It's no secret how many Californians can afford their mortgage payments. 4 credit cards with a $30,000 balance on each one.

And for those of you proclaiming how your house has risen in value by 40%, better sell now because the next 3 years is gonna bring 20 to 30 percent decreases, thanks to thousands of people who are now living in homes that they can't afford.

tracy, you are predicting the bottom falling out of real estate and that isn't going to happen.

Real estate may flatline but it will not decrease 20%-30%.

AS long as interest rates stay low, values will remain high.

Tracy, you have no clue about real estate. Stick to your day job.

Our real estate agent(we were the buyers) married the seller's real estate agent. We got invited to the wedding!

Hey RNC-the other thread(the political one) was frozen just as I was sending love backat 'ya:)

Some of tracy's comments closeline me.

Aw man, I wish I got it. Send it over honey. Put me in my place;-)

It's simple, folks. Buy in a cheap, not-so-great area that has potential - because it's near good transportation, it's where the "starving artists" live, or it's the next sensible area to be developed. Sit back and wait (time flies anyway, wouldn't you agree?) and sell it when prices & demand are high. Then upgrade to something bigger & better, but still in an "iffy" area with potential. Once those darned yuppies move into the area, sell. Then buy a bigger place in a somewhat sketchy hood...

(I've made more $$ in real estate than I have at my job, starting with a small investment just a few years ago.)

suzanne - your plan is my plan.

We bought an older townhouse in a reasonably maintained development on the edge of a 'hood. The city's redevelopment efforts are headed our way. Just down the street some new, very nice residential and commercial development is going in. Some abandoned wherehouses and things like that were knocked down to make way for the new stuff. The whole area is starting to look nice.

Our plan is to keep our place for maybe 5 years or so, do some work while we are there to update it, and then sell it. We will take the equity and invest it in another place, probably an old house in an up and coming neighborhood.

My aunt and uncle went this route and have recently bought a nice house 1/2 block from the cliffs in Santa Cruz. They are both high school teachers and never made much money. Neither inherited any money to speak of. Yet they managed to raise 3 kids and now are in their 50s, living in a beach house.

They are my role models.

Simone, re: your comment "It's like doctors that decry the cost of healthcare but refuse to work for free" If you go to school for another 10 years <after> college and obtain $175,000 in debt along the way do you think these folks should work for free? That sounds crazy. Also, every physician I know has patients they have been taking care of for years without receiving a dime. Preformed surgery for free. I know, my spouse does it. Just because one does not advertise their charity does not mean it's not happening every day.


On the subject of real estate in San Diego, it appears the market for downtown condos is strong? A new condo that was sold pre construction for $700k is now listed at $1.1m. Is that an accurate appreciation cost or do any natives think the place will sell for less? The building I'm talking about is the Grande downtown. Thanks.

I am with you travelinwifey - exccept that I now owe $250,000 in student loans and am currently working in the inner city!

JT, I wasn't refering to you specifically, but to the fact that careful financial planning can go far. Look, I grew up on welfare, worked hard and saved money. Bought a small home and will eventually trade up. All without a dime from my family.

I see people all the time complaining about not having enough money to live in LA but spend $100/month on hair color!

Maybe one of these times I'll write a post w/o a typo:)

Congrats Alisa on your accomplishments! What a story of inspiration! Best of luck to you:)

Alisa, I would also like to give you my congratulations. I guess it all boils down to our most important needs.

The expensive car, the several trips a year, the designer clothes, the dinners out several times a week really add up.

And I enjoy the good life as much as anyone. But what is that old joke;
"a million here and a million there and pretty soon you are talking about a lot of money". \:D/

While we're at it re: costs of health care, there are docs who work with children in teaching hospitals who make less than, for example, local school principals or professors in the business school. Out of the 80-90 hrs/week DH works, easily 3/4 of the time is on the phone with insurance companies who don't want to cover nursing or medication or other procedures for chronically but seriously ill kids. He was offered a job in California, but the salary wasn't enough for us to buy a house since we were coming from an area where housing cost less than 1/4 what it does in Calif..... we just wouldn't have had been able to bring enough equity to keep monthly payments below what his take-home would have been. (BTW we drive a '96 and a '91 Camry, respectively -- it's the surgeons who drive the BMWs and such.) If you didn't start out in California back in the 70s, you had better be pretty well off now to move there, MD or not. And for sure, getting an MD often means taking on the equivalent of a mortgage nowadays.

Cassandra, I sure agree with your statements. I understand completely what you are saying.

TopMan--we're starting to look at houses in Arlington, and you must have a pretty nice place! Since only my husband will be working, the most we can afford is $650k. I'm not crying poverty, just that it hurts to pay that much for a small 3-bedroom, 2-bath. But we will because we REFUSE to move any further out. We're about to have a kid, and my husband wants to spend his time with him family, not commuting.

When we rented to Arlington about 4 years ago, those same $650k houses were going for less than $300k.

Fillmore area of San Fransicsco. Oakland. East Palo Alto.

Thanks for the kind words travelinwifey and LoveItaly. Despite the loans, I do love my job.

How about the Bakersfield area? Homes are cheap, cheap, cheap! And, the area is getting "nicer" all the time. My Mom is actually moving to Bakersfield from the East Coast to be closer to her daughters and for the affordable housing. The way home prices are rising, if she buys now, she could have a nice nest egg in a few years. Maybe not a first choice for a place to live, but....

note to Alisa: Bakersfield is fine for mom's objectives. Is she bi-lingual?

note to suzanne: would you rather buy a new house that is under construction that is confirmed to be increasing in value -OR- would you buy an older house that needs remodeling and has a chance of increasing in value?

I've done both several times...
My way cannot be right for everyone. Otherwise, nobody would be doing it your way, and everyone would buy up what I buy.

Cassandra, I completely understand what you are saying.

I looked into going back to school a couple of years ago for graduate studies in getting a law degree. With starting saleries for lawyers being squat, I would have been working for free the first several years just trying to pay back student loans.