravagant.

My apartment faces the street and a big courtyard, not an air shaft, so not much chance of a neighbor stinking it up.

Agreed that the typical tenement with 4 apts on a 25′ x 100′ lot per floor sucks to live in, since only one side of each apt gets good light.

[sdrealtor]

Brian
So did you at least get elongated toilets in the property you bought in South Philly. cant imagine you got anything else on that list.

[briansd1]

I got a brand new townhouse, not in South Philly, but in Northern Liberties.

I got everything on that list. The dishwasher is a cheap Hotpoint so I’m planning to replace it.

I have a SEER 14 A/C unit and it can easily drop the indoor temp to 70F even if
it’s 100F outside. My roomate is a resident at Temple and she’s living in style. She went to school in NYC and has many housing related stories to tell. Like she could only buy 4 rolls of toilet paper at a time because there was no storage.

New house is super efficient and I even have 3 parking spaces in the backyard accessible through the alley.

I looked at nearly 100 houses to find mine. The housing stock sucks so I can sympathize with people wanting to buy new houses in the burbs.

[Author]

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