Prop 30 money sold as funds for schools – watchdog reveals something else

[no_such_reality]

BG, you’re wrong. I said [quote]you need to down-grade your material lifestyle or make $200K plus to be in the good parts of Cali. And unless someone left you a house, $100K in Cali is lower middle income existence and it just gets worse as you go down from there[/quote]

As for stress free, I never said stress free, I said being given a house was a major economic advantage. As I said in a follow-up post [quote]As for the Escondido house, think about the economic advantage of not having rent, what’s that? $1400-$2200 a month they’re not forking over?[/quote]

One that took someone from being $100K or less earner and essentially “poor” to being on the same or better “housing” playing field as out of state. Or if nothing else, relieves them of paying “rent” in the $1400-$2200 range. Or puts them in a much more comfortable house for a much lower payment.

If someone gifted me that Buena Park house, I’d keep it and rent it. I know that area and it’s manageable for me as a rental. The Escondido house, is much less accessible being an hour plus without traffic to get to and I have no familiarity with the area.

The little rough gem in BP is sadly, probably a $2000+/month rental. I’ve lived in far worse when I was a renter.

And again, my real point with the BP house is that it’s essentially upper bounds for a $100K earner in Orange County without making yourself stupidly house poor. A living wage is 1/3rd of gross for housing. Well, they’re running close enough and that’s making $100K.

[UCGal]

[quote=no_such_reality]
Negative connotations aside of your post, you make our point, you need to down-grade your material lifestyle or make $200K plus to be in the good parts of Cali. And unless someone left you a house, $100K in Cali is lower middle income existence and it just gets worse as you go down from there. And I’m OC/LA where the housing and expense issue is even more pronounced than SD.
[/quote]

I need to take issue with this. 100k is NOT lower middle income. Even in pricey Southern CA.

From http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06073.html

Median per capita income in San Diego county: $30,955
Median household income in San Diego county:
$63,857

Median per capita income in Orange county: $34,416
Median household income in Orange county:
$75,762

I think many of us lose sight that we are better off than the median. That our incomes actually put is in the top quintile… even in expensive places like Southern CA.

For every engineer, there’s a gardener, a cashier, a starbucks barista etc.

Start being grateful for that $100k or $200k, and accept that you are NOT middle or lower middle class.

Sure $100k doesn’t go as far in southern CA – but a lot of people survive on a lot less. In fact 50% of households survive on less than $63-64k.

Be thankful for what you have.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=no_such_reality]…If someone gifted me that Buena Park house, I’d keep it and rent it. I know that area and it’s manageable for me as a rental. The Escondido house, is much less accessible being an hour plus without traffic to get to and I have no familiarity with the area.

The little rough gem in BP is sadly, probably a $2000+/month rental. I’ve lived in far worse when I was a renter.

And again, my real point with the BP house is that it’s essentially upper bounds for a $100K earner in Orange County without making yourself stupidly house poor. A living wage is 1/3rd of gross for housing. Well, they’re running close enough and that’s making $100K.[/quote]

Okay, I’m glad to hear this, NSR. A married $100K wage earner who is claiming three exemptions might take home ~$92K, no?

You have to agree that the BP house IS conveniently located. And the photos show it modernized and in pretty good shape (MUCH better than the Esco house) and it sits on a nice-sized lot. It’s lacking in curb appeal, which is fairly cheap to fix. However, its street and curbs look as though they need resurfacing (common in SD, as well).

Do houses in this area sell as principal residences or do they primarily sell to buy-to-let investors? And if they don’t usually sell as principal residences to the sub $100K crowd, why not? Are there any tasteful second stories in this area and is it worth it to put one on? If not, what price would a buyer have to pay for this property to make a second story pencil out (to preserve the backyard)?

I’m asking these questions to find out if typical “OC” buyers in this price range would tend to pass over a listing like this in favor of a big stucco box in the IE, causing them to wait in line on the 91 for 2 hrs daily. What other (SFR) choices to they have in the OC, NSR?

Lastly, can the kids take the bus from there to Knott’s Berry Farm on season passes? 🙂

NSR, WHO will likely buy this property and what will it sell for??

[bearishgurl]

Oops, I just saw in the listing that Knott’s Berry Farm is “walking distance.” And I forgot to note that it has a pool!

Time to move in the ‘tweens and start living life :=]

[all]

[quote=bearishgurl]
Okay, I’m glad to hear this, NSR. A married $100K wage earner who is claiming three exemptions might take home ~$92K, no?
[/quote]

On $100K your federal taxes will be ~$10K, FICA $6.4, CASDI $1K, MEDFICA $1.5K and state taxes $5K.

Assuming you put nothing in 401k your take home will be ~$75K

[bearishgurl]

[quote=UCGal] . . . Start being grateful for that $100k or $200k, and accept that you are NOT middle or lower middle class.

Sure $100k doesn’t go as far in southern CA – but a lot of people survive on a lot less. In fact 50% of households survive on less than $63-64k.

Be thankful for what you have.[/quote]

Agree but would add that younger Gen X and Gen Y should ALSO be grateful that:

their parents had dental insurance available to them for their families and the vast majority of them who needed orthodontia got it … yes, even those on aid;

nearly all of them who wanted to go to college were able to, due to prolific aid and available student loan programs;

they were properly diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD and other developmental delays as infants, toddlers and VERY young schoolchildren and were immediately placed into AVAILABLE appropriate programs at school to overcome their disabilities to successfully mainstream and graduate from HS (this is a BIGGIE);

their birth defects (even cosmetic ear pinning, cleft palate, etc) were fixed ASAP after birth, even if their parents couldn’t afford it;

as babies and toddlers, they sat in specially-made car seats inside vehicles and the driver and all passengers wore seat belts, which all vehicles were sold with;

physical and sexual abuse of children is now a crime;

Head Start and other pre-K programs were available and widely attended;

they didn’t get mumps, measles, chickenpox and rubella, due to being vaccinated as infants and booster shots as young children;

regardless of ability to pay, congenital orthopedic problems such as severely pronated feet/knock knees and scoliosis, etc, was repeatedly casted when their bones were soft (as infants) so they didn’t carry the problem (and ugly orthopedic shoes and braces) with them to school;

males didn’t have the draft to contend with;

low income health insurance (abt $37 mo per child) was/is avail for Gen Y thru college (known as “Healthy Families” in CA);

and, Gen Y was allowed to scan their lunch cards in the school cafeteria and receive a lunch without being embarrassed because they paid little or nothing for it (different-colored lunch tix and different lunch lines for free lunches caused teens from previous generations to throw together a lunch from home from scant groceries or avoid lunch altogether).

Each of these developments, by themselves, might not seem like such a big deal to a lot of Piggs. But all you have to do to have a full understanding of what I am talking about here is get 12 American 60-year-olds in a room (rich or poor … doesn’t matter), give each of them this list and ask each one point-blank how their lives would have been different if they had had access to ANY of these things.

Listen to their answers.

Then ask them again when they are 75 :=0

[no_such_reality]

Ugh, just lost a rather long post. Probably better for it. UCGAL, you’re technically correct. My point was figurative and not literal.

As craptcha points out, $75K to $113K is the squeeze zone now. you make enough that FICA rakes 7.65% of each additional dollar, the State rakes 9.3% of each dollar and the Feds want either their 15% if married or quarter if single. After taxes and housing a set of young DINKs making $75K will have about $600/week to cover everything else. Food, insurance, utilities, retirement, student loans, cars/bus, going out.

A family in the same range might with a couple kids have an extra $100-$200/month.

The house you buy doesn’t push your deduction high enough to beat the standardized deduction without major other expenses and if you have them you likely have serious problems.

That same $75K-$100K ‘family’ would likely feel pretty wealthy elsewhere, whereas here, they probably feel kind of strapped. That same feeling strapped family watches 30-40% of their annual raises get taken by taxes. And watch many things they buy with what’s left get hit for another 8% sales tax.

As for the BP house, I have to think of it some more or the real target buyer is now for that neighborhood. The location is a plus and curse at the same time. And to be honest, not a 100% sure what demographics shifts have occurred with the bubble. It used to be a nice integrated neighborhood of solid middle class families. I’m assuming it still is.

[UCGal]

Middle class people DO feel strapped. Always have.
I grew up upper middle class and I remember my dad worrying about money. (He was an engineer). But we lived in a nice neighborhood. We always had used cars, my mom pinched pennies at the grocery store, as the youngest I’m not sure I ever had new clothes – just “new to me” hand me downs. And we were upper middle class. My mom was able to stay at home till I was in middle school.

My husband’s family was more typical middle class. Family of 8 in a row house. Both parents worked from when the youngest was in kindergarten. But didn’t make a lot. (Fortunately, both jobs had pensions because there was no budget for retirement saving). All 6 kids went to college. But only got a little help from the parents. No orthodontia. Dental was emergency only. When money was tight they ate a whole lot of soup and pasta. Meat was for Sunday dinner. They qualified for reduced tuition (almost free) from their diocese. One car for the family – bus was standard for all the kids and the mom. Dad would pick mom up when she worked nights.

They were right at the median household income for their city.

The fact that people discuss $200k, $400k, etc as being middle class is truly denying that most people get by on a whole lot less.

You may feel deprived with a combined income of $100k – but you’re less deprived than 2/3’s of those around you.

My point is both figurative and literal. I thought I was middle class till I got my first job out of high school and saw how “poor” my coworkers were. They weren’t poor – just typical/middle class, vs upper middle. Changed my perspective from that point on.

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