patrick.net

I grew up in Mountain View. I still do not understand why anyone would want to live there.

Peter P,

My daughter is very sensitive to change, and I do not think she will handle a move again too well, so if I can keep her in the same school, it would help a lot. I have not located any townhouses in this area with a decent sized yard yet :-( If I wait 5 years though - the dog will no longer be here - so there won't be a problem there, but everyone likes playing outside a lot.

I grew up in Mountain View. I still do not understand why anyone would want to live there.

Google that and you will find out. :)

Claire,

Why do you want a garden for? If it's attractive landscaping then many condo complexes will probably have better landscaping than you'd achieve on your own. If it's to exercise a green thumb, there might be community garden plots or farm workshare nearby. If it's to see things grow through the seasons, might I suggest bonsai?

I wouldn't buy in BA now though, unless you can afford to lose 30-50% of the value of the house if you're forced to sell at the low point. Otherwise, there's always the risk the purchase will totally ruin your financial life.

Claire, if school is a constraint then it may be more of a problem.

lunarpark,

You know, if we could move to another state we would, but we are tied here with my husband's job at the minute. Mountain View is close to where he works (15 min drive) and the school district is okay, there could be a lot worse places to live. When we moved here, there were very few rental properties available in the whole of the surrounding area for what we could afford, and you should have see the state some of them were in when we were searching. So we ended up here.

Well, renting is not so bad anyway. Don't worry.

"Google that and you will find out."

Even Google cannot answer this question...

Actually I understand the 94040, 94043 remains a mystery.

Claire,

It was nothing personal against you - sorry if I sounded that way. I just really didn't care for growing up in Mountain View. I looked forward to my parents sending me to Ohio for the summer.

Even Google cannot answer this question…

Because Google IS the answer? ;)

Claire,

If you have only one daughter, maybe private school would be a cheaper bet than buying into a good school district at this time. Otherwise, maybe go look for a landlord who owned a property for more than 10 years and get a lease with the option to renew for at least the next 3 years. Or live in an apartment in a decent school district.

These aren't perfect alternatives, but they could be better than the alternative of being locked into an overpriced home you can't get rid of.

"Because Google IS the answer?"

Perhaps :p

Patrick.net will have as much luck in banning me as Benny and his **** Robert Cote. Besides, patrick.net admin doesn’t ...
...the_Lingus

Two years without a single banning. Now 2 in less than 7 days. As traffic on this blog grows it may become very difficult to police the Trolls.

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Astrid,

The garden if for the dog - if there's not a six foot fence, he'll take himself for a walk, if there's a garbage can next to the fence, he'll use that to get over the fence. Also, the kids just love playing outside, but I do not like the idea of "free range".

We're not going to buy at the current prices, that's why I'm a little disappointed that the house prices aren't dropping like a stone yet. I can't see how a house here is worth 4 times what it's worth in other states. And I am concerned that one day everybody else will realize this, and then the prices would drop. Or is that wishful thinking?

The garden if for the dog - if there’s not a six foot fence, he’ll take himself for a walk, if there’s a garbage can next to the fence, he’ll use that to get over the fence. Also, the kids just love playing outside, but I do not like the idea of “free range”.

However, for the money saved you can just hire someone to walk your dog. We would love to have a garden for our cats too. :(

I can’t see how a house here is worth 4 times what it’s worth in other states.

In NY, a 650 sqft studio can cost up to 2.5M.

Randy,

You didn't even ban Marinara Prime?

Claire,

Indeed! CA is not family friendly at all.

astrid,

Luckily, our landlord has owned the property for over 10 years, we've been here 3 1/2 years now, he has just put our rent up for the first time, but by $150, 7 % increase. We stretched into our rental property in the first place, so that amount is still a lot to us to have to find extra. We definitely couldn't afford private school, besides I do not think that private school actually makes much difference as long as the kids are doing okay, the important part is doing well in University.

My husband works for a start-up (not Google).

You didn’t even ban Marinara Prime?

I didn't get that honor. He was banned before the admins got banning power. It used to be only Patrick could hand down a permaban.

Randy H,

Funny! I just couldn't even begin to understand where the guy was coming from? Ben Jones IS able to make his bills running the blog, and that's great! I'm sure he could make a lot more elsewhere but he runs it of a love for the game. He, like Patrick are concerned about this housing situation and we're no more to them than Adam! I've NEVER heard Ben or Patrick interject their own beliefs and we all know what a "political lightning rod" I am! Sheesh.

You didn’t even ban Marinara Prime?

Freudian slip? How about some pasta? :)

Peter P,

But that's only true in a few outrageously overpriced downtown and midtown Manhattan locations. Most NYC housing is not nearly so expensive and there's more apartment rentals available.

NYC is also financial services dominated and those jobs tend to pay better than tech nerd jobs prevalent in BA.

"he has just put our rent up for the first time, but by $150, 7 % increase"

Yep, though that adds up to only 2% a year. My boyfriend got that dollar amount hike after just one year of renting a small one bedroom apartment.

DinOR,

It was the fact that (s)he singled out you to flame that immediately tipped her/him off as a Troll.

Hint to Trolls: try not to pick one of the least controversial regulars as your flame target. lol

When will the MSM start printing articles about prices?? Everything I see is rates, rates, rates.

Today's CNN.com Business headliner:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/11/real_estate/bubble_sitting/index.htm

I've got to believe there will have to be some kind of "suitability test" for FB "victims". If you have a G.E.D, work third shift at a turkey processing plant and got snookered into a neg. am. on a house you clearly can not afford, yeah, I'd take the case on a contingency basis!

Should compensation be as automatic for our friends over at SDCIA?

I'm doubting it. Will there be a lot of folks with MBA's attempting to claim they are innocents? Oh yeah. Where do we draw the line as to who and who should not be compensable under the newly minted FBNABORA?

That's the "FB Needin' A Bail Out Relief Act" for those unfamiliar with the legislation.

"I’m doubting it. Will there be a lot of folks with MBA’s attempting to claim they are innocents? Oh yeah. Where do we draw the line as to who and who should not be compensable under the newly minted FBNABORA?"

It doesn't matter who is screwed by dropping housing prices. The government should not be in the business of handing out free options.

Many of my MBA cohort were using IO loans. Ostensibly, they knew what they were doing. (In at least one case, he really did know what he was doing and he was pulling off a really beautiful personal credit arbitrage).

We may want to regularly delete messages with IP starting 200.*.*.*

Nothing good comes out from there. Too bad WP does not support pattern matching in moderation.

astrid,

Absolutely! I was just having fun with it. Much of what I see, percieve and relate to is as it relates to securities markets so in my mind (FWIW) any "compensation" should come directly from the lenders (if at all).

For me to approach YOU as a client and say, "astrid, I don't care where you get the money, borrow a ski mask if you have to but you've GOT to own this telecom start up"! would be perfectly suitable given your level of sophistication.

For me to approach your FOLKS with the same scenario would be totally unsuitable! Should the same distinctions be made on the lending side? Really. I'm asking, not telling.

BayBear,

That was the opinion of the CEO of Toll. Read his agenda as you see fit.

Historical data shows that mortgage rates are correlated to house prices about average. Not uncorrelated, but certainly not perfectly inversely correlated. There have been quite notable periods of time when rates went up, and so did prices, and vice versa.

BayBear,

Loved your comment about "rates aren't the problem" btw!

I'm not sure the article "proved" conclusively that prices will start up again after a brief stabilization period. Would realtors and owners LOVE to see that? Sure (so would I if I was in over my head).

Anyone "scripting" a hasty recovery had best be twice as careful about their position as the bears at this point!

Baybear,

Low mortgage interest rates are a lot like giving out zero percent loans on new cars, or putting on lipstick. It'll make a roadster or a pretty girl more attractive, it might even get a lot of people to put up with an average car or a plain girl, but it's not going to move Pintos or make a pig more kissable.

But that’s only true in a few outrageously overpriced downtown and midtown Manhattan locations. Most NYC housing is not nearly so expensive and there’s more apartment rentals available.

NYC is also financial services dominated and those jobs tend to pay better than tech nerd jobs prevalent in BA.

Sort of... housing outside of Manhattan is pretty cheap. I regularly tell people here that I want to move to NY because it's cheaper and everyone gives me a "WTF" look. It's true. Two words: Long Island. Great homes, amazing schools in most places (at least you don't have Mountain View PD coming by to explain how to identify the Nortenos from the Surenos after a stabbing incident).

But actually, pay isn't better overall. NYC is financial services dominated, but that's a really smart part of the employment base. Everything's connected, but overall the pay in the BA is dramatically higher than in NY.

Why Mountain View? Some condo/townhouses have gardens. Some SFHs only have small decks.

Here's a question that I have - if an earthquake came and destroyed your home...

House: You still have the land

Condo/Townhouse: What do you have left? Air rights?

How does that work?

Condo/Townhouse: What do you have left? Air rights?

Some condos have earthquake insurance. I thought some townhouses have fee-simple land ownership.

I grew up in Mountain View. I still do not understand why anyone would want to live there.

1) It's closer to Palo Alto (better restaurants)

2) It's closer to work for a lot of tech companies - shorter commute

3) Easy access to 101, 85, 280

4) It has every box store, just like every Bay Area city (thanks Prop 13!)

I thought in much of the Bay Area the land is not much more than half the total price of a new house.

Does anyone here read OC Renter's blog (bubbletracking.blogspot.com)? I just discovered it last night--it's a good one. Thorough, well researched and funny!

He goes into detail on some local markets in the bubble zone and his insights are quite eye-opening. For instance, I think his take on Thousand Oaks is pretty good. TO is home to two big companies--Amgen and Countrywide. Countrywide just annouced 4-5000 layoffs. Amgen has frozen hiring. This is in a small city of 121,000 people (probably around 70,000 households). Most buyers in the area "traded up" to their $1.5M mcmansions by selling their last house for $1.2M. First time buyers (unless they are movie stars or professional athletes) are completely priced out. The trade-up buyers are not necessarily "FBs" because they can afford their mortgages. But when the music stops, they will lose 100%+ of their equity (even if they manage to keep their home). Most will probably refuse to sell.

He also researches some individual flippers and provides details on their situations. Pretty interesting reading. Here is a link to his Thousand Oaks analysis:

http://bubbletracking.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_bubbletracking_archive.html

1) It’s closer to Palo Alto (better restaurants)

4) It has every box store, just like every Bay Area city (thanks Prop 13!)

So East Palo Alto must be very prime.

1) Even close to Palo Alto.
2) Close to employment
3) Easy access to 101, 84
4) Ikea!