[sakina96]

Powayseller,

“About the illegals, I think it is a humanitarian abuse to take their SS taxes, and not guarantee them a SS payout at retirement. What will they do at age 65? ”

“Our government is knowingly taking advantage of poor people with little prospects”

You have absolutely got to be kidding! Anyone who makes the conscious decision to enter this country and live here illegally has to know that they are not entitled to the rights and priveledges afforded to American citizens and legal immigrants. Surely they are entitled to basic human rights and other basic protections under the law. I cannot see how SS falls into this category in any way. To characterize illegal immigrants as innocent, downtrodden members of society of whom the govenment and business establishment are taking advantage is inaccurate. Illegal immigrants also knowingly take advantage of the American govenment and its citizens on a daily basis though use of our schools, hospitals and other public resources.

[sakina96]

It’s ten months old.

[sakina96]

Personally I would never trust a builder to disclose anything about the surrounding area. If the surrounding land has not been built upon you should research it to find out what might be popping up down the line. Calavera hills is one such example. Essentially all of the surrounding land has plans in the works; one development is called Robertson Ranch but there are some smaller developments as well. The best place to find out about future projects is to go to the city of carlsbad website and look under construction updates. It is possible to find out some details about planned housing projects, density of housing, etc. It probably doesn’t give all the information you need but it is surely more than a builder would be willing to admit.

[sakina96]

I moved from the east coast about eight months ago. I’m prepared to buy and have been looking for about eight months. However, I’ve seen enough price reductions and increased inventory that I’m going to ride this one out for a while to see what happens. I really don’t think that we’ll see a 40-50% reduction as some people think. I could realistically see 20% across the board with some larger increases in certain vulnerable areas (such as rancho carrillo, san elijo, etc.).

I think that “good deals” are a bit sporadic at this time and prices have not uniformly dropped (even within a particular neighborhood). I think there are many people who bought houses two to three years ago and have already counted on a 10-20% appreciation rate per year and have priced their houses accordingly. It’s going to take a while for reality to set in for these people.

That being said there are significant price reductions within Rancho Carrillo. I’ve seen numerous houses linger on the market and owners have dropped prices by 10-15%. I think that Lennar at Bressi Ranch is willing to accept offers below asking price. Fortunately Bressi Ranch is in Carslbad school district; unfortunately Bressi Ranch houses are packed so close together that they may as well be townhomes. Never mind the fact that it is in the flight path for Palomar airport (the busiest single strip airport in California). I don’t know if developments in La costa greens and la costa ridge are offering incentives (I have no doubt that they eventually will). As I have stated previously it does not make much sense to me to pay a Carlsbad price for these homes when they are in the SM school district.

Other areas in Carlsbad that are worth considering that are good neighborhoods are Calavera hills and Aviara. Personally I like Aviara; it’s a little pricey for me given the size house I’m looking for. However, I’m optimistic that, given time, prices will adjust lower such that I can get what I want.

I hope that helps.

[sakina96]

The line between the SM and Carlsbad school district lies between Bressi Ranch and Rancho Carrillo. Most but not all homes in La Costa Greens are in SM. The new La Costa Ridge (prices starting at a mere 1.2M) are also in SM.

I also agree with you that most public high school are kind of scary. San Marcos high school claims to be within one of the top 1000 in the country. I’ve never been inside but it looks kind of dumpy to me.

[sakina96]

I don’t think that prices have dropped significantly enough to my satisfaction. Clearly there have been some decreased prices. However, at this point it seems random. As an example there is one neighborhood that I’ve been watching. There is a house (~3600sf) that has been on and off the market since October. It started off at 995,000; the current asking price is 840,000. Unfortunately I don’t care for that particular house. One street over another house just came on the market. It’s a good sized house (3700sf) with a fairly large yard (important to me) and ocean view (way off in the distance). There are absolutely no upgrades in the house (linoleum floor, ugly carpet, no granite). Asking price 1.1 to 1.3 million. You are absolutely right that I can offer whatever price I want. However, I am doubtful that the owners would be willing to accept (at least at this point) the 850,000-900,000 that I’m willing to pay. My feeling is that perhaps by next wintertime prices will have universally dropped and sellers expectations will have adjusted accordingly to make it worth it for me.

[sakina96]

There does not seem to be much activity at La costa oaks, although Stoneridge seems to be having a hard time finishing out their sales.

Just up the road Rancho Carrillo seems to be hurting. I have been tracking houses there since October and many are still on the market. I’ve seen many houses that have been reduced by about 5-10% (whether the original asking price was reasonable is another story). I think that Rancho Carrillo is an anomaly, however, because of so many new develop coming up around it. Furthermore, despite being in Carlsbad it is located in the San Marcos school district. Why pay a Carlsbad price for San Marcos schools?

[sakina96]

What is the best way to go about investing in gold. Is it better to invest in mutual funds which invest in gold and gold-related industry or just go out and buy gold itself. If so, how does one go about doing that?

[sakina96]

Thanks to everyone for your input. Blissful Ignoramus, If I were to buy a house now I would expect to stay in it for 8-10 years. But as we all know, no one can predict your future circumstances. My job is about as stable as it gets. I am not dying to have a house so badly that I’m willing to compromise myself financially. That being said, I’ll probably ride it out and save the extra 4,000/month for a downpayment when I need it.
Thanks again

[sakina96]

Thanks to everyone for your input. Blissful Ignoramus, If I were to buy a house now I would expect to stay in it for 8-10 years. But as we all know, no one can predict your future circumstances. My job is about as stable as it gets. I am not dying to have a house so badly that I’m willing to compromise myself financially. That being said, I’ll probably ride it out and save the extra 4,000/month for a downpayment when I need it.
Thanks again

[sakina96]

Thanks powayseller. I totally skipped over that forum. Very helpful insights.

[Author]

Posts