[spdrun]

People in coastal Carlsbad didn’t strike me as terribly phony — first time I was in SD (since childhood) was in 2009, and I visited a friend who was staying in an apartment complex within shouting distance of the beach. Rent was cheap, under a grand a month for a 1 bedroom, you could hear train’s klaxons whenever you opened the bedroom window, and most of the other residents of the complex were either normal middle-class people or student/surfer types. Didn’t seem pretentious to me at all.

As to my view of CA, I’d strongly PREFER to live somewhere near the beach, ideally within walking distance. Even if I have to pay a bit more for it, sacrifice space, or maybe rent vs buying. Being able to walk over for a swim or sit in a cafe with view of the water would make the other compromises in CA worth it to me.

[spdrun]

If the apocalypse happens, will you really be worried about schools? 🙂

[spdrun]

Guess that answers my question. Not much for sale at all on the same side of 15 as Old Town. There are a few housing developments on the other side within walking distance, but not much available close in.

This being said, proximity to Section 8 isn’t a deal-breaker in my book. Section 8 subsidies are everywhere, where you may not even realize. I own a 1/1 investment condo in a pretty nice area of SD, but there are a few Section 8 tenants in the complex. It’s not “the projects” or “the hood” — some landlords just choose to take a subsidy.

[spdrun]

Glad you got back on your feet as well, but I’m surprised you weren’t more conservative 2nd time around, say put 50% down on a less posh house and/or keep a lot of cash in reserve.

[spdrun]

Just to play ‘ol Scratch’s attorney for a change, could one not own a home within walking distance of Old Town Temecula?

[spdrun]

Up this week, down the next. Not that I’m complaining, since I managed to pick up a good stock or two before the 2 pm announcement…

Personally, I’m hoping for things not to go down too far till April 9th, since my share payouts from the American merger are heavily dependent on the price of AAL…

[spdrun]

On the whole, property prices don’t matter as much nationally, since the majority of states don’t have anything like Prop 13. i.e. national policy isn’t made based on Prop 13.

Majority of areas would just raise the millage in order to make up for lower assessments. (Or may not even use sale prices for assessments — some areas use market rents, for example.)

[spdrun]

Bubbles can’t stay inflated forever, no matter how much the PTB want them to 🙂

And with any luck, we’ll see principal mods with few strings attached next year. More people able to sell at lower prices without doing a short sale or going to foreclosure. Buyers win, sellers win, everyone but the banks win, and I don’t really care about the banks.

Besides, who knows what the Fed will do next year. On the one hand, you have Yellen who has a reputation of being quite dovish. On the other hand, you have the voting seats on the BoG actually rotating to more conservative members.

[spdrun]

If you read about what’s happening in Phoenix and Las Vegas, property is already correcting. Investors are leaving like rats, very little organic demand to replace them.

[spdrun]

I’m not wrong — the question isn’t “if” but “when” the correction happens. Meanwhile, I’ve done fine with investments, but I’m also not in the position to lose as much as I’ve gained 🙂

[spdrun]

It is comical, because as of September, we found out that forward guidance has about the same level of utility as nipples on a boar hog. The only meaningful data are the actual decisions.

[spdrun]

I don’t see any fine print — I see a bunch of equivocation, as is typical for the Fed. “Likely be appropriate” means absolutely nothing.

[spdrun]

There exists a concept of reasonable profit as exemplified in anti-gouging and anti-trust laws. Also, like it or not, eminent domain has been a long-established practice.

We haven’t had a pure capitalist society since … well … 1620 or so.

[spdrun]

I used to go quite frequently (mainly to museums) when I was a kid and my dad worked in New York… I guess that falls under “nice to have if you have kids”, though 20-25 mi extra won’t make a hell of a lot of difference when doing that.

HOWEVER, if I were raising a family in San Diego, I’d strongly consider somewhere within walking/biking distance of a beach. As a kid, I used to spend summers at the shore — being able to walk to the beach, to the store, down the street to hang out with friends was great when you were ten.

For under $1.5MM, you CAN find such a thing in North County south of Oceanside. It will probably be older and smaller, but the area is more important than house size.

[spdrun]

Problem would be getting to a remote part of HI if the zombies run amuck, though a few mil would likely buy you an aircraft with the range and STOL ability required.

(And no, I wasn’t thinking of a typical American farm exactly…)

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