[an]

These features have been on your smart phone for a long time now. It’s kinda sad that it takes a car startup from the Silicon Valley to bring these features to the car. Maybe this will force car makers to step it up on the technology front.

[an]

Don’t buy a Model S if you want privacy: http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2013/08/authentication-flaws-in-the-tesla-model-s-rest-api.html

[an]

[quote=earlyretirement]Most younger people know the car/model already but I’ve had several older people ask me “is that an Aston Martin”. LOL. I’ve gotten that about 4 times. And speaking of Aston Martin, I thought this video review was pretty cool from the UK of the Model S smoking an Aston.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUW0l7bZn1s%5B/quote%5D
The guy did say briefly that the interior quality is not even in the same league. But he only said it in 1 sentence and never mentioned about it again. As for performance, that Aston is a dog. Saying they beat the Aston is like saying you beat the slowest kid in your class. That’s not saying much. I love to see the pit the Model S against the latest S63 AMG. Or better yet, compare it against this beast: http://blog.caranddriver.com/brabus-builds-an-838-hp-s-class-the-new-one-its-ibusiness-time-2013-frankfurt-auto-show/?src=spr_GOOGLE_PLUS_PAGE&spr_id=1458_22864379 😀

I wonder if they’ll put more battery in the Model X to greatly extend the range, since they have a lot more space to work with. Imagine a 6000lb Model X tank that can go 500 miles. I think I’ll be totally interested in that.

I’m loving all these new tech that’s hitting the car market. Love this one from Toyota as well: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/09/11/toyota-yaris-hybrid-r-frankfurt-2013/#continued. Super-capacitor vs traditional batter. That’s cool. The new MBW i8 sounds cool too. For the car that size, I’m really impressed that they can get it to weigh ~3200 lb.

[an]

This is why I HATE those houses that have a predefined nook for a TV. They almost always make them too small. There are new houses in Del Sur that have one of those and you can’t even fit a 60″ in there.

[an]

Great decision OCR. I’ve got mine switched out 4+ years ago and it saved me a lot of money. I got the same pump as you. I have mine on 2nd speed and have it run for 8-10 hours. I recently just put it down to 1st speed but have it run for 12 hours instead. I’ll see if that save me $ or not and whether it’s sufficient to keep the pool clean.

[an]

livinincali, IIRC, I asked if we ever saw deflation AND rising rates. You said we did during the great depression. But now you said we saw rate drops. Which is what I always assumed.

I’m pretty sure none of us experienced hyper inflation like in Germany or great depression in US. So none of us can say which one is better. I vote for neither to happen. If either one happens, then we’re screwed either way, so who really cares.

Being a super power and being a reserve currency I think goes hand in hand. You can’t be one without being the other. With us being both right now, it changes thing quite a bit compare to when we weren’t. But we can agree to disagree on this whole topic and since none of us have a crystal ball, we’ll just leave it at that.

[an]

[quote=flu]You win AN. I broke the code of silence first….Lunch on me next time…. But sdrealtor’s got you beat 🙂

Now back to NSA-ish lurker mode….[/quote]I didn’t know it was a game :-). I just felt like it’s the right time to come out of the shadow. Pigg has gotten quiet, so I decided to liven it up (as much as I can). I just have to make sure to only touch RE related topics :-D.

[an]

[quote=livinincali]Of course we have. It was during the great depression. That was the last time we had a really big debt bubble across all sectors of the economy. Government debt was big during world war II but public debt was next to nothing because everything was being rationed and it was people’s patriot duty to conserve rather than consume.

Certainly congress could cause hyper inflation. They could credit everybody’s bank account with $1 billion dollars but that would detonate ever retirement portfolio in the world in a matter of minutes. One person’s debt is another person’s credit. You can’t get rid of the debt without getting rid of the corresponding credit. Although that’s pretty much the game the economists play in their solutions to the problem. Solve one side of the equation and bury the loss on the other side of the equation with complexity.[/quote]What was the interest during the great depression? Were we the currency reserved? We we the super power then as we are today? Also, if you’re counting a great depression as a possibility, then shouldn’t you also count in a hyper inflation as a possibility where you have to cart around a wheel barrel to buy a loaf of bread?

[an]

[quote=no_such_reality]AN, I think you did a lot of the work yourself correct?

Most things I saw were needing, roof, HVAC, kitchen and all bathrooms were a questionable if delayable. flooring was usually needed. Paint is an assumed, landscape was typically required. Many homes also really needed a few walls knocked out to open it up.

I was looking at one stories in the 2000-2500sf range, so those dead shake roofs were budget bombs.

OC’s cycle was slightly behind SD’s and didn’t go as deep, at least in the neighborhoods I was looking.[/quote]Nope, the only thing I did myself was moulding and painting. Everything else, I hired someone to do it. I was just the “GC”.

I replaced my HVAC, kitchen, and all bathrooms. The only thing I didn’t replaced was roof, since it already have tile roof. You can replace the roof of a 1300 sq-ft single story house w/ mexican tile roof for about $15k, so, for my house, it’s probably around $15-20k. That still put it well under $100k mark. Now, for a 2000-2500 sq-ft single story you’re talking about, that probably will cost you around $25-30k. That would still put it under $100k, but would definitely take a huge hit on your budget for sure. Knocking walls is easy and cheap, assuming it’s not load bearing.

[an]

[quote=no_such_reality]Au contaire. While I was still a young child at the time, I distinctly remember my parents discussions at the dinner table about money, Dad’s union threatening to strike over the raises and COLA, mom an office worker talking about prices going up.

Working class middle income were very aware of the rising prices in the 70s. They were getting raises, but mostly driven around a cost of living increase which companies at the time were starting to phase out or underestimate and then pinch the real raise because they had 8% COLA increases.

SD, appreciated the post about inventory. The SoCal housing inventory and DOM for home for sale has been distorted to the low end for so long, that a return to historical 90-120 days to sell and 9+ months would be extremely psychologically depressing to most.

I bought during the window of opportunity. It wasn’t easy. In another blog, I referred to as like a comment the guys from Motley Crue made about getting a music contract in the 80s involving swimming through a pool of burning sewage to get to crawl through broken glass.

In the 2008-2010 window, inventory was sh*t, house quality for sale was sh*t, many deals needed vision and $50-$100+k rehab above the 30%+ down and financing to close on a place to remove it from borderline slumlord status. If it wasn’t slumlord ready, they’re were 30 people putting offers in. Yes, 30, as in that is a literal number our agent shared with us on a house on which she was the selling agent. It was common to go to a showing an wait in line to get in a house, and then see the entire kitchen counter covered in realtor cards.[/quote]
I was purely going by The-Shoveler’s statement since I don’t have 1st hand experience. What your parents’ experienced sound more logical. But that didn’t change the main fact that I really care about, which is rent was going up and people continue to pay the rent.

As for 2008-2010 window, I too bought a house during that period. I don’t think inventory was shit. Actually, I thought inventory was fantastic compare to now. I’m of the mind sent of buying a old original house, tear apart all the old up and upgrade 100%. So, back then, I had A LOT of options to choose from. Today, majority of the stuff are lipstick on a pig houses and a price to match. BTW, $100k+ in upgrade would mean not only a HUGE house but you also picked top of the line stuff. I remodeled 100% of my house w/ high end stuff (not top of the line) and it came in well under $100k. My house is a 4/3 2000 sq-ft house as well. But you’re right, even those old run down houses also had a lot of offers.

[an]

[quote=livinincali]I think rates can go up without high inflation. See Greece, Spain, Portugal, etc. That’s where the problem lies in betting that buying a higher price home at a low interest rate guarantees good positive returns on rent in the future. It’s certainly possible that you’d see deflation in a rising rate environment as we are witnessing in Europe. Unemployment can rise, vacancy can rise, and rates can rise at the same time.

The big bet on residential real estate is that higher than average inflation is coming and that a fixed 30 year rate going to allow you to win huge when that inflation shows up. Of course you’re screwed if deflation shows up along with higher rates. At the same time I can’t find any recent occurrences of a 1970’s type environment. Japan has been mired in deflation and low rates forever. Europe is experiencing higher rates and deflationary forces as well. Yet here we are in America thinking the worst can happen is 1970’s stagflation with asset owners hitting the jack pot. It’s possible but I don’t know that’s it’s likely.

Even if it does pan out this government has shown no respect for contract law so what makes you think they won’t stick it to the little man holding 30 year fixed mortgages on rental properties. Hi little man, we’re going to be adding a new fee to mortgages on second properties that were obtained in the years 2008-1015.[/quote]I agree that it could happen. But then again, every country is different and we’ve never experienced a Greece/Spain/Portugal/etc situation before. That doesn’t mean that it can’t happen. It’s just that it hasn’t. We can print more USD while Greece/Spain/Portugal/etc can’t print more Euro to increase inflation.

So, I’m still betting that our country is different than others and we’re more likely to repeat our past than repeat other country’s past/current. Only time will tell and my crystal ball is broken, so I’ll just have to wait.

[an]

[quote=The-Shoveler]Funny you did not notice it as much cause everything was going up (even your pay),

But yea it was like hitting the lottery to be a home owner in those days.
And yea I rented until the 80’s I was having too much fun to pay attention though,[/quote]If that’s the case, I wonder if it’s also not noticeable if it happens again today. $3300/month rent for a 2/2 in Mira Mesa!!! wow, You’re getting me salivating if renter didn’t really care seeing their rent went up 125% over 10 years.

[an]

Here’s the historical data for rent: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/census/historic/grossrents.html

Up 52% between 60-70 and up 125% between 70-80. So, if history repeats itself, rent of a 2/2 apartment in MM will go from $1500/month today to $3375. Wow, that’s pretty crazy. It must have sucked pretty bad for those who don’t have assets in the 70s and renting.

[an]

[quote=bearishgurl][quote=AN]…Income went up 145% between 1970-1980. Income went up only 85% between 1980-1990. Income went up only 55% between 1990-2000. Income went up 19% between 2000-2010…[/quote]

[quote=AN]…Housing went up 53% between 1960-1970 and 266% between 1970-1980 in CA…[/quote]

I have a few questions for which I will need to do some “data mining” to answer. Maybe you can beat me to the punch, AN. For starters:

1. Did income go up 53% between 1960-1970 and 266% between 1970-1980 in CA? If not, how much did income actually go up in CA during these decades?

2. Did (nationwide) housing prices actually go up 19% between 2000 and 2010?

My hunch is that (nationwide) housing prices were less, on average, in 2010 than 2000 in most major markets.[/quote]
1. Here’s the data for US vs CA: http://www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/FS_DATA/LatestEconData/FS_Income.htm

2) Nationally, there’s no housing data from Census for that time frame. But it went up 43% between 60-70. It went up 178% between 70-80.

So, while income went up 145% between 70-80, housing went up 178% during that same time frame. All the while seeing mortgage rate went up from low 7% in 1970 to ~18% in 1981. So, rates went up DRASTICALLY, while income and home price also increased as well. So, I stand by my point that I don’t see and correlation between rate and price. Can this time be different? Sure it can. But you won’t finding me betting on it.

[an]

[quote=The-Shoveler]A lot of these were not loanable in the “as is” condition.[/quote]You’re right, there were properties that were not loanable but the vast majority were loanable. For those that were not loanable, those went at a MUCH steeper discount to all cash buyers. They then fix it up and refi then rent or flip.

[Author]

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