[mrquoi]

Err mrquoi is actually a lady 😉 who chose to use her dog’s name as a handle. But my male husband did finally see the light. I did the b***chy wife thing and went out and leased a very nice place that was about 25% over our budget without asking him. Then I made sure he did not have to lift a finger for the move and the place was a 5 minute drive to work. He got over his reservations pretty fast.

Then a friend of ours went through a layoff last fall and we got to see first hand how they were screwed trying to pay for their purchased in ’04 house and food on his wife’s income. He found another job, but decided they wanted out of the house, too risky with kids, etc, etc. But they are stuck in the house even selling below ’04 price and all they talk about is getting out of the house. Not sports, not kids, just the house. They haven’t yet accepted that if they want to leave they will have to go through foreclosure but they will eventually.

THEN this summer my husband was laid off. He finally said something like, “I am so happy we did not buy a house.” I am not a terrible wife so I bit my tongue before I could say “I told you so.” 😉 He found a great job in another state so our only problem is me finding a new job (usually easy) and arranging a sublease, but even that should not be hard since the landlord takes pets.

[mrquoi]

LOL. You mean a foreclosure selling in less than a week for about 25 percent off list price is a prime example of a very hot market? What are the signs of a cold market?

[mrquoi]

I hear ya on the dogs, but $3500 seems really high. I have been looking for rentals too and realized that Craigslist is not a good place to look. Plus it just seems that landlords who post there are such wierdos and/or flaky and they want my SS number and bank account – no way. So I’ve been sticking with property management cos, but you have to check almost every day since the good houses seem to go really fast. You also should check how long ago the place sold so you don’t wind up in a FB’s palace.

Here’s a few with places in No. Co

http://www.spanglerrealty.com/Homes_20_for_20_Rent2.html

http://www.renthomes.com/homes/individual_listings.cfm

http://www.utopiamanagement.com/property-management/san-diego.htm

http://www.tguy.com/Nav.aspx/Page=%2fListNow%2fDefault.aspx%2flstFarmID%3d6836

Plus the SD Reader which is like another craigslist

http://sandiego.backpage.com/rentals/classifieds/Results?adLanguage=All&category=4416

[mrquoi]

binx –

Patience will be rewarded. Remember, this year five billion in arms are resetting and next year it’ll be in the trillions.

Here’s a tale from the downturn of the 90s. My parents bought a house in LJ in the early 70s for under $200K. It was a beautiful Spanish style house built in the 1920s, 5br 4br with “maid’s quarters” (now known as an in-law apt), on over an acre off Hillside Dr. Goregous, gorgeous views to the Shores and on up the coast.

My dad took a job away from LJ in the late 80s and my parents decided to sell the place just before the last crash. Since it was on the high end it took a while. And then the crash happened and noone even looked at the place for a year. So, they rented it out and the tenants were horrible. The repairs cost more that my folks got in rent. My parents really wanted to sell and the realtor recommended chopping 30% off the price — so, yes, in 94 you could buy a huge place for $800K where you could sit on the balcony and look for whales with your binoculars while drinking morning coffee. Noone bought it.

It sat for years! They had a friend live there free just to keep an eye on the place. If anyone had made an offer, they probably would have taken it. FINALLY in 99 they decided to list it at just over one million and it sold.

There are good deals to be had if you can wait a bit. They’ll either be banks dumping high-end flips (and there has been plenty of that) or old-timers like my folks who just want out.

[mrquoi]

gold_dredger_phd, you better thank heavens you aren’t one of my in-laws.

I’ve already informed my husband that if his mother decides to move in with us, the kids and I are moving out. She’s the architect of her own distaster of a life and she can live in it.

[mrquoi]

I sold our UTC home in 2002. It’s hugely popular with UTC staff and people working in the research institutes along Torrey Pines who don’t want to commute. Also, the northern part (with all the high rises and condos) is very different than the southern half, which has a more community feel to it. It has decent schools, but is pretty dull and suburban, ie on the weekend everyone is at little league/lawn concert/etc. The southwestern quarter has a bunch of churches/synagogues. It lacks not only a real bar, but a real coffeeshop and a real bookstore which is amazing given the number of students in the area. I liked that it does not have the same stepford-ish feel as Carmel Valley.

That said, most of the houses are typical crappy construction from the 60s and 70s. I would like for our next house to be higher quality or to get such a good deal in UTC that we don’t care that the walls are just wood frames with stucco on the outside and drywall inside and no insulation between.

[mrquoi]

I think that some of the worst abuses are actually people of one culture feeding on their own — it’s why church-based financial scams are so prevalent. For example, my understanding is that much of the Murrietta scam was within the Philipino community. A lot of immigrants would naturally trust someone from “home” who spoke their language more than an outsider.

[mrquoi]

deadzone,

I’m not sure any normal woman is going to want to marry a guy who offers her a Yugo as a sign of enduring affection. Can you picture it?

scene: deadzone and the woman of his dreams at the very romantic Bertrand’s at Mr. A’s. Sun setting in the background. Good jazz playing. Her eyes are twinkling. His palms are sweaty.

deadzone: Sweetheart, I want nothing more in the world right now than to spend the rest of my life with you. I dream that after the housing market crashes, you and I will move into a beautiful home and start a beautiful family.

sweetheart: Oh deadzone. (tears, they smooch until the waiter coughs — about a dozen times).

deadzone: To show how committed I am, I bought us a Yugo. You can drive around with the baby deadzones in it. (restaurant goes quiet, lights go up)

sweetheart: (frowns, cries) Deadzone, I think you have made a mistake. A man with a Toyota Tercel, a Ford Focus, a Honda Civic — even one of those Hyundai’s with the 10-yr warranty. But a man with a Yugo is no man for me. (She gets up, puts money for her part of the dinner on the table, walks off.)

Seriously, the smartest way to go about the engagement diamond thing is to ask your mom or grandma for a sentimental piece of jewelry and to give that. (Assuming you have a good relationship with your family and their taste does not include cubic zirconia.) Or, to buy a small rock and to explain that you hope that as the anniversaries roll in you hope to match that piece with earrings, bracelet, etc.

[mrquoi]

I pay $2050 a month for a 2-br condo in far east Mira Mesa. It is overpriced, but is relatively new construction, includes a 2-car garage, patio, and is a gated community with pool, spa, etc. It is super quiet. $150 a month of that rent is “pet” rent because we have two dogs.

When I was out looking at more reasonably-priced 2br condos in MM, they were about $1400-$1500. But the ones that allowed pets were typically small and disgusting. Houses in MM rent for about $1500-$1800/month.

Around UTC I know students/postdocs can afford about $600/month per room, though I was visiting a friend at Costa Verde (or whatever it is called on Nobel/Regents) and there were people in that complex that had FOUR students per room in 2-br places which were something like $1500/month.

[mrquoi]

When we sold, we interviwed a few agents. The one that stood out was honest about the market and had been selling in our area for over 20 years. He advised us on the price and pretty much nailed it.

One told us to price way too low ($350K in an area where the sold price at the time was $500K) and then admitted that she hadn’t looked at recent sales prices in our area. My favorite one was the chick who told us we needed to remove our very fancy pool deck because it probably had termites and would scare away buyers. The deck was made of trex. LOL.

[mrquoi]

I will freely admit that I eat fast food and drink soda pop. I also indulge in burritos fairly often (Mucho Gusto is my favorite). I also love ice cream and chips. I’ve even read Fast Food Nation and watched Super Size me.

But, I am very active and healthy and know that an In-N-Out #3 with grilled onions is an indulgence. MMMM. Burger. Now, I must go indulge …

Oh, I don’t know if kids’ eating habits is really tied to the housing market. Plenty of stay-at-home moms let their kids eat crap too. It’s just a lot easier for them to hand over a lunchable and soda than to make a sandwich.

[mrquoi]

It’s supposed to be a Coaster station in the next couple years.

Then, later (estimated 2011, which really means 2020), the trolley’s supposed to go to the UTC area too.

http://www.sandag.org/index.asp?projectid=250&fuseaction=projects.detail

So you get both. A new condo downtown would be more fun, though the HOAs down there are nuts. $400-$800 a month for a place that doesn’t have any gardens?

[mrquoi]

PerryChase — if you or your aunt are interested in UTC, but not in having student neighbors, noise or traffic nightmares, you might want to keep an eye on the southern side, ie south of Rose Canyon, nr Governor. The condo developments are older, and mixed into a more residential area. It was only three years ago that my neighbors sold a small 1 br for under $150K in the area.

Other things to keep in mind for UTC is that contstruction is actually starting on the Regents Road bridge and that a Coaster station is in the works for the corner of Nobel/Hwy 805. Being near public transportation is a huge plus for seniors.

[mrquoi]

You’ve checked on proshares short funds, right? SDS,SSO

If you are *certain* the S&P is going to drop then you are certain to make some nice money — in the stockmarket.

Here’s a funny thing. I know several people (liberal treehugger types) who decided to cash out of the market go into gold and euros when GWB was reelected in 2004. Though I don’t agree with the reasoning, it was a smart move in retrospect.

[mrquoi]

bob007 — very few biotechs in general are profitable. Both working for them and investing in them is like bungee jumping with cracked elastic. Kinda thrilling. I know very few people who have been with the same biotech for more than 3 years.

Invitrogen, Illumina, Stratagene, Biosite. There are profitable biotechs based elsewhere, but with significant or growing operations in SD ie Amgen, Genentech, Genzyme, Biogen Idec.

Biotech in SD was really awful a few years ago — I knew people getting laid off across the board — big pharma, compbio, devices — were merging/leaving. There’s just not many big players left to pull out of town, though I know of two small/mid sized companies that will be laying people off soon 🙁

So, I don’t think biotech is in that bad of a shape in SD. I’ve been on the fence about going back to work (new mom) but since we just moved back to SD (we left after being laid off from a biotech, of course, and are now back in) thought I’d float my CV out there just to see what would happen. The response has been the strongest in my career, plus every job I’ve interviewed for has been a newly created position.

There seems to be a lot of bellyaching about Neurocrine, but it’s a fairly small company sitting on a nice pile of cash to keep afloat while they redo some clinical trials. Most of the people they let go were in sales and not based in SD. The FDA was fine with the lower dosage of their sleep drug and they’ll eventually come around on the higher dose. Now, whether the drug is great enough to be a blockbuster is a matter of debate.

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