Login
Subscribe
Recent Comments
- zovall on A Review of The Field Tract at Lambert Ranch
- Lee Campbell on Uncovering the History of the Secret Garden
- Kelja on Uncovering the History of the Secret Garden
- Sylvia Walker on Irvine Housing by the Numbers - May 2012 Update
- Casual Observer on Irvine Housing by the Numbers - May 2012 Update
- Astute As It Comes on Open House Review: 35 Bella Rosa
- Sylvia Walker on Open House Review: 35 Bella Rosa
- Darin on Open House Review: 35 Bella Rosa
- Sylvia Walker on Investors Are Busy in Irvine's Low-End Housing Market
- Casual Observer on Investors Are Busy in Irvine's Low-End Housing Market
Recent Posts
- A Review of The Field Tract at Lambert Ranch
- Open House Review: 34 Redwood Tree Lane
- Uncovering the History of the Secret Garden
- Closed Sales from 5/10/2012-5/16/2012
- Open House Review: 52 Secret Garden
- Irvine Housing by the Numbers - May 2012 Update
- Paired Living with Privacy in Woodbridge
- Beige Ruth Sisters
- Closed Sales from 5/3/2012 to 5/9/2012
- Open House Review: 35 Bella Rosa
Categories
Archives
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- Rest of archives
Browse Homes
Irvine Homes
- Airport Area Homes
- El Camino Real Homes
- Northpark Homes
- Northwood Homes
- Oak Creek Homes
- Orangetree Homes
- Portola Springs Homes
- Quaill Hill Homes
- Rancho San Joaquin Homes
- Turtle Ridge Homes
- Turtle Rock Homes
- University Park
- University Town Center Homes
- West Irvine Homes
- Westpark Homes
- Woodbridge Homes
- Woodbury Homes
Newport Beach Homes
- Newport Coast Homes
- Crystal Cove Homes
- Corona Del Mar / Spyglass
- East Bluff / Harbor View Homes
- Lower Newport Bay / Balboa Island
- Balboa Peninsula Homes
- West Bay / Santa Ana Heights
- West Newport / Lido Homes
Other Cities
- Aliso Viejo Homes
- Anaheim Hills Homes
- Brea Homes
- Costa Mesa Homes
- Coto de Caza Homes
- Dana Point Homes
- Huntington Beach Homes
- Ladera Ranch Homes
- Laguna Beach Homes
- Laguna Hills Homes
- Laguna Niguel Homes
- Lake Forest Homes
- Mission Viejo Homes
- Orange Homes
- Rancho Santa Margarita Homes
- San Clemente Homes
- San Juan Capistrano Homes
- Santa Ana Homes
- Tustin Homes
- Villa Park Homes
- Yorba Linda Homes
Contact
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Foreclosures
Housing
- Talk Irvine
- IHB Forum Archive
- OC Housing News
- Coto Housing Blog
- Housing Kaboom
- Patrick.net
- Housing Chronicles
- Housing Doom
- Dr. Housing Bubble
- Manhattan Beach Confidential
- Burbed
- SoCal RE Bubble Crash
- Professor Piggington
- Real C'ville
- Westside Bubble
- Bubble Meter
- Portland Housing Blog
- Sacramento Land(ing)
- OC Register Blog
Econ/Finance/Other
- Calculated Risk
- The Big Picture
- Economist's View
- Mish's Blog
- Matrix
- Bakers' Stock
- ML-Implode
- Eschaton
- Best Mortgage Rates
- Crackerjack Finance
Latest REOs
- $199,900 :: 3125 Watermarke Pl, Irvine CA, 92612
- $349,900 :: 10 Greenleaf 16, Irvine CA, 92604
- $439,900 :: 61 Olivehurst, Irvine CA, 92602
- $889,900 :: 14 Upland, Irvine CA, 92602
- $429,900 :: 56 Great Lawn, Irvine CA, 92620
- $465,000 :: 212 Garden Gate Ln, Irvine CA, 92620
- $329,000 :: 1006 Terra Bella, Irvine CA, 92602
- $579,900 :: 8 Star Thistle, Irvine CA, 92604
- $750,000 :: 69 Lakeview 6, Irvine CA, 92604
- $499,900 :: 84 Deermont 51, Irvine CA, 92602
If I bought this $199,000 Condo for cash and could rent it out for $1,500/mo, then I calculate just 5.5% return on my investment and that assumes it stays rented and no maintenance costs.
$1,500 - $173 property tax - $371 HOA - $42 Insurance is a +$914 gain. So ($914/$199,000)*12 months = just 5.5% return.
VZ (Verizon) has a 5.6% yield and none of the problems of real estate. Am I missing something on thinking this isn’t a good investment as a rental unit? The problem is that huge HOA fee.
VZ has CD that gives 5.6% or you mean VZ dividend? Appricitate your responce.
Yes, VZ dividend yield is 5.6%, which is really strong for a company doing so well. It is my bench mark for investments. Irvine rentals should remain strong for units for small families that want their kids to go to great free public schools. However a 1bd unit isn’t the strongest candidate for such people.
FYI, you can do much better in LV, however the risk of flaky tenants is higher.
Average American house size in 1950: 983 square feet. Average American house size in 2004: 2,349 square feet. I sense stories like these are part of a larger overall reversing trend in lifestyles of Americans to live beyond their means. Families in the 1950’s somehow had multiple kids and made life work for a long time in 1,000-1,200 square foot homes. And they didn’t have the technology we have now that shrink the physical size of the TV or other appliances, or specialty stores that help people organize and maximize the usage of the space they do have in their homes!
I make the comment above as someone who lives in an IAC-owned 1 bed, 1 bath unit that is less than 800 s.f. with a wife and young baby. You wouldn’t believe the pressure we got from friends/acquaintances about moving to a bigger place (thus much higher rent) because our family was “expanding”. We’re holding out as long as possible before forcing ourselves into a larger living situation, and even then, we have to keep our standard of living in check, so maybe it won’t be an IAC property. We’re such oddballs in O.C., I’m sure my son will grow up traumatized that he didn’t have his own nursery to play and sleep in as a child…
Good for you for not caving in. You guys will be fine. I get so sick of the consumer mentality of ‘buy more and bigger!’
You’ll be fine. We squeezed 4 kids into our IAC 2 bd townhouse rental (yeah, know you aren’t supposed to do that, but rental office at that time said it was ok to leave one off the lease who moved in later). Worked out just fine.
Kids need love, time, and attention, not a big place.
My parents were hassling us about a bigger place when my father’s brother visited and reminded my dad that our place was a palace compared to the 3rd world hut with 3 kids in one bed that they grew up in when they were kids
.
It’s all relative.
I am less sympathetic to some of these bubble buyers than some might be. First, are Sacramento prices really down 65% from 2004? Possibly from peak, but probably not. The family quoting a 43% drop from 2005 is a lot more realistic.
I Zillow’d a house for sale for $85k in the Sacramento neighborhood of the first family. Sales history:
5/2002: $147k
11/2003: $190k
2/2006: $259k
8/2011: $85k - Listing
Say what you will for that 2006 buyer, they paid nearly double what someone just 4 years earlier paid. Doing that involves a serious expectation about future prices, or a complete ignorance of the price history.
It was unrealistic expectation on future prices due to the complete ignorance of price technicals. That was (is) the vast majority of home buyers.
WTF, I just re-read today’s article about the PAINTER who is bitching about how his $350K home that’s only worth $200K now isn’t good enough for his needs. I’m older than him and even on an architect’s salary I’d never have considered buying a property that expensive 5-6 years ago. What is wrong with this picture. Walk away and rent the bigger house you “need”, idiot.
Yeah, I saw that too and went, “Whaaat?” -
Here’s a link to an L.A. Times article about a grip and lighting technician (they turn the lights on and off) in the film industry who bought a house in North Hollywood for $575,000:
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/20/business/la-fi-money-makeover-furry-20110220
And of course, there’s always the famous strawberry picker couple in Hollister who bought a $750k house back during the run-up:
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=2739
A whole lot of entitled idiots out there….
~Misstrial
Ha! I remember reading both those stories in the Times and shaking my head. I love that Money Makeover column. Wonder why they didn’t have one for August?
Need and want are two different things.
I have to wonder about this house in my ‘hood. Looks like it sold at auction this spring for around $700K, now it’s on the market for over $1M. Even higher than the 2005 price. I don’t get it?
http://www.redfin.com/CA/South-Pasadena/1928-Fletcher-Ave-91030/home/7009350
“...If people feel they have to move, they can either attempt a short sale, or they can strategically default…”
Or, they can write a large check at closing. Admittedly, a small percentage of underwater home-debtors have enough savings to payoff their negative equity portion, but some do.
The 10-year is yielding 1.93%. And the DOW is bouncing around, up triple digits, down triple digits.
I think we’re on the brink here people. I just can’t believe after everything we saw in 2008, no real reform happened. The TBTF banks are larger today. Glass-Steagall has not been restored. Quant boxes still rip-off equity investors. The Bernank is still in charge of The Fed. No one of significance has gone to jail from the sub-prime/CDO/credit-default-swap ponzi scheme.
Pathetic, isn’t it.
Don’t forget that the Uptick Rule has not been restored either along with Glass-Steagall.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it….
~Misstrial
When they first changed the uptick rule I was in favor of it ... but I’m with you now. Especially with all the quant boxes dictating markets. Once the momentum begins on an equity, the machines all heard. They beat stocks down.
Another one that really pisses me off are these STUPID leveraged ETF’s ... erosion.
I think we should go back to the old ways ... market makers, brokers, no quant boxes, etc, etc, etc. Does this make me a Luddite? LoL
The banks and financial system have bought off all the politicians and the Fed, etc. The politicians make noise about reform (ex. bring in Elizabeth Warren who seems uncorrupted to make the consumer protection agency), then nerf all the reform (ex. didn’t appoint Elizabeth Warren to the consumer protection agency after the big banks complained she wasn’t big bank friendly enough).
Nothing to do, but keep playing financial defense, and wait for the whole bubble and pop thing to replay, on a larger scale, eventually many years from now.
Lee, what we’re seeing here is the last bit of wealth transfer from everybody else to the uber wealthy.
Madoff was a mere pick pocket compared to what the real bank robbers got away with. They broke into the vault, took everything and then got a police escort on the way home.
PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What we’re seeing here is a federal legislature and presidency that belongs to the banks and Wall Street. Obama is a liar. A complete slave to the banks! But what should we expect, all of the past presidents of the modern era have been that way too. Once you get under the political veneer of Obama & Bush, you realize these guys are a lot alike ... KEYNESIAN spenders.
It’s class warfare and the wealthy are kicking our butts! Look for the wealthy to eliminate social security and medicare and keep tax rates low.
What is the big deal, the Fed can just print $$$ in one trillion chunks until the problem is solved.
And we can throw buckets dollar bills around like the Vegas TV commercials.
Sounds like a win / win to me :\
“Her husband opted to quit his job after nine months, and the family returned to Sacramento. He now works as an alumni director for a local high school.”
Perhaps a minor distraction, but in very difficult budgetary times, exactly why is a high school paying for an alumni director? I somehow doubt that this means just printing and postage for a volunteer. Exactly how is this salary and overhead (6 figures?) significantly helping students to learn anything?
It’s hard for me to understand how alot of people with positions like these get these jobs and keep them.
I’m guessing it is a private high school. Alumni director would be a fund raising position. Hitting up Alumni for donations.
But that is just a guess on my part.
If it is a public high school, then WTF?
If you copy and paste the link below into your Browser it will explain in about 3 seconds why living spaces will continue to shrink and what it will take to turn the US Ponzi economy around…
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/09/11/business/20110911_manufacture_graphic.html?ref=business
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have received over $170bn from US taxpayers since 2008
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9be84cde-db29-11e0-912b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1XaRkiSiU
It never ceases to amaze me the attacker claiming to be the victim. Those that purchased early and took out gobs of money from the ATM house are crying that they are now losing the house. They already got the money out though the refinancing. It was like selling the house with an option to live rent free for a few years.
The victims are the ones who purchased at the high with cash or large down payments. Other victims are who didn’t Ponzi and paying for the govt bailout and reward programs and high unemployment.
The worse is the enabler, who allowed and rewarded the banksters with no personal consequences for the bad loans. The govt allowed them to take money off the top, during and at then end without putting their own money at risk. Good loan they win. Bad loan they win and you pay. Both the D and R -rats are modifying/transferring the bad loans to the taxpayers’ liabilities.
The banksters will not allow the economy to recover until the bad loans are removed from their liability sheet, that is transferred to the taxpayers. How can the common man find a way to prosper in this environment?
“The victims are the ones who purchased at the high with cash or large down payments.”
Ayup, and the biggest thing is, even if we default, we will *not* recoup our losses. If my name was Chase-Goldman I’d get all my money back from the bubble price.
Too true Newbie… Those HELOC-ers from the mid/late 00’s are like the kid who guilted his parents into giving him his inheritance early, but then cried a river when they died and his sister got all the dough…. The nano-violin plays on…
Reminds me of a neighbor’s kid who was being shaken down or beaten up for his lunch money daily. Mother was at school complaining twice a week. After several months of being hungry, the kid fights back and beats up the other kid. Principal calls in the parents and threaten expulation.
Punish the innocent and reward the guilty. Let justice roll down.
Everone should rent this articule.
http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/113457/debt-hobbles-older-americans-retirement-wsj?mod=fidelity-readytoretire&cat=fidelity_2010_getting_ready_to_retire
It stated “All kinds of debt held by this age group have risen, but the big problem is mortgages. Thirty-nine percent of households with heads aged 60 through 64 had primary mortgages in 2010 and 20% had secondary mortgages, including home-equity lines, according to research group Strategic Business Insights’ MacroMonitor. That was up from just 22% and 12%, respectively, in 1994.The housing crash has made things worse. A few years ago, homeowners in their 60s with big mortgages could sell their homes for a profit and buy smaller places or rent. But the drop in housing values means that many homeowners have little equity, and some now owe more than their houses are worth.”
The housing bubble has a lot of victims.
I can’t believe you’re condoning and encouraging such a complete lack of integrity. They should walk away??? People who bought houses they could not afford made conscious choices and signed and FULLY participated with the bad bank robbers. They made a horrible life changing decision, and like anyone else, should not be given a free pass. Many of us were not blinded by greed and materialism and chose not to participate in a clearly whacky market. We stood by and lived without the so called american dream. Stop encouraging behavior that ultimately makes us pay the consequences right alongside the fools. Utterly disgusting advice.
It’s called a “contract” Jen. The banks get the home in case of default, it’s in the CONTRACT. Nothing is unlawful here, nothing is being broken, other than YOUR morals and ethics. If you are disgusted, perchance you should not vote for the same two parties.
Just to make your day Jen, I plan on walking away and living for as long as humanly possible in my home until the sheriff comes to boot me out. This is LAWFUL, as it says for all the religious folks, “obey the governing authorities” but that’s only good for when it agrees with them…right?
“The housing crash trapped a generation in their starter homes”
Boo-hoo. Most of these DEADBEATS haven’t made a f@cking mortgage payment in MONTHS ..if not YEARS.
What a “trap” THAT is, huh? I’m surrounded by PENNILESS SWINDLERS that drive around in Escalades and Beemers yet don’t have TWO F@CKING PENNIES TO RUB TOGETHER.
Contract. Why not just spit on our hands and shake? If contracts don’t have to be honored, what’s the point?
most of us consider going back on your word immoral, unethical, lacking integrity, etc.
I’m sure the other end of the contract sees this quite differently than you do.
Do what you want Swiller, it neither makes or breaks my day. You will pay for every decision you make. So choose wisely. I don’t have to live with your decision. How funny that you think it matters to me. What matters is preaching for people to make choices that ultimately will harm them, and our society. It’s much bigger than your personal, immoral decision.