How much $$ do you think this blog has saved people?

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NIR,

There you are. Where have you been ? IR and I were wondering... I thought maybe you had decided to change professions ;) I believe CalGal meant that during the boom, when people were buying like crazy (jumping in), they jumped out at the height of the market.

Raymond,

Being "out of the closet" today is no big deal ;) Really, some of my friends are bulls....

and don't let them catch you reading this blog at work !!
 
Raymond,

Another good article by IR is "How Inflated are House Prices?". See the archives for March 3, 2007. It gives an excellent explanation on how much houses should cost. The other article "The Anatomy of a Credit Bubble" (May 14, 2007) explains how we got to this crazy situation.

They are both very informative and give one the confidence that renting is the sound thing to do.

I dare you to secretly place copies of them in the CEO's in-box! LOL!
 
Hi nirvinerealtor-

Trooper is correct. We relocated from Boston a couple of years ago. People were buying houses that really couldn't afford them and had no right buying them. My husband is a District Manager in the financial industry. He works with fund managers, brokers, wholesalers, etc. on a day-to-day basis. Most people in his field say the market still has some time before it bottoms out. So, we won't be buying for a year or two.
 
Trooper,

I have gotten a few suggestions from this blog to "get another job". I do not want to because I like to take care of people and to make people happy. No one takes care of me, so why not making people happy and be part of it.

I have been overworked - selling homes to be specific! Feeling blues, Hating life, Hungry, not getting enough sleep! You name it. I sound like a big old mess. Well, I think the worst is over, I moved most of my listings except a couple more to go then I am off to the pool. NOT!

IR, I must say I am curious what you might be?. I am even thinking I want to meet you some day; may be it is a bad idea. I am thinking you are a cranky old man, but may be not.

CalGal,

I am in agreement with your husband. I am selling to buyers who are buying for a very good reason. I am cautioning my buyers that prices may drop further. I do not know for sure, just my gut feeling. One good thing about this market is the homes I am selecting for my client are "perfect". In the normal or hot market, it is almost impossible. These folks work hard for their money and they do not want to be under controlled of a landlord, so they buy something really nice that they can enjoy.

So you are from Boston. I work with many relocation folks from Back East's and Midwest's. I often wonder why the RE price in Orange County does not deter the migration.
 
This blog has saved me quite alot and even made me some money!

I'm kidna crazy that I have bought (and sold some homes) but they were predominately VERY distressed homes in need of major repair (Low ball price to the point of stupidity...). My asking price was almost 100k lower than the comps of the area, but I wanted a quick sale. (Thankfully the buyer was smart enought to recognise that housing prices would devaluate and that 100k was a buffer for the bad times to come....). What was funny was that all the other owners in the area were angry that I was selling so low, even the RE agent was displeased at my first offer.

Anyways good luck

-bix
 
NIrvineRealtor -

I'm glad that you are warning buyers that prices may drop. It's nice to know there are realtors out there who are at least providing caution, which will allow the buyers to think twice about their purchase. There are so many buyers that believe realtors are financial planners - and a lot of realtors believe they are financial planners as well. The prices in Boston are quite high, so OC prices weren't that different. Although you do get more land in Boston than OC. We were OK with that because we were tired of taking care of such a large yard. We were looking forward to having our weekends to ourselves and we wouldn't be a slave to our yard any more. We relocated because my husband was offered a great job that he couldn't resist. We're glad we made the move. California has been an adventure! Now if we could just move our east-coast family and friends
 
CalGal - I can definitely relate to your experience! My husband and I are actually not in a position to buy right now (using traditional financing), but since discovering this blog I have changed my attitude from: "Oh poor us, we can't afford to buy a house yet" to "this is fine, we have plenty of time to save up money and in a few years we will have a dream home." It feels good to know that you really aren't "throwing money down the toilet" by renting as I was told so many times growing up, but in reality making a good financial decision.

On a related note, this blog is also helpful in other ways. In particular, I am glad I found it to see that not everyone in this area thinks the most important thing in life is showing off how much money you have by driving luxury cars and carrying expensive handbags. In fact, some people actually look down at that behavior! Thank god! It is too much work trying to keep up with everyone around here. IrvineRenter's post a few months ago about the Social Pathology of Orange County hit the nail on the head. Even though I already knew what he was talking about, it was very reassuring that I was not alone.

So, thanks to everyone for sharing the information and opinions! This website is largely responsible for me being completely fine living in an apartment and driving a practical car without worrying that my colleagues think it's weird.
 
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