[barnaby33]

Another good one. All you have to do is search Onion with the words Real Estate.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33598

Josh

[barnaby33]

So many choices. San Diego has limitless choices. If you love the beach, take your pic. There is the laid back Encinitas/Leucadia area. There is the up and coming Oceanside area and the uber-expensive and personal favorite Del Mar. The commute sucks though.

If you love the city. La Jolla is a world unto itself though its citizenry is unfailingly stuck on itself and its always kinda cold. Clairemont has lots of options, as long as you want a 1950’s stucco box with an extra 1000 square feet of house, unpermitted. It is however centrally located.

Poway, ah yes the country in the city. I went to high school there, though never lived in it. It used to be that Poway was somewhat isolated from the rest of the city you had to get off the freeway and kind of hunt for it. Alas no longer. It has grown to be a rather large suburb. Good schools decent houses, but not many jobs. I seem to remember it being a horse friendly town, though I imagine that is changing.

Sorrento Mesa/UTC, sterile.

Countryside anyone? I suppose Valley Center, my childhood home still qualifies. Not a good choice though if you have gambling issues. I hear they have quite a few casinos now. Plus its full of Mormons. It is beautiful and the sunsets cannot be beat. Again the commute will be a bear, unless you want to make very little money then Escondido is an option.

Julian is beautiful, somewhat isolated and very rural. I have only actually gone there a few times, mostly after paragliding at Mt Laguna, but it has a quaint charm. That is unless you own a large truck or SUV and have to drive into the city to work.

I think almost any part of San Diego can be a good place to raise kids. There are execptions, but no place is perfect.

Those are just a few, as I said this place has so many options.

Josh

[barnaby33]

Assuming that a place is safe for the kids isn’t always a good thing. Coronado is very cloistered and yet there are so many ways to go astray there. Plus its not stimulating for a kid. I lived there twice, I know. Parents always move places saying its good for the kids, but really its for the parents.

Josh

[barnaby33]

No really, tell us how you feel. Ah the flight fantasy, this time its Brazil! Speaking as someone who logged over 1500 miles on crappy Brazillian highways this december; I can honestly say, lots of Brazil has very poor weather. I am also quite certain that the locals in those beach towns you are talking about are quite incensed about all those stupid foreigners who keep coming in and buying up all the good ocean view property. Its a matter of your starting point.

The only argument that seem to hold up over time about why housing is expensive in SD have to do with the climate. If you think Florida has better weather, more power to ya, but I don’t think most people would agree. Florida has even less months of pleasant weather, its usually far to humid and hot. Again thats just an opinion.

Josh

[barnaby33]

You’ve been ridden at a cocktail party? Man thats a picture that is just too gross. The arguments and looks you get now will be sullen stairs in 2 years. Enjoy that uncomfortable feeling your are getting now. When things go bad the feeling won’t get better.

Josh

[barnaby33]

In my quick scan of the site, I liked how it equated the rent paid with a purchase price.

Josh

[barnaby33]

Somehow I doubt illegal immigration puts wage pressure on engineers. Its just a guess but I would bet carne asada chefs and construction workers feel the brunt of that one.

Josh

[barnaby33]

What part of El Cajon is Olive hills?

Josh

[barnaby33]

Um I’m 31, have an almost 800 credit score and take my finances seriously. My dad, a former real estate broker suggested two years ago that I might take out an IO loan to buy a place. I said I respect you dad, but no thanks.

Its fun to place blame, especially on the obvious targets. I have seen alot of it here, but its counter productive. Ultimately someone who takes on the largest financial obligation of their life needs to take responsibility for that obligation. The simplest financial advice in the world is follow the money. If you do that you pretty much can’t go wrong. If you can’t you probably have no business buying something that large.

I will offer one caveat to my responsibility posting earlier. Information like we now have available wasn’t always so. People also previously weren’t taught to make use of it as effectively. However that applies to older people far more than younger ones. Those under 40 year olds may not have been taught good financial planning by their parents, but they sure should know how to access information more quickly.

Remember ignorance is not a viable defense in bakruptcy court.

Josh

[barnaby33]

Its the consumer stupid. Quit blaming realtors and mortgage brokers, they get paid to sell. They are deserving of a little venom, but not nearly so much as the people who use their servies. Quick lets shoot another messenger. Ultimately aren’t you responsible for understanding your financial situation?

Josh

[barnaby33]

I can’t effectively answer that so I will shuck and jive and ask another question.

Did San Diego become less desireable? That I can answer. It did so because housing got much more expensive, I would posit that most of the other things like crowded schools and roads are a Chimera(3rd def on dictionary.com).

It got almost that much more expensive in any of the other areas of the country that are desireable as well. So while on an absolute scale it seems like it got a lot less desireable, really it didn’t. I was in boston in Oct 04. I looked at realty briefly through a couple realtors windows. Houses in decent areas weren’t any cheaper there than here. In some cases even more so.

Whats the difference between being squeezed pretty darn hard in Boston, or really hard in San Diego? Thats a question each person must answer to themselves.

Josh

[barnaby33]

Thats why the jobs aren’t high paying! -> However, relocation is not an option for me 🙂

Nobody wants to leave here, even if it means less money and more expensive housing. Employers pay what they have to, to get employees (within certain limits.) So this whole debate about jobs and incomes is really a proxy for desireability. How much would Boston’s company have to pay him to move to Minot? You can bet its alot more than 150k.

Josh

[barnaby33]

I totally agree, I speak spanish and aspire to speak several other languages. French is next. Africa as a whole is a mess, but there are parts that are messier than others. SA has a chance, so does Kenya, and even Egypt. Though those are the cheap labor centers I was thinking of. PI is the Phillipine Islands.

Josh

[barnaby33]

China is not the last cheap labor market. From that comment you would think you never heard of Vietnam, PI, or the “Dark Continent.”

Josh

[barnaby33]

I made my comment about the commies to highlight very briefly the differences in our two economic systems. In some ways the Chinese are capitalits, but even those come with huge asterisks.

Josh

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