Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
earlyretirement
Participant[quote=SK in CV][quote=all][quote=bearishgurl][quote=all][quote=bearishgurl]SK, I was referring to outlying areas. Carmel Valley is not really outlying, and, in any case, a portion of its MR bonds should now be ~10 years from maturity/retirement.[/quote]And no true Scotsman…[/quote]
What about the subdivisions which were built in Carmel Valley in the very early nineties??
[quote=all]Carmel Valley is not outlying, but the area right next to it is?[/quote]
Yes.
[/quote]
Carmel Mountain Ranch was built in very early nineties, it is in PUSD and there is MR. Santaluz is halfway between CMR and CV, about three miles from either. Another 3 miles from a business park that hosts Sony, Nokia, Broadcom, HP… Santaluz is an outlying area only if you are observing the world from a Tijuana suburb.
[/quote]
I would tend to agree. Carmel Valley is no more of an outlying (or at least as much of an outlying area) as Santa Luz. Escondido is more outlying, and if there have been MR abuses there, I haven’t heard much of them. Same with some of the other truly outlying areas that had major development over the last 15 years…San Marcos, Vista, Oceanside. Maybe there have been problems, but if so, they haven’t been near as public as the problems in the PUSD.
And I’m pretty sure there are some MR that are fully paid off in Carmel Valley.
The problem seems not to be the design of the MR laws, but rather abuse of the process. Should be a warning to us all, pay attention to the political process and get people elected who will make wise financial decisions and vote those who haven’t out of office.[/quote]
I totally agree. I don’t consider Carmel Valley and Santaluz as “outlying areas”. Not at all. I mean they both still have San Diego addresses! LOL.
As well, EXCELLENT comment about it not being the design of the Mello Roos laws but the abuse of the process and oversight of the spending.
As I mentioned, there are many times when Mello Roos taxes are needed and developments would probably never get off the ground without them. They can and do make sense. However, what seems to happen with this type of thing is that implementation often times gets corrupt and random people start getting access to the funds and they use it as their personal piggy bank.
What we need is a full accounting of the past Mello Roos tax intake and a full accounting of where the funds have gone over the years, a complete breakdown of district by district which schools or what things this money has been spent on.
And again, I’m still waiting for an explanation why they need 200 checking accounts for these funds. And also who can access these funds.
I agree we need to get ANYONE out of office via recall or other legal means that might be breaking the laws and using these funds for purposes they weren’t intended for. And make sure we send a strong message to any possible incoming officers that we as taxpayers won’t put up for this kind of fraud and abuse of power.
The biggest problem I see is that this sort of thing seems to be generally accepted over time. Incoming administrations might see past administrations using funds for unintended/illegal purposes and then they think it’s ok for them to as well. And the fraud and abuse just becomes sort of institutionalized.
WE as taxpayers need to stop this and totally nip it in the bud. And once it’s stopped, make sure there is clear and proper and regular oversight of the spending.
Participant[quote=CA renter]ER,
Thanks for following up on this, and for putting pressure on them to dig more deeply into the details of Mello-Roos.
IMO, there is no reason for Mello-Roos. It’s simply a way to direct more money into the pockets of long-time land owners and developers.
The developers should have to spend their own money to build the infrastructure necessary for their developments, and the costs of this should be fully included in the price of the houses. If they can’t make the numbers work, then they’re paying too much for the land.
By keeping these costs separate from the cost of the homes, gullible buyers won’t bother to look into the *total* price they’re paying for the houses. As always, they’re keeping people in the dark by focusing on payments instead of total cost.[/quote]
You’re welcome CAR. I do think many of the various local and maybe even national press needs to investigate this in greater detail. The shame of it is that parents (taxpayers) don’t really seem to care too much about this. It’s mind boggling to me.
I actually don’t always think Mello Roos taxes are a bad idea. It just depends on the actual development. I think in many cases they are necessary if a project/development is going to be done properly.
However, if you have them, there MUST be clear oversight and rules governing the funds and their disbursement, etc. In the case of PUSD, there doesn’t seem to be any oversight at all on what they are spending the funds on.
This is all VERY disturbing to say the least.
[quote=waitingtobuy]This is very disturbing.
This misuse of funds is a clear criminal act.
Are parents/community leaders doing anything abt it?
Any possibility of a lawsuit against PUSD?
This scam must be stopped.
I don’t want to see anyone eating $2k lunch and relishing ice cream sundae with my hard earned money.[/quote]I totally agree. Disturbing is putting it mildly. I do think it will take a lawsuit to really uncover just how much misuse of funds is going on and what it’s being used on (and has been used on over the years). An explanation of who exactly can draw on these 200 checking accounts and what the process is?
It doesn’t seem like anyone wants to “rock the boat” but I’m afraid it’s going to take a formal lawsuit. Any lawyers on the board interested?
Participant[quote=Essbee]Earlyretirement,
I heard the radio version of those stories on the KPBS radio station.
If I recall correctly, you live in the Willow Grove Elementary district. One of the people interviewed on the radio was a Santaluz parent who lives 3 minutes from Willow Grove, but whose child has been assigned to a PUSD school several miles away (can’t recall which, maybe Turtleback).He was very upset because instead of bringing a temporary classroom to Willow Grove, they were doing improvements at another school. I strongly hope that my kids will get to attend our local school (Stone Ranch).
What City Councilman are you speaking of, though? If you live in the city of San Diego, I somehow doubt that the Council members have any pull with the PUSD, seeing as most of San Diego is part of SD Unified. Heck, I don’t even HAVE a councilperson since I live in 4S Ranch (unincorporated). I wonder if it would be more effective to write to members of the PUSD school board.
Anyway, good luck![/quote]
Yes, I live in Santaluz. I did hear about some parents that didn’t get in. It might also be that they didn’t pre-register on the two days in May when you get first crack at getting in to Willow Grove. The lines were VERY long that day for registration. I think many parents don’t understand the importance of pre-registering their Kindergarten kids those first 2 days.
Yes, I would be IRRATE if they were taking our CFD taxes and using it at other non-CFD district schools if my kids couldn’t get into a school that I live 3 minutes from.
I know my City Councilman, Mark Kersey probably can’t do anything but at least I wanted to see if he had any pull at all to see what can be done about oversight and possibly what measures taxpayers in these CFD areas can do.
I’m not sure how effective writing to PUSD members are when they are quoted and doing interviews saying what CFD funds should be used for and then getting caught using funds for something else!?
200 checking accounts???!! No reason they need so many accounts and I’d like to know who is authorized to sign off on those accounts and what the process is. It sounds like the system has the potential for a LOT of fraud and abuse.
Participant[quote=ocrenter][quote=earlyretirement]
Yikes! I knew it was over $100,000 for a Mello Roos payoff in Del Sur but that is crazy! I guess part of the reason is it’s newer and developments like Santaluz have already been paying on it for 10 years.
But that pay off is insane! IMHO.
[/quote]Don’t know, plenty of developments that came about around the same time with much lower MR.
might be something for the Voice of SD reporter to look into.[/quote]
Yeah, you’re right OCR. I can’t for the life of me figure out why the MR taxes are so dang high in Del Sur.
I was really surprised to read the KPBS links today about how PUSD is misusing our CFD taxes. Did you read those links? I was also surprised to read they take our CFD taxes and use them in NON-CFD school districts. Also, to buy lunches, put seminars, etc. This was NOT the intended purpose of CFD taxes.
I wrote in to my City Councilman today for the District to ask him about this. Hopefully I hear back. It was shocking to read.
ParticipantFor anyone following this Mello Roos topic on KPBS you might find these links interesting.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/aug/19/poway-school-district-mello-roos-tax-machine/#c23595
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/aug/20/poway-parents-want-answers-about-their-mello-roos-/
It sounds like Mello Roos funds are CLEARLY being misused. Some of these things are shocking and it sounds like illegal. 200 bank accounts? There doesn’t sound like there is any oversight at all.
This is why I pre-paid off my Mello Roos taxes off early.
Participant[quote=ocrenter][quote=4slive]be cautious, the MR payoff amount is $170K !!! It essentially bring the home price to 1.3M.[/quote]
wow, for real?! that’s more than the MR payoff of Santaluz + Stonebridge combined.[/quote]
Yikes! I knew it was over $100,000 for a Mello Roos payoff in Del Sur but that is crazy! I guess part of the reason is it’s newer and developments like Santaluz have already been paying on it for 10 years.
But that pay off is insane! IMHO.
Not sure if you saw my other post on Mello Roos taxes but I’ll repost below.
________________________
For anyone following this Mello Roos topic on KPBS you might find these links interesting.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/aug/19/poway-school-district-mello-roos-tax-machine/#c23595
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/aug/20/poway-parents-want-answers-about-their-mello-roos-/
It sounds like Mello Roos funds are CLEARLY being misused. Some of these things are shocking and it sounds like illegal. 200 bank accounts? There doesn’t sound like there is any oversight at all.
This is why I pre-paid off my Mello Roos taxes off early.
ParticipantMy advice is ONLY buy what you can comfortably afford. You mention things like “in good financial situation”. Well, I’d hope you were in a good financial situation with a secure job if you’re going to buy a $850,000 house with annual $6,000 Mello Roos taxes along with 1%+ property taxes each year.
You mention “financially tight for a few years”. It’s difficult to ascertain if you’re saying that this is more than you are comfortable with or if you’re saying that you’re blowing most of your savings and emergency savings to buy the house.
None of us can tell you if it’s worth it. That can be a really subjective question. That area is really great and the schools are EXCELLENT in that area. Me personally, I don’t think the build quality over in many of those areas of 4S Ranch is anything to write home about. But that’s just my opinion.
It’s a VERY nice area for raising kids. Definitely you’re paying a premium to be in the PUSD.
IMHO, you don’t have too many options if you want to be in this area and want a relatively big house like this. Sure, you can save money and go further out to areas like San Marcos, which may or may not be an option for you.
As to Mello Roos, I also think you have to look at your personal situation and circumstances. There is a “no size fits all solution” for homeowners. As mentioned, if you are confident you will stay in the home over 10 years then it’s a complete NO BRAINER to prepay it off.
Anyone that thinks that they won’t raise it the maximum annual 2% heading into the future is deluding themselves, IMHO. Plus, several districts have already refinanced to a lower rate. You can get a lot of detailed information on the Mello Roos thread that someone mentioned.
The truth of it is that in a hot market like now, with limited inventory, you will definitely be able to get every $ you prepaid towards it. We’ve gotten several unsolicited offers from private individuals to purchase our home. And they could already see from the tax rolls that we paid off our MR and offered to reimburse for that.
We aren’t interested in selling our house and probably will never sell it. But I truly believe it’s one of those things in a hot market you will always be able to get back what you prepaid and in a really horrible real estate market it will be tough.
The question to prepay it off would depend on your personal situation. We knew we would keep the house so it was a really wise move paying it off and I have no regrets at all.
I can’t emphasize enough to NOT bite off more than you can chew. Again, difficult to tell from your post but it almost sounds like you’re buying something that you might not be able to comfortably afford.
I have several friends that formally lived in the area and they had to move. Not only leave the area but left San Diego due to a job loss by either them or their spouse. Really plan and make sure that your bases are covered in the event of a job loss and taking time to find another, etc.
It sounds like you love the house, area, and IF you can comfortably afford it and you are confident you will be in the house longer term, I wouldn’t get too stressed about capital appreciation, etc. IF you don’t know for sure if you will be in the house too long and therefore have to worry about capital appreciation concerns, then my opinion is you should wait until such time where you feel you will be in the house longer term and also considering a possible not so good/worst case scenario with job, etc.
Good luck.
ParticipantI never found any way to get the mortgage information free but I bought several while we were house hunting a few years ago and it had all the mortgage information including refinances.
I’d go with the 5 reports for $15 option so only around $3 @.
ParticipantI’m not sure what is and isn’t normal but we get our house cleaned once a week. We pay $130 per week and our house is 4,000+ feet. 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms.
I think they said if we only got it cleaned every other week it would have went up to $160 per time.
They do a pretty good job. They send 2 or 3 girls out and they typically spend 5 hours cleaning.
Again, I’m not sure if that is normal or not. But we pay $520 a month (4 times a month).
ParticipantI imagine they will get even slower as the stock market bubble deflates as well. Things don’t move in straight lines as I always say. I know LOTS of people that saw the stock market keep going up so they entered probably at the wrong time.
As the stock market deflates, there should be some pain with the “wealth effect”. Over the past 2 years many people got more confident and their consumer spending and appetite for purchasing including real estate went up.
It will be interesting to see how slow things get as the stock market deflates.
Participant[quote=ocrenter]
All cash purchases trigger something within us. Be it envy, disbelief, or shock. People also tend to repeat stories of all cash offers over and over. This is why within the anecdotal world, it seems like every home in CV are all cash purchases.[/quote]
So spot on target as usual ocrenter! People in the US for the most part many times are envious and shock or disbelief as you mentioned when they hear people that buy 100% cash. They think there is something wrong with the buyer or think something is wrong or the buyer is stupid, yadda yadda yadda.
I’ve seen this happen many times over the years. I remember during the bubble here when I warned friends about the bubble and how and why it was going to pop. At the same time, I started buying up real estate in other parts of the world without leverage. I remember many people telling me how stupid I was for not using leverage and buying up properties in the USA. “Easy money” they said.
Several parts of the world, buying with cash and no mortgages is totally normal. The funny thing is many Americans think how we do things in the USA is how things are done everywhere which just isn’t the case.
[quote=FlyerInHi]I agree ocrenter. And when people see people different from themselves pay for expensive things they cannot afford, they wonder what’s wrong.
I read somewhere dataquick reported 30% of transactions being cash. So according to SD realtor’s data, 20% all cash is low for Carmel Valley.
Buying cash is so much easier. Close within a couple weeks. Depending on your comfort level, no need for appraisal, title insurance, or inspection. No need for the notary signatures either because all you need is the grant deed from the seller.[/quote]
EXACTLY as you mentioned FlyerinHi! From my experience, even people that probably could afford to buy cash don’t many times because they think they can “leverage” themselves into a situation where they can make even more money when that isn’t always the case.
And I’ve personally witnessed MANY times when people that thought they could successfully leverage and make a “fortune” lose it all. I’m not saying leverage isn’t useful or wise because it certainly can be. But you know what I mean here.
So true about things being VERY easy when you buy with cash. VERY QUICK closings, no appraisals needed, no inspection (or an inspection with a promise that NOTHING will be asked of the seller unless there is some MAJOR problem discovered). Everything is quick and easy. Not to say no due diligence is done but it just makes things very easy when cash is involved.
Participant[quote=flu]who cares…
Anyone seeing any activity on attached homes on this market that isn’t crazy too? Seems still pretty crazy there too….
Anyone that’s in SS that is thinking about backing out in CV…Send me a PM….
Meanwhile…. Lol…
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-130029963-12607_El_Camino_Real_C_San_Diego_CA_92130
Welcome back to 2004-5 peak prices + more….
Same 3/3 went for around $620-40k back in 2004/05….[/quote]Welcome back flu!
So true about some prices selling above bubble year pricing. You know, I told my friends and clients that San Diego WOULD DEFINITELY see prices above peak years. I told them back in 2011 that I figured I was entering at a GREAT time. But I told them it might take a decade or more. I NEVER thought we’d be seeing these kinds of prices so soon.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Diego/3720-Mykonos-Ln-92130/unit-152/home/7541247
http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-130019020-3720_Mykonos_Ln_152_San_Diego_CA_92130
This one just sold for $570,000. It last sold I believe back in early 2007 for $565,000.
Participant[quote=ocrenter]
Agree, with such low inventory, if it isn’t the price, then something else is up with the property for it to sit in this market.
Del sur truly does have some very worrisome combo. The smaller condos/attached homes are priced at a price point that draw in dual income earners that likely have a tight budget, but they are then hit with high priced MR/HOA. I do agree with BG this is the perfect scenario for creation of the chronic paycheck to paycheck barely above water struggle that would lead to mass default if the economy experience another crash.[/quote]
Exactly. With the extremely low inventory, owners need to figure out if all the other houses around them are selling very quickly and theirs isn’t then something is wrong with that picture.
Yes, BG makes some good points about this ‘perfect storm’ scenario. In fact, I’ve seen it. There are some people that scape everything they have for the down payment and even after a year can’t even furnish their home! I met such a guy there. It seems crazy to me you’d finally buy a house but blow every last cent on the down payment in this competitive environment and not even be able to furnish your house! But I met a guy in Del Sur that falls in that category.
I also had some friends that formally lived in San Diego in this SAME scenario where they either lost a job or their spouse lost a job and they simply couldn’t afford their house/lifestyle even with it only being a few months!
Strange phenomenon here with people that buy $700,000 to $800,000+ houses here that are almost living paycheck to paycheck or that have major life events (medical issues, job loss, etc) and can’t handle it. It’s a bit scary to me to see that. But the job market here in San Diego is MUCH different vs. lots of city where someone can easily find another high paying job. That isn’t the case here in SD with the “sunshine tax”.
Participant[quote=FlyerInHi]ER, I think there is a growing global upper middle class for whom an American education and speaking American English is a rite of passage, and they have the ability to pay for it. They are not filthy rich corrupt politicians but solidly upper middle class professionals and business people.
That means that large American cities where there are seizable immigrant communities (people like to find familiar stuff from back home) and good quality of life will be attractive.
I’ve met families where mom and kids would relocate to America for education while Dad stays and works back home
Internationally, in developing economies, the middle class is growing. That bodes well real estate prices.
There will be cycles. So my motto is to buy right after a crisis in locations where you know you can manage and/or enjoy the properties. I have a couple more cycles before i die.
BTW, one condo that I wanted to turn VRBO, I will lease out first. Then I’ll use that rental income to remodel after the tenant moves out. The carpet was still decent so I’ll let the tenant destroy it before I rip it out for hard flooring.[/quote]
Yep. I totally agree. As a pilot, I assume you have a GREAT experience going all over the world and meeting interesting people from all walks of life in many countries.
Having an office abroad and having lived abroad for almost a decade, I see the same types of things. Really in many countries their government is rife with fraud and abuse. NOTHING compared to the USA. We have NOTHING to complain about compared to these countries.
As well, for many people it comes down to safety. Many of these people want to own a second property in the USA as it’s safe here compared to their home countries. Here again, we have nothing to complain about, especially here in San Diego where it’s VERY safe.
Great about the VRBO property. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about short-term rentals. I feel like I’m a PRO in that field. Good luck with the rental.
-
AuthorPosts
