patrick.net

32, been a renter since moving out on my own. Looking to buy right now when the right house/deal comes along but not willing to do the bidding war thing. Pretty happy I hadn't purchased till now. Am well qualified for financing and have a nice tidy down saved up but have been outbid or lost to cash buyers on the few houses I liked. Am in no hurry.

I am a lifelong resident of a neighborhood in East San Jose that Realtors have encroached the appellation "Evergreen" in order to inflate asking prices, bidding prices, and commissions. Evergreen used to be an unincorporated village a couple of miles from where I live in Realtor-re-branded "Evergreen".

My situation is being skeptic about the conventional wisdom, like "house prices only go up"; like "Moore's Law says..."; like "the U.S. will never default on its debt", etc.

The one and only reason my partner and I bought in the 1980's was for "(owners' equivalent)-rent control".

By the way FireBall, you are interested in buying some day. The purchase is as much about location as it is about the timing that you mentioned. Where are you located?

ellie, figured i'd answer this question from other thread in here

live in SE PA, bought summer '07. very conservative area, where we fended off walmarts lots longer then most, and have held onto a good bit of industry. i bought when i had just turned 26 and am about to turn 29. would like to add 1 property to my fold every 5 years

re-fi'd at beginning of year '09 to knock 40% of my interest rate 7.125 down to 5.0, so the bank had to come reappraise. They nudged the appraisel higher then it was when i bought, which is not something i'm rooting for. i never intend to sell any RE/land that i purchase. the only real way to retire and accumulate real, stands the test of time wealth, is through land/property, imo. I don't want them to continually raise my property taxes, so if housing flatlines forever, hip hip hooray.

job situation, been at the same company for 5.5 years, income has gone up almost 50% since i've been working there (small business, and i am my own union, just asked for/demanded more compensation last friday and got it approved while being treated to supper last night). my situation has fluctuated throughout, had a PT gig off and on before i bought, and for a little while after. have had a renter and or a boarder utilizing some of my extra space most the whole time i've lived here

i know many are hurting, but just the same, many friends my age in this area are doing ok-well, two buddies came off long UE stints and landed some fat union gigs recently (johnson n johnson and Armstrong).

I owe a lot to patrick.net for helping me make some decisions financially along the way. of course, a good upbringing in a nuclear family, and unparalleled work effort have surely helped me get where i am today. well, that and i had the forsight to ditch university education, and save myself that lifelong debt. much prefer the tangible exchange of a homestead for my indebtedness, then a silly piece of paper, i enjoyed all the thrills and partying and getting in trouble that many people's parents pay 25+k a year for, on my own

good luck and keep plugging p-net'ers

I'm a 40 year old dude/bro. I've always rented and Always lived Alone. I like the warehouse city grity artist loft thing! Almost, I say Almost bought with a NINJA in 2004/05 all my friends did it. Could not understand what was going on at the time,...found this site. Read,..awoke,....tried to help family and friends see the light and get up to speed,..was called a nut (was a nut), didn't have great employment at the time so It all just looked like sour grapes to everyone (which it sort of was.)

After moving from Oakland, CA. three years ago to be closer to family I now live with my three brothers , all of us single no kids ages 40, 38,28,26. My part of the rent is $350.00 ,....Murrieta CA, 2600sq ft SFH build 2002 total rent at the moment $1650.00 (landlord wants to raise it. can't make her nut she says.) not your typical house hold, all late bloomers just trying to grow up, heal, learn, and move on.

I have $7000 in credit card debt@ 7.5 percent. mostly from business start up costs , I haven't used it in a year I drive a 2001 subaru paid for but 170,000miles on it. I will never buy a new car again. I do all of my own repair work. I shop at Trader Joe's. I grind my own coffee. I don't go out at all and have a nearly zero social life right now. I feel alone alot of the time, and I am. But I'm not scared of the future. Bring it on!
.
Started an REO clean up business a few years ago to get us all working. was going great till Sept last year. The Pay isn't what it used to be as more out of work contractors bid for a smaller slice of the pie. banks clamping down on what they will pay. it basically comes down to how much free work you're willing to do. ( I won't, so I don't get the work)

I have a college degree, have many talents, care about friends and family, am fit, healthy, and awake. (or am I?)
didn't think I'd be mowing lawns, changing locks and sweeping floors at 40 (sigh,...long look in the mirrior.)

Family and friends ( all CA) are all underwater. either from buying in 2006 or from Heloc abuse (parents) Got to Have The F#$king granit! , one friend walked, one will soon.
I think my Parents can't retire. they're in their early 60's ( don't think they really understand this yet.)

Patrick is a hero to me, reading his site was a real life changer Thanks Patrick!
I turn people on to his site weekly,..mainly because I'm around alot of buyers and Realtors(tm)

I may Just be a life long renter. this is OK knowing what I now know.

I hope we are all learning now, and moving toward a world where future generations value smart money/energy choices vs keeping up with the Neighbors.

Thanks Patrick for everything please keep it up. hang in there! you Rock!

PS
As If Patrick him self was reading this,.I know not likely.

if you made t-shirts with your face on it I'd buy a few
maybe your mug shot with a thumbs up and the wording "Got Patrick.net?" it could be a little inside joke for fun not a full on marketing shtick. (but then hey hey?)
$25-$35 bucks maybe? but use American Apparal t-shirts please(made in LA) for the added cool factor and pick an earth tone color so I can wear it to yoga class.)
just say'n
;-))

Thanks
dc

sybrib says

By the way FireBall, you are interested in buying some day. The purchase is as much about location as it is about the timing that you mentioned. Where are you located?

Northern San Bernardino city and Wrightwood, both in the Inland Empire. I can afford a decent area, maybe a 5 on a scale of 1-10. I am looking at 3/2s about 1400 sq/ft that need minor to moderate repairs in my price range of 140-180K. RV parking is a must and so is being near enough to a wash I can sneak out on my dirtbike every now and then. Pricing is very close to being what I want. My ideal location is more about what I want verses what others want.

I sold my house in Long Beach CA June of 2007 for $699K. Moved to Wisconsin and bought the same size house but on 2 acres for $155K- yes, was able to use cash, lol.

Thanks California. Nice to leave ya.

Donovan Moore
Gotham, WI

Donovan,

congratulations.

You see idyllic setting, I see a swath of mowed weeds, ticks, fleas and chiggers. Icky poo.

For the Hip, Cool and Beautiful Bay Areans who haven't had the pleasure of sharing a swath of mowed weeds with chiggers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiggers

sybrib says

Donovan,
congratulations.
You see idyllic setting, I see a swath of mowed weeds, ticks, fleas and chiggers. Icky poo.

Well, then, don't move there. But he's happy, so wtf?

Fireballsocal says

Northern San Bernardino city and Wrightwood, both in the Inland Empire.

I know of a MAJOR short-sale fixer upper about to go on the market in Colton; don't know much about it beyond that it's got a fair amount of cleanup needed. Tomorrow or the next day. At the price (if the bank accepts) you could fix it up & add more house and still come out ahead. Check the mls in the next few days...

I bought a place in December. I put 20% down so I'm sure I still have equity, though I'm also sure that my home isn't worth what I paid for it.

I don't mind, though. Life's too short to try to time the bottom of a market, and my kids needed a place to grow up.

Donovan, good for you.

But as a city dweller, I have no idea about how to take care of 2 acres of land. What do you do for that?

I went like wtf? when I heard a friend of mine living in indiana said he is regualary patroling his property on weekend for 2 hours... doing things like... chasing wild animals off, picking up used condom thrown by wayward teenagers etc. It only takes 2 min for me to patrol my place, LOL.

Im happily renting.
...theyre coming to replace the fridg tomorrow. :)
At this time I have no desire to 'look' at purchasing RE.

Have solid income excellent cred and money in the cred union. :)

I have been happily renting since 1996.
no desire to buy anywhere.

Renting happily from a landlord who bought in 2005.

Who me?
32, Clearwater FL, Maried with a 14m old daughter.
Local government employed since 2002 as a class A water treatment plant operator.
2 cars paid for, no plastic and a dumbass flock of sheep over the cliff condo thats 50k underwater condo.
just inherited a 1500sf, hoarder infected house from my great uncle who passed away. I was the only family member that was on the same wavelength as him.

Reading Patnet to try to figure out how to safely navigate the minefield of housing and finance. I want to move into the uncle's house but it needs AC, roof, paint, floors, kitchen, and lots of electrical rehab. Probably about 50K before the wife wouldn't be terrified of it. I would probably have to get into a legal battle with my condo assc for the right to rent out my condo. They say that not more than 10% of the property can be rented at any time. The condo docs I signed say nothing of the sort. I don't want any more loans or debt; but, considering my very fixed income there are not many options. If it was just my name on the mortgage I would stop paying BOA and take one for the team. But to kill my wifes credit too?

Suggestions?

seaside says

Donovan, good for you.
But as a city dweller, I have no idea about how to take care of 2 acres of land. What do you do for that?
I went like wtf? when I heard a friend of mine living in indiana said he is regualary patroling his property on weekend for 2 hours… doing things like… chasing wild animals off, picking up used condom thrown by wayward teenagers etc. It only takes 2 min for me to patrol my place, LOL.

2 acres is a walk in the park. 20 plus gets a little busy.

seaside says

Donovan, good for you.
But as a city dweller, I have no idea about how to take care of 2 acres of land. What do you do for that?
I went like wtf? when I heard a friend of mine living in indiana said he is regualary patroling his property on weekend for 2 hours… doing things like… chasing wild animals off, picking up used condom thrown by wayward teenagers etc. It only takes 2 min for me to patrol my place, LOL.

LOL, my folks live on 15 acres on the border of Sioux City, Iowa, though dad passed away about 7 years ago leaving my mom all the maintainance. They thought it was great to find the 12 pack ditched by the kids but not so excited about folks using their land, ditches as their personal garbage dump. Some were idiots and left mail with their name and address in the garbage. Boy did my dad enjoy collecting their garbage and depositing it all over their drive way!

Hell, if if wasn't so freaking hot and humid in the summer and blistering cold in the winter I'd consider a move back the the Midwest though in major city like Minneapolis or Omaha as I really don't click with conservative types that can't accept a differing opinion. I've been outed as a humanist which doesn't bode well with Midwest rural living, either.

What's my status? Waiting for the housing credit to expire as it doesn't seem like interest rates aren't gonna spike any time soon due to our sputtering economy. Rents are dropping, too, in the neighborhoods of my choice. We have a 3.5 year old so we need to start considering the school boundaries with our next move.

Our current rental was a quick leap as we just sold in May 2007 (yes, saw the bubble burst coming) plus we had the expense of kids which we didn't plan for (we were gonna be childless and dogless...ooops! The dog was unplanned!) and spouse's earlier lay-offs got us thinking about unloading the double income house. We've learned a lot from our 1st home purchase. We will be buying with one income just in case joblessness is in our future again.

I'm thinking next winter will be our time to purchase, too many props right now keeping prices elevated. Portland prices still seem out of whack with incomes and our double digit unemployment.

41 and have 3 kids, a mad wife, renting an itty bitty shack, debt-free, perfect credit, good d/p, saving and waiting for the gov help to stop helping make liars into buyers. (I know - FHA is help to, so include it as part of what needs to go away). The only winners in the "keep housing heathy" game is the RE-pukes that live off of the usery.

So far, the local REturds are not interested in helping bring in a deal at "the banks" expense. After all, they have "4 full-price-cash-offers" already. lol

Rented in the same place for 7+ years - tiny old 2/1 but the rent only moved once in that entire time. Started looking to buy in 2007 - questioned the reality of prices I saw and found Patrick.net (testify). Waiting...waiting...waiting. I believe the impending expiration of the tax credit, the failure of every single homeowners assistance plan, shadow inventory, Arm resets - all will result in another drop down in home prices.

Recently moved into a rental townhouse - big space, i like the neighborhood, rent is fair - no great bargain but equivalent to PMIT and it is month to month. Its in the neighborhood I want to purchase in so I can keep an eye out on my daily dog walkies.

I have made 3 offers in the past year - been beaten out everytime because the offers were half-hearted. I didn't want to get into a bidding war or exceed my own parameters. If I can't afford it - I can't have it.

I recently went back and looked at the purchase price of each one of those places and noted the following: One was purchased with 3% down - we'll see that one back on the market soon. One was purchased for 20K more than I offered - 2br where 1/3 of the living space was a loft with a spiral staircase - sorry I'm not willing to pay the equivalent of a 3br/2ba. The third i missed by 5K - like I said - I was half hearted. A small regret but not kicking myself.

I am in San Francisco Bay Area - South Bay.

I have been here 10 years. Witnessed the madness in 2004-2006. COuldn't really figure out what was going on. I heard the same 'cool-aid-drinking-talking-points' as you all have.

Then finally found Patrick.net and man... I was so glad that I did.

Now, renting (VERY HAPPILY) and watching all the mayhem. Good parts of bay area still hasn't come down in pricing. And lot of owners are hoping that this 'nightmare' will pass in 2 years. I know full well that things were a 'LA-LA land' for the past 10 years and now coming back to reality.

The only wild-card I am worried about is, our government's half-ass plans to shower home owners with money to keep them in the house.
Good thing, the stimulus and bailout have pushed our Debt-Ceiling pretty high. So more spending would be politically very difficult to push.

Donovan, As a former life-time city dwellers, my wife and I made the same move 5+ years ago. Never knew what "peace & quiet" meant before. Most of my neighbors are the 4 legged type, although we had 12 wild turkeys run across the front of property this morning. There are days when we don't see another human being. When I want city life I drive into it. Always nice to leave it in the rear view mirror and go home to peace, quiet, trees & green acres.

35, married, dink here. I was a renter up till Feb of this year. I'm in Orange County, CA.

We purchased a nice 2 bed(+den) 2 bath house on a 7700 sq/ft lot with a pool for $389K in a nice area of Garden Grove, CA. The seller gave us $7500 in closing and a home warranty. This was an actual regular sale. Yes, they do exsist; comparable sales in the area ranged from 370K-420K. We got a FHA loan at 5% and I only put 3.5% down so I may be upsidedown soon.

This is not really an investment for me it is a place to live; to set roots down. I moved every 3 years from when I was born till I was 21. I rented a room out of a friends place for 6 years, then when I got married moved to an apartment for 5 years. We have been unhappy being in our apartment for the past year or so since they have loosend the restrictions to get in. This has been a pretty common trend according to friends who are leasing agents around the area.

I figure if in 10 years it is worth at least $230K in todays dollars I will be able to sell for what I owe. I will be paying off much faster than 30 years and I really don't plan on moving unless there is another bubble and I can get a ridiculous amount for it and rent for a while till it bursts again.

I really thought about waiting a few more years but looking at the numbers, if interest rates go up 2% I would need to see anotther 25% drop in the market to pay the same amount per month. In the area i'm in we are in the inflation adjusted 2001-2002 price range.

CO = Cash Outlay per month (what I write a check for)
COO = Cost of Ownership per month (CO - interest tax savings - principal reduction + .50% maintinace and repairs)

Rent or a similar place = $1800-$2000.
389K @ 5% = CO: $2600 COO: $1800.
292K @ 7% = CO: $2416 COO: $1767.

never mind

32 single guy, in Oregon and happily renting. Just moved into a 3/2 house a few months ago after living in an apartment for 6 years. I'm probably paying too much but decent SFH seems rare and thus pricey. The renter quality had gone up a bit at my old complex in the past year or so but I was tired of putting up with apartment living. New neighborhood is family oriented but kids playing in the street doesn't bother me as much as music blaring loudly, bad karoke singing to madonna's like a virgin by the guy above me, teens next door having noise complaints/teen yelling/fight drama outside my door and the single mom who while going through her man hating phase during a divorce looked at me like I was evil incarnate and her teen slut daughter who had the same attitude.

I'd prefer to buy but I'm not happy with the local market in Salem or Portland, its still too overpriced. Houses have dropped down to '03-'05 levels in some cases, others are too high. When we get back to late 90s values I'll be more interested in settling down here. Otherwise I'd prefer to keep my options open to moving out of state, whether it be in WA or somewhere else in the NW where my money will go further.

Like others, coming across Patrick.net and other housing blogs helped keep me from buying back in '07 despite lots of pressure from family. Finding sellers that wanted $50k+ in appreciation after say 2 years from previous sale and homes that went for 150k in the late 90s going for 250k+ helped too.

28 single, no kids. I've lived and rented for the past 7 years in the bay area. Four of those years were in San Francisco, where I am now (Mission), and the other three were in Oakland's Lake Merritt area.

I've been reading Patrick and Dr. Housing for about 1.5 years now. Around that time I thought maybe I should look into this home ownership thing. After looking I realized that I can't afford to live anywhere I'd actually want to spend time at, so I've slowed down the search.

I HATE paying rent, but I like it much better than being in the position that some homeowners find themselves in now.

I rent a 2 bedroom apt for $1,900 with parking. My lease is up in July, and I plan on looking for a new place, my 5th place in 7 years.

elliemae, colton is a little rougher than I would like. I am looking in the verdemont area of san bernardino, near cal state san bernardino. Thanks for the tip though.

33, married 6 months, no kids. Been in CA for 10 years now. Have rented in Sunnyvale, South SJ, and now RWC. Re-signed a year lease in January for our 3/2 on the edge of a sketchy neighborhood on the wrong side of El Camino for $2150. It's a lot, but its got a huge garage, they take dogs and we've got the room for a nursery if prices don't reach sane levels in the next couple years.

Sick of friends telling me I should buy now or be priced out forever, I found Patrick.net four years ago as I was trying to figure out how to put into words what I had come to believe: prices were completely unsustainable and bound for a collapse.

Over the last decade, I've lived with roommates, saved money, and still had a lot of fun. We own our three cars outright (late-model Honda, my beater of a commuter and a SUV for Tahoe trips and pulling boats) and have zero credit card or student load debt.

I'm still prodded by friends and acquaintances to 'buy, buy, buy!' but from stuff I see them dealing with, I think that's partly b/c misery loves company. I'm worried about California's looming fiscal crisis and would be happy to ride this out for a few years, but my wife has some serious nesting instincts right now. She'd rather browse US Weekly and look at house listings on Craigslist than try to understand the forces at work in today's economy, so I fear its a battle I'll eventually tire of.

millerdoggy says

I’m still prodded by friends and acquaintances to ‘buy, buy, buy!’ but from stuff I see them dealing with, I think that’s partly b/c misery loves company. I’m worried about California’s looming fiscal crisis and would be happy to ride this out for a few years, but my wife has some serious nesting instincts right now. She’d rather browse US Weekly and look at house listings on Craigslist than try to understand the forces at work in today’s economy, so I fear its a battle I’ll eventually tire of.

Your right, prices are unstainable. The best way for your wife or your friends is to understand this is a comparison of historical prices pre-bubble and current prices. Its no different that the stock bubble back in the late 90s. Good Luck!

http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFHEO/Major/NorCal.html

33, 3 kids, renting for 3 years since coming to CA, single income HH.

Currently in escrow for a 3/2.5 townhouse in the complex I'm renting in. Wife loves the area, we like the schools, it's close to family. With 20% down my PITI + HOA will be 200 lower than what I pay for rent. Prices here are 45% off peak.

I could have gone FHA, but couldn't take paying PMI. Besides I wouldn't know where to invest the dp and beat the interest rate. But the next two years will be tough as I build back the savings. Worse case scenario I can rent the place and come out even.

We're buying directly from the owner and that motivated me to buy because I didn't want to get into a bidding war a place. Did I mention my wife hates moving. We have lived in 4 places in the 7yrs we've been married. She is happy here - she didn't want me to over leverage to get a SFH when I said I could afford to get a house for 80k more. I appreciate that.

I've been reading patrick.net since jan. I decided my annual rent/price value of 9% - 10% means I'm not crazy for wanting to buy here.

millerdoggy, I'm in a similar boat. Wife and I had some huge battles throughout 06-08 as the prices just kept getting crazier and crazier. She wanted a house (many of her coworkers were buying, etc.) but I was steadfastly against it as I knew the prices were out of control. Finally, late last year and into this year she's been able to browse redfin and actually see the price drops. She's also been hearing her coworkers complain that they're underwater, struggling, etc. So now she's glad that we waited but she wishes it would hurry up (like many here, myself included) so we can buy. She's been browsing redfin pretty seriously lately and now that homes that used to list for $1.2M are $800k she's getting antsy. I'm not trying to catch the absolute bottom so at some point we'll jump in. We're planning to live here for awhile so I'll just be glad I avoided the really big knife.

As for us, renters (as you could have guessed) in the SF Bay Area Peninsula, rent is 9% of gross income. Moved out from Oklahoma in 2000 just to catch the dot-com crash. Toughed it out w/ 6 months of unemployment in 03/04 (luckily wife has a biotech job so kept the bills paid and provided health insurance) and been working ever since. Work is going well for both of us but I expect it to come crashing down at any moment. So we're hoarding cash and waiting to see what's going to happen.

When the rest of California was crashing I was looking actively, especially early 2009. Now I'm not even bothering. It's now clear to me this will take much longer to play out than I thought.

Congrats, grywlfbg, on winning the tug of war with your wife. I have a few male friends that lost that conversation, bought in 2006 and 2008, and are now firmly in the denial stage.

I hear you on the stress it adds to a relationship. I'll never forget the time a few years ago (pre-engagement) that we sat in a corner booth in very crowded Campbell bar as I made an impassioned argument against even considering a purchase by either "us" or "her". I borrowed a pen from our waitress to draw various graphs and charts (that I probably stumbled across from this site) depicting everything that house prices had going against them. In a brilliant finish, I rested my case by giving her something she should actually latch onto (because the concept of a declining real estate market was beyond insane to her) which was maybe, just maybe if all these signs were wrong and I was wrong and nothing was going to collapse - it at least couldn't keep going up. I told her that at the very absolute least, we'd be looking at a flat market and our purchasing power would only be going up.

I knew I'd won the battle a week later. I spent a full third of the drive from LA to Aptos listening to her debate the future of housing with her realtor mother (literally one day out of one of those bullshit realtor seminars). She articulated fairly well many of the points I'd brought up and finished with my same closing argument. I sat in the back of the car smiling, mostly silent aside from the occasional aid, relishing that the fact that her mother arguing strenuously against her (frequently parroting some inane sound bite from the seminar) only strengthened my case.

Fast forward three years and while that memory is still fresh in my mind, she'd probably have no idea what I was talking about if I brought it up. Luckily I've been right about macro things a lot more than I've been wrong (ok, it's not luck), so I've got a while before I need to pull another speech out of my arse. In the meantime, I'll just have to keep pointing out flaws in every house listing she forwards my way.

Grywlfbg, keep fighting the good fight.

Status: Owner
Purchased: 2007
Downpayment: 15%
Upside Down? Yes
By What percentage? Not much perhaps 5 to 10%
What percentage of
Income is mortgage? 36%
(includes taxes and homeowners)
Current Age? 42
Married? Yes

status: Owner
Purchased: 2009
Down Payment: 20%
Upside Down?: No
% of income is mortgage: 22% (includes taxes/insurance)
Current age: 40
Married: Y

I'm not in the BA though, so housing is a little different here...

Renter since 1999. Married. No kid, no pet, no debt and no I am not a cop.

Do I like being a renter? Hell, Freakin NO.
Been ok for several years, then this once perfectly peaceful place became more like a unlicenced mexican daycare right next to the clubhouse at party school. A sob nicked my car again in two weeks, bug's everywhere and I see red-eyed kids that smell funny more often. Gotta leave this rathole soon or later.

Been monitoring local housing market for years.
The housing market in the area is doing suprisingly well considering the crisis. Yup, this is relatively stable area and sellers still want 2006 price. I am seeing foreclosures coming into the market in this year, and ready to snap in when the moment is right. I need small backyard for the wife to grow tomatos, and I need little basement to hide from her when she got mad. :)

Renter since 2005. Married. Hubby & I in our early thirties. First child due in June. Single income HH. Husband works in technology. Live in East Bay (Berkeley, El Cerrito area).

My husband and I sold our house in Northern CA (near Sacramento) in 2005. Took profit and have kept it in liquid investments to use as another down payment for when things "cooled down." Guess we have a long ways to go. We pay $2,050 for a SFH on a busy street. Our rental is semi-updated (decent kitchen, nice paint, hardwood floors). Downside, especially in our area, mold, mildew & dry-rot prevail in our house. I am freaked out about it since getting pregnant and I really don't want to expose our kid to this. We've been looking at moving to other rentals in our area but haven't been able to find anything decent (no mold) for under $2,100 (our budget cap). Our landlords really want us to stay and offered to reduce our rent 20%. We're not sure what to do.

We've also been looking at homes to purchase in the El Sobrante/Pinole area where prices are back down to around 1999-2000 levels. We made an offer on a nice home in El Sobrante for 5% under asking price, 20% down payment, PITI & taxes $400 under what we pay for rent, last week. Found out there were 6 other offers (according to our realtor...who knows?) and we weren't even countered. Home has been taken off the MLS and is in contract with someone else. We've heard from neighbors in this area that folks from Lafayette/Orinda, who sold their homes and have been renting, are buying in the area for all cash. An interesting turn of events...and something we've noticed on homes we've bid on in the Richmond Hills area too (folks from El Cerrito/Berkeley Hills are also buying in the area for all cash). I know because I researched property records after the sale was recorded.

It is very frustrating to have been waiting this long for things to get back down to normal levels and get continually outbid on homes. Additionally, we can't find any decent rentals in our area for a sane price. My husband has had it and doesn't even want to move to another rental. We're trying to be level-headed and unemotional about house hunting but its getting to us. We may try to rent in the El Sobrante/Pinole area to at least solve the mold/mildew & lower rental price equation. It really sucks being a thirty-something in the SF Bay Area.

Just me, my husband and our 4 kitties. I stay at home and take care of the finances. We live in Lake Elsinore and have only "ONE" more payment on our house, will be paid off this month. I bought the home in 1987 for $105,000, five years later my husband moved in, five years after that we finally got married. Lots of times I have to hit him upside the head and tell him he is making bad financial decisions and for the most part he listens to me. His degree is in engineering and my MBA is in finance, that is why he listens to me.

After several years of my nagging and his job hopping he finally managed to get into a strong industry - medical device design. He is really smart and has found the perfect company fit for him. He works 12 to 14 hours a day at a job he absolutey loves. We spend our weekends out doors hiking and doing other activities most of the time.

We have $36,000 dollars in the bank for emergencies. We contribute regularly to our retirement accounts. The only debt we have is my husband's 2007 Tacoma - we are making payments of $400 a month - we have two years left on the payments. I drive a 1986 Toyota pickup truck - will have to buy a new one in a few years after I have saved the money for the purchase.

My husband always looks great because he is the person working and in the public eye. I have nice clothes for when we go out but I usually run around in shorts and a T-shirt - even in the winter, the neighbors think I'm crazy. I make 99.9% of the food and coffee we eat and drink, this includes our food for lunches.

It took 17 years of counting every penny but finally, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and will be able to start enjoying life a bit more now. Turning 40 this year looks pretty good for us. We use to envy our friends that were living on the appreciation of their homes. The bought new cars, furniture, clothes and trips and are now losing their homes. I'm so gald we didn't drink the Kool Aid. It wasn't always easy to convince my husband we shouldn't but he agrees with me now.

just so that I could post