Housing Bubble? Only 11% of people in LA can afford a median-priced home.

in my 'hood' a small 3+2 with a tiny yard, no pool, goes for close to 1 mil

Man, people live up in Barstow and commute down to LA. Hell, in Silicon Valley I've heard people commute from Merced.

What hood are you in? Near LA?

Real estate prices are still out of control and inflating in NY state They are selling 1000SF shacks for $250k and up... it's ridiculous.

1000SF shack would run you two arms half a leg and half a million here in the valley.
Housing costs are ubelievable.

move to the midwest. in dearborn michigan, you can live in a mansion in a really nice area for 1 mil

It's just a matter of time when communities of people hit the carrying capacity of their area and are forced to relocate or die. Granted, carrying capacity of a human environment has different variables than that of a natural ecosystem, but I think they all share some commonalities that relate to balance / destruction.

Fuck.

Apologies for this post.

Sounds like i'll be buying a home in the moutains of WV

I investigated buying a condo in Vegas for investment purposes last year (2 bids were rejected).

I am likely to go that route again if things do not change. We want to buy something, but honestly, the prices are out of hand and we can't afford a lot of what we want.

Some condos in places like Fullerton are decently priced, but damn, it is ridiculous.

Condo market in Vegas is on the outs too. They have canceled building plans on several highrise condo buildings. I don't know enough about the Vegas area to know if this is a good time or a bad time to buy there though

Yes, please do. Best idea I have heard yet.

Dearborn: 37°F Feels Like 29°F
My home: 61°F Feels Like 61°F

People crack me up with their comments that the bubble will burst. Maybe where you live, but not here, and I am fine with it.

I haven't looked recently, but I will be more sweeping (Phoenix, wherever to get out of this market I am in).

I know people are still making money turning them in Vegas. I noticed in The Valley (California) last night that for sale signs are springing up. Hopefully things change.

The housing where I live won't burst - mostly because it's been on a slow but steady climb up. The babyboomer retirees in ATL don't want to move to FL so they are building up here. When I bought my house 5 years ago the average selling price in my subdivision was $150K. They started building $200K houses right after I moved in and they are running about $300K now. These houses are a LOT bigger than mine but I could easily get $80+90K more than what I paid for mine if I sold it now. No, it's not the massive amount I'd get after 5 years in CA but I know the market is steady here and the longer I stay, the higher the prices go. And I'ver been here long enough so I won't pay CG taxes.

My girlfriend who has more money than God is wanting to get into the house flipping business. She and I are going to take a RE class together and go in 25/75 on the homes.

RE has always facinated me

That would be a great thing to get into.

Housing is out of hand, middle class folks with million dollar homes.

i know a lot of lenders and mortgage brokers in Seattle area (which is also far from being a cheap housing market) - they all have the same stories about CA people selling their homes and coming up here and snatching up nice places for cash and still having several hundred thousand or more left over.

Back around 1991 or 92, ATT moved a lot of people from NJ to ATL. People were just amazed at the housing prices here. They were doing the same thing - selling in NJ then buying a bigger house with more land for cash and banking the rest

I can not even imagine the situation that would cause me to leave the warmth and sunshine of SoCal for the rain and gloom of Seattle.

There has to be more to the story. Maybe they are opening umbrella franchises.

it does not rain much here... look at average rainfalls around the nation and seattle is never high on the list. it just rains an entire years rainfall at the same time in the winter. the rest of the year is just as beautiful as anywhere else.

Yeah, I was looking last year here in the Valley, and I stopped when i went and looked at a 1800sq ft. house 2 bedrooms, 1 and 1/2 baths, no back yard, no garage, it was a dump and they were asking 700k for it and already had 2 offers, LOL.

to California Real Estate

It's insane in socal

This is another really good blog that I follow. It shows how the inventory levels of homes on the market keeps climbing, climbing, climbing... we are headed for a serious bust by this summer as inventories reach record levels in the bubbliest areas of the country. And interest rates will keep climbing. Can you say "FORECLOSURE"?

Look at Phoenix, phew!!! Over 30k listings!

http://bubbletracking.blogspot.com/

marc

it keeps the riff-raff out A big to CA real estate

Foreclosure is a beautiful word for investors

You guys have it easy. We are used to paying $1000 per square FOOT!

A 1 bedroom 700sq ft condo is gonna cost you $720,000. No garage, no backyard no friggin trees, just 3 rooms and a shitter. Maybe you get a doorman but if you do you can expect to pay an average of $1,500 per month in matenance and taxes on top of that initial $720k.

So, ya still think you got it bad?

You'll have to explain to me the attraction of living in NYC... it just seems like a damn nightmare if you ask me. No privacy, no calm, no quiet... why, why, why???

marc

I would love to in a big suburban city, it's always busy, exciting, glamorous, always something going on. I live in Orange County and I hate it, I hate living in suburbia, it's boring and slow. I don't like it calm and slow and quiet, I like it fast-paced, it makes me feel more alive. I feel like I'll die of boredom and stifled, NY is a place people dream of living. I would prefer LA tho, anything is better than the suburbs.

Considering that renting costs half as much as buying, I'm wondering when investors are going to tire of losing so much money. Many are counting on appreciation only to make profit. Thats ok I guess if you don't mind sticking in thousands upon thousands of dollars every year for many years. Not for me. I'll wait for the market to drop or I'll simply never buy, doesn't matter to me any.

Spending $3k on a monthly mortgage when I can rent the same place for $1,500 just doesn't make sense. The "pride" of "owning" my house? Pff... I'll stick my money elsewhere and enjoy life instead of struggling every month to pay off my mortgage and boast to my friends "I own my house!" Uh, no buddy... you don't.

That 1000 sq shack would be a bargain in SoCal.

That's a very good explanation for something I didn't understand... I've always lived in suburbia. I agree, I enjoy the thrill of the city and it does make you feel alive. But I prefer visiting the city. I can always leave when I want to. It seems like living in NYC would get a little chaotic at times. It seems you would constantly need a "break" and head upstate or something to detox. I don't know... just seems a little suffocating to me. But it's all what you're used to I guess.

marc

I'm in Silicon Valley and need it to burst big in order for me to be able to buy a house. I hope you are right Marc.

I lived in both in LA and NY for 7 years until 2003. Kind of a work related bicoastal thing. LA is beautiful but the people in the business cetered areas suck. Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc. If you are married and you don't go out much LA is a great place to live. It's relaxing but you have access to some of the best things the USA has to offer if you need it. But... if you are the type that likes to go out a lot, have a good time and enjoy the nightlife like I do the plasticity of the people wears on you. I am kind of fond of the coastal areas from Santa Monica to the Palisades though. Less attitude. Even Encino to Pasadena is OK in my book.

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New York isn't what people think it is. Sure, Manhattan is truly congested. But that's part of the charm. Millions of people packed in a small area all gunning to do the best they can on their chosen path. There's a lot of electricity in the air. You can feel it when you step off the plane. If you aren't scared by it you pick up on it because the energy is contagious.

Fine dining, bars restaurants attractions 24/7. Whatever your pleasure, it's in NY waiting for you. We have the best restaurants and a lot of them. ALL OVER. How can you beat that? Some towns are excited by having an Olive Garden, we have the restaurant that the owner of the Olive Garden eats in when he wants Italian!

But what I mean when I say NY isn't what people think it is when they look at the city is that the congestion stops at the water. You have beautiful residential neighborhoods so if you want to slow it down a bit when you go home you can. Less than 10 Miles out of the city you have homes with acres of space. 20 miles out you have ranches and farms. A friend of mine that works on 57th st just saw a Bear in his backyard at his ranch house in New Jersey 20 minutes outside the city!

New York can give you whatever you want. I prefer being in the city part of it but that may change in the future. When it does I don't have to leave town to get a little quiet, I can just go across the river and drive 10 minutes north south east or west. Hell, I can even get an Atlantic ocean beachfront view 10 minutes away from midtown manhattan.

Where I live now I have a view of the Hudson River looking in the direction of the Statue of Liberty.



There's a beautiful park (Battery Park) close to me and a waterfront esplanade that stretches 5-9 miles.



I even have a marina in my backyard!



You'd never expect that would you? And guess what, I live basically right in the heart of Wall Street. When you think of Wall Street you think of a congested hustle and bustle filled New York City. But see, it's not what you thought it was right?

Even Brooklyn and the Bronx would shock you with all the beautiful park filled spaces and historical architecture they have. The Brooklyn bridge and the view from Brooklyn overlooking the NY skyline is something you have to see once before you die.



If all of that didn't sell you on the appeal of NY hopefully one of these days we'll have another real webmaster gathering in NY. I'd love to show some of you folks the NY you don't hear about. I'd love to show you a good time and change your opinion.

Here's a site of one of the high rise developers in my neighborhood. Look at the site and it will give you an idea of the area and the housing.

True in most of Michigan, either classic old mansions, or new McMansions (smaller yards but bigger rooms). People in hot housing markets can't believe what a million bucks buys here. But our economy is in decline. Ford, based in Dearborn, will file for bankruptcy, and however they come out of it, white collar staffing will be severely trimmed, leading to a glut of mansions on the market. They're already planning steep pre-bankruptcy white collar layoffs. Seems to me a recessionary housing market like Dearborn's will ultimately lower the quality of life indices. Cheaper homes, but poorer services supported by the lowered tax base, and weakened businesses supported by discretionary income.

Overall, Michigan is losing people while gaining houses. That doesn't bode well for most residential real estate investment. With certain exceptions, of course...but I don't think a Dearborn mansion is one of them.

I was wondering, why do you care what is happening in CA? Your location says Detroit. Last I heard, that is in MI.

He's moving to San Diego as said in this thread. Last time I checked that's in CA.

8characters

whats your point? I'm not making an "bubble bursting" comments.

and what kind of house do you live in? id rather have a winter, a big house, and 10 motorcycles than one shitty overpriced house and just 1 motorcycle.

Fuck that, I'll take Baddog's 1 motorcycle, beautiful weather & beautiful women plus the pacific coast highway over a big house, cold weather and not much else.

Criticizing where someone else lives is rather silly. It's like telling someone their favorite color is wrong.

Most people live where they want to, or near good schools, close to their work, etc. I know people who have said where I live is their version of Hell but I want to live even further out and NYC is a great place to visit but there is NO WAY I would ever live there

It all depends on what YOU want.

well im not going to argue this. its opinion. imo overpriced isnt worth it.

I will stay here in the midwest, live like a king for 400k, 4 seasons, love my snow. Theres no ocean, big fucking deal.

[QUOTE=Pornwolf]I lived in both in LA and NY for 7 years until 2003. Kind of a work related bicoastal thing. LA is beautiful but the people in the business cetered areas suck. Hollywood, Beverly Hills, etc. If you are married and you don't go out much LA is a great place to live. It's relaxing but you have access to some of the best things the USA has to offer if you need it. But... if you are the type that likes to go out a lot, have a good time and enjoy the nightlife like I do the plasticity of the people wears on you. I am kind of fond of the coastal areas from Santa Monica to the Palisades though. Less attitude. Even Encino to Pasadena is OK in my book.

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This is a gorgeous overview of the city from a true lover of it's virtues. Thank you for sharing this with me. Yes, I would definately like to spend more time in a city that I've only barely scratched the surface in. I would greatly enjoy a webmaster event in NYC... surely organizers are scared off by the price of throwing the event, the high cost of lodging, etc... but it's definately cheaper than Vegas during CES!!!

I luckily was able to feel this energy the VERY FIRST time I visited New York. It was 10 years ago during a business trip to Internet World tradeshow. A group of us went to this great Soul Food restaurant. It's not your ordinary soul food joint, it was a high-end one if you can believe it. I guess celebs frequent it. Anyway, we were sat down next to Denzel Washington. This was thrilling for a fella from the midwest! Half way through the delicious meal, Jesse Jackson walks in and sits down with Denzel. Not someone I would normally care to run into, but it was interesting to hear the two of them converse.

Anyhow, I thought this entire experience was interesting and I couldn't wait to tell my friends back home about my little "New York Moment". But, alas, the night was far from over!

So, we were walking back towards the hotel when we saw quite a bunch of commotion outside of Studio 54. Turns out that one of the studios was throwing a premiere party for Kundun, starring Harrison Ford. There was the whole red carpet thing with limos, etc... very hollywood. We stood next to the entrance and watched all the famous people enter the party. Val Kilmer, the Beastie Boys, Natasja Kinski, Scorsese, etc... So this chick that was with us started flirting with the door man. Eventually he hands her 3 tickets. We nearly shit ourselves anticipating what other celebs must be in there after the procession we just witnessed.

So we head in, immediately down 3 shots to cool our nerves and begin to look around. To make this brief, an hour later, my friend and I are in this little "chat circle" with Harrison Ford, his wife and some others trying to look like we belonged there. Then over comes Martin Scorsese, his punk son and the girl we were with. Scorsese was so proud that he had finally found the wife for his boy. He invited us to his table, we had a couple of drinks, talked about nothing interesting, and that was that. We left, Carla banged baby Scorsese and the night was history.

gotta love NY. But I still wouldn't want to live there!

marc

Peaches is correct.

I know many people that would never live in SoCal for a variety of reasons. No change of seasons is actually a pretty big reason, my dad can't stand that fact about San Diego so he would never live here.

Every location has pros and cons, and most people tend to sway towards the environment they grew up in and have memories of. Nothing wrong with that. In fact its pretty stupid to even argue about PERSONAL PREFERENCES.

tiny tiny apartments, but then your livingroom is the whole city (and lots of bars)

santa monica beach is cool, though ;-)

How much does it cost to live in a housing bubble, and is it anything like a geodisic dome?

It's quite sad to read the paper every day here in Detroit. The economy is so poor and the outlook so bleak. A lot of people that I know say the blue-collar union workers "had it coming to them" with all their union hand holding and rich benefits. But I feel bad for many people in that position. The fact is that many of the auto workers in this area are raised to think factory work is the only option in life. They are taught this from a very early age and most end up living the life. Many are given no other choice by their parents. Sort of like the strict military families.

When they are laid off, they don't really have anywhere to go. Most leave the state, but are mostly alone because their families all live here. It would be sad to be forced to leave everything you know in life and have the stress of having to start over somewhere foreign.

I hope this state begins to focus more on education so that kids can open their minds and explore the possibilities a bit more. That's the key to the future of Michigan.

marc

Michigan has a lot of cool stuff, and some good universities there. They should rebuild downtown Detroit though, and also do something about Flint.

Bought a house a year ago at $900 per SQ feet in LA. Love LA. Not the price level though . . . . . oh well, you pay for what you get I guess.

Flip side - I moved away from THIS



Kind of miss it......

Another thing i HATE about the suburbs is that I have to drive EVERYWHERE, even to go to the grocery store I have to drive 5 min, which is kind of far (for a drive), and no one walks here, the streets are so wide and so big, and no one walks except maybe really poor people, it's not really normal to walk on the street unless you live right by the beach or in beachy towns. In the big city people can just walk normally, cause everyone walks, I used to live in Amsterdam and everyone just walks or takes public transportation. Same thing in Paris, and NYC.

I would NEVER walk in the suburbs, it's just way too weird. Plus everything is spread out and far.