[lindismith]

Granted, you may lose some equity over the next 2 or 3 years,

SteeveBeebo,

What kind of equity would I lose? I’d like to know, because personally, I’d love to get out of my apartment, and into a condo. I’m just really worried, that I’d lose a BUNCH of money.

You can use the example of the the condos that are going down 4-5%/year.

I can put 20% down. I’m looking in Hillcrest and Mission Hills for a 1 bedroom.

[lindismith]

good question, Perry.

California and Texas obviously have access to lots of cheap immigrant labor. I don’t know what they do in places like CT.

A quote from the report:
Paul Knox, the dean of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech, sums up the endless tracts of overweight houses as a new national suburb he calls “Vulgaria.”

[lindismith]

irvinesinglemom,
There is tremendous pressure in our society to own a home. (Never mind get married and have kids. I am single, and late 30s, so talk about pressure!)

That said, the pressure’s only in our heads. You sound really smart and successful. If you succumb to it, you will ultimately be doing yourself and your children a huge disservice.

I’m not saying don’t ever buy. Just don’t buy in the next 18 months. You will regret it. You work very hard, and if you buy you will end up losing a lot of money. Based on the areas you are talking about, what would that be? $50K, $100K? That’s 6 months to a year’s worth of work for you! Can you imagine going to work everyday knowing you are working to pay off an ‘investment’ that’s losing value every single day? Talk about a waste of time and energy. You’d be better off taking a year off from work, and putting in some quality time with your kids.

I’m sure you can find a nice rental, and sit tight. Having that kind of discipline will pay off in the long run. Your timing (Feb 07) is when the tsunami should be hitting us, so wait it out. You won’t be losing anything by sitting on the sidelines for a while.

There are some threads on this forum about how a house purchase is very emotional. See if you can search for them using the key word “emotions” in the search bar (or maybe “emotional”). Once you read through them, you’ll see the intellectual/rational side to you will be back in charge.

[lindismith]

Add to this a tiny downward slide in the local economy, and that is going to send people packing also. A few companies closing their doors with no replacement jobs in the market means more people will leave.

For example, those graphic design and ad agencies that have catered to the building market in the last few years – firms like these will need to change out their clientele to stay afloat. I wonder how many of them are already affected? How many of them are seeing their business slow? Maybe some have had lay-offs already?

The builders themselves, the contractors, the remodelers, the landscapers, the interior designers, the furniture retailers…. we’ve mentioned them all before.

[lindismith]

Thanks for all your input. Your narrative reads like a juicy novel. I’m sure lots of people on here will have lots of questions for you.

[lindismith]

X1Y2Z3,
thanks for all this.

What are your ex-colleagues doing? Are they looking for work?

What there a defining moment in the last year that made you realize you should get out? If so, what was it?

[lindismith]

This is all stuff we know. Unfortunately.

Tell me, when did you figure this all out? I worked in a dotcom, and from the get-go I knew it wasn’t sustainable, but I wanted to believe it because some very clever people (or at least I thought they were clever were telling me it was going to revolutionize the world, which to some extent it did, just I didn’t make any money out of it.)

Did you know from the start also?

Are you afraid you won’t have a job soon?

And what do you tell clients who want shady loans now?

[lindismith]

Very astute analysis privatebanker. I tend to agree, only because I’ve had friends rent out their places who did exactly what you’re suggesting. I was stunned when 1 couple got their place rented.

I agree with PD. I think things will stabilize (drop) starting in the Fall.

Plus, when the economy starts to turn, I’m figuring people will lose jobs, and leave, which means more properties (both rentals and for sale) will be on the market.

[lindismith]

“Mainly we all want to meet Powayseller.” I wasn’t sure where you got that from. I mainly wanted to see Rich, CJ, Bugs, you, Farls, sdrealtor, asianautica and Leung Lewis. Farls especially, among the posters. I like his reasoning and his points of view.

Yes, like all those posters too!

To this sentence,”mainly we all want to meet Powayseller,” I should have added, “so we can see who this crazy, woman is!” Sometimes I think she’s nuts because she pushes the envelope so much. But what can I say? I like strong personalities I guess.

Bugs is my second fav. He’s always very concise and everything he says has good solid wisdom behind it.

sorry for not being more clear in my last post. I know you didn’t say “90%…..”

[lindismith]

Everything I’ve read says Pause. So my money’s on pause. Someone last night was telling me this will definitely help the slowdown of the housing crash because people will start getting loans again, and make purchases.

[lindismith]

yes, and for the record, I never said 90% of us were here because she’s here. I said we’re leaning her way, (else we wouldn’t be here).

I have to add, I like her. I met her, and liked her more. Do I agree with everything she says? No. And sometimes it gets my goat when she makes sweeping generalizations (especially about what womens’ roles should be.) But what’s the point in calling her out on those? She is learning and growing, and I find it fascinating watching her development.

I’m here to learn, and in her questions and analysis I find myself thinking a lot of the same things; it feels reassuring that there’s another woman out there who is asking the same thoughtful, big picture questions I am. She has definitely educated me.

A lot of other people have too. Zk, Bugs, Perrychase etc. It’s all really good stuff!

Piggingtons Rock!

[lindismith]

Chris,
Can you post your email/site address again? I’ve been meaning to ask you some questions about this.

Deadzone, if you have a minute, can you explain how to Short from start to finish? And tell me like I’m 6 years old. Seriously.

Thanks,
Belinda

[lindismith]

Socalmortgageguy answered this in his latest post.

Check out http://www.housingbubblecasualty.com/
and read what he has to say about average folks buying median-priced homes on average incomes.

quote from his post:
“I by no means saw the potential for thousands of the 6-figure jobs that would be needed to purchase the hundreds and hundreds of homes that were for sale “starting at 400k”.”

[lindismith]

It’s risky if you do it at the wrong time. Despite a decline, there are going to be small peaks and valleys along the way.

[lindismith]

Namaste Powayseller.

Yeah, those were all good ideas he posted, but they are all super high risk.

I think shorting would be more prudent in the Fall when more numbers are in. The whole idea of them still sounds really scary to me though.

[Author]

Posts