[seattle-relo]

What’s sad is that the people that are in some trouble are now going to believe that the government in going to rescue them rather then be proactive and trying to fix the mess that they got themselves into.

[seattle-relo]

It really sounds like you want your wife to be happy, that’s not at all unusual in a commited relationship. Ignore those who tell you to grow some balls, I would bet that in real life they don’t treat their siginificant others that way. Ask yourself what will really make her happy, you know her better than anyone on this website. Try to visualize how she (and you) would cope with the worst case scenario. My guess is that her unhappiness would be much greater if you were stuck in a condo for the next 10 years than her current unhappiness for not buying yet. People keep telling you to show her the data for her to understand why now is not the time to buy. If she is so emotionally caught up in buying a place now, the data may not really matter to her – she might even say she’s fine with a “paper loss” because her feelings are overruling logic. So rather then just shoving data down her throat, talk about her feelings and home of her dreams and how you want to make her happy, and that you know you can make her even happier if you just wait a little longer. In the end you will be making her happy if you hold off on buying, she just doesn’t know that yet. Because you love her and want to make her happy, wait.

[seattle-relo]

We bought a modest 550 house in Rancho Bernardo (yes, very stupid…no lectures needed :)). The difference was based on salary – the san diego salary was 45% higher than the Texas offer and we weren’t comparing simular homes. We lowered our housing standards for San Diego when comparing homes to Texas and North Carolina. With that spreedsheet we compared a 275K Texas house with the 550K San Diego house with no mello roos. There were a lot more variables than just mortgage to mortgage, I’d have to look back at his spreadsheet…

[seattle-relo]

Last year when my engineer husband was looking for a new position outside of Seattle, we had 2 places on our list – Texas and North Carolina (the headhunter also had San Diego – we had to be convinced). Being the engineer that he is, he did various spreadsheets on the different aspects in regard to the cost of living and the different salaries that he was able to get in each area. After doing the numbers, Texas (Dallas) wasn’t that great. In both areas (NC and Texas) the available salary wasn’t as high has he was getting in Seattle and not nearly as high as he was offered here. I really wanted to like Texas, but I was just spoiled by areas with natural beauty and outdoor recreation. Living in a 4,000 sq ft mcmansion in Dallas wasn’t worth the extra 250 dollars a month that we’d have living there. We’d rather live in our little house and go sailing and mountain biking every weekend. Which you can’t do in Texas! My very good friend moved to Austin 2 years ago, and she’s already wanting to move back to the West coast…I guess her 4,000 sq ft house with pool and outdoor kitchen hasn’t really bought her happiness…

[seattle-relo]

Oops, I meant to put that in a new thread, sorry…

[seattle-relo]

Oops, I meant to put that in a new thread, sorry…

[seattle-relo]

Oops, I meant to put that in a new thread, sorry…

[seattle-relo]

The consequences of foreclosure…

With all the potential foreclosures happening in the next couple years, I am wondering how these people will be seen in terms of getting into another loan when prices finally hit bottom.(A loan that they could actually afford) Does anyone have any prediction for these people? Will the banks be even more fearful of these people and not lend to them or due to such a high amount of families forclosing, could the banks extend a bad credit “forgiveness” due to the nationwide trend? I am not saying that there should be any “bad credit forgiveness”, but I am wondering if that could happen. Any thoughts?

On a side note, you have talked about 1st mortgages being a non-recourse loan if there hasn’t been any refinacing. For those who purchased with a 1st and piggybacked with a second, but did not refinance, is that 2nd also a non-recourse loan?

[seattle-relo]

The consequences of foreclosure…

With all the potential foreclosures happening in the next couple years, I am wondering how these people will be seen in terms of getting into another loan when prices finally hit bottom.(A loan that they could actually afford) Does anyone have any prediction for these people? Will the banks be even more fearful of these people and not lend to them or due to such a high amount of families forclosing, could the banks extend a bad credit “forgiveness” due to the nationwide trend? I am not saying that there should be any “bad credit forgiveness”, but I am wondering if that could happen. Any thoughts?

On a side note, you have talked about 1st mortgages being a non-recourse loan if there hasn’t been any refinacing. For those who purchased with a 1st and piggybacked with a second, but did not refinance, is that 2nd also a non-recourse loan?

[seattle-relo]

The consequences of foreclosure…

With all the potential foreclosures happening in the next couple years, I am wondering how these people will be seen in terms of getting into another loan when prices finally hit bottom.(A loan that they could actually afford) Does anyone have any prediction for these people? Will the banks be even more fearful of these people and not lend to them or due to such a high amount of families forclosing, could the banks extend a bad credit “forgiveness” due to the nationwide trend? I am not saying that there should be any “bad credit forgiveness”, but I am wondering if that could happen. Any thoughts?

On a side note, you have talked about 1st mortgages being a non-recourse loan if there hasn’t been any refinacing. For those who purchased with a 1st and piggybacked with a second, but did not refinance, is that 2nd also a non-recourse loan?

[seattle-relo]

There is no “perfect” city – big or small. I lived in the Chicago area for the first 28 years of my life and then lived in Seattle for another 7 before moving to San Diego. Chicago is a great city for culture, but it certainly has it’s downsides, including awful weather, crime, and suburban sprawl. Seattle is very hip, polite, but not very friendly, with great outdoor beauty. But try to spend 9 months out of the year with gloomy weather, for some it can be just awful. Heck, I’ve heard native San Diegans complaining about a couple of days without sun, try 200. I agree that San Diego is a little boring in terms of culture and nightlife. The downtown area is pretty disappointing, but at the same time I apprechiate the great schools, family friendly, warm neighbors that live around me in boring old Rancho Bernardo. On Saturday I went shopping(window shopping) with some girlfriends in Beverly Hills. It was exciting, but once I got home, it sure was nice to be back in boring, but very comfortable San Diego. Because home prices are not at all in line with salaries, I am wondering what (if any) types of incentives the city has done to try to attract bigger companies that can offer bigger salaries. Some people actually like warm weather, palm trees,and the beach, so I think that San Diego could have potential if they positioned themselves better.

[seattle-relo]

There is no “perfect” city – big or small. I lived in the Chicago area for the first 28 years of my life and then lived in Seattle for another 7 before moving to San Diego. Chicago is a great city for culture, but it certainly has it’s downsides, including awful weather, crime, and suburban sprawl. Seattle is very hip, polite, but not very friendly, with great outdoor beauty. But try to spend 9 months out of the year with gloomy weather, for some it can be just awful. Heck, I’ve heard native San Diegans complaining about a couple of days without sun, try 200. I agree that San Diego is a little boring in terms of culture and nightlife. The downtown area is pretty disappointing, but at the same time I apprechiate the great schools, family friendly, warm neighbors that live around me in boring old Rancho Bernardo. On Saturday I went shopping(window shopping) with some girlfriends in Beverly Hills. It was exciting, but once I got home, it sure was nice to be back in boring, but very comfortable San Diego. Because home prices are not at all in line with salaries, I am wondering what (if any) types of incentives the city has done to try to attract bigger companies that can offer bigger salaries. Some people actually like warm weather, palm trees,and the beach, so I think that San Diego could have potential if they positioned themselves better.

[seattle-relo]

There is no “perfect” city – big or small. I lived in the Chicago area for the first 28 years of my life and then lived in Seattle for another 7 before moving to San Diego. Chicago is a great city for culture, but it certainly has it’s downsides, including awful weather, crime, and suburban sprawl. Seattle is very hip, polite, but not very friendly, with great outdoor beauty. But try to spend 9 months out of the year with gloomy weather, for some it can be just awful. Heck, I’ve heard native San Diegans complaining about a couple of days without sun, try 200. I agree that San Diego is a little boring in terms of culture and nightlife. The downtown area is pretty disappointing, but at the same time I apprechiate the great schools, family friendly, warm neighbors that live around me in boring old Rancho Bernardo. On Saturday I went shopping(window shopping) with some girlfriends in Beverly Hills. It was exciting, but once I got home, it sure was nice to be back in boring, but very comfortable San Diego. Because home prices are not at all in line with salaries, I am wondering what (if any) types of incentives the city has done to try to attract bigger companies that can offer bigger salaries. Some people actually like warm weather, palm trees,and the beach, so I think that San Diego could have potential if they positioned themselves better.

[seattle-relo]

What about Rancho Penasquitos? You still have access to the Poway Unified School District and there is quite a bit of socio-economic and cultural diversity. We moved to San Diego about 7 months ago from one of the best school districs in the Seattle suburbs. We were in temporary housing in PQ and I was a little nervous about how the schools would be because the school my kindergartener would attend had a pretty high rate of kids receiving free lunches. (We were at Los Penasquitos Elementary). Anyway, this school far surpassed what he was learning in kindergarten in Seattle, I was extrememly impressed with how dedicated the teachers and actively involved the parents were. And I was glad that my son had a chance to be in a classroom that was so culturally diverse, it was really great for him. I can’t verify this, but one of the mom’s told me that Los Pen had some of the highest scores in the district this year.
BTW, being a mom who totally wanted my family to feel settled when we moved here, we bought a place 3 months ago. So I totally understand wanting to buy, even when people warn you not to. I just want to say for you to try to understand the big econmic picture of a downturning market before you commit to owning a home. Had we done our research, we would have waited, at least another year or two, even though it would have been really hard.

Best of luck to you on whatever you do.

[seattle-relo]

What about Rancho Penasquitos? You still have access to the Poway Unified School District and there is quite a bit of socio-economic and cultural diversity. We moved to San Diego about 7 months ago from one of the best school districs in the Seattle suburbs. We were in temporary housing in PQ and I was a little nervous about how the schools would be because the school my kindergartener would attend had a pretty high rate of kids receiving free lunches. (We were at Los Penasquitos Elementary). Anyway, this school far surpassed what he was learning in kindergarten in Seattle, I was extrememly impressed with how dedicated the teachers and actively involved the parents were. And I was glad that my son had a chance to be in a classroom that was so culturally diverse, it was really great for him. I can’t verify this, but one of the mom’s told me that Los Pen had some of the highest scores in the district this year.
BTW, being a mom who totally wanted my family to feel settled when we moved here, we bought a place 3 months ago. So I totally understand wanting to buy, even when people warn you not to. I just want to say for you to try to understand the big econmic picture of a downturning market before you commit to owning a home. Had we done our research, we would have waited, at least another year or two, even though it would have been really hard.

Best of luck to you on whatever you do.

[Author]

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