March 26, 2008

California housing disaster: Home prices down 26% statewide, falling $3000 A WEEK. Prices off 31% in Sacramento and 39% in Santa Barbara


Man, renting was never better than it is today.

Losing $3000 a f*cking week? That's gotta suck. $13,000 a month in capital depreciation, combined with $5000 a month or so in carrying costs, and you've got a $18,000 a month problem. And that's why millions are just going to say f*ck it, f*ck the bank, and just turn in the keys.


Yup, should've listened to HousingPANIC instead of idiot realtors on commission, or the biggest fraud of them all, Leslie Appleton-Young at the California realtors Association.

Hey, we were only trying to help. Meanwhile, California is now going to have a budget shortfall and economic downturn that will shock the world.

California freefall: Home prices fell 26% in February

Signs of distress are piling up in the California housing market, where prices are falling at three times the national rate of decline.

--Statewide, median sales prices fell by a stunning 26% in February, with home prices dropping at a rate of nearly $3,000 a week, the California Association of Realtors reports. Further, the CAR says the Fed's interest rate-cutting campaign "will have little near-term direct effect on the housing market."

"It's bad. It's really bad," market analyst Nima Nattagh told the Daily News.

The California Association of Realtors reports median prices fell 27.2% from year-ago levels in the hard-hit Inland Empire east of Los Angeles, 30.9% in Sacramento, and 39.1% in Santa Barbara County.

78 comments:

Anonymous said...

Waiting for the nicer neighborhoods to come down in price. Did anyone here work in real estate/loans during the decline in the early 90's? Wondering what your opinion is on when to buy...

Anonymous said...

I've gotten an idea to help your economy, California:

KEEP PUMPING POVERTY FROM MEXICO INTO YOUR ONCE EXCELLENT STATE. AND THEN KEEP VOTING THOSE MEXICANS INTO LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO FINISH DESTROYING YOUR STATE.

You Californians are a bunch of geniuses. Enjoy your die-off.

Anonymous said...

The only people who lost were those who didn't play. Thank you to our fascist gubbermint.

Anonymous said...

Those numbers are crazy and historic

Anonymous said...

Please don't insult the game of Monopoly by identifying it with the housing crash in California. Monopoly is, after all, a game about responsibility in Real Estate. Whether Baltic Avenue or Boardwalk, people either pay their rent or declare bankruptcy. In other words, no bailouts!
Rich Uncle Pennybags where are you?

Anonymous said...

What's the hurry with wanting to buy? There are still people out there that think they need to jump in before prices start going up again.

PRICES ARE NOT GOING TO GO UP AGAIN FOR A LONG LONG TIME!!!

The days of flipping and becoming an instant millionaire are OVER!!

The bubble was inflated with those zero-down, negative amortization, liar loans and a speculative frenzy which has gone and is not coming back. The bad loan products were the helium for the bubble. Without the helium the bubble will not grow again.

THE BUBBLE WILL FULLY DEFLATE AND PROBABLY UNDERSHOOT THE NORM!!!

So people, just sit this out and watch those prices tumble down. There's no hurry to buy despite what those real-estate pump monkeys tell you. They just want their 6%. It will be obvious when prices have bottomed out eg: when they are flat for a year.

blogger said...

Enjoy these gems from California real estate "experts" from 2005:
______

A panel of economists and real estate professionals meeting at the University of San Diego said yesterday the county's housing market was returning to normal growth patterns following the boom that began in the late 1990s.

"I think the bloom is off the rose, but there is no doom and gloom," said Alan Nevin, chief economist for the California Building Industry Association.


The fundamentals of the housing economy remain sound, said Louis A. Galuppo, director of USD's Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate. "We may see a decline in sales but not prices."

Despite rising interest rates, a growing for-sale inventory and a slowing sales pace, the county's shortage of housing will prevent prices from dropping steeply, speakers asserted.

"It's Economics 101," said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors. "It's demand and supply."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20051215-9999-1b15outlook.html

Anonymous said...

but it's different out here...everyone wants to live in CA. we have a sunshine tax...Suzanne!!!

Mark said...

Everyone in California is deluded believing people still want to relocate there. The nice weather is not enough to ignore the massive cultural shift from a laid back paradise to a Mini-Mexico welfare state. They really did F#ck that state up. If anywhere in the country needs to flush the illegal immigrant toilet and send uneducated massed can drain back across the border it is Southern California. having cheap pool cleaning isn't worth it. Seriously. Is anyone in California paying attention or are they too involved in loving themselves and customizing their rides to notice what a giant piece of sh@t the state has become.

Paul E. Math said...

"It's Economics 101," said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors. "It's demand and supply."

Leslie must be some kind of contortionist to put her foot completely in her mouth while her head is completely up her ass.

How does someone like this still have a job at all?

Anonymous said...

Remember all the journalists that fawned over instant millionaires like David Crisp, Daniel Sadek and all the other trolls who hit it big.

It would be nice for those journalists to go and do stories on what those superstars are up to now.

I remember a PBS documentary where they showed a guy (not David Crisp) who was living in this mansion in California. Turns out he was flipping burgers not too long before he became a big shot realtor. They went on to show some of the people that he convinced to buy homes waaaay out of their price range with interest only loans. When they interviewed those folks it was obvious they were completely f*cked. They had no idea what they were doing.

Where are those people today PBS? Why don't you go and do a documentary on them now?

JWM in SD said...

Yes, and guess what? It's going to get much worse because we are not even half way through this mess.

Klownifornians are in a for a rough ride in the next few years.

Anonymous said...

I wasn't really sure if the bloodbath would come, but it has.

Mammoth said...

Too bad for Californians. This couldn't also happen in Seattle, could it?

Could it?

Too bad...

Anonymous said...

Hey Californians! Now that you've destroyed you're state, live in it! Stay away from ours. Everyplace you people go life goes to s#!t!

Anonymous said...

How sweet it is!

Anonymous said...

I live in California and I too got a loan (from CFC) I really couldn't afford to buy out my spouse after my divorce.

Fortunately, in 2006 I new I had to sell (and pay the prepayment penalty) the house and rent as I could no longer afford to own in my own neighborhood.

Thank goodness! I am renting and waiting to buy a home I can afford.

For those who are listening to the realtors and the home flippers, don't. If you are upside down, sell now you will be glad you did. What a relief!

Anonymous said...

There Will Be Blood

Hey! That took place in California, also!

"I Drink YOUR Milkshake!" - Said the readers of HP

"I'VE ABANDONDED MY HOUSE! I'VE ABANDONDED MY HOUSE! I'VE ABANDONDED MY HOME!" - Cried the homedebtors in California

This is better than the f@%kin movie, I tell ya!

Jymkata

Ed said...

I have a hard time believing Santa Barbara is down 40% in price. I think this is a case where the median is skewed by low sales volume.

Anonymous said...

And then the Sheeple started getting really angry:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=697190123&play=1

Anonymous said...

Diversity is great for the poor, lazy, stupid and incompetent.

Anonymous said...

This is a true statement.

The Hispanic population are also the majority who use the county clinics for free healthcare - not putting one penny back into the system.

The county goes up each year to "make a case" for a new budget,
which tax payers - who pay for their healthcare services - get stuck with paying.

This cannot continue indefinitely, and people better start waking up to a reality which will impact many across this country.

I have no tolerance for Hispanics who state they are somehow "victims" in our system, when it is them who are victimizing hard-working US tax-payers by using our services at no cost to them.

Let's tell it like it is, take responsibility for our mistakes and do something about it, before the state isn't worth living in for anyone.

Anonymous said...
I've gotten an idea to help your economy, California:

KEEP PUMPING POVERTY FROM MEXICO INTO YOUR ONCE EXCELLENT STATE. AND THEN KEEP VOTING THOSE MEXICANS INTO LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO FINISH DESTROYING YOUR STATE.

You Californians are a bunch of geniuses. Enjoy your die-off.

Anonymous said...

Partly true, but many of those who wanted to play in "the game", got played themselves.

~~~~~

Buzz Saw said...
The only people who lost were those who didn't play. Thank you to our fascist gubbermint.

Anonymous said...

"It's Economics 101," said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors. "It's demand and supply."

looks like someone needs to retake econ 101

Anonymous said...

Those of you who think someone can just walk away from their mortgage and HELOC and live happily ever after are idiots. Unless you are planning on fleeing the country or or killing yourself, you will be haunted by creditors until the day you die. Good luck..

Juancarlos Montenegro

Anonymous said...

But this is in the Seattle area, and Seattle may be compared to the upper rooms of the Titanic, which were the last places to fill up with water before the ship sank.

-Mammoth

Seattle
Aloha
Riviera
Dolphin
Emerald
Caribe
Baja
Lido
Plaza
Scottsdale

Sorry Princess if the deck order is incorrect.

Some days things on here are too funny.

Worth Repeating

Anonymous said...

so far seems as if the crash is only in select areas. prices are not free falling in the DC/Northern VA areas. they have come down a bit but nothing like other headlines i've seen...

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I just bought 6 foreclosures in stockton.You all will be renting them soon.I am liveing large off my 2005 real estate gains.I wish you guys luck renting in 2008.Are you ever going to buy? Oh I forgot, you are waiting for mommy to kick the bucket so you can finally have a house.

Anonymous said...

Sell now or be priced in forever!

Anonymous said...

You're now guilty of the same statistical manipulation as the NAR. Nobody's saying that any particular house is declining in value $3K per month. As the original post says, there are a number of reasons why the median may fluctuate - the biggest in this case might in fact be the well-publicized difficulty of getting "Jumbo" financing (which would cover a huge percentage of the California sales). So high-end sales aren't closing, the median goes down, but that doesn't tell you anything about the price of any particular house or even segment of the market.

Anonymous said...

"It's Economics 101," said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors. "It's demand and supply."

Well indeed, Mr Appleton-Young, you are quite good at describing yourself. 101 stands for nothing between your ears. I couldn't have said it any better.

GT said...

dang they lost like $.45 in the time it took me to write this

GT said...

how does that work if you do decide to buy? do you put in a rider? such as "i agree to buy this cookie-cutter at $x today, and when we close in 4 weeks (pending the inspection's certificate of "Made by Mexico") the actual sales price will be $x-52000"

Anonymous said...

I want to shove this news in Swann's face, but the truth is that there is no point yelling "Shame!" at people who have none.

blogger said...

Remember when inventory was building, sales were slowing, and the trolls here were like 'HEY, SEE, NO CRASH!', and we patiently said don't worry, it'll come

It's Econ 101. It's supply, demand and price (sorry Leslie, you might want to go back to school, it's not "demand and supply").

And what we're seeing now is straight out of the textbook.

Econ is destiny.

Anonymous said...

But this is in the Seattle area, and Seattle may be compared to the upper rooms of the Titanic, which were the last places to fill up with water before the ship sank.Bravo! This is so true.

Anonymous said...

How about those $500,000 crackhouses in Compton? Everyone wants to live in Compton and Watts.

Rob Dawg said...

I wish my California house was only losing $3000 per month. $8000-$10,000 is more likely.

Refuse to buy overpriced said...

Hey anonymous 6:29 pm -

Its not a question of when to buy, it is a question of at what price to buy.

Assuming no local pre-1997 bubble in your area, and assuming that the quality of the neighborhood has neither improved nor declined since 1997, use the following method to determine a good price:

1. Find out what a comparable house sold for in 1997.
2. Adjust for inflation. Google an inflation adjustment calculator.
3. Adjust for long-term, inflation-adjusted housing value appreciation. Between 1949 and 1997, inflation adjusted prices increased 9%. This is low to low. Between 1947 and 1989, inflation adjusted prives increased 12%. This is high to high. (According to Schiller's graph)

In other words, pay about 35% more than 1997 prices and you won't be getting screwed by speculators.

Anonymous said...

finally, an auditor gets mentioned

"PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- New Century Financial Corp.'s former leaders and auditor KPMG LLC should be sued over flawed accounting at the subprime lender, a bankruptcy investigator said."

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080326/new_century_bankruptcy.html?.v=1

Anonymous said...

Yes, illegals have finally killed the once great State of California, but the bleeding began when every lowlife from the other 49 states started moving here.

Anonymous said...

I'm living right in the middle of this mess in California.
Anyways, I was fine with the whole housing deflation thing. My house is going to be worth a lot less. I get it. I'll survive. But, then the teachers started getting laid off - 275 in my district alone - So, NOW I am pissed.

Damn the greedy real estate industry and house gamblers. Damn Bush for doing nothing about the illegals. My kids' 1st and 5th grade teachers are out of a job because of these losers. You messed with the teachers, so now the gloves come off.

And there will be blood. Oh yes, there will be blood.

Anonymous said...

"The Hispanic population are also the majority who use the county clinics for free healthcare - not putting one penny back into the system."

Do they have some kind of Hispanics-only stores where the sales tax are not collected? or specially registered houses or rental units where property tax are not collected? Do people become Hispanics when they get old and especially just before they die? After all, more than half of a person's entire life time's medical expense takens place in the last years of his/her life.

Paul E. Math said...

For anyone who thinks that the CAR data is skewed and over-estimates the price declines - consider that price declines may be underestimated.

Why might declines be underestimated? Because CAR data includes only MLS sales. That's right, foreclosure sales that are usually not made involving a Realtor are not included in the data. The largest price declines are not even included in CAR data.

Go sell bullshit someplace else, Realtors.

Anonymous said...

Obama's Pastor Slurs Italians in Latest Magazine
By Penny Starr
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
March 26, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago where Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has been a member for two decades, slurred Italians in a piece published in the most recent issue of Trumpet Newsmagazine.

"(Jesus') enemies had their opinion about Him," Wright wrote in a eulogy of the late scholar Asa Hilliard in the November/December 2007 issue. "The Italians for the most part looked down their garlic noses at the Galileans."

The last Trumpet to be published was the November/December edition, a double issue that featured a remembrance of "Pan-Africanist" Hilliard and a profile of Louis Farrakhan, who was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement "Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Trumpeter" award at the magazine's 25th anniversary gala late last year.

Farrakhan has called Judaism a "gutter religion" and said Jews are "bloodsuckers," as reported in The New York Times.

Trumpet Newsmagazine also included myriad articles and regular features geared toward the black community, ranging from health, parenting, music and the arts, to profiles of successful members of the community and tips on everything from dating to spiritual well-being.

Anonymous said...

Everywhere I go, in my car, or on foot, I cannot move even five feet before I have to brake, or stop in my tracks for hordes of Mexicans pushing strollers. I am wearing out my fucking brakes for these wet backs. And all the second generation wet backs become cops and government employees, and even the fucking Mayor of Los Angeles. The war is lost.

Casey Serin said...

Everyone can thank me for this! Sweet! Have fun with your falling prices... smart guys like me bought right at the peak, stiffed the banks, suffered no penalties whatsoever. Now I spend my days on Mommy and Daddy's couch watching TV and sipping Jamba Juice.

Win-win for me. It's all good...

Anonymous said...

California...land of Fruits, Nuts, Flakes and now Suzanne, the former relator-turned 'gentleman's escort'.

alba said...

some of you dudes should check yourself in the mirror and realize you're never gonna leave the trailer park...that is, for a home in California. I moved back to CA, because there is no better place to live. Here's hoping some of you get some wheels on your trailers and move out of CA, and back to be amongst your kind.

Anonymous said...

Maybe these retards should have invested in Bear Sterns instead?

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Idiots!

Roccman said...

Anon 6:50 said:

"You Californians are a bunch of geniuses. Enjoy your die-off."

It's catching on.

Enjoy the die off!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, California will lose like 2/3 of it's value. That's like the entire value of Florida X 2.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't call it a disaster. What about the headline: "Housing affordability increasing rapidly"?

Anonymous said...

Prices in Southern California are still unaffordable. I predict a fall back to 2001 prices at least.
The important thing is that there has been a complete reversal in the way people view real estate. A house is just a place to live now.

Anonymous said...

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Democrat Barack Obama ridiculed Republican presidential rival John McCain on Wednesday for what he called a "sit back and watch" approach to the economic troubles gripping the nation.

Back campaigning after a brief family vacation in the Caribbean, the presidential candidate focused on the housing crisis that has rocked Wall Street and the economic downturn that has forced the Federal Reserve to intervene. And after days of sniping with rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign, Obama turned his attention to McCain.

On Tuesday, McCain derided government intervention to save and reward banks or small borrowers who behave irresponsibly and offered few immediate alternatives for fixing the country's growing housing crisis.

"John McCain has admitted he doesn't understand the economy as well as he should, and yesterday he proved it in giving a speech on the housing crisis," Obama told an auditorium of supporters.

Obama pointed out that McCain "said the best way for us to address the fact that millions of Americans are losing their homes is to just sit back and watch it happen. In his entire speech yesterday, he offered not one policy, not one idea, not one bit of relief to the nearly 35,000 North Carolinians who are forced to foreclose on their dreams in the last three months."

North Carolina holds its primary May 6 with 115 delegates at stake.

"John McCain may call helping struggling homeowners pandering, but I don't think the families in North Carolina who are losing their homes would see it that way," said Obama, who is due to give what aides are billing as a major economic speech Thursday in New York.

Anonymous said...

If California doesn't immediately take action to send back the illegal alien takers, an economic catastrophe will befall that state.

Socially they're already there.

This sh-t is serious.

If the LA riots were to happen today, they'd be ten times worse because the amount of human riff-raff in Cali has increased dramatically.

Oh, boy. You people are in deep sh=t.

It's gonna get fugly.

It's the taxpaying, common working man vs. the illegal alian "si se puede" (yes, we can) entitlement hordes who believe YOU OWE THEM EVERYTHING FOR FREE, INCLUDING BETTER MEDICAL AND DENTAL THAN YOU GET YOURSELF AND YOU'RE A NATIVE.

The illegals own you. Soon they'll come for your house and car...

Think I'm joking?

Anonymous said...

.

There is NOTHING wrong with Compton or Watts!!!!!




If you have a Death wish!




.

Tyrone said...

Keith,
Did you think up the Monopoly stuff? I kid you not, I was toying with the same thing. I believe we really need such a game. It would be great way to remember the insanity for all time.

Anonymous said...

http://tinyurl.com/2nnsjx

Way Too Funny. Must read Kieth!

Lady wonders what hapened to her HELOC.

Anonymous said...

FDIC Plans Staff Boost for Bank Failures

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal bank regulators plan to increase staffing 60 percent in coming months to handle an anticipated surge in troubled financial institutions.

Anonymous said...

Everything will be fine. We Americans are a very determined and special set of people. We are the world's most innovative cultures. We will get through this. You folks need to listen to the famed economist Larry Kudlow on CNBC. He is a great optimistic American. The California housing market won't blow up and eventually it will go right back up. Now is a fantastic buying opportunity.

blogger said...

Looks like this was the reason behind the California real estate crash.

Who knew!?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnzw_i4YmKk

Woo-woo!

thanks dirty

Anonymous said...

from 2006

"In California, almost 28% of home buyers are Hispanic, and the five most common surnames are Hispanic. Only one was in the top five in 2000."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-10-hispanic-homeowners_x.htm

Anonymous said...

Do they have some kind of Hispanics-only stores where the sales tax are not collected?

I guess you've never been to those street sales where they put up tables all over the place and sell all their crap and food infested with feces. All this without licenses and permits of course. It's normal in their Turd World hellhole, so it should be fine here.

Anonymous said...

You think Clownifornia is bad? That's nothing compared to the trash that washed up on our shores here in Florida. If you want to see what Southern Cal is going to be like in 10 years take a trip to Miami.

Ed said...

"The Hispanic population are also the majority who use the county clinics for free healthcare - not putting one penny back into the system."

Do they have some kind of Hispanics-only stores where the sales tax are not collected? or specially registered houses or rental units where property tax are not collected? Do people become Hispanics when they get old and especially just before they die? After all, more than half of a person's entire life time's medical expense takens place in the last years of his/her life.

-----------

You sir are a moron if you think sales tax covers medical care.

Anonymous said...

heloc, she sounds like Frank's lesbian cousin.

I mean, this is Newport Beach! The most desirable place in the entire universe!! Everyone wants to live there!!

Anonymous said...

I am a hispanic working 41 yr. old woman. yes, legal and so are my parents, both who worked all their life for the post office and local high school before retiring in their paid off house and living off their retirement and social security. I have to agree, there is alot of anger here in california from the hispanics towards to the illegals, due to all the freebees they get, you see them EVERYWHERE, they don't learn the language, in line getting medication, they pay like $1.00 while I pay $175 for my son's asthma medicine and I HAVE blue cross insurance which also costs me $400 per month to have. FREAKIN RIDICULOUS!!! NOT FAIR, makes more sense to not graduate, have a bunch of kids and live for free off the government.

Anonymous said...

"Think I'm joking?"

Yes, you are. What do you think national debt is? Americans are consuming more than we are producing. Kick more people out, and we will have less people left to split the same debt bill when it's due. On top of that, the kicking is not free; it takes a lot of tax and new debt to run a police state. Furthermore, since we are on the topic of housing . . . doesn't eliminating part of housing demand drive the housing price and rental value even lower? If anything, as a way to salvage the housing debacle, the US should start selling citizenship and greencards to foreigners who can plunk down a chunk of cash to buy house and live here. That way, no taxpayer bailout is necessary and the society doesn't fall apart (higher law enforcement cost) because hopeless debtors gone amok.

Anonymous said...

"You sir are a moron if you think sales tax covers medical care."

Counties get their money primarily from sales tax and property tax . . . neither of which a typical person living in the county, with paper or without paper, can escape. Renters actually pay more property tax than long-term owner-occupants because the properties that they rent are not covered under 2% cap for annual property tax increases. Keep your verbal abuse to yourself please.

Ed said...

"Counties get their money primarily from sales tax and property tax . . . neither of which a typical person living in the county, with paper or without paper, can escape."

When 7 people live in a 2 bedroom apartment, they do not pay property tax to cover tens of thousands of dollars in medical care.

When those 7 people drive without a licence and without car registration they pay nothing into the system for the roads they use.

Nor do they pay for the extra cost of police or fire protection. Nor the cost of their kids getting a $5000 a year education. Nor the cost of the parks they use. Nor the cost of the translation services provided by the county.

OK so they pay 8% sales tax. WOW!! That means for every $10,000 a year spent they pay $80. GEE WIZ! That'll pay for about 1/10 of the cost of an x-ray at the ER.

Anonymous said...

"When 7 people live in a 2 bedroom apartment, they do not pay property tax to cover tens of thousands of dollars in medical care."

7 people in a 2 BR? Chances are that they are too much in their prime age to run up tens of thousands of dollars in medical care.

"When those 7 people drive without a licence and without car registration they pay nothing into the system for the roads they use."

License and registration costs are peanuts for old cars; those fees don't even cover the cost of paper pushing. The big government revenue from driving is road tax . . . which is collected from gasoline sales.


"Nor do they pay for the extra cost of police or fire protection."

Property tax (which the renters pay at even higher rate than long-term owner-occupants).

"Nor the cost of their kids getting a $5000 a year education."

I'm not for public education either, for anyone. However, singling out national-level immigrants is proposterous . . . because public schools are primarily paid for by local taxes. . . which means, some citizen moved from the next town this year to register her kid in the local good school is actually ripping off the illegal immigrant who has been in town for 5 years and don't have any kid.

"Nor the cost of the parks they use. Nor the cost of the translation services provided by the county."

Why not give the translators a black uniform and tell them to check ID's at public parks . . . "Your papers, please!"

"OK so they pay 8% sales tax. WOW!! That means for every $10,000 a year spent they pay $80. GEE WIZ! That'll pay for about 1/10 of the cost of an x-ray at the ER."

I'm certainly not for mandating hospitals admitting all comers . . . however, what you are describig is hardly immigranttion-paper dependent. Some citizen druggie getting admitted to the ER for overdose didn't even pay the 8% on the drugs.

Anonymous said...

$400 a month is very low medical insurance from Blue Cross and Blue Shield. I was paying $15k a year when I was with them, and we are a family of three without any medical conditions.

All the hue and cry is quite ridiculous . . . what difference does it make if the freebies were taken advantage of by someone with the papers? The problem is having a system with freebies. Hiring hundreds of thousands of jack-boots to enforce the paper requirement is not going to solve the free-loading problem: most medical expenses in a person's life take place in the last few years of his/her life. The only difference the jack-boots would make would be the need for the jack-boots' own maintenance cost, including a decent $80-120k a year salary plus full pension and medicalcare for his/her family. People need to think of the cost of govoernment policies. Government intervention is never free!

Anonymous said...

Okay, if someone could please riddle me this I'd be grateful.

I know some people in 90064, off of Manning Ave. They bought in 2005, a tiny little 2BR, 2BA house w/ maybe 1700 sq. ft. I'm told it's worth $1.2 million - and I don't know if this includes the massive re-design and add-on. I'm just really baffled by So Cal real estate. They say that in older neighborhoods like theirs it's a no-brainer. I must be too chickensh*t or else not enough of a high-earner/big-spender because I can't wrap my head around a smart way to join them in the plunge.

Any advice from actual feet on the ground in 90064? I'd appreciate it.

~pfdc

Anonymous said...

90064? That's the Westwood area that borders Century City, where FOX studios is located. Some very old, very small houses there (MANY of which do not have air conditioning) for $1M+. When my wife and I were looking in that area a few years ago, we couldn't find anything built after 1960 that was more than 1200 sf and cost less than a million. It was insane.

I'm not sure what your question is getting at, but in general those are the sorts of prices you'll see from Westwood Blvd all the way West to the water. Insane prices, LOTS of inventory, very poor quality. We didn't feel we would have the "pride of ownership" worth $1M, so we passed and found something in Westchester next to Manhattan Beach.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Anon 6:36 AM.

That's the area I meant. I could kind of understand $1.2 million for the houses AFTER they'd all had the expensive re-designs with new flooring, new kitchens, additional bathrooms and 2x the living space. What was blowing my mind was that those prices seemed to apply to houses that were still pretty shabby and very small.

I'm from DC and we've got plenty of over-priced real estate here - especially in the outer suburbs, but honestly the So Cal market is blowing my mind.

~pfdc

Anonymous said...

Location,location, location.

Look up the price sheets of modular home builders for how much "rennovation" adds to the value of a house. $50-100k should give you a very decent house, delivered and installed. What that means is that:

(1) at the top of the market, a crappy shack in a sought-after location is worth an arm-and-leg minus a couple hundred K;

(2) at the bottome of the market, a nice house in the same general area but no longer much sought-after is worth a couple hundred K plus whatever the land is worth at that time.

The price of land is strictly a function of supply and demand relation between money and land.

Anonymous said...

"Favorite Movies

* Flipper (1963)
* The Fugitive (1993)"

:D