[calidesigner]

Big Government, small government; it’s hard to define. What I (and I suspect many Democrats and Republicans) really want is an effective government that provides services that we really need. Take healthcare for example, having HMO corporations compete for consumers’ business is a good idea and should be kept intact; however, as healthcare technology improves, so does the cost of providing it. Just as we subsidize public education (granted to varying degrees of success), why not let people choose the health plan they like, make HMO’s compete for our business, but get our respective State governments to subsidize a PORTION of it; and also mandate that HMO’s can’t drop our coverage every time we sneeze. This preserves competitiveness, but allows us as Americans to essentially “help” each other out and bring in less fortunate people, college students, younger people who don’t make as much money and such, into the healthcare fold; we’re paying taxes already, don’t we deserve a service such as this?

[calidesigner]

Big Government, small government; it’s hard to define. What I (and I suspect many Democrats and Republicans) really want is an effective government that provides services that we really need. Take healthcare for example, having HMO corporations compete for consumers’ business is a good idea and should be kept intact; however, as healthcare technology improves, so does the cost of providing it. Just as we subsidize public education (granted to varying degrees of success), why not let people choose the health plan they like, make HMO’s compete for our business, but get our respective State governments to subsidize a PORTION of it; and also mandate that HMO’s can’t drop our coverage every time we sneeze. This preserves competitiveness, but allows us as Americans to essentially “help” each other out and bring in less fortunate people, college students, younger people who don’t make as much money and such, into the healthcare fold; we’re paying taxes already, don’t we deserve a service such as this?

[calidesigner]

Big Government, small government; it’s hard to define. What I (and I suspect many Democrats and Republicans) really want is an effective government that provides services that we really need. Take healthcare for example, having HMO corporations compete for consumers’ business is a good idea and should be kept intact; however, as healthcare technology improves, so does the cost of providing it. Just as we subsidize public education (granted to varying degrees of success), why not let people choose the health plan they like, make HMO’s compete for our business, but get our respective State governments to subsidize a PORTION of it; and also mandate that HMO’s can’t drop our coverage every time we sneeze. This preserves competitiveness, but allows us as Americans to essentially “help” each other out and bring in less fortunate people, college students, younger people who don’t make as much money and such, into the healthcare fold; we’re paying taxes already, don’t we deserve a service such as this?

[calidesigner]

Big Government, small government; it’s hard to define. What I (and I suspect many Democrats and Republicans) really want is an effective government that provides services that we really need. Take healthcare for example, having HMO corporations compete for consumers’ business is a good idea and should be kept intact; however, as healthcare technology improves, so does the cost of providing it. Just as we subsidize public education (granted to varying degrees of success), why not let people choose the health plan they like, make HMO’s compete for our business, but get our respective State governments to subsidize a PORTION of it; and also mandate that HMO’s can’t drop our coverage every time we sneeze. This preserves competitiveness, but allows us as Americans to essentially “help” each other out and bring in less fortunate people, college students, younger people who don’t make as much money and such, into the healthcare fold; we’re paying taxes already, don’t we deserve a service such as this?

[calidesigner]

Big Government, small government; it’s hard to define. What I (and I suspect many Democrats and Republicans) really want is an effective government that provides services that we really need. Take healthcare for example, having HMO corporations compete for consumers’ business is a good idea and should be kept intact; however, as healthcare technology improves, so does the cost of providing it. Just as we subsidize public education (granted to varying degrees of success), why not let people choose the health plan they like, make HMO’s compete for our business, but get our respective State governments to subsidize a PORTION of it; and also mandate that HMO’s can’t drop our coverage every time we sneeze. This preserves competitiveness, but allows us as Americans to essentially “help” each other out and bring in less fortunate people, college students, younger people who don’t make as much money and such, into the healthcare fold; we’re paying taxes already, don’t we deserve a service such as this?

[calidesigner]

“How can Poway Seller balance being a Realtor and what she was posting..”

Never have met Poway Seller, or talked to her etc., but remember reading her posts when she used to contribute to Piggington…

Here’s my take, she has the type of personality it seems to me that are more keen on taking calculated risks. She also seems to be the type of person that generally “bucks the trend”, and are willing to try things that at the time seem ridiculous.

She was always without doubt an opinionated and interesting poster. All in all, I suspect she is taking the next step in learning about this beast called the real estate market. What better time to learn about a new career when you’re not necessarily competing against thousands of Johnny-come-lately’s (all of them have dropped out of RE like flies by now I hope)? So I look at her move as quite intelligent, in line with the way she looks at business and the way most Piggingtonians look at Real Estate– as cyclical. Many years from now the market will flatten out, some years later it may start to rebound out of its morbid state…people like Poway Seller and Piggingtonians will be well poised to enter the market sensibly at that point.
calidesigner

[calidesigner]

“How can Poway Seller balance being a Realtor and what she was posting..”

Never have met Poway Seller, or talked to her etc., but remember reading her posts when she used to contribute to Piggington…

Here’s my take, she has the type of personality it seems to me that are more keen on taking calculated risks. She also seems to be the type of person that generally “bucks the trend”, and are willing to try things that at the time seem ridiculous.

She was always without doubt an opinionated and interesting poster. All in all, I suspect she is taking the next step in learning about this beast called the real estate market. What better time to learn about a new career when you’re not necessarily competing against thousands of Johnny-come-lately’s (all of them have dropped out of RE like flies by now I hope)? So I look at her move as quite intelligent, in line with the way she looks at business and the way most Piggingtonians look at Real Estate– as cyclical. Many years from now the market will flatten out, some years later it may start to rebound out of its morbid state…people like Poway Seller and Piggingtonians will be well poised to enter the market sensibly at that point.
calidesigner

[calidesigner]

“How can Poway Seller balance being a Realtor and what she was posting..”

Never have met Poway Seller, or talked to her etc., but remember reading her posts when she used to contribute to Piggington…

Here’s my take, she has the type of personality it seems to me that are more keen on taking calculated risks. She also seems to be the type of person that generally “bucks the trend”, and are willing to try things that at the time seem ridiculous.

She was always without doubt an opinionated and interesting poster. All in all, I suspect she is taking the next step in learning about this beast called the real estate market. What better time to learn about a new career when you’re not necessarily competing against thousands of Johnny-come-lately’s (all of them have dropped out of RE like flies by now I hope)? So I look at her move as quite intelligent, in line with the way she looks at business and the way most Piggingtonians look at Real Estate– as cyclical. Many years from now the market will flatten out, some years later it may start to rebound out of its morbid state…people like Poway Seller and Piggingtonians will be well poised to enter the market sensibly at that point.
calidesigner

[calidesigner]

“How can Poway Seller balance being a Realtor and what she was posting..”

Never have met Poway Seller, or talked to her etc., but remember reading her posts when she used to contribute to Piggington…

Here’s my take, she has the type of personality it seems to me that are more keen on taking calculated risks. She also seems to be the type of person that generally “bucks the trend”, and are willing to try things that at the time seem ridiculous.

She was always without doubt an opinionated and interesting poster. All in all, I suspect she is taking the next step in learning about this beast called the real estate market. What better time to learn about a new career when you’re not necessarily competing against thousands of Johnny-come-lately’s (all of them have dropped out of RE like flies by now I hope)? So I look at her move as quite intelligent, in line with the way she looks at business and the way most Piggingtonians look at Real Estate– as cyclical. Many years from now the market will flatten out, some years later it may start to rebound out of its morbid state…people like Poway Seller and Piggingtonians will be well poised to enter the market sensibly at that point.
calidesigner

[calidesigner]

“How can Poway Seller balance being a Realtor and what she was posting..”

Never have met Poway Seller, or talked to her etc., but remember reading her posts when she used to contribute to Piggington…

Here’s my take, she has the type of personality it seems to me that are more keen on taking calculated risks. She also seems to be the type of person that generally “bucks the trend”, and are willing to try things that at the time seem ridiculous.

She was always without doubt an opinionated and interesting poster. All in all, I suspect she is taking the next step in learning about this beast called the real estate market. What better time to learn about a new career when you’re not necessarily competing against thousands of Johnny-come-lately’s (all of them have dropped out of RE like flies by now I hope)? So I look at her move as quite intelligent, in line with the way she looks at business and the way most Piggingtonians look at Real Estate– as cyclical. Many years from now the market will flatten out, some years later it may start to rebound out of its morbid state…people like Poway Seller and Piggingtonians will be well poised to enter the market sensibly at that point.
calidesigner

[calidesigner]

I see this as good news through and through–bear with me a second now folks. After all, we need a certain amount of liquidity, i.e. buying and selling, for this housing market to keep sinking. If nobody buys at incrementally lower prices, how is the market going to decrease? I seriously doubt any number of few thousand new greencard holders is going to keep this market bouyant…in fact they may help set a new slightly lower comp in their respective neighborhoods.

calidesigner

[calidesigner]

I see this as good news through and through–bear with me a second now folks. After all, we need a certain amount of liquidity, i.e. buying and selling, for this housing market to keep sinking. If nobody buys at incrementally lower prices, how is the market going to decrease? I seriously doubt any number of few thousand new greencard holders is going to keep this market bouyant…in fact they may help set a new slightly lower comp in their respective neighborhoods.

calidesigner

[calidesigner]

I think it’s fair to say that many, if not most, people buying into the current housing market at or near its peak genuinely can’t afford what they are buying, but the lure of easy money (i.e. ARM’s and the like) clouds people’s judgement. My logical deduction is that incomes can’t support current prices, therefore current prices are unsustainable. Increasing foreclosures, due to ARM resets are validation of that deduction (not all out proof, but the link seems logical to me). People who contribute to this blog, who are being accused of being “disgruntled” are not really that, I would instead offer that they/we are a bit frustrated, perhaps, not even at the housing market, because it is what it is, but more so at the combination of incredibly loose lending standards, artificially low interest rates and the like which have fed and fueled the speculation resulting in our current unsustainably high home prices.

calidesigner

[calidesigner]

I have to second a previous opinion about Zillow not necessarily reflecting what the house may actually fetch. Moreover, I can bet that cashman’s former house is in a huge gated countryside community called “The Country”, in Diamond Bar, in the eastern part of LA County. Having lived in more humble accomodations in Diamond Bar during the 90’s (i.e. townhome), I know firsthand that homes in “The Country” are the most expensive that you’ll find at the outer edge of LA County, moreover not really in the same class as the rest of the millions of properties in the Greater LA/San Diego area. They are in a class of their own, so once again not a canary in the coalmine for housing in general. Having said that, I’ll bet drops in sales prices in this community as well, because I knew and still remember a realtor friend in 1991-1992 who told me firsthand the trouble she and her agency was having selling homes in “The Country” gated communtiy during ’91 and ’92.

We can beffudle ourselves as much as we want folks, but we can’t deny history. Cashman, I’d be interested to know how home prices in “The Country” fared between 1990 and 1994. I think you’d be surprised. Perhaps you might want to track and see if your former property actually sells for $600k more than what you got, I doubt it. But it would be interesting nonetheless.

calidesigner

[calidesigner]

Thanks for posting that. Indeed, there’s nothing like good comedy to spruce up my Tuesday morning!

The absolute best part is, take a look at the very CNN article that the author refers to, and look at the right side of the page, under the list “Where NOT to buy”, and guess what, the glorious Inland Empire (which is where I live, by the way), is listed smack dab at number 5!! Even thought the author confidently states “the Inland Empire and Los Angeles, are in my opinion going to be just fine”. The author should have read the source he was referring to.

So while Los Angeles, New York City etc. may be good LONG-TERM investments, the article says nothing about short or medium term investments. Point is that most if not all of these markets are already correcting downwards, and will continue to do so. I’m sure over 57 years (the time frame that the article is based on, 1949-2006), all properties will be generally worth more than they are now….that’s not-bubble proof in my opinion, that’s simply stating that housing CAN be (not necessarily is), a good LONG term investment. But during the previous and upcoming 57 years or so, all these markets will inflate and deflate a number of times, that is what history has proven to us, and that is what we are currently experiencing, the deflation of the bubble. LA and New York are no exceptions.

calidesigner

[Author]

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