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March 23, 2015 at 7:05 AM in reply to: State of the economy and affect on housing in S California #784099
CoronitaParticipant[quote=bearishgurl]
Your 10K sf lot somewhat negates the fact that you have a smallish house. A larger lot covers a lot of drawbacks of a smaller dwelling, imho.[/quote]Well, that was an interesting way to pee on someone’s cornflakes, so to speak. Why is someone’s home size such a big deal? The point of this post was OP was asking for advice on whether he/she should tap into their equity to pay other debt.
Not that the point of this thread is to discuss San Marcos real estate. But, I’m sure it’s a nice house, and in a great area. It has appreciated well and will most likely continue to do so, since it’s a good area with good schools.
We get it. You like Chula Vista. You think it’s the biggest bang for the buck. You think for the same money OP spent 3 years ago, they could have bought a bigger house in places like Chula Vista, because that’s what you would have done. Good for you. You like living in Chula Vista, you would prefer living there versus living in San Marcos. For you, it’s where you want to be versus anywhere else. Good for you. Be happy with your decision.
Don’t get why you need to bring chula vista into this thread or many others. It’s like the same way you brought up about how terrible you think Carmel Valley is because once upon a time there was a migrant worker camp/shack off of 56. Yes, San Marcos re-appreciated much quicker than Chula Vista. Heck, Carmel Valley and Mira Mesa and even Santee did better too. It is what it is.
CoronitaParticipant[quote=bearishgurl]It is really immaterial whether the OP resides in SEH … or not, svelte. My point was that they are paying (entirely voluntary) MR and HOA dues because they had/have many housing choices in this county.
Here’s a “random” article for you to chew on:
San Marcos Mello-Roos
All homes in San Marcos built between 1988 and present are part of a Mello Roos District (aka Community Facilities District, CFD). A Mello-Roos District/CFD is an area of homes in which homeowners are obligated to pay a special property tax on top of a standard property tax. This special tax is used to help pay for a lot of the same facilities and services that a standard property tax pays for, such as streets, water, sewage and drainage, electricity, infrastructure, schools, parks and police/fire protection.
(emphasis mine)
Instead of chastising me, why don’t you give the Piggs a ballpark estimate of the OP’s monthly MR + HOA dues? After all, you are our “resident expert” on SM, no?
As an “uninformed observer,” I’ll just take a random stab at what the total monthly nut is and you let me know how close I am, okay?
For the OP’s size house:
$225 mo MR and $150 mo HOA dues, totaling a $375 mo dent in their strained budget.
I haven’t even tried to find any listings around there … this is just my guess.
How am I doing, svelte??[/quote]
I don’t know why you keep grinding the axe on homes with HOA or Mello Roos. It’s beside the point of this thread. The person already made the home purchase, and at this point the OP’s financial situation is not the issue, it’s all the other debt that’s the issue. It’s hardly helpful to tell the OP everything he/she should have done 3-4 years ago in as much as people who keep telling you that you should have bought rental property 3-4 years ago.
Looking at the OP’s financial strain, HOA and Mello Roos is the least of their worries. I don’t understand why you continue to try to convince others on your personal preference to live in home that doesn’t have HOA or Mello Roos. Because that’s what it is…Personal preference.
But since this is already unrelated to the OP’s post, I think a post ago, I already shown that if I purchased a $1million home in some parts of SD without mello roos versus in Carmel Valley, my property taxes would actually end up being more than a home in Carmel Valley.
Yes, Mello Roos for my home in Carmel Valley exists. But it’s a flat fee. Other parts of SD pay all these extra bond initiatives that are a % of assessed value. My rentals in Mira Mesa are such an example that have all these ridiculous bond initiatives that don’t exist in Carmel Valley. So for a high cost home, it’s actually less in Carmel Valley than say Mira Mesa if one buys a $1million home in both places.
Don’t believe me? Look it up yourself.
And lastly, to pre-empt what you might say about the deductibility of mello-roos on your taxes, the IRS already ruled that Mello-Roos is deductible years ago, and since CA follows the IRS, it’s deductible as well on your state taxes. Of course, if you’re like me and get hit with AMT every year, it doesn’t matter since for AMT, property taxes paid don’t count.
CoronitaParticipant[quote=bearishgurl]I just have a couple of comments on this thread. The first one (now water under the bridge), is that the OP absolutely could have bought a 1700-2200 sf home in SD County in 2011 for the price they paid for a 1300 sf home in SEH ($330K). Sure, it would have been older and most likely needed cosmetic upgrades but they spent that money anyway on the smaller, newer home they bought. And it would have been without MR and HOA dues, (which could now have proven to be a financial thorn in the OP’s side).
[/quote]
You know, telling people that they could have done something back in 2011 is as useful as someone telling you, you could have bought a lot of homes in 2011 instead of staying put in Chula Vista, and your appreciation probably would have been a lot better. The point is you can’t go back in history and change things, so why bother even bringing it up? It doesn’t really help the person. Besides San Marcos is on the way up and for growth, whether you want to believe it or not.
[quote]
The second thing is that Piggs counseled the OP in error re: priority of unsecured debt, i.e. consumer/credit-card debt.CC companies and their collectors …. (etc etc etc)
[/quote]The point was that you have more options if leave your home equity alone versus risking your home to pay off credit cards, car loans, etc first. if you pay up all your insecure loan first and then have financial problems, you have no other options on dealing with now your mortgage + HELOC. How many of those loan mods really worked???And even more so how many people expect they’ll successfully get one now…
Anyway, you are correct in one thing. If the OP really does get into that big financial problem such that they need to consider BK, they definitely should talk to an attorney, I’m not an attorney (and there’s a reason for that) in as much as neither are you, as are many others commenting on this thread.
That said, I don’t think the OP is in immediate danger if they take care of their finances with some of the constructive suggestions people offered here in reducing expenses and debt.
March 20, 2015 at 3:59 PM in reply to: State of the economy and affect on housing in S California #783994CoronitaParticipantStrong money still > overleveraged money for most home purchases.
With that, I don’t think we’ll see a housing crash until that changes.
People’s payments (assuming they have a mortgage pretty much stays the same), so it depends on if people can continue to make the payments. Stronger hands probably can/will.
San Diego in general has fared pretty well during the last downturn. Silicon Valley is…what downturn?
CoronitaParticipant[quote=lpjohnso]
We cut out cable last year, but unfortunately we are under contract on our phones.
[/quote]Bump…. Maybe you aren’t trapped afterall…… I’d give them a call to find out the details…
“T-Mobile will pay $650 for you to switch”
http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/18/smallbusiness/tmobile-uncarrier/index.html?iid=HP_LNhttp://www.t-mobile.com/offer/switch-carriers-no-early-termination-fee.html
Available March 22
We’ll cover every penny of your old device payment plans.
Want to switch to T-Mobile, but you’re trapped because you owe money on your old phones? Not anymore. Starting March 22, T-Mobile will pay off your remaining phone payments from your old carrier. Just trade in your devices and we’ll cover your remaining phone payments—as much as $650 per line with a trade-in credit and Visa® Prepaid Card when you switch to the Un-carrier.Everyone gets unlimited talk, text, and data on the Data Strong™ network for just $50. Add a second line for $30. Every line after that is just $10 more. All with up to 1GB 4G LTE. Add as much high-speed data as you need. Plain and simple—no annual service contracts, no hidden fees, and no domestic overages.
CoronitaParticipant[quote=FlyerInHi]Come to think of it, managing your financial affairs well is one thing. But don’t go out with friends and be cheap. That’s very bad. Stay home if you don’t want to spend money.[/quote]
There’s a difference when you are a bachelor that can afford to take risk and live more on the edge versus when you have a family of 5 to worry about, fighting to financially survive.
The last thing lpjohnso needs to worry about is what others think of her. People care way too much about what other people think. As a result, people end up doing a lot to prop up appearances.
People just need to be reasonable presentable, reasonably well mannered in public, and reasonably approachable.
As far as money matters is concern, the question someone should be asking oneself in this situation is “is spending X to prop up appearances really worth potentially losing my home?” Because that’s what it boils down to.
If you’re surrounded by friends that spend like a fiend and you can’t/don’t want to, or friends that make you feel bad because and compels you to spend above your means to keep up, you need to either work on your self esteem and/or ditch your “friends”, because they’re getting in your way of financial freedom.
CoronitaParticipantI really look forward to lpjohnso and her family turning this around. It’s encouraging to hear there people doing things to get out of the financial predicament they are in.
March 17, 2015 at 4:22 PM in reply to: Is it a terrible time to buy if you plan to stay for the long term? #783906CoronitaParticipant[quote=scaredyclassic]2800 for a 2 br split 4 ways[/quote]
Really? I’m assuming this has to be on campus. Do you know how many sqft?
Off campus nearby, 2/2’s rent for $1400
March 17, 2015 at 2:10 PM in reply to: Is it a terrible time to buy if you plan to stay for the long term? #783903CoronitaParticipant[quote=scaredyclassic]Yeah. What’s gonna happen. We’ve been looking at condos near sdsu. Kinda make sense if I compel all my kids to go there which I might.
But price seems a bit high. Although not terrible…[/quote]
Really? Just curious. How much is room and board these days at SDSU?
March 17, 2015 at 12:54 PM in reply to: The cost of an Ivy League undergrad degree next year…. #783899CoronitaParticipant[quote=UCGal] FWIW – my engineering degree from SDSU was good enough for me to support myself, sock away some money, and retire at age 52. I was not going to keep working just in case my kids wanted to go to Harvard instead of UCSD, UCLA, UCI, etc…[/quote]
I have to work for another 12 years? Shoot.
CoronitaParticipant…One area to also save…..
Watch your food bill. Never buy food that isn’t on sale. Change your eating habits such that you eat what’s on sale that week.I know it’s seems ridiculous, until you notice that at your typically grocery store like Vons/Albertson/Ralph/etc, the difference between a sale item and a regular marked item is that 3x-4x more…That might not be such a big deal if you’re single. But If you’re got 2 + 3 kids to feed, that will be a big deal.
And by sale I don’t mean buying nearly expired food. I mean grocery stores regularly rotate normal food items that are discounted every week.
Now would also be a good time to give up pop and beer if that’s your thing, or at least reduce consumption of it. Not to mention, it would probably be healthier for you.
CoronitaParticipant[quote=FlyerInHi]What about when things like AC, alternator, master cylinder, widow regulators…. go bad?
I’m taking about a budget. Some years it’ll be more, some years less.
The point there is no need to trade in (and incur more debt) a perfectly good car if you have a large bill once in a while.
Likewise an older house will need maintenance. My friend just spent $500 to have his garage door serviced. I bought a new door and installed myself in my rental townhouse for less. Under $300. But not everybody can do that.[/quote]
AC is optional, and at most needs a $50 recharge.
I’ve never recharged any of my A/C in any of my cars ever.Alternator usually lasts 15+ years on a japanese car. My 94 miata is still using the original one. master cylinders typically don’t just go out either on honda/toyota.
CoronitaParticipant[quote=UCGal]I am late to this party.
MrMoneyMustache is a great blog/message board – but some of the posters over there can be less than friendly. That said – it’s a great place for ideas of how to cut your budget (and be green at the same time.)
[/quote]
Lol. Less friendly than here? I gotta see that 🙂
CoronitaParticipant[quote=FlyerInHi]Flu, $1000 per year includes consumable such as brakes. Much better than car payments.
People don’t expect to do maintenance other than oil changes. So after 4 years they buy a new car and rolll over the debt. That means they end up with car payments all their lives which the auto industry loves.
The term “beater” sounds bad. But nobody needs to drive a “beater” that looks bad and doesn’t run well. Start off with a Corolla at 0% financing and drive it for 25 years. keep it clean and decent looking. That’s very doable.
If you’ve got a well paying job, 25 years is a bit long… but maybe 15 years if you really want to save money.[/quote]
Brakes cost that much? Man you’re either going to the wrong shop, or you have a shop ripping off your customers.
Front pads are like $200 tops every 2-3 years.
Front rotors+ pads are like $400 tops 4-6 years.
Rear pads are like $200 tops ever 4-6 years.
And rear rotors are like 6-8 years out.Where is this coming out to $1000/year on maintenance? This isn’t a german car we’re talking about.
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