[jabrwoki]

Allan : Dont sweat it too much. More people have been wrong than right on the timing their purchase (At least that is how I console myself after missing much of the RE boom and see my savings deflate :-)). Good luck on your land hunt in Napa !

[jabrwoki]

Allan : Dont sweat it too much. More people have been wrong than right on the timing their purchase (At least that is how I console myself after missing much of the RE boom and see my savings deflate :-)). Good luck on your land hunt in Napa !

[jabrwoki]

Allan : Dont sweat it too much. More people have been wrong than right on the timing their purchase (At least that is how I console myself after missing much of the RE boom and see my savings deflate :-)). Good luck on your land hunt in Napa !

[jabrwoki]

Allan : Dont sweat it too much. More people have been wrong than right on the timing their purchase (At least that is how I console myself after missing much of the RE boom and see my savings deflate :-)). Good luck on your land hunt in Napa !

[jabrwoki]

Allan : Dont sweat it too much. More people have been wrong than right on the timing their purchase (At least that is how I console myself after missing much of the RE boom and see my savings deflate :-)). Good luck on your land hunt in Napa !

[jabrwoki]

I dont know about Santa Clara/San Jose (heard it is definitely softer than deadly trio Sunnyvale/MV/PA) but the most likely explanation is the Google effect. More confirmation that this is the case is that in most cases I heard the buyers put down a lot of cash (close to 80 to 100%). In a way buyers here realize that the stock market is probably in lala-land as far as Google stock price is concerned so it is easy-come, easy-go as far as the cash is concerned. In retrospect that may not be a bad idea because I know personally people who converted their 2000 stock gains into purchasing whether in Los Altos or Carmel Valley didnt regret it.
Another anecdote, one of the open houses I toured in Pleasanton, the owner said they are moving to Napa/Sonoma to retire. Probably good move since they were trying to sell their cookie-cutter in Pleasanton for $1.3mil !! Dont know whether they were successful in the sale though. There definitely is serious price pressures on the fringes of BA RE though no seriously plunges yet. Napa/Sonoma technically is too far out for working folks though and cannot be considered part of BA RE.

[jabrwoki]

I dont know about Santa Clara/San Jose (heard it is definitely softer than deadly trio Sunnyvale/MV/PA) but the most likely explanation is the Google effect. More confirmation that this is the case is that in most cases I heard the buyers put down a lot of cash (close to 80 to 100%). In a way buyers here realize that the stock market is probably in lala-land as far as Google stock price is concerned so it is easy-come, easy-go as far as the cash is concerned. In retrospect that may not be a bad idea because I know personally people who converted their 2000 stock gains into purchasing whether in Los Altos or Carmel Valley didnt regret it.
Another anecdote, one of the open houses I toured in Pleasanton, the owner said they are moving to Napa/Sonoma to retire. Probably good move since they were trying to sell their cookie-cutter in Pleasanton for $1.3mil !! Dont know whether they were successful in the sale though. There definitely is serious price pressures on the fringes of BA RE though no seriously plunges yet. Napa/Sonoma technically is too far out for working folks though and cannot be considered part of BA RE.

[jabrwoki]

I dont know about Santa Clara/San Jose (heard it is definitely softer than deadly trio Sunnyvale/MV/PA) but the most likely explanation is the Google effect. More confirmation that this is the case is that in most cases I heard the buyers put down a lot of cash (close to 80 to 100%). In a way buyers here realize that the stock market is probably in lala-land as far as Google stock price is concerned so it is easy-come, easy-go as far as the cash is concerned. In retrospect that may not be a bad idea because I know personally people who converted their 2000 stock gains into purchasing whether in Los Altos or Carmel Valley didnt regret it.
Another anecdote, one of the open houses I toured in Pleasanton, the owner said they are moving to Napa/Sonoma to retire. Probably good move since they were trying to sell their cookie-cutter in Pleasanton for $1.3mil !! Dont know whether they were successful in the sale though. There definitely is serious price pressures on the fringes of BA RE though no seriously plunges yet. Napa/Sonoma technically is too far out for working folks though and cannot be considered part of BA RE.

[jabrwoki]

I dont know about Santa Clara/San Jose (heard it is definitely softer than deadly trio Sunnyvale/MV/PA) but the most likely explanation is the Google effect. More confirmation that this is the case is that in most cases I heard the buyers put down a lot of cash (close to 80 to 100%). In a way buyers here realize that the stock market is probably in lala-land as far as Google stock price is concerned so it is easy-come, easy-go as far as the cash is concerned. In retrospect that may not be a bad idea because I know personally people who converted their 2000 stock gains into purchasing whether in Los Altos or Carmel Valley didnt regret it.
Another anecdote, one of the open houses I toured in Pleasanton, the owner said they are moving to Napa/Sonoma to retire. Probably good move since they were trying to sell their cookie-cutter in Pleasanton for $1.3mil !! Dont know whether they were successful in the sale though. There definitely is serious price pressures on the fringes of BA RE though no seriously plunges yet. Napa/Sonoma technically is too far out for working folks though and cannot be considered part of BA RE.

[jabrwoki]

I dont know about Santa Clara/San Jose (heard it is definitely softer than deadly trio Sunnyvale/MV/PA) but the most likely explanation is the Google effect. More confirmation that this is the case is that in most cases I heard the buyers put down a lot of cash (close to 80 to 100%). In a way buyers here realize that the stock market is probably in lala-land as far as Google stock price is concerned so it is easy-come, easy-go as far as the cash is concerned. In retrospect that may not be a bad idea because I know personally people who converted their 2000 stock gains into purchasing whether in Los Altos or Carmel Valley didnt regret it.
Another anecdote, one of the open houses I toured in Pleasanton, the owner said they are moving to Napa/Sonoma to retire. Probably good move since they were trying to sell their cookie-cutter in Pleasanton for $1.3mil !! Dont know whether they were successful in the sale though. There definitely is serious price pressures on the fringes of BA RE though no seriously plunges yet. Napa/Sonoma technically is too far out for working folks though and cannot be considered part of BA RE.

[jabrwoki]

Having been a resident of both SD and bay area I can concur with both raptorduck and allan than things are different in the bay area than SD. I missed the RE boom in SD never imagining it might reach such stratospheric heights (by SD standards).Right when I moved to BA in 2001 it appeared that housing was much more expensive here than in SD (despite the 1998-2001 boom in Carmel valley) and I decided to buy a townhome in Mountain View which I had to sell when I moved back to SD in 2003 (barely broke even but now that same house is worth 30% more). I watched with incredulity the SD market (mainly Carmel valley) moving beyond the wildest imagination in 2005-06 timeframe. I moved back to BA last year (wisely deciding not to buy in SD for the last two years). While the boom seems to have run out of steam in SD it is still going gangbusters in the peninsula area (which includes Palo Alto, LAH etc). At least two of my friends are active in the buyer’s market and they have been outbid at least on 10 houses in the past year. One had to increase his budget from $1.2 to $1.5mil (since he was keen on staying within Palo Alto schools) and still keeps getting outbid evertime so far. The problem being there is no land left in these areas. The desirable outskirts of BA definitely (like Pleasanton, San Ramon etc) has seen price pressure in the last year but still is not bad since it is not rife with flipping and liar loans of the SoCal. Bottom line is despite all the market turmoil and economy stalling, prices here are at statospheric heights and there still seem to be plenty of buyers for the desirable locales ! And trust me I am no bubble denier !!

[jabrwoki]

Having been a resident of both SD and bay area I can concur with both raptorduck and allan than things are different in the bay area than SD. I missed the RE boom in SD never imagining it might reach such stratospheric heights (by SD standards).Right when I moved to BA in 2001 it appeared that housing was much more expensive here than in SD (despite the 1998-2001 boom in Carmel valley) and I decided to buy a townhome in Mountain View which I had to sell when I moved back to SD in 2003 (barely broke even but now that same house is worth 30% more). I watched with incredulity the SD market (mainly Carmel valley) moving beyond the wildest imagination in 2005-06 timeframe. I moved back to BA last year (wisely deciding not to buy in SD for the last two years). While the boom seems to have run out of steam in SD it is still going gangbusters in the peninsula area (which includes Palo Alto, LAH etc). At least two of my friends are active in the buyer’s market and they have been outbid at least on 10 houses in the past year. One had to increase his budget from $1.2 to $1.5mil (since he was keen on staying within Palo Alto schools) and still keeps getting outbid evertime so far. The problem being there is no land left in these areas. The desirable outskirts of BA definitely (like Pleasanton, San Ramon etc) has seen price pressure in the last year but still is not bad since it is not rife with flipping and liar loans of the SoCal. Bottom line is despite all the market turmoil and economy stalling, prices here are at statospheric heights and there still seem to be plenty of buyers for the desirable locales ! And trust me I am no bubble denier !!

[jabrwoki]

Having been a resident of both SD and bay area I can concur with both raptorduck and allan than things are different in the bay area than SD. I missed the RE boom in SD never imagining it might reach such stratospheric heights (by SD standards).Right when I moved to BA in 2001 it appeared that housing was much more expensive here than in SD (despite the 1998-2001 boom in Carmel valley) and I decided to buy a townhome in Mountain View which I had to sell when I moved back to SD in 2003 (barely broke even but now that same house is worth 30% more). I watched with incredulity the SD market (mainly Carmel valley) moving beyond the wildest imagination in 2005-06 timeframe. I moved back to BA last year (wisely deciding not to buy in SD for the last two years). While the boom seems to have run out of steam in SD it is still going gangbusters in the peninsula area (which includes Palo Alto, LAH etc). At least two of my friends are active in the buyer’s market and they have been outbid at least on 10 houses in the past year. One had to increase his budget from $1.2 to $1.5mil (since he was keen on staying within Palo Alto schools) and still keeps getting outbid evertime so far. The problem being there is no land left in these areas. The desirable outskirts of BA definitely (like Pleasanton, San Ramon etc) has seen price pressure in the last year but still is not bad since it is not rife with flipping and liar loans of the SoCal. Bottom line is despite all the market turmoil and economy stalling, prices here are at statospheric heights and there still seem to be plenty of buyers for the desirable locales ! And trust me I am no bubble denier !!

[jabrwoki]

Having been a resident of both SD and bay area I can concur with both raptorduck and allan than things are different in the bay area than SD. I missed the RE boom in SD never imagining it might reach such stratospheric heights (by SD standards).Right when I moved to BA in 2001 it appeared that housing was much more expensive here than in SD (despite the 1998-2001 boom in Carmel valley) and I decided to buy a townhome in Mountain View which I had to sell when I moved back to SD in 2003 (barely broke even but now that same house is worth 30% more). I watched with incredulity the SD market (mainly Carmel valley) moving beyond the wildest imagination in 2005-06 timeframe. I moved back to BA last year (wisely deciding not to buy in SD for the last two years). While the boom seems to have run out of steam in SD it is still going gangbusters in the peninsula area (which includes Palo Alto, LAH etc). At least two of my friends are active in the buyer’s market and they have been outbid at least on 10 houses in the past year. One had to increase his budget from $1.2 to $1.5mil (since he was keen on staying within Palo Alto schools) and still keeps getting outbid evertime so far. The problem being there is no land left in these areas. The desirable outskirts of BA definitely (like Pleasanton, San Ramon etc) has seen price pressure in the last year but still is not bad since it is not rife with flipping and liar loans of the SoCal. Bottom line is despite all the market turmoil and economy stalling, prices here are at statospheric heights and there still seem to be plenty of buyers for the desirable locales ! And trust me I am no bubble denier !!

[jabrwoki]

Having been a resident of both SD and bay area I can concur with both raptorduck and allan than things are different in the bay area than SD. I missed the RE boom in SD never imagining it might reach such stratospheric heights (by SD standards).Right when I moved to BA in 2001 it appeared that housing was much more expensive here than in SD (despite the 1998-2001 boom in Carmel valley) and I decided to buy a townhome in Mountain View which I had to sell when I moved back to SD in 2003 (barely broke even but now that same house is worth 30% more). I watched with incredulity the SD market (mainly Carmel valley) moving beyond the wildest imagination in 2005-06 timeframe. I moved back to BA last year (wisely deciding not to buy in SD for the last two years). While the boom seems to have run out of steam in SD it is still going gangbusters in the peninsula area (which includes Palo Alto, LAH etc). At least two of my friends are active in the buyer’s market and they have been outbid at least on 10 houses in the past year. One had to increase his budget from $1.2 to $1.5mil (since he was keen on staying within Palo Alto schools) and still keeps getting outbid evertime so far. The problem being there is no land left in these areas. The desirable outskirts of BA definitely (like Pleasanton, San Ramon etc) has seen price pressure in the last year but still is not bad since it is not rife with flipping and liar loans of the SoCal. Bottom line is despite all the market turmoil and economy stalling, prices here are at statospheric heights and there still seem to be plenty of buyers for the desirable locales ! And trust me I am no bubble denier !!

[Author]

Posts