Recent content by raymond_IHB

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've been here but thank you for all the kind words and I'm happy to see so many familiar names still lurking IHB. Imagine my surprise when Zovall asked to post our SDE. Joyce and I had flew down a couple of cinematographers from Toronto and Seattle to...

Ok, it makes sense after reading that. At first, I thought these homes were designed to be actual shelters for homeless people. It seems they are auctioned off during fund raisers. Then the proceeds are used to develop real shelters for the homeless?

Or you can just make "friends" with a local Irvine resident. That sort of stuff was rampant in the San Gabriel Valley. I wouldn't be surprised if it still went on. For the premium that some neighborhoods command, it's almost cheaper to settle for a little less and send your kids to...

I don't think the word "affordable" has ever come up in our weekly meetings. ...Oh wait, it came up once when the City of San Francisco mandated that 3 of 41 mid-rise condo units be priced within a certain range. But we just paid some "fees" and the requirement was waived...

Directly involved with local builders, I wouldn't say that our aim was to provide affordability. Our main concern was the profit margin at a certain price point. We knew that the people we sold homes to during this bubble couldn't afford it. Fortunately, companies like New Century and...

Winex, I think that idea is already taken! <img src="http://www.arcadiahousingblog.com/personal/ithinkir.jpg" alt="I think, therefore I R."" />

So how do you like your iMac? I recently bought one for my girlfriend and she loves it. <img src="http://www.arcadiahousingblog.com/personal/ibirthday.jpg" alt="An iBirthday" /> Since it was her birthday, I convinced a couple of people to chip in and also get her an iPhone.

Green_cactus; I have also thought long and hard about the potential social problems that these propositions may bring. But then I remember that casinos and gambling are nothing new to California. Even in SoCal - Commerce, Bicycle Club, Hawaiian Gardens.. ect have been around longer than...

<a href="../../../account/361/">monekoko</a>; At one of our projects (now completed halted), we were entertaining offers for $100k off a $400k house. The only reason we still couldn't sell them was because the bank refused to take a loss on their construction loan. Looking back, I bet...

IrvineCommuter - Although my family has a long history of gambling and smoking problems, I will be voting for these Propositions because our state needs the money. If people can't control their excessive gambling, drinking or smoking, I'm all for taxing those habits because one of two...

YLG, For an individual, 2 separate ING accounts won't protect your amount over $100k if something were to happen to ING Direct. You will need to invest the rest into another bank.

I've always wanted to put together a chart like this just to get an idea of what happens when I publish a blog post. Great find!

Thanks for the tip. I will have to re-consider BofA now. I'm guessing you have personal experience with using them. With the state of the market, I was hoping to increase my stock positions and reduce fees. I'm a buy and hold investor.

<a href="../../../account/261/">IrvineCommuter,</a> I agree that SGV is where you should head to. We went to <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/new-capital-seafood-restaurants-san-gabriel#hrid:YBV2AnpLiP81ogwmTVrung/query:new%20capital">New Capital Seafood </a>last month for Dim Sum. The...

I have an account with TradeKing. At $5.95 /trade, you can't go wrong with them for low costs and ease of use. Already a BofA customer, I am considering putting $25k in their CDs to take advantage of <a href="http://www.bankofamerica.com/investing/index.cfm?cm_sp=BAI-SD-_-DDT-_-sd-general">free...