[Coronita]

[quote=harvey][quote=no_such_reality]The market is snoozing because they know this is Trump’s trial balloon and not an actual proposal or anything else that as even a margin of a chance of passing.[/quote]

It’s not a “trial balloon” – it’s a loose collection of unworkable ideas that have superficial appeal to his base.

Trump will never actually make a formal proposal on taxes, on healthcare, on anything big.

Because he’s dug himself into a huge hole by making outrageous and completely unfeasible promises. It’s the same old Republican themes amplified by Trumpian-level bullshit: lower taxes while reducing the deficit while increasing military spending…with a few Trump extras like increasing infrastructure spending.

He can’t make an actual proposal with these parameters because it would be laughably bad, and the the last thing he wants is to be accountable.

So he’ll defer it to congress, like he did with healthcare. It will flounder and Trump will blame everyone else.

This is the “leadership” we are going to see for the next four years.[/quote]

And exactly nothing is going to get done… I love it!

Flu, out (mic drop)

[Coronita]

[quote=spdrun]flu- the bubble is being driven by other forms of easy money (margin debt, portfolios growing for down payments, 2% down loans courtesy of Mel “the Skell” Watt).

As far as the tax plan, Mr. Market seems to think it’s a big ‘ol snooze. Glad the Trump Bump is losing its effect.[/quote]

If you say so.

I’ve disconnected from here for some time, because none of the doom and gloom scenarios people have predicted materialized. Can’t beat the system, join it.I’m having too much fun elsewhere.

One thing is fairly certain. The same folks that missed the boat the last time will most likely will be the same folks that miss the boat this time. Just like the old RE adage about “it’s always a good time to buy a house”, a lot of people think the complete opposite.. “it’s never a good time to buy a house”.

Have fun waiting guys.

[Coronita]

I still don’t get after decades of seeing how our government works, people still think there is one single “silver bullet” catastrophic/apocalyptical, earth shattering new tax law change forced by the government will drastically adversely affect home prices. It’s like some folks are desperately hoping for an apocalypse in order to be able to obtain home ownership.

I see the only way we get an huge housing correction is if the government implements policies that enables the most vile and financially irresponsible debauchery from the a majority of the financially irresponsibles in this country….And that happens when the government provides the necessary financial tools for your average financially irresponsible person in this country to hang themselves on their own financial noose. Government doesn’t need to “force” anything on people to cause them financial distress…Given tools, people in this country are fully capable of doing it to themselves…

The best way to ruin people financially is to allow people spend like drunks and for them to commit financial suicide themselves, by giving them the illusion they have more money then they really do, and can spend more money than they really should without any consequences….Passing more unfavorable tax laws that reduces income probably has the opposite effect, as it would piss off your average American, and they would be more watchful/defiant and not act/do financially irresponsibly. , they’ll take on more work for more income, they’ll cut corners elsewhere in their budget, they’ll cheat on their taxes, they’ll do everything to remain defiant. They won’t go down, out of spite. But extend a credit line to them, yeah they’ll blow it.

It’s like getting people financially drunk such that that don’t make very good decisions. We’re not there yet. Short of a restart of irresponsible borrowing where irresponsible americans who otherwise has no business buying a home, can once again borrow money they really can’t afford to pay back, to buy a home they really can’t afford, I don’t see a massive correction. Why would the majority of the home ownership among the stronger financial hands right now feel compelled to sell right now? They got in at the lowest rates, lowest payments, in many cases, lower than rent…And especially if we have any meaning inflation, their 30 year locked in payment was look like a walk in a the park…..

But, irresponsible borrowing..it’s coming..probably….

[Coronita]

[quote=SK in CV][quote=flu]People who upper income wage earners don’t get to fully enjoy the itemized deduction from state taxes, property taxes, and vehicle registration taxes as people think they enjoy anyway…

It’s called AMT.

The tax upper income wage earners get hit with every year, well below what the taxes you normally would pay if you were able to fully deduct state/property/vehicle registration taxes. In fact, for most upper income wage earners, there’s no point in even itemizing things such as vehicle registration taxes because it makes absolutely no difference after AMT.

AMT tax rate is calculated such that state/property/vehicle registration taxes cannot be deducted.[/quote]

That’s a California thing. And a few other states with high top marginal rates. States with top marginal rates of 5% or less, AMT doesn’t hit very often. Irony is, the so-called plan does away with AMT, and the cause of the AMT for most high wage earners. Lose before, lose again. The big benefit is for those with humungous income that have preference items that drop their overall rate below the AMT rate.[/quote]

Yup….lol….Buy a land and make it a “farm”….

But in all seriousness, come on people, you know this has no shot at passing right? You know Trump’s mo… Throw something out there that seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator of understanding, knowing realistically it has no chance of succeeding. Then playing CYA and saying “See, I tried to do something” and then assess blame on “Congress/Judges/The Establishment” for why it didn’t go through.

How many times have we seen this playbook now?

Trump won’t challenge the ACA, won’t challenge any of the court rulings. He’s just buying time and distractions on the next item to “fix”….I mean, if he actually did challenge and win, it would be considerably more work for his administration, and we all know he’s not really trying to do anything that requires more work…

You guys worry too much. I’m having a great time. It feels like everyone is drunk, and no one cares. lol.

[Coronita]

[quote=FlyerInHi]What about the middle middle? Real estate values are created at the margins by people entering the market and creating demand.[/quote]

Well, that does suck for them, doesn’t it?

Not my problem, not my concern.

Now all that’s left to be done is this administration needs relax lending standards again, so we have irresponsible borrowing again, and irrational home buying again, to drive real estate prices even higher to even more irrational levels, again…So that folks can make the same exact mistakes they did a few years ago…..This time it will be different. I have a lot more homes that I could sell and milk it for all it’s worth. I don’t know why many of you still think home prices are going to crash. We haven’t even entered the irresponsible borrowing phase (yet). But it will come, probably.

Again, not my problem, not my concern.

[Coronita]

People who upper income wage earners don’t get to fully enjoy the itemized deduction from state taxes, property taxes, and vehicle registration taxes as people think they enjoy anyway…

It’s called AMT.

The tax upper income wage earners get hit with every year, well below what the taxes you normally would pay if you were able to fully deduct state/property/vehicle registration taxes. In fact, for most upper income wage earners, there’s no point in even itemizing things such as vehicle registration taxes because it makes absolutely no difference after AMT.

AMT tax rate is calculated such that state/property/vehicle registration taxes cannot be deducted.

[Coronita]

[quote=ltsdd]These rentals are 70’s east mira mesa 4/2 tract homes. The current rents are from $1900 to $2050. Similar homes (there aren’t many) are listed on CL for at least $500 more per month.

The tenants are all blue-collar kind of folks and the way I have looked at it is that they need an extra $$ more than I do (I know that’s a no-no way to think as a landlord/business). Ultimately, it’s a problem that I created by failing to raise rents for so many years and thus the big gap.

Thanks for the feedback. I wasn’t thinking of raising rents this year, was about to send out the renewals before posting here, but I think I will raise it by a small amount of $50/mo every year here on out.[/quote]

Here’s my take on this….If you’re going to raise rents, you might as well raise it by a bigger amount say $200/month versus $50.

Regardless of whether you raise rents by $50 or $200, tenants aren’t going to be happy either way. They are going to be mad, they are going to want to move..even the ones that don’t outwardly complain… (imagine if you were in their shoes, you would probably react the same way). So since the amount of hassle/complaining you’re going to hear and have to bear is going to be roughly the same regardless of whether it’s $50 or $200, so you might as well raise it by a bigger amount anyway.

That way, you have a lot more room for negotiation. For example, say you raise rents by $200/month….They will most likely be unhappy, and you can remind them it’s still $300 below market….And they might still be unhappy…Then you can say, well even though at +$200/month, it’s still a great deal, I’ll give you a break and only raise it by $100/month since you’ve been such a good tenant and as long as you promise to continue being a good tenant…..And you can give them a sob story about how your operating costs are going up. Your property tax is going up, etc,etc,etc.

Leave the table making them feel they won something, even though fundamentally you still come out ahead…(Damn, I’ve been car shopping way too long…)

[Coronita]

[quote=spdrun]Real question is, you’re in Southern California. Why in the purple tap-dancing fawk would you choose a hardtop over a convertible?

Fraidy-cat? Mrrrraaaaaooww![/quote]

Avoid getting a rollbar if on a track. Well at least on some tracks that are looser in rules.

[Coronita]

[quote=poorgradstudent][quote=flu][quote=The-Shoveler]If you are paying cash you are much better off getting a used car from a private party.

Not many people these days have many thousands of dollars to hand out for a Car so you have less competition for anything over a say 2 or 3 thousand.[/quote]

If I were getting a utility car, that’s what I would do. Unfortunately, this is the first production year of the RF and I don’t feel like waiting.[/quote]

The fact it’s the first production year means you probably won’t be able to get the sort of deals that will be floating around next year.[/quote]

I know. That’s fine. Since I usually keep my cars until I drive them into the ground, the way I look at it is slightly more for slightly up front enjoyment amortizes into noise over 15-20 years. lol…

[Coronita]

[quote=The-Shoveler]If you are paying cash you are much better off getting a used car from a private party.

Not many people these days have many thousands of dollars to hand out for a Car so you have less competition for anything over a say 2 or 3 thousand.[/quote]

If I were getting a utility car, that’s what I would do. Unfortunately, this is the first production year of the RF and I don’t feel like waiting.

[Coronita]

You know maybe it’s just mazda, but I really don’t have any problems with the internet sales folks that I’ve been talking to. They don’t strike me people trying to pull a fast one on me or anything. Most of them have been pretty upfront about things…

They do try to get people to pay the most, but when I confront them with other offers, they don’t try to make excuses and don’t try to dangle these useless payment options in front of me.

Maybe because from the start I asked if they had any 0% offers, and when they said no, I said I’ll be paying cash.

[Coronita]

Well, i think the deal fell apart…That’s alright. my wallet isn’t going to burn as much….I told them I needed an OTD price so I can cut a check today/tomorrow and pick up over the weekend.

I didn’t get anything to late this evening, and the numbers don’t look correct. I asked about them and haven’t heard back. It could be a clerical error, but frankly maybe this is a mixed blessing.

[Coronita]

it doesn’t take that much time to do things over email or text. I don’t take phone calls. What i have noticed is that the dealers are very reluctant to give quotes over email these days because they know you’ll take the number and shop it among other dealers over email….So getting 1 dealer to name a below MSRP price is always the biggest time consumption. Once you get one dealer to name a price however, then using that price to shop it around helps and then prices start to get to more reasonable levels…The trick is that you don’t try to lowball between prices because then that just shuts down the entire negotiation with you being perceived as being unreasonable….

It’s a just a shitty experience. I made it already clear I’m not willing to pay MSRP and i’ll wait…and it was like bending teeth to negotiate…..

First I just try to negotiate, and places drop the price $200 each time…And then when the price is still above invoice, I finally have to pull out the “I have the mazdaspeed discount”, which then causes the price to more some more…. It’s like every single little game and thing to get people to nudge…..

I do agree, that if you are prepared to walk and come back next month, it might help since it appears to depend on trying to meet some internal sales goals…

[Coronita]

Funny….Someone actually wrote an article about too…..

http://www.clark.com/its-time-to-jettison-the-conve

[Coronita]

Investing is not a one night stand… As I mentioned before, if you don’t trust your timing, then slowly buy no frills index funds every month 2-3k/month. In fact if you have been doing this for the past decade, you would have done ok.

Never too late to start, and less risk than deciding to move one huge chunk into the market all at once…

It’s no different than an regular 401k plan or any other time based plan….

small cap, mid cap, large cap, and international index.

My 2 cents.

[Author]

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