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RicechexParticipant
Speaking of working girls….
Has anyone/Drunkle/bzribee seen more of them lately? They were here pretty bad in the late 80s-90’s but seem to have been driven out about 9 years ago. I was just commenting to my neighbor that in the last 3 weeks I have seen quite a few in various locations in North Park.
Is this a red flag that North Park is “de-gentrifying” again, simply a fluke, or has increased police attention in a neighboring hood forced the hookers to find a new business locale?
Sheesh. Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s I was an apartment manager for a small complex on Alabama Street. The prostitute traffic was horrible. They would take their johns to the empty carports during the days and leave such fabulous party favors such as used condoms. We also had outside storage cabinets that were constantly getting burglarized. I had the biggest, bestest, locks ever installed and guess what….they lasted 6 months, until every lock was gone. Once we found a homeless man had taken residence in the storage unit. Don’t miss those days.
Anyway…sorry to be tangential here folks….
Newbie–really I doubt a second bathroom is gonna do much in light of the current housing market and the excess of condos in North Park. It would be helpful should he rent the place, a large family would move in. Large families really need the extra bathroom. I suspect that large families are not your preferred neighbors however…
RicechexParticipantNewbie–don’t stress it. If you enjoy where you live and can continue to afford your mortgage payments, then you are fine.
Personally, I think a $400K loan would have been better spent on a house in City Heights. Yes, City Heights is a worse neighborhood, but a SFR is more of a sure thing. Plus, it is so MUCH better to have all your own walls, and no HOA fees, and a yard, however small. City Heights is certainly very diverse.
Gays are great in the neighborhood, so I think it is great you bought at La Boheme. I am NOT being sarcastic, gays have greatly improved North Park. I would much rather have some fags living next door rather than a large family with a thousand out-of-control children and extended family taking over the neighborhood. Been there, done that, and it ain’t pretty. Crack heads next door ain’t too much fun either if you aren’t into tweak.
I love North Park, and will continue to live here as long as I can. Its close to work, and centrally located. Most of my friends live here too, and have been here for years. It works for many of us.
North Park got too hip, too quick, and the investors snowed some folks with their condo conversions and developments.
In some ways, I love all the people that think this is the hip and cool neighborhood. It breathes some life into an area that has some bad years.
If you are interested, get the book “North Park: A San Diego Urban Village”, 1896-1946, by Donald Covington. It’s great! North Park was originally a suburb, basically. The tract homes of yesteryear, though not as corporate, cookie cutter and overwhelming as they are today. The book is sold at the North Park Community Association and Lost Your Marbles Too on Ray Street.
RicechexParticipantHouse that Toots posted from CL….
Very nice. However, it will not sell for that price BECAUSE people that will spend that kind of money for an old home, want to buy old houses with character, houses that have been restored to close to their original condition. Such as wainscotting (sp?), natural wood cabinets and floors, original tile, or new tile modeled after the original tile. That house has been completely remodeled to look similar to the McMansions of today. The built ins in the dining area are not very substantial.
RicechexParticipantit’s the yuppies that go into a place and suck the life out of it. hillcrest, little italy, downtown… they were cool before because there were good places to go for cheap.
boheme (along with all the other new condos) should have been built for the current residents, not for “investors” and yuppies. gentrification happens when you have the residents take ownership of their community and when the resident’s increase in net worth. not by trying to drive out the “bad” ones and importing “good” ones.
Drunkle–I completely agree. The yuppies have sucked the life out of North Park because it has become “edgy and hip.” That means the exact opposite to me….it has become trendy and mainstream, driving up prices.
I have seen those condos–OMG–built poorly too. (Don’t get me started on condo conversions either!). There used to be a Rite Aid there, and next to it, a bakery where you could get fresh bread.
The businesses that will remain have been around….North Park Hardware–gotta love those old guys….they really KNOW what they are talking about….
RicechexParticipantVery valid points here. I have lived in Northpark since 1989, with the exception of a few years in Hillcrest. And, yes, I like North Park–otherwise I would move.
Northpark used to be full of crack heads, and meth labs. CVS (has been SavOn, Osco, and a couple of other names I cannot recall) is still ghetto. You can line the streets with gold, but it is what it is.
Approximately 10 years ago, the houses were selling for $200K, yet University Ave was filled with check cashing stores and 99 Cent stores. The houses got more expensive, and the cute little boutiques, and fancy soap stores started coming in. However, as the market begins to turn, many of these businesses are a day late and a dollar short, similar to those buying a house at the top of the market. I believe those businesses will fail.
The yuppies that view the area as “edgy”,”hip”, and “cool”, are the same people that bought condos at top of the market and/or on subprime loans. Many of them will face foreclosure and no longer be able to buy from the fancy soap store.
Now, I watched the construction of La Boheme. The floors are crappy–NO concrete, so it is bound to be noisy. La Boheme “looks” good now, but wait and see what happens. I suspect the place will gradually fall apart, and become more trashy as the units are rented out.
North Park town council focused on short term revenue, by approving any condo development that could fill out the paperwork. The stress created from the many new condos in the area is going to put more pressure on the infrastructure–plumbing, electricity, and create more frequent water main breaks. (Anyone heard what is going on in Little Italy? Constant street floods)
What North Park has is some wonderful old, solidly built, Craftsman homes. Not some cheap and tacky condos with some granite counters and stainless steel appliances.
North Park will not return to the 80’s/90’s of crack heads and meth labs, BUT, the sheer numbers of condos and apartments will just go ghetto. The SFRs will be okay, because people buy them because they LIKE older neighborhoods and old homes. The houses on streets that have few complexes and condos will see less of a decrease in price.
Just my opinion.
RicechexParticipantGosh, I love this site!
OK, here is what I do….
National City Bank CC, charge most everything, and get cash rebate at $100. Thus, I am making $200 per year on this CC. Pay in full each month. (I feel like I got one on the bank ya know…)I use AMEX for Costco purchases. Takes a fair amount of time for a reward, but thats okay. Means I am not spending too much money.
Put savings in ING, and promotional accounts from BofA. BoFa was not so great on my last transaction….when I logged in, I got a promotional CD for 4.9% APY. About a week later, I got a card via snail mail for same promotion. So, I signed up online. They called me, and I confirmed with the rep that the 4.9% was indeed true. Two hours later….shows up as 3.9% APY. What the h***?
TC to BOFA, and I am told, “sorry ma’am,” its too late, and if I want to change, I need some special Prima checking account, which of course, costs more money. Bait and switch, heh?
Well, I don’t need that, and why aren’t they honoring their promotional literature (which I had printed out and had in hand). On and on, and they won’t release my money (ummm, this was only 5 hours later), until I get a Supervisor who agrees to give me the correct rate of 4.9%.
Last week, was time to renew. Wow, talk about great CS….they sure wanted my business back. Sorry, BOFA, release the money to my checking so I can move it over to ING.
Oh, and BTW, I have been a customer since 1987. That stupid business at BOFA was TOO TACKY.
About 9 months ago, I opened an ASPCA CC from Chase. Charge one purchase and they donate $25 to the ASPCA. I have contributed to ASPCA for a few years, so this seemed easy to do the right thing. Two months later, I recieved checks that I could use for up to $7000. No transaction fee. No interest for 10 months. I wrote the check, put it in ING, paying $129 monthly, and earning interest. Not a lot of money, and of course, taxes time I will have to pay, but still….they didn’t get me to buy a car I didn’t need and get roped into high interest….
September 10, 2007 at 12:19 AM in reply to: Petition drive at RP Vons to “save your home from the U.S. government” #84011RicechexParticipantTemeculaguy–you always have the right on posts! Very insightful, and you are so funny too. Where do you hang out? (I suppose Temecula of course..but anywhere in particular?) Naaah, not trying to hook up, but you seem an interesting and BRIGHT person. Thats all.
RicechexParticipantWhat about this Sobel character that rented until he was 48 years old? Did he not take the time to look at the loan docs and understand the terms of his loan? He should have bought a cheaper condo on a fixed rate loan and he would have been fine.
At some point, people need to take responsibility for their actions.
RicechexParticipantAlex, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon (and I can guarantee you I am not one!) to figure out that the housing market is dropping and continues to do so. I am not nearly as financially savvy as the rest of these posters, and I suspect my income is quite meager compared to the rest of these guys.
However, I started to watch the market, and check housing prices constantly beginning in 1996. Because I have difficulty making decisions and taking risks with money, it was not until 2001 that I finally bought a small house in the hood, cause that is all I could afford with a 30 year fixed mortgage. It was obvious that there was a frenzy going down. I bought the house so I would have a place for myself and my dog, and I saw rents skyrocketings and people getting booted for condo conversions. This was happenning at an unprecedented pace.
So, all these years, I continue to watch the market. Just search the MLS listings on sdlookup.com, and you will see….many of these homes were bought in 2004-2005 and the listing price is considerably less than the sales price of those years. Furthermore, I see PLENTY of short sales, and prior to these last 6 months, I was unfamiliar with the term. (Now I know what it means)
That suggests that there is trouble in paradise. I see houses in my neighborhood taking months to a year to sell, and that was not what I have been seeing in the last 5 years.
And, yes I thought people were totally stupid buying on those crazy “creative” mortgages these last couple of years. What were they thinking? Didn’t they want to know the terms? How could they think they would be able to pay when their ARMs reset? Were they expecting to inherit a windfall of cash or win the lottery? Didn’t their parents teach them common sense? Not the sharpest tools in the shed.
If I recall correctly, I remember first hearing about the interest only mortgages in 2003-2004, which makes sense now, as it is 3 years in, and the ARMs are re-setting, and guess what, they cannot pay. Thus, the short sales, foreclosures. Since those ARMs continued into late 2006, that brings us to 2009 for the rest of them to go under.
Have some lunch downtown. See all the empty condos. See the for rent signs. Something is awry. The news is mostly bogus, I pay little attention to it….just LOOK AROUND. The market is crashing.
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it is a duck.
RicechexParticipantAlex, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon (and I can guarantee you I am not one!) to figure out that the housing market is dropping and continues to do so. I am not nearly as financially savvy as the rest of these posters, and I suspect my income is quite meager compared to the rest of these guys.
However, I started to watch the market, and check housing prices constantly beginning in 1996. Because I have difficulty making decisions and taking risks with money, it was not until 2001 that I finally bought a small house in the hood, cause that is all I could afford with a 30 year fixed mortgage. It was obvious that there was a frenzy going down. I bought the house so I would have a place for myself and my dog, and I saw rents skyrocketings and people getting booted for condo conversions. This was happenning at an unprecedented pace.
So, all these years, I continue to watch the market. Just search the MLS listings on sdlookup.com, and you will see….many of these homes were bought in 2004-2005 and the listing price is considerably less than the sales price of those years. Furthermore, I see PLENTY of short sales, and prior to these last 6 months, I was unfamiliar with the term. (Now I know what it means)
That suggests that there is trouble in paradise. I see houses in my neighborhood taking months to a year to sell, and that was not what I have been seeing in the last 5 years.
And, yes I thought people were totally stupid buying on those crazy “creative” mortgages these last couple of years. What were they thinking? Didn’t they want to know the terms? How could they think they would be able to pay when their ARMs reset? Were they expecting to inherit a windfall of cash or win the lottery? Didn’t their parents teach them common sense? Not the sharpest tools in the shed.
If I recall correctly, I remember first hearing about the interest only mortgages in 2003-2004, which makes sense now, as it is 3 years in, and the ARMs are re-setting, and guess what, they cannot pay. Thus, the short sales, foreclosures. Since those ARMs continued into late 2006, that brings us to 2009 for the rest of them to go under.
Have some lunch downtown. See all the empty condos. See the for rent signs. Something is awry. The news is mostly bogus, I pay little attention to it….just LOOK AROUND. The market is crashing.
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it is a duck.
RicechexParticipantAlex, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon (and I can guarantee you I am not one!) to figure out that the housing market is dropping and continues to do so. I am not nearly as financially savvy as the rest of these posters, and I suspect my income is quite meager compared to the rest of these guys.
However, I started to watch the market, and check housing prices constantly beginning in 1996. Because I have difficulty making decisions and taking risks with money, it was not until 2001 that I finally bought a small house in the hood, cause that is all I could afford with a 30 year fixed mortgage. It was obvious that there was a frenzy going down. I bought the house so I would have a place for myself and my dog, and I saw rents skyrocketings and people getting booted for condo conversions. This was happenning at an unprecedented pace.
So, all these years, I continue to watch the market. Just search the MLS listings on sdlookup.com, and you will see….many of these homes were bought in 2004-2005 and the listing price is considerably less than the sales price of those years. Furthermore, I see PLENTY of short sales, and prior to these last 6 months, I was unfamiliar with the term. (Now I know what it means)
That suggests that there is trouble in paradise. I see houses in my neighborhood taking months to a year to sell, and that was not what I have been seeing in the last 5 years.
And, yes I thought people were totally stupid buying on those crazy “creative” mortgages these last couple of years. What were they thinking? Didn’t they want to know the terms? How could they think they would be able to pay when their ARMs reset? Were they expecting to inherit a windfall of cash or win the lottery? Didn’t their parents teach them common sense? Not the sharpest tools in the shed.
If I recall correctly, I remember first hearing about the interest only mortgages in 2003-2004, which makes sense now, as it is 3 years in, and the ARMs are re-setting, and guess what, they cannot pay. Thus, the short sales, foreclosures. Since those ARMs continued into late 2006, that brings us to 2009 for the rest of them to go under.
Have some lunch downtown. See all the empty condos. See the for rent signs. Something is awry. The news is mostly bogus, I pay little attention to it….just LOOK AROUND. The market is crashing.
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it is a duck.
RicechexParticipantGreat video! Well done!
RicechexParticipantGreat video! Well done!
RicechexParticipantGreat video! Well done!
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