Recent content by iphb

I can see prices going up, if and when new inventory adds to the market and demand stays strong. With this demand coming mostly from investors, once prices start going up it may not be long before things start getting speculative and investors start flipping like back in the last bubble. And...

Congratulations, USCTrojanCPA! Great story and thanks for sharing it with us. It's even brought some inspiration to this off and on home shopper to persevere a bit in this day and age of short sales predominating the housing market. Of course right now is particularly interesting with the low...

It's simply the "too big to fail" principle. If low inventories continue and demand stays where it is, prices will start to rise. Before long we could be seeing the beginning of another speculation bubble, fueled mainly by investors. They may say that they're buying real estate to rent out...

The big banks are screwing us all in three ways. 1. Pathetically low interest rates on savings. 2. Holding back on home inventory and creating artificially tight market conditions. 3. The looming government bailout that will cost us taxpayers big time ($1 trillion or more).

I think this blog post exemplifies some of the irrational giddiness some are getting out today's low inventory levels. http://southgate.patch.com/blog_posts/home-inventory-low-in-south-gate-good-sign Most appalling in my opinion is a real estate agent actively encouraging homeowners to default...

We may be seeing the beginnings of another speculative bubble in real estate. When investors started gobbling up more homes recently and inventories dwindled, analysts interpreted that as a positive sign that the bottom in housing prices was near. The assumption is that investors would keep...

From Irvine Pacific's thank you e-mail blast: "We appreciate you taking the time to visit us here at Santa Maria for our apartment event. We hope you enjoying viewing our models! We had our Grand Opening this weekend and have already sold THREE homes with several other potential buyers starting...

Went to see the models last night as part of the preview for IAC residents. I like the Plan 2. But at almost $500k for a 2 bedroom after upgrades ($458k starting) and no direct buyer incentives, I'll wait.

Welcome to the forum! If you're planning to stay in the new home long-term (5 years or more) and can afford the higher payment comfortably without sacrificing your savings (like retirement), it's probably a good time now to take advantage of the relatively low interest rates. If you think of the...

That's why I think detached condos are a very iffy RE value in these uncertain times. If the market goes nowhere or slides in the next few years and SFRs are accordingly priced downward, that'll eat right into today's detached condo buyers. I'd also think carefully about buying in PS...fires...

My concern with detached condos is that there is the risk that they could fall into "no man's land" in terms of housing inventory. Look, there are roughly two classes of homebuyers, those looking for attached homes, and those looking for true SFRs. It seems that high demand in Irvine may have...

I wouldn't say that families are not responsible financially these days, but they are dealing with an unfortunate reality today: housing is so dang expensive. What used to be affordable a generation or two ago on a single income now requires both spouses to be working full time. Add the other...

There are three clusters of models going up right now in Stonegate...maybe one of them is it.

I am holding out for at least another year. I sold my home this year and for the time being at least, can't really complain about renting in an IAC complex. I don't have a family so the urgency to buy is not great. I was all set to buy an attached home in WB or PS last year. Then I saw how...

Naturally. Why would a builder want to give away profit if demand was still going strong? Santa Barbara in WB was thought to have surely sold out by the end of last October. Still selling as of today and according to another TI post is now offering broker co-ops.