[noone]

I don’t believe that there is any one cause, except buyers that are willing to pay. It’s not like this in the entire state of California. There are still pockets where you can get the same kind of deal. Here’s one example, KB homes Saratoga at Victorville:

http://www.kbhomes.com/Community.aspx?CommID=00350506

Not quite 4,000 sq ft, but 3,683 sq ft for $366,490 is under $100/sq ft. So it can’t be all about construction costs.

There are just a lot of people in certain areas that are willing to fork out the dough. You can’t blame the builders for obliging them. It’s the buyers that should be blamed, not sellers.

[noone]

I’m sure that it was caused by too many violent video games.

Oh wait! They were over 25. Gosh, you mean people who don’t play video games can be psycho too?

[noone]

I like DrChaos’ suggestion. We’re pro standard of living.

We’re not trying to take anything away from you, we’re trying to save you (and your children) from yourself. We can envision a brighter future for your children than you do. We see a time when someone earning twice the median income won’t be forced to cram their entire family into a studio condo.

We point out that the perpetual motion does not exist in real estate any more than it does in kinetic machines. If no one speaks the truth, will we avoid it? Perhaps a better symbol than bulls would be ostriches. Keep your head in the sand and reality will go away.

[noone]

I don’t understand why people think that it easy to trade up with appreciation. If your condo goes up $100k, your dream home goes up 200K. OK you have $100k to put down, but you’re still going to borrow a $100k more then if you purchased the dream home from the beginning.

But there is safety in diversification.

If you put all your eggs in one basket by overextending yourself on a mortgage, even small changes in your financial situation can put you at risk of losing the home and hurting your credit.

Whereas if you’re in a place that falls more in your “affordability” zone, you can weather larger changes and come through clean.

During that same time period, you might be able to earn that $100k or more by investing the difference elsewhere.

[noone]

How mnay typos can you fit in such a samll spaec adn still get yuor messaeg across?

P.S. Is ti just me or is teh house leaning?

[noone]

even better, i hope there’s provisions for the “homeowners” who have already been foreclosed upon. so that they too can have a slice. and if there isn’t, they should sue.

And how about those who could have taken out one of these ridiculous loans but realized that it would end up in foreclosure? They should each get $100 grand too!

[noone]

Just keep reading this part over and over:

Adjusted for inflation, current payments are 8.3 percent above typical payments in the spring of 1989, the peak of the prior real estate cycle.

[noone]

Thanks for the explanations Cow_tipping.

[noone]

What happens to people who are currently short this stock?

I’m curious about this too. And what if they are delisted?

[noone]

Since I know nothing about how to “short” stocks, I’ve been reading these posts with great interest. I’m curious about something now though. Since the SEC has put a freeze on NEW, where does that leave you? Similarly, what happens if NEW goes bankrupt? As I understand it, you’ve sold something which you do not have, and now cannot buy at any price. Are you liable for anything?

[noone]

This article reflects views that I’ve held for years. Decades ago a second income allowed a family to afford some small luxuries. Somewhere around the 80’s that changed though, and double incomes have practically become a necessity.

I recall another thread that speculated about high tech salaries being one of the causes for skyrocketing housing prices. I think there is something to that, but primarily due those families that consist of two high tech workers. I’m a high tech worker, but I don’t earn enough to afford a $600k-$700k home. In fact even with a salary near 100k a year, according to standard lending practices and current interest rates, I cannot truly afford even a $400k home.

Perhaps if my spouse also earned 100k, we could afford one of these homes. But that would not last long if one of us were out of work for any significant period of time.

I wonder if the information in this book will lead to any real change. Probably not.

[noone]

Have fun waiting on the fense, you’ll be there for a long time. Maybe so long you retire with out ever owning. Then because your rent will adjust to inflation every year, by the time you’re 80…

… you will have millions invested in other areas that you can tap into. I on the other hand have been paying on and re-financing ARM, Interest only, and neg-am mortgages for the past 40 years and now owe twice as much as my house is worth. Since all my income was spent on mortgage payments and loan fees there was never enough money left at the end of the month to invest in retirement savings. My greeter job doesn’t qualify me for health care coverage, and medi-care can’t cover all my medical bills. Can I borrow a little money from you to pay for my prescriptions?

[noone]

There is a first time home buyer exclusion that would spare us from the 10% penalty of yanking the retirement funds

Are you sure about this? I know that Roth IRAs allow you to pull out money for use in purchasing your first home, as long as you’ve had the account for 5 years or more, but I’ve not heard of a similar exclusion for 401k accounts. If you are sure, would you happen to have links to more information about this? Thanks!

P.S. I would say go for it (if you’re sure about no tax penalties) Most people don’t even begin to save for retirement until they are in their 30s anyway. And not having a mortgage payment will allow you to dedicate more of your salary toward retirement.

[noone]

I agree with sdrealtor. He has the proper perspective. I find that his perspective/belief being so easily dismissed fascinating, and more than a little sad.

Yes, sdrealtor definitely has the proper definition of success or happiness. In fact every month or so, while my wife points out all the things that we don’t have, I have to remind her of all the things that we do have. We have two beautiful, happy children, a roof over our heads, clothes on our back, and never go to bed hungry (unless we’re trying to lose a few pounds), and time to spend with each other. Those are the things that are really important in life.

I think those who dismiss this as a valid response, are doing so because the original question was about wealth, not about happiness or success. Since the primary definition of wealth is An abundance of valuable material possessions or resources; riches, they are trying to answer that question.

[noone]

There are a few sites that I pay for. It will depend on various things including how much I value the service they offer, how much they charge, whether the same service is available anywhere else, how often I will use the service, and how else they are making money (ads, etc.).

http://www.geocaching.com
Why? This is the most popular site for geocachers. They are the de facto official geocaching site, and have caches that players do not list on other sites. They offer a free membership, but paid members can take advantage of some extra services that I think are worth $30 a year. I visit the site several times a week

http://safari.informit.com
Why? They offer online electronic versions of technical books. You can also print chapters for offline reading. The basic membership is $15 a month. Since most tech books are in the $30-$70 range at a bookstore, I find this to be a reasonable alternative. I visit the site several times a month.

[Author]

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