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April 14, 2015 at 7:27 PM in reply to: The cost of an Ivy League undergrad degree next year…. #784718
joec
Participantflu,
On your long post, I don’t take offense at all that you know plenty of ivy grads doing jack squat and it wasn’t as hard to get in. As it has been posted many times, a lot of these thoughts/questions has to do with our own experiences…Like I mentioned, I went to my UC school back in the early 90s so the Ivy’s are probably not like what it is now in terms of grads or crowded tech folks. UCs back then also had limited class choices, budget issues already and the overall money issues you see now, but not as bad yet. I think the point I was saying is the network/alumi is stronger in general (assuming that’s your personality which maybe isn’t even mine…) and TOP TOP jobs seem to have ivy alumi (presidents, etc…). I am not trying to take things away from the “average” millionaire, but again, if you want to be C-level or higher or senior management, your chances are IMO, just higher as a Stanford or Ivy grad with a solid degree and work experience. Even with good work experience, you may not get the most coveted jobs and as someone making decent money way back, this is just what I’ve noticed at least…
AN, I think our views on this topic are just way different and no one is going to convince the other since it’s based on our own life experiences.
Also, I didn’t go to an Ivy and actually never even applied. I would be a d-bag maybe if I did and bragged about it, but since I didn’t, I don’t qualify to brag if I was to do that. I actually just like to flame UCs since they aren’t as cheap and I don’t think they’re that great.
I know a person who went to Harvey Mudd. I think the industry has so few of them because those schools are just so much smaller. I read that their hiring rate is very high though from past articles I’ve seen.
AN, I also don’t have data spelling out that ivy grads make more and don’t plan to bother wasting time to search for it since we will just disagree completely anyways, but generally, there are salary surveys showing that a lot of private schools do pay more (don’t believe if you don’t…).
Here’s an article saying Stanford grads are turning down 150k starting salaries to do work they like or care about:
http://www.businessinsider.com/life-at-stanford-in-2015-2015-4In the end, just do whatever you, as parents feel is best. We all have our own opinions and will do as we all please.
April 13, 2015 at 6:49 PM in reply to: State of the economy and affect on housing in S California #784673ParticipantI think that’d be true if the general public even liked this stock market at all. This is the most hated stock market rally in the history of stock markets I believe and until that changes, everyone still thinks it’s going to collapse meaning it will probably continue to rocket higher.
At near 0% everywhere else, people have no where else to put their money so they put it in stock and hope/pray…poor people don’t invest in the market because they don’t have money…
I hear China jumped up like 100% in one year now? because the guvment is looking to do some stimulus there now?
April 13, 2015 at 6:35 PM in reply to: The cost of an Ivy League undergrad degree next year…. #784672Participant[quote=flu]Speaking of which
http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/09/technology/google-people-laszlo-bock/index.html
“Google doesn’t care where you went to college”When the company was small, Google cared a lot about getting kids from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. But Bock said it was the “wrong” hiring strategy. Experience has taught him there are exceptional kids at many other places, from state schools in California to New York.
“What we find is the best people from places like that are just as good if not better as anybody you can get from any Ivy League school,” said Bock, who just authored a book titled “Work Rules!” and stopped by CNNMoney to share his smarts.
Every year, 2 million people apply to get a job at Google (GOOG). Bock himself has seen some 25,000 résumés.
So what else does Google not care about:
Grades: Google’s data shows that grades predict performance for the first two years of a career, but do not matter after that.
Brainteasers: Gone are interview questions such as: Why are manhole covers round? or How many golf balls can fit in a school bus? “Our research tells us those questions are a waste of time,” Bock said. “They’re a really coachable skill. The more you practice, you get better at it.”
A shoe: “Somebody sent me a shoe once with a résumé tucked inside because they wanted to get their foot in the door.” That one didn’t work.
Or a robot: Especially when it arrived broken, with exposed wires and a “press here” button. Call in the bomb squad.
My take on this is simply. Google has grown up. Once a small company heavily dependent on “the best” techies, it no longer needs “the best”… Good enough is fine now, because a few select individuals now tell the rest of the employees what to do. “The best” is also subjective.[/quote]
I think a lot of viewpoints are based on your own experiences…As someone who has interviewed multiple times at GOOG and never getting in (and eating lunch with Sergey too!), during the PRE-IPO days, your views tend to be biased to your own past. Back when I interviewed there, your degree mattered a lot and when you are someone who feels they start hitting the glass ceilings in your career, then that’s when you think “something” is keeping you out from the top jobs and leadership contacts. I saw it a lot in companies and even though I had no real trouble finding work back then, it still kept you out from a lot of the “hot” startups.
Some people here are ok with “decent” and “ok” jobs, but if you want to achieve the most you can (and want that for your kids so they have more choice in life), then like flu has said, the Ivy’s are probably more likely to help you than to hurt you.
You can end up with the same success as the next guy, but at least you can say the Ivy wasn’t something which held you back…
In terms of doing good for the world, I also know of some family who are very high level at a lot of the aid organizations (Red Cross, etc…) and if you come from a private or top school, you may want to do good, but you can be the ones setting the policy and traveling to all the far off places in the world to help…So yeah, an ivy or top private school helps more in that field too.
As I’ve mentioned before and repeated here, when you go to some of these schools, the admissions folks already weeded out the non-achievers so you’re mostly going to school with the top future leaders and execs of the world. Yes, some joe schmo can start a business and be a millionaire or multi-millionaire from a state school, but the odds are against you.
As it was also mentioned, a lot of the college drop outs or the GoPro guy came from wealthy means. I personally think if GoPro guy was accepted at an Ivy, he may have went, but he did like to surf and not much surfing back east I don’t think.
Also, I read (on the wiki page) that the last 4 presidents ALL went to an Ivy at some point in their educational career.
If you want your kid to be prez someday, going to an Ivy isn’t going to hurt them again.
Ultimately, there is an expensive cost and everyone will decide on their own if it’s worth it for their kids…but as someone who felt “limited” for whatever reason (maybe it wasn’t even the school, course, my parents suck in terms of guidance and help too)…so some of us are probably meant to be mediocre and that’s it. We can only try to help and hope our kids will do better than us.
ParticipantIsn’t this whole water thing silly when the bulk of water usage is from agriculture (80%) and they don’t have anything in place to remove high water use crops (almonds, rice) in CA? The state would probably be better off just paying these protected farms and not grow certain crops here that use insane amounts of water.
Also, no one seems to care I think because water doesn’t seem expensive in general. If water became more like 500/month, people would cut back a lot more. Water service also hasn’t been disrupted so a lot of people don’t even know we are in a shortage (even though the shortage I think is more a fault of agriculture vs regular consumers).
April 8, 2015 at 6:54 PM in reply to: State of the economy and affect on housing in S California #784543Participant[quote=rockingtime]Just curious, How do you define coastal california ?
Would whole of SD be qualified as coastal ?
For my perspective, everything is cyclical and nothing keeps going up for ever. This gives us opportunity.
A lot of people tried to convince me otherwise about SD real estate in 2007, I disagreed with them and bought in 2011.
The first house I bought in 2001, I sold it in 2007ish..I am sure, my current house valuation would come down with due time
My guess: Wages are going to be stagnant at best which would affect the housing prices as well.[/quote]
I don’t know. You seem to be set that things have to go down.
Again, I can say it can “eventually” go down too, but if it happens in 20-30 years, who cares? I’m probably dead already.
As Rich has posted, we are no where near any bubble levels of the 2005s and the stock market is near all time highs. This means like you and I’m sure many of the posters here, many have TONS of cash sitting on the sidelines not sure what to do about it.
I don’t know who or what they were disagreeing with you in 2007, but 2011 probably actually missed some of the upside in some areas. A lot of people here (you can see their posts) bought in 2009 and 2010 (we did in 2009).
As I’ve mentioned before, in some areas, wages for “those” people are not stagnant. They may get more of their income from stock options or stocks in general. People buying 600-1 mil homes aren’t making “middle class” household salaries I don’t think.
You also have foreign buyers. I don’t buy the collapse I read here due IMO, to rents. Rents are way too high in the areas I watch for housing prices to collapse. Add in low interest rates for people who bought those homes, low investment options in other areas, and you have most people not willing to sell for less than what they paid IF THE RENTS easily cover their holding cost.
As posted, supply still seems rather lowish from what I’m seeing.
All this is due to me only looking at areas I’d personally wouldn’t mind living in (1-2 miles from beach, CV…etc…)
No condos, east or south side as you lose the “asian” buyer I feel in those markets. Asians love real estate and you can tell from simply going to 1 new development opening in Carmel Valley. Last time I went to one, there were hundreds of people.
You bought in 2011 and I doubt any of us would “miss” things if it truly crash. Other than a nuke or something like wars, I don’t see any easy opportunities.
April 7, 2015 at 7:52 PM in reply to: State of the economy and affect on housing in S California #784523Participant[quote=rockingtime]I think the wildcard is interest rate
Right now, the govt is propping up a lot of prices here n there by keeping rates low.
Not sure how do you differentiate crash Vs correction. But as we all agree, a correction is coming both in stock market and housing market.
I see a lot of people dis-agreeing saying “this time is different” but history has taught us otherwise.A correction is due, the reasons may not be the same. So each time is indeed different.[/quote]
The problem is every government has low interest rates with Europe (Germany) well in the negatives now (you pay them money to have your money in their bank)…
Another problem I see is they can extend this game far longer than most of us will care or be alive. Japan has been low for near 30 years now (80s?) and if the US or Europe does this, do you really care you “got in” at the best prices?
If rates don’t change for a long time, you may be dead before you can even enjoy a home.
In the end, buy if you need to and if not, just rent and accept that
Unlike stocks, since you have to live in a place, I say save enough to not put much stress on your budget and buy a place to live (small if you are single to keep cost closer to rent) and don’t worry about where housing will head. While you wait, take advantage of the tax benefits (if possible) and save a war chest for any collapse (if any)…IMO, no collapse is happening anytime soon.
Participant[quote=matt]What is the groups thoughts on installing solar and car charging station into a SFR / rental as a means of differentiating and extracting a rental premium? Property in question is in la Costa oaks and will likely be my retirement home in the future / 15-20 years. Couple of concerns I have are that the shingle roof will probably need replacing by then and also system efficiency will likely be much lower.[/quote]
I honestly wouldn’t bother. The tech will continue to improve each year (better, cheaper) and renters don’t care a bit about home owner improvements if it costs them more money to rent.
You’re also limiting yourself to renters who are willing to pay more for solar and they’ll just lump in 200-300 for month for that.
Your upfront investment is pretty steep at around 20-30k. A problem right now is the tax credit is going to expire next year? or was it 2015?
ParticipantAre there solar panels which can move and point/redirect to the sun as it moves? I see these in those sun farms and seems like it shouldn’t be too much to put a few gears or what not to track the sun for maximum energy generation.
Participant[quote=KristopherSD]
This is just mind-blowing to me that with $450k for a home and an additional $70k for remodel, with a overall total of $520k, I’m still not guaranteed a decent place. $520k won’t even get me into the city by your account, and will land me a smaller home in outlying areas. How can this unreality possibly continue? With my income I am supposedly in the top 15% of income earners in the US, yet somehow I feel poor when it comes to purchasing a home anywhere near San Diego. Unbelievable.[/quote]The problem is San Diego maybe a little expensive, but it’s nothing compared to anything in the Bay Area or Los Angeles. I don’t think I’m the the only one who is here because the bay area is insane. For a simple 1.5k sqft place, you are probably looking at a mil+ or much more now anywhere in the tech areas. SF is tots cra cra. LA, it’s just as bad in any decent areas and even more than SD by tons. SD is CHEAP for what you get in terms of sq footage and amenities so for anyone outside of poor America and international buyers, you get a lot for your money here. This makes waiting hard if more people from say, China wants to move money offshore (they tend to trust the US monetary system tons more)…as well as South American/European buyers. Asians also love real estate compared to stocks so they put more of their money there. You can just go to any new homes in Carmel Valley and it’s all Asian.
Even with your decent income, it’s nothing when it comes to family wealth pooled together to help and as I’ve mentioned, near everyone I know has had help so at the starter home level you want to buy, it’s going to be insanely competitive with all the other barely can afford families who want a place. Also, people need to realize that middle class people don’t buy homes anymore in this part of California.
You are also competing with all the foreign buyers who have kids who’s parents will buy them a home just to go to school here. UCSD is probably good enough for foreigners.
I think compared to family wealth, most of us will feel poor. 🙁
A lot of people also are dual income cranking in 300k+ so being a single with decent income isn’t much compared to couples.
Don’t think you’re in he stock option game, but that helps a lot too.
April 5, 2015 at 6:48 PM in reply to: State of the economy and affect on housing in S California #784479ParticipantI think using PIIGS is a bad example and a different beast because all those counties don’t control their own currency and have to answer to Germany.
Had to quickly look up as I didn’t care for PIIGS, but (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) you can see all those are old EU countries with a ton of problems like massive youth unemployment, no fiscal policy (Greece now), high unemployment, yadda yadda yadda…
I’ve said many times, the fed would raise rates ONLY to get off zero, and even then, they are being so slow about it. The problem with current renters and I can understand their bitterness is that if rates are low for say 20-30 years, you’ve pretty much “used up” 20 or 30 prime years of your life. Japan is still stuck at lower rates (off 0 I think now). For all we know, if rates go up, people who have locked in will just rent places out. With such small inventory, rents will probably go up. Also, they may get more aggressive with longer term loans like 40 years, (100 years in Japan I hear) like what they are doing with car loans so payment may stay the same, but housing prices just don’t move much.
If you enjoy renting, that’s all great and good, if you hate rent increases (why we bought actually) and like a known housing payment on a commodity you MUST have to live in, then buying is such a load off your head.
You can always look for investment properties if you want to after your primary residence, but people should really (much easier for families) just live within their means in terms of a house and don’t see it as an investment. It’s just shelter and after 30 years, maybe it will be cheap shelter at that point. Much harder for the single folks here I think since you can tell from the posts how their mindset is very different from people who worry about a family/pets/etc…
SD Realtor, did you purchase a place yet? I don’t think I’ve seen a note here after following this place for almost 10 years, you’ve mentioned buying yet.
Also, for people renting, be cautious of your own renter bias just assuming things will collapse or go down. Similar to what AN said, a lot of buyers (even poor me) would try to hold on to our homes if we’re already at a much lower rate or our payments are significantly lower than comparable rents.
Participant[quote=bearishgurl]If you don’t mind my asking, joec, why don’t you think Kris’ “gf”/roommate shouldn’t pay half the rent?
And why would someone necessarily “combine” money with a partner just because they decide to get married, regardless of gender?
And why do you think a “gf” wouldn’t mind living in a small beach cottage but a “wife” would?
I can tell you right now that I’d be furious if my “spouse” told me that he could only be happy renting a “$3800 mo econobox” (assuming I was married and we were tenants). That’s a HUGE waste of money out of any household that I’m part of.
Are you implying here that all “wives” are extremely demanding and must be “taken care of” (financially) and must have everything material that they want without being expected to contribute financially to the household?
Yeah, parking might be an issue for Kris if they do not have off-street parking available to them. But a washer and dryer a “necessity” for a single or couple? Uhhh …. no. Having a washer/dryer is nice for a 1-2 person household but I do very little laundry for myself…. possibly 1-2 loads month clothing and 1 load linens? I also do 1-2 loads month of pet blankets but a lot of people don’t have pets (most tenants don’t).
Living alone, I could care less if I had to go the laundry. It’s not “ghetto” not to have your own laundry machines. Most laundries are pretty nice and Kris’ “beach community” no doubt has one nearby.
I apologize if I’m seeming to put you on the spot here, Joe, but the way I read your latest remarks, they seem a bit sexist and categorize all “wives” into some kind of a demanding monster.[/quote]
I usually just ignore all your messages now bg, but I don’t think you “got” what I was getting at with my response…
I would say I am probably as sexist as the next guy on the street, maybe more, maybe even less…but the point is the OP is 26. 26 is very YOUNG. I had more money at that age, and if he hammers at his job and just works, will have no problem buying much any house since saying as a guy is easy.
MY POINT IS, his g/f today may or probably more likely won’t be his g/f tomorrow or when he settles down and wants a family.
THE REAL POINT I was getting at is don’t buy real estate with a g/f (comment about putting a rock on it) or any other person who isn’t a wife. This is for most people. It could be a brother, sibling, etc…don’t buy real estate with other people, period…
This is all, of course, IMO, but a g/f is not a wife and I honestly don’t think a 26 year old knows that much in terms of the world/life/etc.
Singles can buy all the houses they want. I don’t have a thing against them.
I have lived in the city (SF) and I think it’s ghetto having to go to a laundry mat and no parking if you own a car which I have done both of. To me, it’s totally ghetto.
Maybe in a fancy “beach” town the coin laundry is worth it (which I don’t really care for…being an old grumpy fart now), it’s not “worth it” to me…but to me, it’s still ghetto to have to drop off clothes on the weekends and come back with the other pooh folks and collect it.
At 26, it’s probably less annoying like living with 3 or 5 guys in a house is “cool” at 19, but certainly, I wouldn’t want to do that now. I also think being 26, there is less of a need to be tied down to any particular area (in terms of housing) in case new job opportunities open up, but the OP seems set to be around here. To each their own of course.
Honestly, with your decent income, high savings, maxed retirement, etc etc etc…(been there at your age)…you can save buttloads of money that if you waited a few years, you can probably put loads down and live in most nicer places while waiting for a pullback. Of course, your taxes are probably crap for now…
Participant[quote=bearishgurl][quote=KristopherSD][quote=FormerSanDiegan]You are missing a key piece of information:
What are you current paying in rent.[/quote]
I currently pay less than $850 once split with my girlfriend to live in a small one bedroom cottage two blocks from the beach and restaurants in a nice area. Unfortunately we don’t have any laundry on site and no garage, but we’re making it work and can continue to do so for the next few years. Every rent vs. buy calculator tells me to keep renting forever at this rate.
I’ve also considered condos as some have mentioned, but don’t really like the reliance on others if the HOA goes to hell or issues arise. However i’ll keep an open mind as there are some nice condos for reasonable prices throughout San Diego in my price range.[/quote]
Kris, $1700? is very reasonable rent for a cottage two blocks from the beach with restaurants/retail, etc within walking distance. You likely aren’t going to get even five miles from the beach if you end up buying. If you have reliable street parking available that you don’t have to constantly fight over, I would stay put if I were you. Especially, if you like living near the beach.[/quote]
Yeah, since this is your “g/f” and not even your wife and you don’t even feel the money paid is combined, I’d probably not even bother buying much of anything. Just seems like a problem and more to think about unless you plan to put a ring on it…As others have mentioned, most wives would never want to stay in your bachelor pad or if someone else picked the place, they definitely won’t want to stay there (too many memories).
I don’t see many benefits for young, unmarried people to buy if they are renting a cheap price place.
Buying makes more sense to me to diversify (if you are wealthy with tons of other assets like stocks) and you hate renting.
As others have said, living blocks to the beach will be impossible to buy at the same price point so it’s not really a fair comparison. Of course, you have no garage or laundry which feels like living in the ghetto…Just depends where you are in your life/relationship and what you want. No way you can do a “fair” comparison I feel and I’d assume your place is pretty old, etc…
Plenty of my neighbors rent for 3800/month in an econobox with kids and wife and seem quite happy to pay that…
For those people, it probably makes more sense.
ParticipantWhat are people paying in water per month? Compared to power, it seems really cheap (about $50 here in water)…
March 28, 2015 at 9:55 AM in reply to: The cost of an Ivy League undergrad degree next year…. #784261Participant[quote=AN]joec, I never said it was easy. I just say it’s more likely to be making millions as a business owners than a W2-er. All the multi-millionaires I know are business owners. I know some well off W2-er but they’re not multi-millionaires. Of course, it requires a lot of hard work and a lot of luck and a lot of capital. But the ceiling is definitely much higher as a biz owner than a W2-er. I’m not even talking about billionaires like Bill Gates/Steve Jobs/etc. I’m talking about the people who own a bunch of T-Mobile/Sprint/etc. franchises, the people who own a small/medium size electronic manufacturing company, the people who own a successful restaurant and expand to 2-3 locations, etc.
Your assessment about when guy don’t care is pretty spot on. I was married with kids by 30.
I also agree that there are some degrees where ROI of Ivy is actually not bad. But I think the % of those degrees are minimal. So, if your kids are dead set on those fields and have the chop to succeed in it, then by all mean, go to Ivy. But for most, I would say, ROI is not there and only go for the prestige.
As for your tech comment, tell me, who would be more likely to be hired? A SDSU student who have a couple of apps/games that’s in the top 10 in the app store while graduating with Magna Cum Laude or a MIT graduate with a 2.5 GPA and have no work experience?[/quote]
I agree with most of your comments except for the last paragraph. Like most things in life, high risk in business will yield high rewards as well if it works out.
As I mentioned, I know some failed biz people who went back to 9-5 jobs so sure, you can be a multi-millionaire and it’s one of the only ways since you can make 0 profits and put EVERYTHING back into your company so you can expand without taxes, but like I said, it’s exceedingly hard to do as you appear to understand. Similar to being a pro athlete or entertainer, sure, you can be a multi-millionaire that way too, but it’s not very likely. My feeling is that business is not as easy as you make it out to be.
I have more belief that the MIT grad (or ivy drop out) will be the one with 10 apps while in school vs. the SDSU guy. Is there any weak college grads or even any near comparable numbers than the Stanfords/Ivys?
The reason there isn’t is because the Ivy’s (if you get in) already weeds out and finds the best folks who WILL be the guy starting companies already.
Just in the news, more fuel for the fire:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/antoinegara/2015/03/26/new-google-cfo-ruth-porat-will-get-a-massive-raise-for-leaving-morgan-stanley/New CFO of Google:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_PoratRuth went to Stanford, Wharton MBA, London School of Econ…All private, dad worked at Harvard.
CFO of Twitter:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Noto
West Point (if you can get in, free education and great school)…MBA Wharton.Mention of Mark Meeker:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_MeekerDepaul (Private), Cornell MBA
Maybe when you hit a glass ceiling, you start to see the big differences in options after you hit either a female glass ceiling or the asian glass ceiling. (where I felt I ended up and where a lot of my comments and experience stems from).
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