SD Home Prices/Personal Finance Rant

[scaredyclassic]

man the 80s. i was pathetic back then.

[an]

If only we can get early inflation numbers again.

[ltsddd]

[quote=spdrun]Wasn’t everyone terrified of the Japanese buying up half of California in the 80s?[/quote]

A lot of folks were terrified of the housing market just a few years ago.

[joeypants05]

It doesn’t sound like you’re too fond of any of the options available. Have you thought of looking at other complete alternatives such as moving out of the area/state?

I’m also in my late 20s, have more capital than the average person at our age and have a job that pays well. My wife and I started looking at moving out of Escondido six or so months ago and found that there were simply no good options. The math we were looking at was basically along the lines of selling our current house and adding 150k-300k onto the mortgage to move to an area with better schools/ closer to my work. The thought of doing this was just something we couldn’t stomach so we started looking at other options and ultimately decided to move out of state. I’m fairly lucky in that I can telework most of the time and travel when necessary. My wife and I both like living in Southern California but the sacrifices you have to make to live here outweigh the benefits in our minds. I know this option isn’t one that everyone can take as it does require some upfront capital and some people have family/friends here that they’d never leave or a job/skills that don’t transfer easily but if you aren’t highly tied here I’d recommend looking at other states/areas where you could see yourself. Your 250k will buy a mansion in most of the country or a nice house along with a couple of rentals.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=AN]If only we can get early inflation numbers again.[/quote]

More deficit spending, like a big infrastructure bill would do the trick

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=joeypants05]It doesn’t sound like you’re too fond of any of the options available. Have you thought of looking at other complete alternatives such as moving out of the area/state?

I’m also in my late 20s, have more capital than the average person at our age and have a job that pays well. My wife and I started looking at moving out of Escondido six or so months ago and found that there were simply no good options. The math we were looking at was basically along the lines of selling our current house and adding 150k-300k onto the mortgage to move to an area with better schools/ closer to my work. The thought of doing this was just something we couldn’t stomach so we started looking at other options and ultimately decided to move out of state. I’m fairly lucky in that I can telework most of the time and travel when necessary. My wife and I both like living in Southern California but the sacrifices you have to make to live here outweigh the benefits in our minds. I know this option isn’t one that everyone can take as it does require some upfront capital and some people have family/friends here that they’d never leave or a job/skills that don’t transfer easily but if you aren’t highly tied here I’d recommend looking at other states/areas where you could see yourself. Your 250k will buy a mansion in most of the country or a nice house along with a couple of rentals.[/quote]

I’m curious where you’re moving. I hope you’re choosing a major city that has a future for you and your kids.

This is an interesting discussion of housing and the shift to cities. I listened to in the car.
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2016/06/02/american-real-estate-market

[moneymaker]

Right now a lot of things don’t make sense to me. High credit card rates (sure there are probably lots of people defaulting), housing bubble while at the same time homelessness is at high point (sure there were probably more homeless during the depression). As the OP stated people spending like it’s no big deal (vacations,shopping,movies,eating out). I guess the thing is if people got it they spend it and if they don’t then they borrow it, and that is the way it is. There should definitely be more discussion on this board about the real estate bubble/financial bubble we are in. The jobs numbers are looking good these days but I sense that they misrepresent that a lot of those jobs are lower paying than they used to be. Somebody making minimum wage is only making $80 a day, plumbers and other trade people are charging $100+ an hour. I make good money as does my wife and we have to fix things ourselves when we can, because otherwise it would be too expensive.
What probably stresses most people looking for a house is that the average house is going up more than the average person can save.

[joeypants05]

[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=joeypants05]It doesn’t sound like you’re too fond of any of the options available. Have you thought of looking at other complete alternatives such as moving out of the area/state?

I’m also in my late 20s, have more capital than the average person at our age and have a job that pays well. My wife and I started looking at moving out of Escondido six or so months ago and found that there were simply no good options. The math we were looking at was basically along the lines of selling our current house and adding 150k-300k onto the mortgage to move to an area with better schools/ closer to my work. The thought of doing this was just something we couldn’t stomach so we started looking at other options and ultimately decided to move out of state. I’m fairly lucky in that I can telework most of the time and travel when necessary. My wife and I both like living in Southern California but the sacrifices you have to make to live here outweigh the benefits in our minds. I know this option isn’t one that everyone can take as it does require some upfront capital and some people have family/friends here that they’d never leave or a job/skills that don’t transfer easily but if you aren’t highly tied here I’d recommend looking at other states/areas where you could see yourself. Your 250k will buy a mansion in most of the country or a nice house along with a couple of rentals.[/quote]

I’m curious where you’re moving. I hope you’re choosing a major city that has a future for you and your kids.

This is an interesting discussion of housing and the shift to cities. I listened to in the car.
http://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2016/06/02/american-real-estate-market%5B/quote%5D

We are moving to the Dallas area. Housing there is much more reasonable in my opinion (we have a house under contract for under 300k that is 3500sq ft). It’s in a very nice area by a lake, has good schools and there seem to be quite a few jobs in my field (telecom engineer). The cost of living decrease will allow my wife to go back to school and we’d eventually like to have kids without worrying about her going back to work immediately. Like I said in my original reply we both like the San Diego area but it’s just not spectacular enough that we are willing to struggle and worry about our economic future (i.e. retirement, putting kids through college, etc).

[matt]

That strikes me as a very responsible thing to do. I applaud your decisiveness in the context of securing a future for your family.

[flyer]

We were never in the position of having to choose between where we preferred to live (San Diego) and what was best for our families, but the world has changed, and it’s clear that many (you are not alone–just look at all of the kids who were raised here who can’t find the jobs they want and can’t afford homes here after college) are having to make that choice in today’s economic climate, and we wish you the best in your move to TX.

[millennial]

Kristopher,

I understand your pain as my wife and I just recently bit the bullet and finally decided to purchase a home. Growing up in the Midwest, it really is easy to get sticker shock moving out here as a $1Mn dollar home can’t really get you much. This being said, after constantly renting and saving we finally decided to settle down and buy something a few years ago. Although still not entirely happy having to deal with the maintenance, our family is no longer in limbo anymore and we have a place where we can settle for the next 10 or so years and call a home. After living in many places including LA, Scottsdale, Maui, and Santa Barbara; this is the place we ultimately wanted to end up and raise a family. Everyday when I drive to work and get home I feel blessed to be able to enjoy living where I want to, raising a family in a wonderful city, and being able to surf and golf year round. Everyone is different, but for me those things are priceless. Sure I can move back to Michigan and buy a mansion but I can’t take the weather, community, beach, and museums with me.

[FlyerInHi]

Dallas is an excellent choice. It’s a growing area with a good future. Best wishes.
Under $300k for 3500sf in a nice area with good schools is amazing.

I was concerned you were moving to a small town, not part of a large metro. That would not be good

[flyer]

Also, meant to add, Kristopher, that you will have greater peace of mind knowing you are living in a place where you know finances will, most likely, never be a problem, and you will be well positioned in retirement.

As others have mentioned, we’ve also lived all over the world, but have always kept our home base in RSF, because we love it here, and have found no other place we’d rather be for the long-term.

That said, if we didn’t know we could live/retire here with little financial concern, we certainly would never have taken on excessive debt beyond our means to do so.

I believe you have made a very wise choice, and, who knows, you may find yourself so well-positioned in years to come, that you’ll be able to return to San Diego if you choose to, and pick up a foreclosure from someone who didn’t plan as well as you have.

[millennial]

Another option would be to buy a rental in another state to supplement the rents you pay for here. Places like Dallas, Houston, Denver, and even Detroit have had significant growth within the past few years. The appreciation could benefit you, and you can still enjoy the sunshine in CA.

[FlyerInHi]

yamashi, I wanted to buy in Houston or Dallas, but it’s too far and I like to be hands on. So I bought in Vegas instead. Vegas turned out to be way better, appreciation wise. But Houston/Dallas have stronger more diverse economies.

Thinking back, Riverside/San Bernardino were amazing opportunities. Those areas are booming again thanks to recovering home values. I feel like i missed out because of my own stubbornness and dislike of the Inland Empire.

[Author]

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