[hipmatt]

I though there were a lot of good points too. Like the boomers not needing them, I think if energy continues to rocket upwards, which is likely, then these MCMansions will be less desirable. I remember when a 2000 sqft home was big in the early 80’s, now unless you have 3500sqft or more, you are in a small house. Its funny, the MCMansion 2story behind my smaller 1 story, always runs their AC, even when its less than 65 degrees in the evening, I know of elec. bills in the summer that cost more than $300 per month, now thats just throwing money away.

[hipmatt]

I though there were a lot of good points too. Like the boomers not needing them, I think if energy continues to rocket upwards, which is likely, then these MCMansions will be less desirable. I remember when a 2000 sqft home was big in the early 80’s, now unless you have 3500sqft or more, you are in a small house. Its funny, the MCMansion 2story behind my smaller 1 story, always runs their AC, even when its less than 65 degrees in the evening, I know of elec. bills in the summer that cost more than $300 per month, now thats just throwing money away.

[hipmatt]

23109VC –
Wow, I was laughing when I first read your post, not because of your purchase, but because, we all had figured that you had finally became decisive, and decided to stay put renting your home, for a relatively low price, if I’m not mistaken. My wife was watching me, and noticed me laughing, I was so surprised that you pulled the trigger, but I guess I shouldn’t be. I will congrat you on your purchase, but I do think your logic is seriously flawed…

you claim….
i ran all the numbers of renting vs buying. and candidly – i’m going to be paying about the same to buy this house compared to renting something similar.

I would love to hear/see the details of this rational… I personally don’t see it anywhere near breaking even, even after the overhyped tax and interest tax breaks.

If I’m not mistaken, you rent for somewhere between 1400-1600 a month right? I remember congratulating you on your exceptional (rental)deal. And you were going to go %100 on the purchase right? Explain to me, how you think you can finance a $350k home, pay about $7k in taxes per year, pay a $120 HOA, home ins, and P&I, and come remotely close to $1400-$1800 in rent you pay? Especially with out the use of an extremely toxic I.O. loan or some other silly type of “rental” loan, in which you don’t really pay your debt down in a any reasonable fashion.

I come up with $2700-2800 TOTAL payment of P&I, taxes, ins, hoa with 350k financed, and 6% fixed 30 year loan. So you are paying at least $1100 more per month, the way I see it, before your tax write offs…. Do you really think that you will be able to realize that $1100 per month in decreased income tax payments? I don’t see you saving $1100 per months in taxes, to make your break even point, but even if it did, and the property continues to depreciate… you could be in some real trouble.. I thought you agreed to take advantage of your cheap rent, save, and then buy at a lower price in the future(with a down payment), IMHO, this is a great way to go for you, anyways, I would love to hear your side on this issue, and if my math is way off, let me know.

And then….

no_such_reality….

You are looking at the picture completely wrong… you think that if homes drop in price, but rates go up, the monthly payment will be the same, so everything is fine, and you should go buy a house anyways, cause it won’t matter.

You are wrong it does matter, to a cash buyer, or a buyer that has a sizable down payment, rates DO NOT MATTER nearly as much as to the “all I can afford is a 100% financing interest only loan” crowd, who shouldn’t be buying in the first place. This is the reason prices went up so high to begin with, easy credit, and I don’t know about you, but my goal, is to own a home free and clear, not just finance the hell out of things for life. There is much more to things than monthly payment… It will matter when you go to sell that house, and you owe more than it is worth, and the smart ones, will have equity. BTW, even if rates go up, and we buy a cheaper home at a higher rate, and the payment is still a bit high, we can still refi at the next lowpoint for rates.

The ability to build equity can justify a slightly higher payment, but since most here agree, that owning a home now isn’t building you any equity, or is actually sapping your equity, and for many more, they have negative equity, is yelling at me to avoid buying a home for a while.

Anyways, congrats to those who are buying a home responsibly, and for the long haul, the houses are very nice.

[hipmatt]

23109VC –
Wow, I was laughing when I first read your post, not because of your purchase, but because, we all had figured that you had finally became decisive, and decided to stay put renting your home, for a relatively low price, if I’m not mistaken. My wife was watching me, and noticed me laughing, I was so surprised that you pulled the trigger, but I guess I shouldn’t be. I will congrat you on your purchase, but I do think your logic is seriously flawed…

you claim….
i ran all the numbers of renting vs buying. and candidly – i’m going to be paying about the same to buy this house compared to renting something similar.

I would love to hear/see the details of this rational… I personally don’t see it anywhere near breaking even, even after the overhyped tax and interest tax breaks.

If I’m not mistaken, you rent for somewhere between 1400-1600 a month right? I remember congratulating you on your exceptional (rental)deal. And you were going to go %100 on the purchase right? Explain to me, how you think you can finance a $350k home, pay about $7k in taxes per year, pay a $120 HOA, home ins, and P&I, and come remotely close to $1400-$1800 in rent you pay? Especially with out the use of an extremely toxic I.O. loan or some other silly type of “rental” loan, in which you don’t really pay your debt down in a any reasonable fashion.

I come up with $2700-2800 TOTAL payment of P&I, taxes, ins, hoa with 350k financed, and 6% fixed 30 year loan. So you are paying at least $1100 more per month, the way I see it, before your tax write offs…. Do you really think that you will be able to realize that $1100 per month in decreased income tax payments? I don’t see you saving $1100 per months in taxes, to make your break even point, but even if it did, and the property continues to depreciate… you could be in some real trouble.. I thought you agreed to take advantage of your cheap rent, save, and then buy at a lower price in the future(with a down payment), IMHO, this is a great way to go for you, anyways, I would love to hear your side on this issue, and if my math is way off, let me know.

And then….

no_such_reality….

You are looking at the picture completely wrong… you think that if homes drop in price, but rates go up, the monthly payment will be the same, so everything is fine, and you should go buy a house anyways, cause it won’t matter.

You are wrong it does matter, to a cash buyer, or a buyer that has a sizable down payment, rates DO NOT MATTER nearly as much as to the “all I can afford is a 100% financing interest only loan” crowd, who shouldn’t be buying in the first place. This is the reason prices went up so high to begin with, easy credit, and I don’t know about you, but my goal, is to own a home free and clear, not just finance the hell out of things for life. There is much more to things than monthly payment… It will matter when you go to sell that house, and you owe more than it is worth, and the smart ones, will have equity. BTW, even if rates go up, and we buy a cheaper home at a higher rate, and the payment is still a bit high, we can still refi at the next lowpoint for rates.

The ability to build equity can justify a slightly higher payment, but since most here agree, that owning a home now isn’t building you any equity, or is actually sapping your equity, and for many more, they have negative equity, is yelling at me to avoid buying a home for a while.

Anyways, congrats to those who are buying a home responsibly, and for the long haul, the houses are very nice.

[hipmatt]

ohh dear.. I hope 23109VC doesn’t see this.. this all he needs to see to send him off into yet another state of massive confusion for another few weeks and many posts here to follow… geezzzeeee …. j/k 23109VC

Newguy.. congrats on your purchase, as long as you plan on staying here for a while, this will probably be OK. I really like the fact that you are putting 20% down. I realize that the builders are slashing prices, and the deal you have seems pretty good, relatively speaking. I also live in Harveston, since 6-2005, and it is a mostly nice place to live. I live in the plan 1 (single story) of Prescott, but not in Prescott, and that is a great floorplan too. I currently rent, and am not ready to jump into buying yet. I personally feel that this area has a long ways to go down, and the area itself poses higher risks (real estate market) than some other cities in socal. I definitely don’t need over 3000 sqft of home, nor would I like to heat and cool a home of that size (esp. 2 story), but I might jump back in if I can get a decent 2500sqft single story for about $325k or so. The supply of homes keeps climbing here, and this IS just the first of the price cuts.

I would consider buying in Harveston if..
A. the taxes weren’t so damned high, or B.. housing was much cheaper, and C.. the lots weren’t so small.

That being said, good luck! and enjoy your new home and community! Thanks for sharing your story with us, especially considering the nature of this site!

[hipmatt]

ohh dear.. I hope 23109VC doesn’t see this.. this all he needs to see to send him off into yet another state of massive confusion for another few weeks and many posts here to follow… geezzzeeee …. j/k 23109VC

Newguy.. congrats on your purchase, as long as you plan on staying here for a while, this will probably be OK. I really like the fact that you are putting 20% down. I realize that the builders are slashing prices, and the deal you have seems pretty good, relatively speaking. I also live in Harveston, since 6-2005, and it is a mostly nice place to live. I live in the plan 1 (single story) of Prescott, but not in Prescott, and that is a great floorplan too. I currently rent, and am not ready to jump into buying yet. I personally feel that this area has a long ways to go down, and the area itself poses higher risks (real estate market) than some other cities in socal. I definitely don’t need over 3000 sqft of home, nor would I like to heat and cool a home of that size (esp. 2 story), but I might jump back in if I can get a decent 2500sqft single story for about $325k or so. The supply of homes keeps climbing here, and this IS just the first of the price cuts.

I would consider buying in Harveston if..
A. the taxes weren’t so damned high, or B.. housing was much cheaper, and C.. the lots weren’t so small.

That being said, good luck! and enjoy your new home and community! Thanks for sharing your story with us, especially considering the nature of this site!

[hipmatt]

try the craigslist inland empire..

[hipmatt]

try the craigslist inland empire..

[hipmatt]

2004 levels… hmm they are just around the corner if not already here. Thats not much or a retreat…. I still think this will last until around 2010 and will see about 2002 levels.

[hipmatt]

2004 levels… hmm they are just around the corner if not already here. Thats not much or a retreat…. I still think this will last until around 2010 and will see about 2002 levels.

[hipmatt]

KB homes do suck though.. last time I was looking at KB homes , you had to pay extra for everything… fireplaces, islands, 3rd car garages, and everything else, was not standard, and you had to pay extra for those things. By the time you added the essentials, the house was way overpriced.

Up in the IE, Lennar seems to me to be the best built, have the most standard features, and is still priced well(compared to the competition).

Temecula Guy… is also chomping at the bit to get into a home here. This is just the beginning guys, it will get worse, trying to bet the bottom in a matter of months isn’t gonna do it.. it will take a few more years, but I do agree and have said that 50% off is likely, especially up here in these areas.

[hipmatt]

KB homes do suck though.. last time I was looking at KB homes , you had to pay extra for everything… fireplaces, islands, 3rd car garages, and everything else, was not standard, and you had to pay extra for those things. By the time you added the essentials, the house was way overpriced.

Up in the IE, Lennar seems to me to be the best built, have the most standard features, and is still priced well(compared to the competition).

Temecula Guy… is also chomping at the bit to get into a home here. This is just the beginning guys, it will get worse, trying to bet the bottom in a matter of months isn’t gonna do it.. it will take a few more years, but I do agree and have said that 50% off is likely, especially up here in these areas.

[hipmatt]

Are you sure that house was going for $650k plus?

[hipmatt]

Are you sure that house was going for $650k plus?

[hipmatt]

Its funny, the things I read here.. like Temecula isn’t how it was 10 years ago… I would take the Temecula 10 years ago to the Temecula today in a second. I have lived in and around Temecula since 1990. Temecula was so nice in the early 90’s, it was a mellow, quiet, rural ranch town.

There was lots of horses, open rolling hills, minimal traffic, and mellow, down to earth people. Crime was virtually non existent, and people had patience and seemed to have better values. We didn’t have a mall, but had everything one really could need. It was a nice secluded area, close enough to all the amenities of SD, LA, OC, and Riverside/SB, but just far enough to escape all the madness and ugliness. You could ride dirt bikes in hills all over the valley. Lifted trucks were actually used off road. The I 15 was considered the best freeway in socal. I remember people had license plates that said..”Heaven is living in Temecula”.. and I kind of agreed with that… now, I am looking to leave, and am a bit embarrassed by my community.

I suppose many here would laugh at the thought of this once, smaller semi-hick town, and why I would like living there.

Fast forward to 2007… the supposed “newer”/”better” Temecula.. hmm, a mini rat race full of lifted heavy duty trucks, SUV driving-silicone trophy wives, mega-McMansion envy syndrome, bad traffic, and its growing concentration of people who lack substance….

If you think about it, all the benefits of Temecula seem to attract shallow people… like you said 23109vc…
people move here so they can have a bigger MC Mansion, a Hummer, a rolex, a starbucks in had as they frequent Costco, trendy landscape and interior, even if these things don’t add to a happier life.

And then there is the reference to Greer Ranch, … what an over rated community if I ever saw one…. absolutely over priced, in the middle of Wildomar, which has horrible emergency response and law enforcement.. (I know from experience), virtually all of the amenities are in Temecula, the taxes and HOA there are insane, and you are bordering Lake Elsinore… please.. there is a sucker born every minute, and if he is paying $800k to live in Queer Ranch, then definitely they are a sucker. Ya.. sign me up for $1200 month in taxes alone… what a waste..

Temeculans are hurting for money, inflation, gas, and mortgages, credit card debt are all killing many of them. Wages up here aren’t appreciating that fast, and many that did, are RE related and will crumble. This is still a bedroom community. If you think that cops, teachers, nurses, and retail employees can afford $500k homes you are drinking the same kool aid as your RE agent. Most who make 6 figures commute, and this is no secret. So yeah.. I still see a large drop in Temecula RE.

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