[mixxalot]

I live in the Point Loma/OB area and rents have either stabilized and remained the same or went down. I pay 1100/month which is what I have paid for last 1.5 years. For me to buy a 1-2 bedroom condo in OB/Point Loma would run me a purchase price between $250-500k which is way too expensive even though I enjoy the area and want to buy a place in either OB or Pacific Beach since I like the beach life and being close to work. Just have to wait couple more years for market to correct and save up bigger down payment.

[mixxalot]

PerryChase,

How interesting, I am also an Oracle DBA ! How weird! Yeah it baffles me how people are able to buy these homes and cars. I make almost six figures and cannot see the reason why people can pay 6k a month on a home. It must be the both hubby and wife each earn 100k otherwise how can they make a 2k car payment and a 5-7k mortgage payment?

Also employers are not wanting to pay good salaries here in San Diego compared to Los Angeles and New York given the high cost of living here.

That and 99.99% of businesses that employ professionals are located in UTC, Sorrento Valley/Golden Triangle, Poway/Rancho Bernardo and Carlsbad areas which are far north of Chula Juana.

I live in Point Loma/Ocean Beach area and waiting for prices to drop in Point Loma/OB and Pacific Beach as this area is where I want to buy a condo or small 2 bedroom home close to the beach since I’m a single guy and like the area. But prices are very high still for these crappy apartment condo conversions and if I want a real home with a real garage I have to settle for a place in Mira Mesa or Poway/Rancho Bernardo unless I wanna pay 2 million for a similar place in Point Loma.

Its funny because salaries have not increased much for IT folks in last 5 years.
Outsourcing to India and China has not helped either.

[mixxalot]

Chula Juana sucks

I met a lady this weekend at the free BBQ held at San Diego BMW dealership and she kept telling me that real estate was falling for next 10 years and to buy a home in Chula Vista. When I told her that a) all the jobs are far away and b) that Chula Vista is a ghetto full of Mexicans (nothing against latinos) next to National City she argued that Del Mar, Pacific Beach and UTC were too expensive. I told her that I would wait for the market to complete its fall and buy close to work because I hate getting stuck in traffic to and from work.

Most jobs at least for IT and biotech are in UTC, North County, Sorrento Valley and Carlsbad all areas far away from Chula Vista. I value quality of life and do not really wanna drive 2 hours each way to work. That and houses are now expensive in Chula Juana anyhow.

If I stay in San Diego longer than 2 years I would buy a 2-3 bedroom place close to my job.

[mixxalot]

Way to go and yeah the dude needs to wake up and realize not many people want to live in a place like Amarillo let alone Texas.

Not to mention there are not many good jobs there either. At least not compared to the mecca of tech jobs in California. He also forgot to mention the horrid bugs and humidity and mold in Texas!

[mixxalot]

I rent a 1 bedroom placed for 1100/month and a similar condo would cost me close to 3k per month. I take the difference and invest in various funds until market comes down to reality. Maybe in a few years I might buy a place but for now its best to wait for the market correction to finish.

[mixxalot]

Investing in Gold, Euros- how?

How do I invest in euros and gold with 401k or IRA retirement plans? I predict collapse of the US dollar in less than 2 years. I want to get all my current money out of US dollar into gold, silver, sterling and Euro to avoid losing value of my investments. Maybe I should find work now in Europe!

[mixxalot]

Cooking is best for health and pocketbook.

Given that most restaurants employ a lot of legal/illegal mexicans to cook food in grease for overpriced low quality, and tha I actually enjoy fresh organic food and need to cut costs, I have been cooking meals 99% of the time.

Example:

A nice 4 egg breakfast omelet and bagel with latte can run between $8-15 in a breakfast place.

Cost to make a fresh omelet with good latte home made:

$2 so a savings of at least 6 bucks a day!

Not to mention it takes me a whole 3 minutes to cook the omelet and make the latte in my espresso machine. Less time than waiting half hour in line at local Starbucks!

I need to save for living til the next job comes along and also for future home when prices actually come down to earth here in sandy eggo.

[mixxalot]

I like Costa Rica but its very expensive now compared to Panama or Brazil.
I may buy in Brazil as I like the beach and parties. Panama is great too because its close to the US and now that Noriega is in prison the government is stable. Since I do a lot of IT computer freelance work, Panama currently is best bet to remain close to work in the USA. Also looking at Belize which is very stable country and fairly close to the USA as well.

[mixxalot]

If a woman lacks beauty, she’d better have a pleasant personality. If a man is not handsome, he’d better be rich. I find foreign women beautiful and pleasant. Beautiful American women (of all races) are demanding and stuck-up. It’s all relative but once you’re experienced great service with delicious food, you don’t want to return to the old bad restaurant. (Alright, go ahead, lay it on me for generalizing).

I agree and since I am neither rich, tall or handsome as a man, I need options. I have lived and traveled across Latin America and Asia and love the people and culture. Its not perfect but the food is good and weather as nice as San Diego for a bargain price. I plan to make visits and do research on how to purchase property in next few years. I may buy a place in San Diego IF prices EVER go down which seems unlikely for a long time due to speculation and low interest rates and easy credit financing. By 2012 we may have realistic prices once again. I agree about the sunshine tax, I am currently looking for a new IT tech job and find companies are very stingy and want to pay peanuts for employees in San Diego given the high cost of living here. I had an argument with this jerk investment financial advisor partner at a large brokerage firm recently who does not believe real estate in San Diego will go down. He kept saying it will flatten out and be a soft landing not a crash.

[mixxalot]

I am thinking of looking into a home in Brazil or Panama. Both are now fairly stable countries in Latin America and dirt cheap to buy nice property close to the beach compared to California. Plus I love Latina women they fabulous for a guy like me who speaks Spanish and Portuguese!

I am thinking of doing this in like 10 years after making some trips down there to check things out in more detail. Why work until I am ready to drop dead at 70 when I can retire like a king in my mid 40’s and have great weather and gorgeous women? I would avoid Mexico and Argentina however as they are not that stable per recent events. Costa Rica and Belize are other possibilties that offer solid government that is democratic and friendly to ex-pats.

[mixxalot]

I really also am puzzled by the obscene prices of real estate in southern California market as well. There are not that many jobs for what I do which is technology and many biotech firms are sending jobs overseas so it must be the wealthy bankers, lawyers and finance people who can buy new homes these days as well as movie stars and entertainment folks. I might just save and buy a place overseas in south america as I already know fluent spanish and it is way cheaper.

[mixxalot]

I agree that people spend too much on cars given their financial ability. For me, I drove beater cars for years and always liked BMW since I was a kid for their sporty design and fun engineering. Not for status. Now I enjoy the solid build and handling and keep it running. New BMW not worth the expense. Of course, I could buy a Yaris for 12k but its a tin can on wheels and if some fool hit me, I would end up in a casket. My car is paid off and all major service up to date. Now saving for home and waiting for downturn.

[mixxalot]

Good points. I drive a 1996 BMW 328is that I bought 3 years ago for 13k. It had 55k original miles and buy new car is waste of money. Yes, one has to pay for maintenance and repairs but its better to save than to throw money away.

I would love a new 335i coupe but with these cars selling for MSRP sticker at almost 50k new for a new BMW that might be worth 20k if that in a couple years why do something so foolish? To me, its better to invest in high growth funds that make me money than a depreciating car.

UNLESS you have a business there really is no point in paying a lot for a new car of course if you have money to throw away thats another matter.

I did notice the same issue with new BMW dealers in San Diego. Some guys like BMW of San Diego and Brecht BMW were arrogant and wanted full sticker MSRP on a new 3-series car. I did find Cunningham to be the friendliest dealer in town. Heck when I spent 3k on new suspension they gave me a new BMW to use for free while they spent 3 days fixing my car.

Even if I spent 15k over a few years its cheaper to maintain, insure and register a used BMW than a new one with thousand dollar car payments each month. God forbid how filthy rich those people with brand new Aston Martins, Porsches and Ferraris must be these days. Or deep in debt.

Lexus is overpriced Toyota. Nice car but would just as rather have a nice leather interior in a Toyota Avalon or loaded Camry for half the price. Same for Audi which is an expensive VW.

[mixxalot]

Good point. I will wait at least a year and try to get the job situation and credit squared away first. If I can have at least 100k in cash in the bank and a stable job situation then I will have a strategic advantage to the bozos who do the zero down mortgages. Right now the market is not that great here in San Diego for technology and I have already burned bridges at some companies with bad management. I quit those jobs because the people were jerks and its funny because some of these people were later downsized!

[mixxalot]

Thanks good advice. Right now I need to save up for the down period and then be patient. Get my credit FICO scores up and a big cash down payment. That and find a stable job which is tough these days.

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