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February 25, 2012 at 9:57 PM in reply to: What would you do for the privilege of being American ? #738697
an
ParticipantThey’re too busy giving tickets to people talking on the phone while driving :).
ParticipantIt ended just as I expected. The Heat looks like a totally different team than the one that played the Mavs last year. The seem to gel much better now.
Participant[quote=enron_by_the_sea]Hmm … I remember that during the bubble days, this guy’s face was plastered all over Mira Mesa![/quote]
It still is. Maybe not as many, but it’s still there.ParticipantYour budget seems fine to me. It’s just, you’re looking at a more higher end area than you’re willing to pay. If you’re talking $490k w/out HOA/MR, and you want 4S Ranch, then to have similar monthly payment, you have to get them for high $300k. That’s a good ~30% drop from where it is today. I think most people are much less conservative than you, which is why you probably can’t compete for 4S at that size and price. Are you fixed on 4S?
Participant[quote=SK in CV]The guys that are doing the installs for the big ERP systems (not GP, which is now MS Dynamics), like Oracle and SAP systems pretty typically bill in the $175-$225 range. The EPM guys that do Hyperion and SAP’s EPM solution tend to be a bit higher. Solution architects tend to be a bit more. The tech guys related to those installations are $250 at the very low end, up to $400. The $400/hr for the non-tech work is typically for the very esoteric stuff. (like SSM and PCM work) I may have exaggerated a bit, in that for one, there aren’t too many of those guys out there, and second, there isn’t that much work for them. (Literally, there may not be more than a dozen guys in the US that know SAP’s SSM module inside and out.) But that is the standard rate for some firms.
These guys get paid more than $50/hr. Some of them a lot more. I’ve got a contractor I pay $165/hr because he has skills that very few had, and he won’t become an employee. His 1099 was over $300K. he’s being cut loose because of that, but the employees that have acquired his skills have W-2’s >$200K, and they bill at $250+. On the lower side of margin %, but still a high margin $ for the industry.[/quote]
OK, that makes a lot more sense. When you know something that only a tiny portion of the population know, then you can charge that rate. Especially when your job is not steady, since not everyone need that service all the time. I thought you were talking about your average IT guys. At the $400 level you’re talking about, it’s almost like being hired on as a CTO.Participant[quote=SK in CV]Yes, $400/hr. The label “IT Consultant” spans a pretty wide range of services from programming to installation and customization plus tech consulting. Rates at $400+ per hour at some of the global SI’s are not uncommon. We’re not talking about come and set up my router. (I think that’s usually about $100/hr.) Consulting related to installation of big ERP systems commonly run in the many many millions of dollars.
And it’s more like 2.5-3.5 x hourly pay rate, which is lower than most professional service industries.[/quote]
I wasn’t referring to the “come and set up my router” type. I’m talking about come and setup big ERP system. I’ve setup a small scale ERP system before (Microsoft Great Plains). It’s not rocket science. It’s much easier than writing those ERP software. I did that while I was fresh out of college too.At $400/hr, that equivalent to hiring someone full time and pay them ~$800k/yr. I’m not in IT consulting, so I don’t know, but I’m skeptical about the $400/hr rate since I was in the S/W consulting business. Even at the best of time, a S/W architect can’t fetch anywhere near $400/hr.
I didn’t know IT consulting is more lucrative than S/W consulting. Typical rate today for S/W consulting range for 1.5-2x hourly rate (Wipro type to more high end Teleca type). I’d impress to know that there are people who would pay that much more for IT consultant. Even at the high end of your range, 3.5x hourly pay, your typical Sr. IT is probably making around $40-50/hr., so 3.5x that would be $140-175/hr. That’s a far cry from $400/hr.
Participant[quote=SK in CV]We’re talking apples and oranges. Most IT consultants work for/are employed by IT consulting firms, they’re not independent contractors. Hourly rates for these firms commonly range from $100 to $400+ per hour.[/quote]
$400+/hr for IT? Really? For software engineer contracting house, they’re charging between $100-150/hr depending on experience. Those contracting house provide healthcare, 401k, etc., so they typically charge twice the hr. rate they pay their contractors.Participant[quote=sdrealtor]If there are no comparable jobs in the private sector then why do we have to pay them so much? Why would they leave? Where would they go? There are no comparable jobs in the private sector. You just murdered your case. The defense rests.[/quote]
I was thinking the same thing. Why pay someone more when you know they can’t and won’t leave? Lets try to pay them less and less till we find where the breaking point is. Then that would be the market price. With the money saved, we can either lower taxes and improve service by hiring more.ParticipantI won’t know til 12/31/12, but if it’s anything like last year, I expect to see 3.5-4% raise, 15-20% cash bonus, and 15-20% equity bonus vested over 3 years.
Participant[quote=flu]The thing is at least for now. It seems like the knicks have a pretty good running game as a team. Yes I guess Lin is good, but the team itself just looked good o nthe court. I hate the Heat.[/quote]
I don’t care for the Heat either. Although hate is a strong word and I wouldn’t use it. I’m partial to Nash and the Suns. At least the Suns under D’Antoni’s reign. Which is why I have high hope for the Knicks. Seems like they would have all the key components to be a Suns 2.0.Participant[quote=sdrealtor]I’m not saying asians dont participate in others things just less so.
Oddly I see asians under represented on the Cal and UCLA hoops/football teams.[/quote]
I said Asians play sport. I didn’t say we’re the best at it :-D.Participant[quote=sdrealtor]I could be wrong and please feel free to correct me but Asians seem to be all in on grades and test scores but less so on community service and extra curricular activities.[/quote]
I think you’re wrong. Those who want to get into to 30 university (and to a great extent top 10 university) knows that test scores is not enough. Those who try to get into those university will go above and beyond grades. Those are your athlete, class presidents, debate team, choir, community service, etc. All the while getting straight A’s and high SAT. If all you do is sit home and get good grades, I don’t think you can even get into UCR, much less those more prestigious schools. The Asians know this and they’ve been doing all of this for many many years. Example would be affirmative action in the 90s at the UC system. When it was enacted, Asians compose of about 20% of the student body. Now, Asian is 50% of UCSD, 43% at Berkeley, and 40% at UCLA. These top UC’s look for much more than grades, just like Ivy leaguers.Participant[quote=flu]You folks thinks the knicks will make it to the playoffs?
I really haven’t been following b-ball for some time ever since the entire strike ordeal.[/quote]
I haven’t followed bball this season as well because of the strike, but unless the Linsanity continue, they will have a big hill to climb to get there. We still don’t know how Melo will jive with Lin. Before Lin, obvious, Melo and Amare wasn’t enough. They have to content with the Heats for the Easter Conference title, and unless Lin can go the distance, the Heat have much more firing power and an extra year to get used to each other.It will be interesting to see if the Knicks will become a Suns 2.0. Melo is a better Marion, Amare is more mature, Lin hopefully can pull off a Nash replacement. If the rest of the support cast do well, it will definitely be a fun team to watch, just like the Suns. I like the way D’Antoni run his team.
Participant[quote=sreeb]So can I. But I can also seeing them not doing so well or just having a significant cut back on their way to a bright future.[/quote]
Sure, but when and by how much? If you can’t answer that, then why even make it a variable in determining whether it’s good to buy or rent?
[quote=sreeb]There is plenty of empty buildings today. There are lots more buildings with nearly empty parking lots. I’m not witnessing a stampede of companies moving in.[/quote]
We did experiencing a “great recession”. What did you expect? I don’t know where the start ups are in SD, but I know the city planners (if they get their way), will make Sorrento Valley/UTC area. Especially as SD get more dense, they have to have more defined areas. They’re expecting 1M+ people to move to SD over the next 30 years. They don’t want to sprawl like LA. So, in the short term, QCOM will carry SV and the many banks/financial and biotech will carry UTC. Even if QCOM goes away and SD will no longer have tech jobs, do you think all jobs will be gone from SD?
[quote=sreeb]I don’t see new businesses popping up like mushrooms these days. I remember when they did. Hopefully they will again.[/quote]
Again, we just experience a pretty pad recession. I hope you were not expecting SD to be immune.[quote=sreeb]While I expect good engineers will always be in demand, it may be optimistic to expect that demand to always show up at your doorstep.[/quote]Like I said above, engineering are not the only job in SD. So, even taking worse case scenario about QCOM and it going away, unless you expect SD job market to become like Detroit where that 10k+ people will stay unemployed for a very long time, I don’t see how QCOM’s success or failure will affect RE price over the long term.
[quote=sreeb]If you think it is a good idea to get a job at Qualcomm, buy their stock, hold onto all your stock options, and buy real estate whose value is mostly dependent on demand from other Qualcomm employees, go for it. It will probably work out fine. But if it goes bad, it will be very very bad.[/quote]
RE value mostly dependent on demand from QCOM employees? Do you have proof of that? Again, do you expect SD’s job market to be desolate if QCOM goes away? Are you saying the city’s planners who expect 1M+ people to move here over the next 30 years and have them all be unemployed?I never suggest you hold all of your eggs in one basket (RE is not one of those egg). If you have all of your retirement and investments in QCOM, all I can say is you might want to diversify. That’s a whole different topic all together though. However, if you make buy/rent argument based on one company’s success is pretty ludicrous to me too. Before QCOM, there were other employers, and after QCOM, there will be other employers. Unless you’re betting against SD’s job market as a whole, I don’t see how one company’s future will affect housing price of a whole region. Also keep in mind that it’s currently cheaper (monthly payment) to buy than to rent in Mira Mesa. I can’t speak for Carmel Valley, but they have other factors that give them the premium (they always did, even before QCOM). So, unless you can say QCOM’s demise will be sharp and imminent, I don’t see how you can use QCOM’s future as a variable to determine buy vs rent.
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