Irvine Housing Blog

Interesting article on corporate relocation trends:

msnbc: Looking for relocation expenses? Don’t expect much

“In the past, many firms were willing to help employees who had to sell their homes for slight losses. Today so many people expect losses and the losses are often so big, employers haven’t been willing to pay, said Mike Gonzales, CEO of Armstrong Relocation, a relocation company and major hauler for United Van Lines. “Companies now place the burden on the transferee,” he maintained.”

My favorite blow-off line that I read about earlier was from an HR shill to a candidate about moving expenses.

Candidate: We could use some help with moving expenses.
HR: You’ll manage.

When do you guys think the bottom will hit in south OC Christmas 2012 or Christmas 2013? 8 months ago I put all of my money into a 2 year CD expecting Q4 2012 to be the bottom, I hope I am right.

“I even heard that one buyer backed out of a sale based on what they read on this blog”

saving one potential buyer at a time - thanks IrvineRenter. we appreciate your efforts.

No deal! O.C. rent heads higher
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/percent-308638-landlords-rents.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304223804576446042270052566.html

Big Mortgages Are Back

The average rate on a 30-year jumbo mortgage is 5.15%, down from 6.41% two years ago, according to mortgage data firm HSH Associates. ...

Not only are jumbo loans cheap relative to historical rates, they are cheap relative to smaller “conforming” loans,... The difference between the rates on a jumbo mortgage and a conforming loan is just 0.43 percentage point, the narrowest spread since 2007.

Attempts to illicit a herd-following response from clueless foreign cash buyers have failed.

I would have tweaked you for using “illicit” instead of “elicit” here, but you’re discussing the actions of the IRC, so you chose the correct verb.

Today’s prospective buyers are responsible heads of families who wish to build family communities atop the rubble left behind by HELOC-addicted Ponzi scum.

These non-producing debtors, being the shady, beady-eyed irresponsible squatters that they are, stand in the way of patriotic and responsible families. Our great nation will only be rebuilt when prices drop to a level which will allow hard-working families to: (a) purchase these homes in which to raise their children; and (b) leave enough hard-earned cash to allow clean-up of meth-lab residue in most of these HELOC-abuser homes.

Which do you want, America: wheeler-dealer speculator transients or patriotic families? Shouldn’t our neighborhoods be built on money from productive work and not HELOC cash used to fund gambling, prostitutes, and illegal drugs?

When can we make our neighborhoods about the children again?

With a scarcity of buyers I’m already seeing capitulation in west LA. Listings are going from $599k in Nov 2010, then down to $550k, now $468k in one Mar Vista example. The days of selling 3/2 stucco boxes on postage stamp-sized lots for upwards of $800k are like a waking dream for today’s homesellers as they see their “investments” wither on the vines. This fall/winter should be interesting…

There is definitely capitulation in the Bluff Heights neighborhood of Long Beach. Down the street from me a lovely home went from over $500 grand to now $450,000 grand.  I went in to take a look and the realtor told me they are just “trying to find the right price”. Then, two amazingly upgraded craftsman homes are each taking a loss, sadly.  In both of them they seem like great, creative people.  One of them purchased over $800,000 and are now asking $695,000 after all the upgrades.  The other purchased, just last year at around $650,000 and now has lowered it to $609,000.  Selling without an agent to save money. Just last year they purchased!

Two things: My rent has declined by 8.8% on our 2 + 2 1/2 TIC Townhouse since we moved in 4 1/2 years ago.

Also…We are sitting on the Fence waiting to buy, we will be cash Buyers. We broke down and paid Laguna Altura a visit a few weeks ago, $1.1MM for the Tuscana? Haha!! I sat in the Kitchen and worked out the Tax and HOA to be +/- $1850 pm so even if I wrote a check I would still have to go out and earn nearly $3000 every month (Gross) just to live in it.

This explains why we are all still poor and will have to work until we die.

You’re welcome.

Hey Larry, what happened to the some what aggressive comments about the Irvine Company?
Did you get spanked by Dan Young or the legal departmet?

How about some full disclosure here?

“I have heard from multiple sources, including a report from a local company that tracks sales, that the Irvine Company has experienced a dramatic decline in sales from May 15 onward. Rumor is that many outside experts and consultants have been brought in, and nobody can figure out what the problem is.

Is it product design? Is it marketing? Is it the economy? Is it financing? The truth is actually pretty simple: the prices are too high. Local wages don’t support them. Attempts to elicit a herd-following response from clueless foreign cash buyers have failed. I even heard that one buyer backed out of a sale based on what they read on this blog, not that the source of truth matters much. Don’t be shocked if the Irvine Company mothballs Laguna Altura like they did Orchard Hills. Further, their plan to build several thousand rentals will blunt any potential rental rate increases, keep rental parity calculations down, and further weaken housing demand.”

My observation is home pricing has fallen since last year. What people want is price stability, but prices will never be like they were before, get over it, We’re in it for the long hall in 10 yrs you will see the same costs for housing. Inflation (government.created) has erroded our spending power enough to flatted prices on homes indirectly. The real bugger is that there is at least 3yrs of short sale REO inventory to sell and it’s probably double that number.

“The truth is actually pretty simple: the prices are too high. Local wages don’t support them.”

Uh-duh!  It’s pretty simple, people can’t afford to buy at the current prices.  They never could afford them!  I can’t believe that people were stupid enough to believe they could ever afford them.

“Hmmm….what am I going to do in _ years when my mortgage payment goes up, and I can’t pay the interest only?  Hmmmm…where will I get the extra money?  A raise?  No, I’ll have to get a huge raise to pay for the difference, and I can’t count on that.  Hmmm…I know! The price of my home will go up and I can resell if I need to?  Yeah, equity, that’s it!” 

Stupid, stupid, stupid!  It’s basic math, and people chose to ignore the simple facts. The put their blinders on, and dove right in!

It drives me bonkers when people speculate as to why we are in the current mess we’re in, wondering why homes aren’t selling.  Hello people, it’s simple logic!  We don’t make enough money to make the mortgage payments.  Unless they come up with more crap mortgages, or bring the prices down to some level of affordability, we will never be able to afford them!

It’s the same thing here in Burbank.  Many of us are sitting, waiting, for prices to come down to earth. I honestly think that you’re a fool to buy a home in Burbank right now.  Unless, you’re wealthy, and money doesn’t mean a thing to you, otherwise, it’s best to stay away.  Still, I hate to see good money thrown away.

Kelly

Home values are going to continue to drop. The economy is still insecure. I bought my 1238 sq. ft. townhome in May,1996 for $140,000, lower than when the home was built in ‘84. That’s still expensive compared to Oregon. We’ve dug ourselves in so deep that it’s time for the crane to level us at affordable prices. Let’s get realistic and
stop playing these games of raise the home prices.
No price, no dice, no nice.