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SFWoman,

Could be worse! You could be stuck in Portland!

George,

I do hear ya'. She sounds like she's pretty sharp and I'm not trying to pull the wool over someone's leg here but it's not like you're buying the house (and then just "living" together!) The folks need to look at things from THAT perspective!

In spite of what some here might insist, lease/option can be a smart way to go. If you're not able brow beat the seller into doing an avg. of 2/3 appraisals at the end of the lease period you should be able to at the very least simply walk away from it altogether if the pre-agreed upon price is way above FMV in 2008/9. The seller doesn't want his only potential buyer to walk so you may be able to renegotiate. Also (particularly if you paid a premium for the option) if you think you can sell it at a profit (stranger things have happened) you might be able to have a clause to allow you to simply sell the option and pocket the difference.

SFWoman,

A couple we know took a job in So. OR and have since been transferred back. It' was so bad that Alex said the only part of the week she actually looked forward was going to the Walmart in K' Falls! Had it not been for the twins she might have made a break for it.

George,

Well it certainly isn't lost on me! We still have a "first right of refusal" even though our lease has run out and we are month to month. So if we saw something else that just had to had to have we can walk away in about as much time as it would take me to disconnect the washer and dryer! If the owner has a firm offer on the table we can meet it or beat it and stay put (albeit w/much higher monthly exp.)

Depending on one's level of confidence in their shopping skills being able to "re-assign" the option to a 3rd. party can be a valuable asset in and of itself. Especially for people that are new to the area, relocating or in a temp. situation.

After renting since 2000 and moving several times I've gotten use to it. I do want to own a home. However, the way this country and the economy is heading frightens me more. I think things are just starting to the downside.

Allah,

Southern families are a little different and George is a big boy. Anyway hey thanks for the heads up on forsakencraft's "Radio Talk Show"! I called in and had a blast with the guy! He plans on doing it every evening and they are HUGE fans of Peter Schiff! At this point it's no problem getting through as a caller and you can discuss just about anything bubble related. Lots of fun.

George,

I agree with the others; caving is bad. Doing nothing is also bad, of course, which is why I might be tempted to run off to Greece for a week, or similar.

Justme,

(re: sifting for wealth) That's why it's a good idea not to list income, and to be suitably vague. Of course, once it's someone's digging, that's almost a license to start screwing with them. Dates are supposed to be fun, right?

I'd prefer a SFH in SF to a condo, but I don't consider those /things/ in SF to be SFHs. They don't even have real yards, and the sides touch!

(re: sifting for wealth) That’s why it’s a good idea not to list income, and to be suitably vague. Of course, once it’s someone’s digging, that’s almost a license to start screwing with them. Dates are supposed to be fun, right?

...which implies that you're sifting for sexual conquests with the benefit of a clear conscience ("she was just a money grubber, so who cares"). If instead you're running into these women at parties, as FAB describes, that's more of an indictment on you and the parties that you attend than on the female sex in general.

Being interested in the financial sense/position of your mate is fair metric. You guys deride the gold-digger extreme, but the opposite extreme, the gal who doesn't care about money and who would live in a hovel with a big-hearted starving artist, is equally suspect. The mean is best.

Randy is also correct that it is easier if you meet your mate when you're both dirt poor, so you can appreciate the fact that she stuck with water at dinner. Just don't fool yourself; sound finances are an important part of a sound marriage.

FRIFY

I couldn't have said it better.

My wife can drive a tractor, by the way. A combine and front loader too. The really big kind. I think she used to run her father's diesel tractor trailer to the elevator too. I can't do any of those things so far as I know. If it all goes to hell we can always retreat to the interior and farm, and I'm not talking about the "victory gardening" kind of farming, but the "this sucks, let's get out of here" kind.

FRIFY; I used the wrong word there; I didn't mean screwing in the physical sense. I do have /some/ standards.

Just remember to tip a bit more if you drink water at dinner.

Though if I was on a first date, I would be impressed if the restaurant was a good value and my date could gracefully navigate through dinner (firmness with waiting staff, different forks for salad and main course, decent tip at the end). For a second date, any demonstrated ability for home cooking (if this person can't make salmon taste good, why would I want to spend my life with him or her?) would impress.

Is southern Oregon really that bad? I found the scenery there to be rather dreamy and Reedsport had the best jerky I've ever had in my life.

"a big-hearted starving artist"

I will preemptively agree with Peter P and say this is automatically a suspect category. Throw both of them (starving artist and co-hovel dweller) into Gitmo!

FRIFY; I used the wrong word there; I didn’t mean screwing in the physical sense. I do have /some/ standards.

I'm a guy - you don't need to apologize to me. Just be fair to those gals out there in the singles market.

Anyway, my charges were mainly directed at FAB who makes his misogynistic generalizations a running part of his commentary.

@Randy,

Somebody's gotta help you keep these boys in line. ;-)

If rich husband searching is an avocation for some women, does bedding hot materialistic women also count as an avocation for some men?

"Is southern Oregon really that bad?"

The scenery is wonderful and it really is a beautiful place. The problem is you can't eat scenery. Like Bend "pre-bubble", it's poverty with a view. The recent influx of CA's has introduced some level of sophistication but in most towns the first day of hunting season is the biggest day on the calendar!

If rich husband searching is an avocation for some women, does bedding hot materialistic women also count as an avocation for some men?

Yes. The hot materialistic women and the rich playboy men deserve (and can have) each other.

Markets in action are a beautiful thing to behold at times. Take the "market" for coupling. While there is plenty of superficiality and randomness involved, somehow the "market" seems to "allocate" the proper "resources" to the best fitting "use" of those resources.

Or as FRIFY said, often where you find yourself is more a reflection upon you than upon everyone else.

Lowball,

I understand. Even when directed to a single individual this is out of line. I don't know where you're at but I know of no one that's calling for 12% appreciation this year let alone the next 7!

In my business this is a major no-no. We've discussed the utter lack of accountability in RE endlessly. Until we get some measure of ethics installed we can all continue to look forward to these "gunslinger" tactics for some time to come.

Markets in action are a beautiful thing to behold at times.

It is beautiful. From a less efficient state to a more efficient state, some people must be harmed. The market will not listen to their whining.

Speaking of new architecture...

I do not mind a condo in a building like this. My wife will refuse to set foot in it though...

http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2006/10/were_thinking_gehry_no_not_geary.html

That building is begging to be brought down - terrorist, landmark commission, earthquakes...it looks like it's in the middle of an earthquake as it stands.

it looks like it’s in the middle of an earthquake as it stands.

Perhaps The Big One will straighten it.

I have an architect friend who is very much into curves.

I just love the oddity.

It is terrorism-proof because the terrorists will feel sorry for it.

Peter P,

You forget the political market place. Rest assured that the non-share holding "stakeholders" usually find much to complain about.

You forget the political market place. Rest assured that the non-share holding “stakeholders” usually find much to complain about.

We can take away their wooden stakes. All they do is poking around with their stakes.

Markets in action are a beautiful thing to behold at times.
And it can be quite interesting to see where the invisible hand turns up... Since we were talking about reinsurance companies recently, I noted an article a while back that SwissRE was starting to become very interested in global warming and the effects of climate driven natural disasters. Wonder when this will trickle down to the consumer (what does your carbon emissions profile look like and how high will the premium be on your gasoline CO2 emitter...)

I guess I am just odd for liking apartments in cities.

I also love urban high-rise apartments.

My DREAM primary residence is a condo in 4S Tower or something like that. Must be new and modern.

Street level windows in cities are just asking for problems; without a good-sized yard to provide an outer perimeter, they're very insecure. (Which may subconsciously gnaw at people.)

@Peter P,
Sounds like you'd love living in one of those highrises in Vancouver. Ever consider that?

requiem,

Interesting.

WRONG! But.........interesting.

There has never been a documented case of someone being able to commit suicide by throwing themselves out of a street level apt. window!

This accounts for Berwyn Illinois' low suicide rate.

Nah, this doesn't feel like a recession to me. Tech in the Bay Area is screaming hot, I know that for sure. But these kinds of things can turn on a dime, I know.

Right now there is a lot of VC money chasing deals.

Sounds like you’d love living in one of those highrises in Vancouver. Ever consider that?

We have been priced out of that market. :)

I love Vancouver.

Their bubble will not burst until the global bubble bursts. But it will burst very hard. Probably before the Winter Olympics.

It is not a racially diverse place though.

SFWoman Says:

> Yes, there are men for whom dogging after women
> is a vocation. In the 1980s in NYC there were guys
> who we called ‘model humpers’ because all they
> wanted to do was sleep with models.

All men want to sleep with models, but it’s only in NYC (where there are lots of models) that guys actually have much of a chance of sleeping with one.

Guys in the Mid West can only look at pictures of models while (as they said a few years back on Sex in the City) “NYC is like a giant petting zoo where you can see models in their natural habitat”…

DinOR,

You were just waiting to use that, weren't you?

Those people in IL are obviously doing it wrong; the plate glass is much less effective if you open the window before going through it.

Nah, this doesn’t feel like a recession to me. Tech in the Bay Area is screaming hot, I know that for sure. But these kinds of things can turn on a dime, I know.

It was also very hot in 2000.

Right now there is a lot of VC money chasing deals.

Which means they will be less than careful in spending their money. Disaster ahead.

Agree w/Randy on the whole gold-digger/trophy wife mutual attraction phenomenon. Most dysfunctional couples that base a relationship on wealth and/or physical attractiveness generally deserve each other. Of course, sometimes one party or the other may be a decent but naive person who simply gets taken advantage of by the other, resulting in genuine heartbreak, which is sad. Overall, though, viewing the dating scene as an "efficient market" is a healthy way to look at it.

Got super lucky with my wife. Like Randy, we married into early poverty, so our relationship was "stress tested" very early on. Can't think of a more reliable way to prove the strength of a relationship than that. Despite whatever crap life throws our way, at least there has never been any doubt in my mind that she married me for love, not money, and will stick by me. That gives me genuine happiness no trophy wife ever could.

Got super lucky with my wife. Like Randy, we married into early poverty, so our relationship was “stress tested” very early on.

In your case, the stress test would be getting very rich together. :)