[Jazzman]

[quote=SD Realtor]Maybe nsr, however I tend to fall into agreement with the author.

I hope for my kids sake I am wrong but I don’t see the direction of the country changing. I think we have way to much inertia in the “you will be taken care of” direction. We have 10’s of millions who need it, and we have dug ourselves into a hole where we cannot stop providing for them. The party that provides the most will always be elected now.

I see no way out, perhaps others do.[/quote]
It is hard to argue entitlement is out of control, when many see their plight linked to large entities that received government handouts for being “evil.” If jobs reduce dependency on entitlements, then clearly we need more jobs. But jobs that pay enough to provide the incentive to work and soon, before inertia takes a hold and the culture of not working becomes deep-seated. The wealth gap may also be unwittingly pushing the entitlement agenda. In that context, reversing entitlement is difficult to navigate, so learning to live with it and accepting the costs—if equitably spread—is perhaps an answer.

[Jazzman]

[quote=bearishgurl][quote=Jazzman]Dear Eve39

[snip]

Firstly, and belatedly welcome to San Diego (from San Diegan’s (I don’t live there)) and au revoir if you have already left (that’s OK, I left too). This is my assumption since you haven’t responded.

[snip]

Yours sincerely,

Jazzman
(Also not from around here)[/quote]

@Jazzman, of course Eve could help us out here if she checks back in but I think you might possibly have the wrong saluation. Try “Vis es: snart.”

In my experience, most of the European residents residing in Pt Loma are Swedes :)[/quote]

An American, a Finn and a Swede are in the sauna together. Suddenly there is a “beep beep” sound, and the American starts to look at the palm of his hand.

“What are you doing?” asks the Finn.

The American replies: “This is the latest Apple technology. I’ve got my pager embedded in the palm of my hand, so I don’t have to carry it around any more.”

Then the familiar old Nokia ring tone is heard, and the Finn starts looking at the palm of his hand.

“What are you doing?” ask the other guys.

The Finn replies: “This is the latest Nokia technology. I’ve got my mobile phone embedded in the palm of my hand, so I don’t have to carry it around any more.”

The Swede thinks to himself that he’d better not be outdone by these guys, so he leaves the sauna. In a couple of minutes he returns, and there is toilet paper hanging out of his bum!

“What the hell is that??” shout the other guys in unison.

“I’m getting a fax.” says the Swede.

[Jazzman]

Dear Eve39

If you are still with us and haven’t been driven to another planet by now, you will have an idea of …well, how things are in San Diego, and probably in many other places. Not knowing where you are from, perhaps it’s the same there too.

Firstly, and belatedly welcome to San Diego (from San Diegan’s (I don’t live there)) and au revoir if you have already left (that’s OK, I left too). This is my assumption since you haven’t responded.

Whatever (Californian for I wasn’t around in the 60s but my Dad was), I hope you are well (immunized) and don’t catch the contagion. If you do, you may find it is not covered by Obamacare, but the Federal Reserve has limited space on its rehabilitation program, so you need to hurry. Actually you don’t. Cash may have a better home (no pun intended) if you are working.

Yours sincerely,

Jazzman
(Also not from around here)

[Jazzman]

[quote=spdrun]

Expect to pay up to 50% of income on expenses (property manager, maintenance, insurance, HOAs, vacancy, lease fee, advertising, some utilities, property tax).

Condo doesn’t need a property manager and if you pick the right one, maintenance is minimal. Insurance is mostly picked up by the HOA fee, landlord’s liability is cheap. What lease fee? What advertising? Craigslist is free, and I’ve never checked a tenant’s credit, just interviewed VERRRRRY carefully, asked for multiple references, checked them out online, and looked if the story made sense.[/quote]

The OP is not from the US. Would you dive into an RE investment in a foreign country? You need to understand eviction laws, how to deal with late payments, tenant and landlord rights and responsibilities, rent controls, liability issues, maintenance regulations (lead paint, asbestos and mold), background checks, credit checks, lease contracts, references, interviewing techniques. You need 24 hour contractors that you trust. It is time consuming, full of potential problems that can very quickly turn into a train wreck. A good property manager will do all this for you, and the costs I mention are relating to a managed property. You may be charged up to one months rent for a new lease.

Owning a condo is no different other than exterior maintenance and basic building insurance. You are, however, paying for that in HOA fees. You WILL need liability insurance.

There are a lot of part-time investors who have just one home they inherited or bought many years ago in their own backyard, where they know everyone and have had the same reliable tenant for years. The other side of RE investing can be very different. If you do your research, always expect the unexpected and prepare for the worst you’ll probably be OK. Rule one for me is always over-estimate the costs and I know many investors who use the 50% rule. That is conservative in my experience. Because it hasn’t happened to you doesn’t mean that it won’t happen, or happen to someone else.

[Jazzman]

The first question has to be: Are you going to manage it yourself? If so, are you confident about the process? Secondly, if you are after income you need to find something that offers a good margin, not just breaks even. Break even is CA talk for hoping prices continue to increase. Expect to pay up to 50% of income on expenses (property manager, maintenance, insurance, HOAs, vacancy, lease fee, advertising, some utilities, property tax). In other words, you need a rent ratio of about 1 (for every $100k invested aim for $1k monthly rent). To achieve this you need to be at the lower end which as someone has pointed out is higher risk. Note that higher risk can be very high risk = zero gains. A good property manager is worth his/her weight in gold. Spend six months educating yourself on investing in RE before taking the plunge. I doubt you will find what you are looking for in SD. You may want to consider looking further afield. Bear in mind that inventory is still low in many parts of the US.

[Jazzman]

I don’t know, Rick is always following me about 🙂 Nice video of Beynac castle, which I haven’t been inside yet. My next door (castle door) neighbor BTW.

[Jazzman]

[quote=ocrenter][quote=FlyerInHi]

I was admonished to look at facts. At this point the headline “SUV driver is chased and beaten after running over motorcyclist”, while sensational, is more factual than any presumption of guilt or innocence.[/quote]

That implies Lien instigated the chain of event by running over the motorcyclist.

That is simply not true nor impartial.

if you want a headline that’s absolutely impartial and gets to the heart of the problem, it would be:

“Full blown melee between SUV and biker gang in broad daylight in middle of NYC, police presence completely absent.”[/quote]

Better still: heated road incident between motorcycles and SUV leads to injuries. That avoids the use of “gangs” or blaming the police.

[Jazzman]

[quote=FlyerInHi]There is still a lot of investigating to be done.

The police did not charge one of the bikers who was pounding on the window of the SUV.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/02/us/new-york-bikers-attack-video/index.html

There were quite a few bikers. Some caused mischief, others could have been trying to help.

I was admonished to look at facts. At this point the headline “SUV driver is chased and beaten after running over motorcyclist”, while sensational, is more factual than any presumption of guilt or innocence.[/quote]

I agree with the above. Emotions, prejudices, and then rushing to judgement obfuscate. The videos look like a good source of evidence, but we don’t know if they have been edited. I still wonder whether the truth (facts) will emerge. They become so quickly buried by the taking-sides mentality. Movies love to play on this emotional compartmentalizing. We’re addicted to it in real life and in fantasy and some of us don’t know the difference.

[Jazzman]

[quote=all][quote=FlyerInHi][quote=spdrun]

That was my first reaction, but from all I hear, the bikers really were that bad, while not 100% blameless, Lein was the innocent party here.[/quote]

You’re presuming that these bikers are troublemakers like the other bike gangs you saw on tv. There are lots of presumptions and few facts only analysis.

Assume you’re a young guy riding peacefully with your buddies. An SUV comes along and swipes a rider and keeps on driving. Would all the other guys not want to stop the SUV?[/quote]

Watch the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ukdkgLYYbw%5B/quote%5D

The SUV looks to be too close to a motorcycle in front. The biker in the white shirt seems to be remonstrating with him about it and then stupidly pulls on his brakes too hard probably not giving enough space and time for the SUV to avoid a collision. The SUV wasn’t the only car on the road so it wasn’t his mere presence. A white van pulls passed just after the altercation. I am a biker and there has always been tension between bikes and cars. 90% of bike accidents are caused by cars (according to the DMV). Attitudes towards bikes is tainted and this incident won’t help. From the video it looks like the biker in the white “T” shirt let his animosity and bravado get the better of him. On the other hand, panicking and running over a motorcycle does not look good and will require some explaining. Did he not see the motorcycle or were there threats that made him panic blindly? The question is: as the media circus and litigation hucksters twist and distort will the truth ever emerge?

[Jazzman]

I’m confused about which bubble we’re talking; the bond bubble, or as someone termed it RE bubble II? Notwithstanding the recent comments about the postponements of tapering, I don’t know why anyone would still be in bonds, given the clear market signal in June of this year. Fixed income seekers were pushed into them, and again got their fingers burnt. Rotating out of them is fictional. Nobody talks about the silent minority, presumably because they are judged to be better able to cope. It’s now been six years since the bubble burst and the Great Recession. What have we got to show for it, and what are the lessons learnt? Nothing but more bubbles? I see no real signs for hope, just a diminishing pool of alternatives. It is not so much a transfer of wealth as a black hole.

[Jazzman]

I don’t think it’s always about, or should always be about “what’s in it for us?” We are all part of humanity. If an old man drops his wallet on the sidewalk, by picking it up for him, you are not calculating what the gain is (I hope).

[Jazzman]

SK and CA you are both spot on. Speculation, pontificating, and opining from the comfort of one’s armchair may satisfy an inner need to understand, rationalize, and justify, but as you both mention the realities–whether deliberately misrepresented, or not–are missing so much detail the wrong conclusions are as likely to be drawn. It’s a good habit to preface one’s opinions with that admission, but then it’s much harder to find any listeners.

[Jazzman]

Wars always seem messy and complex up close. History tends to rationalize, or justify events into a digestible format. Imagine what post world war periods were like. All seems neat and tidy now. I don’t think there was anything to win in Afghanistan or Iraq in a war sense. There were stated objectives which seem to have been partially fulfilled, but the underlying causes have been ratcheted up if anything. Whatever you think about US foreign policy, I believe they are the world policeman of choice at the moment.

[Jazzman]

If the gas was used by the Assad regime, he (Assad) may not have ordered the attack or even known about it. If the ‘rebels’ used it, then they are already in possession of a weapon of mass destruction, so we need to worry if claims are they could be used against the US? I hear no evidence the US is proclaiming the opposition as freedom fighters. I hear a lot of reservations about who they really are, and what might follow. This seems to have explained the delayed intervention. US polls suggest the public is against the attack, but is that war weariness, or this particular scenario that they don’t like? Has the US angle been largely about protecting its own interests? Yes. Is there ever a case to argue for policy shaped by humanitarian causes. Probably, even if only measured by self interest. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t so political risk becomes ambiguous. How so?

The attacks will only inflame insurgents, and draw more people to their cause. But putting that and interests aside, can the US stand by and watch if the region erupts into violence? 1) Yes, but there will be a price to pay when they are asked why didn’t they, when they could have. 2) No, but there are always unintended consequences of taking sides.

One question that bothers me is how can the destruction of chemical weapons be contained, not just from collateral damage, but the expulsion of the gas from missile strikes?

[Jazzman]

BG said “In a nutshell, today’s family-raising buyer’s “expectations” are w-a-a-a-y too high for life’s little realities, IMO. Those soaring “expectations” have kept more than a few prospective buyers perpetual renters.”

You make it sound like renting is a bad thing? Not everyone is fated to be a home owner. If memory serves, only 50% of LA residents are home owners. If you are disappointed because your expectations are not being met, might it be that “life’s little realities” are at fault, not your high expectations? I like to think of my expectations as being rooted in higher standards, which is not always synonymous with higher prices.

[Author]

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