“you could have purchased one of these homes for 200-250k.”

I could not back then, I made like 23k a year in the navy back then.

I was merely trying to illustrate how insane things got in PQ price wise.

1. Last year as a 3rd class petty officer in the navy at the time. (They can’t afford 200k)
2. Getting out soon and relocating to sac to start career at a newly funded startup.
3. Became a single dad at the same time.
4. All at 22.

In 2004 the startup went bust, and I ended up back down here working for another engineering company.

The point has simply been that regardless of how many times I have doubled my salary in the last 10 years, from my 21st (NCO in the military) to my 31st b-day (Principle QA Engineer for major CDN), the market was one very large step ahead of me in terms of price point. The properties were just not affordable not at 200k at 21 and not now at 600k at 31.

Now that prices are coming down I an am finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, the government steps in (they are here to help, you know) and attempts to stop this correction back down to fundamentals.

It is just frustrating is all…

I live in PQ because the poway school district is one of the best in the state. It is also close enough to where I work in sorrento valley.

As to you Sam-The real problem now, is that people who did buy 10 years ago (not simple-minded)are being affected by all this and it sucks. They didn’t deserve to have just anyone buy the house next door, only to have the person foreclosed on, now the proprty looks like crap, devaluing the community even further. You can never pick your nieghbors but at least you knew they had to make a decent living, had decent credit and a good chance there were decent people.

Who has ever heard of your companies Sales Reps getting paid before they turn in those receipts as company expenses. There will be a long trail of payments with no proof of accountability.

http://www.bailoutdisaster.com/ I am trying to get a forum going for smart individuals to discuss the bailout problems.

I live in California and I am not willing to pay for an over-priced house. I like the climate, schools, and the access to the ocean, parks, mountains, and sometimes, the desert. But most importantly, I am here because my kids love their schools. I am retired so I can live wherever I want.

Once the kids are grown, I will leave California. I believe home prices are inflated and although I feel that the better areas will have lower home prices, they will still be out of my price range.

As I value smart money managers, I don’t see any in my city, county, or state. It’s spend, spend, spend. My city, county, and state have deficits always. Our state bond rating is dead last of 50 states. And California voters still vote for bonds and liberal Congressmen, like Mike Honda. People don’t seem to care who they elect.

Builders cave in to local planning commissions to get project approvals. Whether to protect butterflies or to install public art at builder’s (read homebuyer’s) expense, builders feel compelled to comply with government officials. One developer had to buy a fire truck for a city. No wonder housing prices are so high.

San Jose, to the environmentalists’ horror, is into massive building as they rely on property tax revenue to pay for social services, including illegal immigrant support. The city, county, and state moan that if you don’t go along with spending increases, it’s a cut. I’m disgusted.

In my humble opinion, people have been buying overpriced homes for several years in California. It was a phoney-baloney trip to false riches. Those prices were never real as unqualified buyers pushed the price up. Now with rational lending practices, that surge of buyers shrank big time. Now the California homebuyers are starting to realize they made a mistake paying too much for this inflated real estate, but now they are trapped. Many are having buyer’s remorse.

I bought 2 homes in Texas 3 years ago. They did not spiral up so they are not spiralling down. The value is actually up on both. You can still buy affordable living away from the gluttonous state of California.

Low crime, jobs, and affordable homes can be found outside California anytime, and if you are patient, the same will be true within some areas of California as the phoney-baloney ramp up comes back down to pre-bubble prices (adjusted for inflation), but then you are still stuck with liberal spenders running the government and voters who put them there.

Back in my Navy days here in SD (10 years ago), I could have purchased one of these homes for 200-250k. They shot up to 800K during this last 8-10 year period. They are just now rounding the 600k mark on this down turn.

I have been priced out of the market my entire adult life. My salary has doubled every few years and I still can not keep up with property values.

People say these foreclosures and depressing house prices are not good for anyone. I respectfully, disagree, they are good for me and my family as well as people in my age bracket with real skills and good paying jobs.

I am sure I could go get a house at 600k right now, I have decent credit and 12 year employment history as well as documented income well above the 6 figure mark for the last 5 years. Problem is even at this income level the payments on the loan for a house here in PQ would still be close if not over 4k a month. My rent is $2400 a month. No brainer there…

It makes no sense for me to buy now. If the government keeps trying to prop up home prices, it will make no sense for me to buy later. This is extortion, pure and simple. A game I do not play.

I will take my money and stay renting for now thanks. When I see prop values back around 300-400k in my neighborhood then I will be motivated to buy.

Vive le housing crash!