[Kilohana]

I agree with the poster who encouraged Raptor to rent in his target area. I have been renting for nearly two years (outside of my target area) and must admit that it is an emotional drain. Knowing that my rental locations were temporary, I was reluctant to drop roots and become part of the community. As a result, I have a sense of disconnect that I can’t seem to shake.

My husband and I finally decided that this time around, we should move to our target area (RSF) with the idea that this would be a trial run — does the community, school and location really suit us or not? We have lived in areas that were similar to RSF in Hawaii — one we loved, one we didn’t. The funny thing is that we thought we’d love the one that ended up not being a very good fit.

Buying a home (at least for us) is more than just picking out pretty house in the right zip code that fits our price range. It has to FEEL like home. I feel fortunate that as renters, we have the ability to sample the wares before we buy.

Raptor’s approach to home buying may or may not work for him, but I just don’t think I could find my home by driving around looking at random homes in an arbitrary price range. Sure, I’d find a house, but probably not my home. To me, the difference is too huge to ignore.

Raptor – go rent a house in Fairbanks. Let your wife make a few friends and begin her new life. Renting shouldn’t mean putting your life on hold – but it will if you don’t take full advantage of the freedom it provides.

-Kilohana, weary renter, housing bear until the bitter end

[Kilohana]

I’m not so sure all of those residents knew of the unstable soil when they bought their homes. It will be interesting to see the disclosure reports for past RE transactions in the area.

It’s going to take years to sort out the blame…

What a terrible thing to have happen, regardless. Having dealt with insurance companies in the past, I know that there is always an exception/condition that causes denial of coverage. If the sinkhole was caused by the human drilling, no way will the insurance companies cover it under the umbrella of earthquake/geological event.

[Kilohana]

Part of Mt. Soledad is in the 92109 zip code — so yeah, that part isn’t really in La Jolla.

As you get closer to the Cross, you start to feel that you are definitely In La Jolla.

I’ve never considered Birdrock to be part of La Jolla — we always called it North PB. Heh.

[Kilohana]

I believe one of the homes that was seriously damaged (possibly a total loss) was for sale for around $1.1M. I am really curious to know if any sliding info was included on the disclosure…

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-076049056-5715_Soledad_Mountain_Rd_La_Jolla_CA_92037

Use the map feature, go to satellite image – then zoom in…

Compare to those on the video and stills http://www.breitbart.tv/html/6338.html

[Kilohana]

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-076049056-5715_Soledad_Mountain_Rd_La_Jolla_CA_92037

Is this house the one directly in front of the affected area??

[Kilohana]

Are you talking about the little shopping area in Bay Ho?

[Kilohana]

Room for a newbie? I’d like to join you all.

[Kilohana]

I can’t for the life of me figure out how they are doing this so late in the game. I’ve been watching Broker’s Outpost – loans are HARDLY flying out the door. (Even for folks with downpayments, full doc and decet FICOs) How are they getting 100% loans for homes with no solid comps? (Now, the comps are there, sadly…) Will we see a clamp down on appraisers? Seems to me they are in total control of the market now.

[Kilohana]

I looked and looked but couldn’t find the official Dept. of Education page with recent scores.

I did find some commercial sites with rakings, but I do not know how accurate they are. Here is one: http://www.schooldigger.com/go/HI/schoolrank.aspx

Local HI newspapers frequently publish test scores and information about schools in danger of losing funding and/or being closed down.

Some of the public charter schools are beginning to take off in terms of scoring, as well. Sadly, there are not enough of them and waiting lists are hopeless.

[Kilohana]

There are so few doctors (specialists, in particular) on all of the islands combined that it would be fairly easy to determine exactly who you are talking about. It is nothing like the mainland in this respect.

If I were you, I would suggest shopping for schools before falling in love with any particular town or island.

I have had many friends move to an area, only to find out that the local public school ranked in the bottom percentage of ALL US schools. The better private schools usually have LONG waiting lists and very difficult entrance exams.

BTW, now is a terrible time to buy in Hawaii. Although their market tends to lag behind mainland trends by a year or so, things appear to be shaking up a bit already. Hawaii is no stranger to housing bubbles. We were hit HARD by the burst of the Japanese RE/investment bubble. People were upside down in their mortgages for 10-12 years. These are people who once had a lot of equity…

Hawaii is a fabulous place to live, but there are a few dark alleys in this tropical paradise, if ya know what I mean. 🙂

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