[Ren]

FYI Walter – it’s an admirable goal, and training to be able to do 100 pushups will give you great endurance and make you really good at… doing a lot of pushups. It won’t increase strength much. If you want confidence-boosting go-ahead-mess-with-me power, you’re gonna have to lift.

And eat. This is actually the hard part.

[Ren]

Actually now that I think about it, 20 years would be more likely if I did it on my own. No thank you.

[Ren]

100% of the women I’m married to would prefer to be taken care of, but 100% of me won’t allow it, because why should 50% of us have to work for 15 years until retirement when 100% of us could do so for 10 years?

[Ren]

Oh to have our knowledge and start again at about age 10.

Prices are dropping in my Temecula ‘hood. There was a mini peak in ’09-’10, during which we bought, naturally ($123/sf), but with our upgrades and location, we’ll still take in $750+/mo positive. I can’t complain about that even if the houses around us are going for $10-20k less than we paid, and besides, we’re not the ones who will be paying off the loan. Contrast that with one particular couple we know who bought in Carlsbad in ’08 for $1.6m, while their neighbors are now unable to sell for $1.2m. They’re in no danger of defaulting, but even so it must absolutely sicken them. With that in mind, I have no fear whatsoever of buying rentals in Temecula even at prices 10% higher than they were 3 years ago, because it’s still such good value, and still my number one choice.

My own heartbreak is from selling a family-owned 4-bdrm in a decent area of Escondido about 25 years ago. It had maybe $80k to go on the loan, and at the time the small amount of cash ($15k each) that it netted us kids seemed much more important than any long term benefit. It rents for $1,800+ now. I’m constantly kicking myself for abandoning that cash cow, and the hundreds of thousands it would have made for us. The neighborhood is still nice, too.

[Ren]

[quote=eavesdropper]Can someone – anyone! – tell me why people are so willing to bash legitimate scientists, but will not even consider questioning what these quacks say?[/quote]

The simple answer is that the quacks are telling them what they want to hear, while the legitimate scientists are doing the opposite.

[Ren]

[quote=jpinpb]Marshall’s research has demonstrated how ingested vitamin D can actually block VDR activation, the opposite effect to that of Sunshine…..

Vitamin D deficiency, long interpreted as a cause of disease, is more likely the result of the disease process, and increasing intake of vitamin D often makes the disease worse.
[/quote]

“Dr.” Marshall is not a medical doctor, he’s an engineer, but I would still put him in the category of quack. Virtually no one in the medical community takes his claims seriously and his forum is heavily censored.

The Marshall Protocol advocates (among other things) complete abstinence from sunlight and any other source of D. Some people have become extremely ill from it.

[Ren]

[quote=bearishgurl]Ren, did your friends who purchased in Bay Park purchase in “the flats?” And did they pay +/-$400K??[/quote]

One in the flats, one not. They both overpaid, but then I believe everyone is still overpaying for coastal properties.

[quote]You state here that Bay Park is “on your list” but not for your “forever house.” What type of property would you actually purchase in Bay Park, then? And why wouldn’t you purchase a larger “old” house there?[/quote]

A 2-bedroom, 1100-1300 square feet. Not at today’s prices, but maybe 10-15% lower. I wouldn’t purchase a larger house there because it would be too expensive and unnecessary. Our kids will be sharing a room for many years. The forever house will require 4 bedrooms, a casita, and a 10k+ lot.

[quote]Would a Bay Park purchase be an investment rental property for you?[/quote]

Eventually. It would be a temporary home for 5-10 years, then a rental. It isn’t likely to happen, though – you get much more for your money in Carlsbad, which is where I work anyway.

[quote]23 miles is NOT 3000 miles. We are discussing properties in the same locale which are both viewless (actually “GH” has a rear view of horse corrals) and both have similar weather and humidity levels. Your “comparison property” is WAY off the mark.[/quote]

You’re missing the point, which is that there is always a nicer house somewhere, but if I don’t want to live there, then there’s no comparison, and no value to that property for me. In other words, the east county house may as well be in Georgia, because I refuse to live in that location. The fact that it’s a giant turd doesn’t make it any more enticing.

Move on, BG. The horse is long dead.

[Ren]

[quote=bearishgurl]Judging from your post (below) and the fact that you likely live in a *newer* development in “exurban” Temecula, IIRC, I posted the above because I was certain you did not understand what you would be getting for the $400K in (circa 1940’s) Bay Park for the same $$. I HAVE been in these homes which were almost exclusively purchased new by dust-bowl refugees packing up and moving their families to SD to work at local defense contractors during WWII. Most of them sold for about $5000 to $6500 brand new.

The reality is that these two types of SFR’s, albeit 23 miles apart (Bay Park and Lanai in Granite Hills) are nearly the same except for square footage, size of garages and size of lots. Of course, the Bay Park homes in this price range are too small to have a see-thru FP but they both were orig built in the same style and materials on the inside :=) The Granite Hills property, value wise, wins hands down.[/quote]

I have a couple friends who bought in Bay Park (one of them a badly done flip), and I like both of their houses and the area, which is why I mentioned it. It’s even on my list, albeit lower down than Carlsbad. I know exactly what you get there, and in my mind, a smaller place means less layout to screw up and more fun to fix up. The east county house is too overwhelming, too much ugly, too much work to make livable and maintain, too far for the price, and it would never be “cute” the way the little coastal places can be. I think I just emasculated myself a little…

Regardless, if you put the two lots/houses down right next to each other, of course the east county one is a better value. Add the location to the equation, and the house and lot suddenly become a lot more equal. Try putting a $400k house from a southern state next to the east county house – while the $400k Georgia house is a lot nicer than the east county house, it’s an even more pointless exercise. I wouldn’t live in Georgia either.

[quote]The reality is that you, like most current owners and potential buyers, will purchase only *newer* construction. This comes as no surprise, considering where you currently reside and there is nothing wrong with this.[/quote]

Not completely true. I’m fine with old, as long as it’s small, but not for the larger “forever” house. That will be less than 10 years old. I take good care of my possessions, and as with a new car, I like knowing where they’ve been.

[Ren]

[quote=bearishgurl]There is absolutely no comparison between a Bay Park (92110) 1000 sf “ranchette” of the same age located in the flats (behind the fish market) with the same knotty pine kitchen as this listing (but half the size), situated on a 5K lot with a one-car garage for the same price as this Granite Hills bargain. There is so much more value in the Lanai property, hands down.[/quote]

Again, tastes are subjective. Besides, if that house were more valuable in the current market, it would have sold for a higher price. Yes, in 5 years a Bay Park house might adjust down a little more, or maybe not, but unless the floors are solid gold in El Cajon, the location can more than make up for the size difference, in my opinion. You would be happy in east county, in that house, and I would not be happy in either. And that’s what really matters.

[Ren]

With emphasis on the fact that taste is subjective…

Yeah I’m gonna have to agree that that east county house is awful on a whole new level of awfulness. Not bagging on the area, mind you, which I wouldn’t live in personally, just the house. Ignoring the fixable yet really scary paneling, molding, carpet, cabinets, siding, windows, roof, etc., the bad layout makes it a teardown in my view. I would personally throw the switch to blow up that fireplace, but I’d MUCH sooner pay $400k for virtually anything else – a townhome closer to the coast, a tiny house in Bay Park, a golf course pool house in Temecula, anything.

[Ren]

[quote=paramount]I set the rent at a level that I thought would get the house rented quickly.[/quote]

[quote]They are also listing houses for rent in the same community for significantly less than what my house is currently listed at, so feel like they are undercutting me.[/quote]

These statements are contradictory. Every successful landlord I know rents below market, and every unhappy landlord I know rents above market. The former gets the better qualified tenants who have their pick of properties, the latter gets the tenants with questionable qualifications, because those are the only ones who will accept the higher rent. The higher priced places are also the ones that end up with more evictions and damage, and more vacancies means less of that higher rent anyway. Ask yourself if you would rather get 10 months/year at $1,450 from someone with a 500 fico, or 11 months/year at $1,350 from someone with a 680 fico.

As I recall, you’ve got a little over 20 years to go on the loan. If you can charge below market and come close to breaking even now, remember that the rent will only go up while your payment stays the same. I’d love to have an ATM like that in 20 years, right about retirement time.

Don’t accept what your property manager tells you the rent should be – do the research and decide for yourself. I wouldn’t even use a manager without significant positive cash flow, and I definitely wouldn’t use that particular one if they don’t know the basics.

[Ren]

Not that there’s anything wrong with getting bullet-resistant glass, it will better prepare you for the coming zombie apocalypse – but the chances of being the victim of a drive-by shooting on the road are vanishingly small. I’m also guessing that a good percentage of the ones that do occur are not one-sided – that is, the victim provoked the nutjob via a middle finger or something, even if they never admit to it. If you resist the urge to flip off the guy who almost rammed you, and you don’t drive directly through the worst areas, you’ll likely never have a problem. I’ve actually been shot at when driving through San Marcos, on Mission Avenue a mile or so east of Palomar (a relatively poor area), but I knew it was a fluke and haven’t had a fear of driving in the same place since.

Your money is probably better spent on an advanced driving course and/or a safer car (first protect yourself against the stuff that is FAR more likely to kill you).

[Ren]

There really isn’t an argument here. City living is great for the young and unencumbered, and will undoubtedly increase as the size of the population increases. It can also be incredibly inconvenient and expensive for those with kids/pets, depending on the location and building. For that reason suburbs will always have a prominent place in U.S. society. Maybe city living is the norm for other cultures, but we have the room for it, we LIKE it, and until city planning is done correctly, the upsides of the burbs usually outweigh the upsides of the city for families – even if it’s a terrible use of resources.

If individual units have no ground level patio or yard and the nearest park is blocks away, then for us and the gadzillions of people like us (small kids and a dog) it is completely out of the question. When you have kids and pets, and in your 30’s you probably do, then that living arrangement complicates life – it doesn’t simplify it, even if work is literally across the street. We don’t need to be able to walk to a bar, as awesome as that would be – we need to be able to take a few steps to get to the grass and vitamin D (the backyard), without leading a toddler into downtown streets. I stress out just thinking about doing that on a daily basis. And the thought of living without an attached garage is horrifying.

Maybe in 200 years we’ll get city planning right, and there will be many much smaller city centers surrounded by burbs – or whatever the ideal layout is.

Meanwhile, I would be happy living in a place like “The Gates”, minus the vampires.

[Ren]

At least oil production won’t fall off a cliff. In fact, I’m convinced that alternative energy technology will rise at a faster rate than oil will decline. In 100 years, maybe much sooner, the vast majority of vehicles won’t use gasoline, most oil will be synthetic, and I believe the transition to that will be very smooth – oil production will gradually drop (shale extraction will slow the drop), while alternative energy tech will gradually rise to take its place. As oil prices go up, more people will buy alternative energy vehicles, and the more people buy alternative energy vehicles, the more auto manufacturers will spend developing and building them. Every new model will be more efficient than the last.

Of course I’m also an optimist.

The biggest shakeup will be in those countries whose main export is oil. They will evolve into other areas, or they will become… Mexico.

More predictions – humvees will be electric, tanks will be nuclear, troops will be robotic or wear bitchin’ iron man suits, and gearheads like me will pay $50/gallon for the old-fashioned juice.

[Ren]

I’m going with the “idiot” theory, and adding “snob” to it. I’m guessing he has a flashy car, too. Probably leased.

We have kids and like our privacy, or we would probably do it, too. $600/month is awesome passive income, and you get to supervise your tenant, unlike a rental property.

We do plan to take it to the next level when we buy/build our forever house – a casita with its own entrance, living area, and kitchen/laundry. The MIL will live there for a while, but once she’s gone, it will easily knock $1,400 off the mortgage every month.

[Author]

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