ALL CASH OFFERS IN IRVINE

[quote author="momopi" date=1248410593]It's true that there are many wealthy Asian buyers in OC. I personally know a few. One couple that got married last year, both are relatively young (mid 20's) and never worked a "real" job in their entire lives. Other than going to school and doing volunteer work for their Church, their life seems to revolve around Church training and seminars. Their parents bought them a brand new million dollar custom home in Diamond Bar so they can start popping kids. Another girl, was recently married with million dollar dowry.



Being from a relatively "poor' family, I don't have parents who can give me a million dollars, so I have to actually work for the million myself. But then life isn't fair. I was born with healthy genes and got all my fingers and toes. What about the guys who were born handicapped and have to spend their entire life in a wheelchair? Money comes and goes, but your health may never recover from a serious illness. There are COUNTLESS ways to make money, but there is NO CURE for cancer. American is an AWESOME country with so many opportunities to make your fortunes. It's really stupid to waste your time being envious of someone else's wealth when you can just go make $$ yourself.</blockquote>


+1
 
[quote author="momopi" date=1248410593]It's true that there are many wealthy Asian buyers in OC. I personally know a few. One couple that got married last year, both are relatively young (mid 20's) and never worked a "real" job in their entire lives. Other than going to school and doing volunteer work for their Church, their life seems to revolve around Church training and seminars. Their parents bought them a brand new million dollar custom home in Diamond Bar so they can start popping kids. Another girl, was recently married with million dollar dowry.



Being from a relatively "poor' family, I don't have parents who can give me a million dollars, so I have to actually work for the million myself. But then life isn't fair. I was born with healthy genes and got all my fingers and toes. What about the guys who were born handicapped and have to spend their entire life in a wheelchair? Money comes and goes, but your health may never recover from a serious illness. There are COUNTLESS ways to make money, but there is NO CURE for cancer. American is an AWESOME country with so many opportunities to make your fortunes. It's really stupid to waste your time being envious of someone else's wealth when you can just go make $$ yourself.</blockquote>


Honestly Momo,



I would feel really sorry for that kid. This is one sure way for Rich Asian Parents to cripple their adult children. First, he is probably going to get outpatient care ("a Hand Out") from his rich dad for the rest of his life. He will probably achieve very little in life, coming no where near the financial success of his father. These same rich asian parents are the ones that will treat their adult children like a kids and will try to control them, even to the point of making marital decisions for them. In the outside, it may look like they are enjoying the affluent lifestyle, but the inside he is probably struggling with low self esteem, desperate to break out of his chains.



Unfortunately many Rich Asian parents don't set very good example for their children to be independent and do something significant with their lives. This is one thing that rich Caucasion parents does right, they will kick you of the house once you reach the age of 18 - 21.
 
I'm an ordinary Chinese American speaking for myself. I'm not rich nor poor. my parents came to the states 22 years ago with absolutely nothing, with little education, working various blue collar jobs making combined 50k/year. they don't spend any money on anything not needed. over the years, they owned a 1800ft house which was sold right at the peak. now they are in a 3200ft house(bought in 2002, not in trouble at all). at ages 69/55, they are now retied. they drive bmw and lexus and don't need to work anymore. they saved their way into retirement. when you are at disadvantage to begin with, you have to work harder, save more to be secure. http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090721/us_time/08599191198100



unlike most Chinese who gets straight A's in schools and grad with (double) masters degree(s). I got all B's or C's just to get a bachelor degree so I can work a job. at age 28, making 75k working at a small tech company, I'm doing a little above average as an American but sub-par for Chinese-Americans. I saved about 100k for myself at this point. I personally don't expect to inherit anything from them b/c that's theirs. I never asked and will never ask, but i'm sure they'll drop me 100k or more when i decide to get married or buy a home myself.



now, ask why those damn Chinese can afford to out bid you by drop a huge down payment? It's just matter of life style.



quote from above 'so the next fobbish, homeless looking Chinese that comes out of Sam Woos wearing 80s sandals could very well have more than $100k in the bank'
 
[quote author="PANDA" date=1248412882][quote author="momopi" date=1248410593]It's true that there are many wealthy Asian buyers in OC. I personally know a few. One couple that got married last year, both are relatively young (mid 20's) and never worked a "real" job in their entire lives. Other than going to school and doing volunteer work for their Church, their life seems to revolve around Church training and seminars. Their parents bought them a brand new million dollar custom home in Diamond Bar so they can start popping kids. Another girl, was recently married with million dollar dowry.



Being from a relatively "poor' family, I don't have parents who can give me a million dollars, so I have to actually work for the million myself. But then life isn't fair. I was born with healthy genes and got all my fingers and toes. What about the guys who were born handicapped and have to spend their entire life in a wheelchair? Money comes and goes, but your health may never recover from a serious illness. There are COUNTLESS ways to make money, but there is NO CURE for cancer. American is an AWESOME country with so many opportunities to make your fortunes. It's really stupid to waste your time being envious of someone else's wealth when you can just go make $$ yourself.</blockquote>


Honestly Momo,



I would feel really sorry for that kid. This is one sure way for Rich Asian Parents to cripple their adult children. First, he is probably going to get outpatient care ("a Hand Out") from his rich dad for the rest of his life. He will probably achieve very little in life, coming no where near the financial success of his father. These same rich asian parents are the ones that will treat their adult children like a kids and will try to control them, even to the point of making marital decisions for them. In the outside, it may look like they are enjoying the affluent lifestyle, but the inside he is probably struggling with low self esteem, desperate to break out of his chains.



Unfortunately many Rich Asian parents don't set very good example for their children to be independent and do something significant with their lives. This is one thing that rich Caucasion parents does right, they will kick you of the house once you reach the age of 18 - 21.</blockquote>


old chinese sayin, fortunes don't pass over 3 generations, poorness also don't pass over 3 generations too.
 
[quote author="nomogy" date=1248401926]I completely agree with witin4ever.

I feel and experience exactly same about housing in Irvine.



-Nomogy





Agree with the original post. It is progressively becoming difficult for me to believe that Irvine

Prices are going to go any lower. Although I would like it to as I?ve been

waiting for ever now.



Recently I?ve see many properties New constructions in Portola springs and

many older homes. All 1800 sq ft and up in the 630 to 700 K range. Most of these

homes I believe were/are WTF prices. But I was planning to buy anyway since I?ve

waited too long and the time our family would like to have a home is running by.



Examples of these homes



New homes: Paloma plan 2 & Plan 3. Manzanita plan 1.



old homes: 10 wakefield, 12 phillipsburg, 67 turnbury ln, 104 winslow ln, 57 essex ln, 63 sconset ln etc.



Before even i think of what percentage down or how much to bid most of these homes just go into

back ups and I?m told pretty much the offer was withing 2-3 % +/- of the asking.



The observation I had was new homes a slighly lesser priced by 40-50K but have high mello roos+HOA

The older homes are higher priced but have lesser fees by 400 dollars to 600 dollars a month.



Also if you assume 30-40% down and moderate 2% loss on the down payment the rent Vs own

is pretty close. To me it means Rents are just too high as well similar to home prices.





I?am not sure if I?m just wishing for low prices that may never happen?</blockquote>


Patience is a virtue. A lot of people on the blog get that "must buy" itch. I say hold off and rent longer. There has been a lot of stats on <a href="http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/2295/P125/">other posts</a> regarding rising REO inventory for Irvine. I don't see that changing anytime soon. The banks will sooner or later have to unload this inventory. Short term Irvine inventory is very low and will cause multiple bids on well priced property. Longer term 6-12 months+, I can see prices sliding further, especially in the mid-high end.
 
[quote author="asianinvasian" date=1248400713]This thread is hilarious. News flash: cash comes from saving. There's no mystical magical mystery to it. Americans can't understand because they are $13 trillion in debt whereas the Chinese are $2 trillion in cash. They can buy up "all the land and property in New York City, Los Angeles and Boston" combined.



<a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/07/22/what-can-china-get-for-its-2-trillion/">http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/07/22/what-can-china-get-for-its-2-trillion/</a></blockquote>


<blockquote>They think there?s no real likelihood that China is going to be able to do anything different with the reserves than what it is already doing: parking a very large percentage of them in U.S. government debt. And the latest figures from the U.S. Treasury show that China continues to buy US Treasury bills and bonds on a massive scale.</blockquote>


So much for buying NYC
 
In an attempt (futile?) to get this thread back on track, I split off some posts into threads of their own:

<a href="http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/5743/">Ethnic Composition Forecast for Irvine</a>

<a href="http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/5742/">Is Hawaii trending Republican?</a>



Please carry on discussing ALL CASH OFFERS IN IRVINE ;)
 
My brother in Taiwan is awaiting the impeding doom of the US Dollar. Seems like a lot of people overseas are stocking up on gold; this might explain why some are dumping their cash for houses now. He thinks that the dollar will collapse next year, and gold will hit $15,000/oz at the height of the scare frenzy. Maybe I should go over to the gold thread or the econ section, but how likely is that scenario? On another subject?



I assume that a lot of people, who have already bought, were the people who made money off the bubble. They have little incentive to wait, because the money they made is ?not theirs?. They would rather not sacrifice the lifestyle that they grew accustom to. Where as the people who are still holding out, earned every single penny? I?m also predicting that the average down payments will come down to the traditional 20% at the bottom? that is when all the bubble money is spent and the people who should have bought ten years ago come out of hiding?
 
<blockquote>but there is NO CURE for cancer.</blockquote>


Hate to go off topic, but this bugs me whenever I see it. There is a cure for cancer, depending on when you detect it. Catch it early enough (assuming its the right type) and you can cure it with modern medicine and methods.



Any disease, even one for which a cure is available (vaccine, etc) is non-curable if you let it develop and get far enough along.
 
[quote author="zovall" date=1248479280]In an attempt (futile?) to get this thread back on track, I split off some posts into threads of their own:

<a href="http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/5743/">Ethnic Composition Forecast for Irvine</a>

<a href="http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/5742/">Is Hawaii trending Republican?</a>



Please carry on discussing ALL CASH OFFERS IN IRVINE ;)</blockquote>




And I didn't even get to post food pics in the thread. ;(
 
[quote author="momopi" date=1248485574]

And I didn't even get to post food pics in the thread. ;(</blockquote>
A picture of that "Cash Only" sign at Sam Woo's Express would be perfect here.



(Or do they take credit now? Haven't been there in years.)
 
[quote author="roundcorners" date=1248480618]My brother in Taiwan is awaiting the impeding doom of the US Dollar. Seems like a lot of people overseas are stocking up on gold; this might explain why some are dumping their cash for houses now. He thinks that the dollar will collapse next year, and gold will hit $15,000/oz at the height of the scare frenzy. Maybe I should go over to the gold thread or the econ section, but how likely is that scenario?</blockquote>
Close to 100%. Maybe not $15,000 per, but the actual price in dollars is irrelevant.



[quote author="roundcorners" date=1248480618]

On another subject?



I assume that a lot of people, who have already bought, were the people who made money off the bubble.

</blockquote>
We made money off the bubble and have not bought. My best friend, who also made money off the bubble, has not bought.

[quote author="roundcorners" date=1248480618]

They have little incentive to wait, because the money they made is ?not theirs?.

</blockquote>
If it is not ours, then to whom does it belong? I am fairly sure that any court and any moral venue, except maybe communism, will judge our money we made off the bubble as ours.

[quote author="roundcorners" date=1248480618]

They would rather not sacrifice the lifestyle that they grew accustom to.

</blockquote>
We are leasing a smaller home than we sold and consider it a sacrifice in the lifestyle to which we became accustom to.

[quote author="roundcorners" date=1248480618]

Where as the people who are still holding out, earned every single penny? I?m also predicting that the average down payments will come down to the traditional 20% at the bottom? that is when all the bubble money is spent and the people who should have bought ten years ago come out of hiding?</blockquote>
Huh? Who are people who <em>should</em> have bought? What criteria does one use to judge when others <em>should</em> have bought?
 
[quote author="awgee" date=1248486799]

Huh? Who are people who <em>should</em> have bought? What criteria does one use to judge when others <em>should</em> have bought?</blockquote>
FCBs = Buy whenever they want... it's just dollars and cents.



IHBs = Buy whenever they can... just use personal and financial sense.
 
more like...



IHBs (95%) = Tell people not to buy!



[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1248487055]

FCBs = Buy whenever they want... it's just dollars and cents.



IHBs = Buy whenever they can... just use personal and financial sense.</blockquote>
 
Awgee? sorry, let me rephrase? now this is just a presumption but, I would tend to think that FCB, or bubble chaser who are somewhat risk adverse would tend to believe they got ?lucky? from the bubble. Much like when you go to Vegas, and win some money, the money is yours but I would view the winnings somewhat differently than money that I earned working. I would more likely ?re-invest? the winnings and go for a bigger jackpot; and if I lose that money, I would emotionally justify that money was not being mine anyways, since I walked away basically even. So the people who profited will be less likely risk, being ?priced out forever?; and get back into the neighborhoods where their friends live; than to keep waiting. Now the people who never played the game to begin with, who are still renting, never experienced the joys of homeownership have an easier time waiting. As you mentioned, renting is somewhat a sacrifice; but for our family, we really don?t know any better. I was contemplating buying about 10 years ago, before the market took off. A few other childhood friends were also priced out for the last 10 years are now just buying because their kids are starting elementary.
 
Sure, there's alot of financial "make" sense and financial "makes no" sense here.

You take what you can get and ignore what you dont want to read.



Then you add all the assumptions, whining, etc and you have a successful BLOG!



[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1248491122][quote author="rickhunter" date=1248490664]more like...



IHBs (95%) = Tell people not to buy!

</blockquote>
Isn't that "financial sense"?</blockquote>
 
[quote author="roundcorners" date=1248490668]Awgee? sorry, let me rephrase? now this is just a presumption but, I would tend to think that FCB, or bubble chaser who are somewhat risk adverse would tend to believe they got ?lucky? from the bubble. Much like when you go to Vegas, and win some money, the money is yours but I would view the winnings somewhat differently than money that I earned working. I would more likely ?re-invest? the winnings and go for a bigger jackpot; and if I lose that money, I would emotionally justify that money was not being mine anyways, since I walked away basically even. So the people who profited will be less likely risk, being ?priced out forever?; and get back into the neighborhoods where their friends live; than to keep waiting. Now the people who never played the game to begin with, who are still renting, never experienced the joys of homeownership have an easier time waiting. As you mentioned, renting is somewhat a sacrifice; but for our family, we really don?t know any better. I was contemplating buying about 10 years ago, before the market took off. A few other childhood friends were also priced out for the last 10 years are now just buying because their kids are starting elementary.</blockquote>


I can understand why you may think like that. I probably did at one time. Like when I was younger. At my age, I realize that any thing I have, I worked for, be it income from wages or capital gains. Honestly the cap gains feel more earned than my income at times, because it is so much harder to keep money than it is to earn it. You will just have to trust me on that. I never would have believed it without experiencing it myself.
 
Asian Income data per the American Community Survey for 2007. All data for all races are available at the US Census Bureau site. Going to this site will make you paranoid as you won't believe how many categories there are for each race, sex, age, etc. You'll leave thinking your every move is being watched.



<a href="http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-state=dt&-context=dt&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B19113D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_C19101D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B19101D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B19202D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B19301D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B19313D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B20005D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B20017D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B22005D&-CONTEXT=dt&-tree_id=306&-redoLog=true&-geo_id=16000US0636770&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en">Asian's Income data for Irvine, CA</a>
 
[quote author="Mcdonna1980" date=1248523947]Asian Income data per the American Community Survey for 2007. All data for all races are available at the US Census Bureau site. Going to this site will make you paranoid as you won't believe how many categories there are for each race, sex, age, etc. You'll leave thinking your every move is being watched.



<a href="http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-state=dt&-context=dt&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B19113D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_C19101D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B19101D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B19202D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B19301D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B19313D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B20005D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B20017D&-mt_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G2000_B22005D&-CONTEXT=dt&-tree_id=306&-redoLog=true&-geo_id=16000US0636770&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en">Asian's Income data for Irvine, CA</a></blockquote>
Aha! That is something I've often wondered about but never bothered to look up. Thank you for the link, McDonna. It's very enlightening, if not encouraging. "Median income" is often mentioned and discussed as a fundamental basis or indicator of sustainable home prices. But home purchases happen "at the margin", so to speak, meaning there's nothing that says a median income family *should* be able to afford a home.

From the data in the link:



<img src="http://www.ozop.net/income_tiers.jpg" alt="" />



The data is pretty rough, but we can interpolate the median Asian family income to be a hair north of $100k/year. I'm guessing the median isn't all that far off from the Irvine population as a whole, and I think it's also plausible that the the distribution for all ethnicities would break out in a fairly simlar shape. The big takeaway here is that there appears to be a *lot* of people who can afford a good amount of home in Irvine. 13% of Asian families make over $200k/year; I would guess at least 10% of households across the board make that much. With a good credit score and conventional financing limits, $200k/year will support roughly an $800k mortgage. FCB theory aside, wage earners have a lot of buying power. I'll make more charts if someone wants to dig up the stats.
 
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