patrick.net

One could always just search for “blog party” and could have gotten that, right?

Nope, Peter P's wife (who is also hot) went to the Mission with her friend. Peter P, your miso was interesting, I can't for the life of me figure out how they keep the clams alive.

Bush II is the President, the Cubs won the world series, and Boston is the capital of New York. Sorry, watching too many WWII movies. (authentication of German spies)

I can’t for the life of me figure out how they keep the clams alive.

I now believe the clams where vacuum-packed and then COOKED. That was how they kept them "alive." :)

One could always just search for “blog party” and could have gotten that, right?

I never mentioned the miso though. :)

DinOR, I am not a money guy, the best I can gleen out of the data is that you should only pay ~2.3-3.8x your income on housing. The coast has always been a little more expensive, so I am willing to go about 4x, that's my comfort zone. What did it for me was the calhfa program including 6 months of payments in the deal. 5.625% seems pretty close to free money for me, just from reading you guys, and what I know the inflation to actually be. There is a huge fear factor in the increased monthly nut but not as big as trying to find a new rental with 2 dogs, Mrs-X and Lil-X. Everyone I have interviewed says the same thing, they were scared shitless when the "bought" their first house. We waited and waited and are not willing to do the it's your first house thing, it's supposed to be a crapbox, this place is nice and needs nothing. So screw it.

DinOR, Peter P,

I'm afraid we must conclude that this is the *real* Surfer-X.

X-man, if you were able to get anything liveable (never mind turnkey) in Ventura for 4X non-CEO income, then I guess you really did power-lowball them. Congratulations! You are the first (hopefully among many) on this blog to successfully crack seller's mental accounting and get a truly "fair market" price.

Perhaps Mr. Randall H is next...?

Surfer-X, you have my karmic support. We will manifest your success!

El HARM-O, I have full faith that the realtor/seller's greed will negate any chance of them accepting the fair market value for this one. I had originally predicted 3rd/4th quarter 07 as the point to catch the falling knife. We'll see. Regardless we should start preparing for the summer blog party.

Another bonus of Ventura is Kaiser is available. Dude, the freaking hell we are going through with UnitedHealthCare.

What is this, "6 months of payments included in the deal" deal?

Dude, the freaking hell we are going through with UnitedHealthCare.

UNH? I sold too early. :(

What is this, “6 months of payments included in the deal” deal?

That depends what the definition of is is.

Re: blog party. I agree.
Am willing to host it at my own pathetic rental, though my place isn't big. LILLL and Athena also mentioned hosting --we'll have to talk offline.

DinOR, calhfa makes the payments if you lose you job, up to 6 months, which from experience is about what it takes to find another decent job.

Well... as long as the seller was utterly financially decimated and sent to the closing with their tail between their legs and has to deal with X's former LL then I guess I can get onboard! :)

Don't forget to add stipulations and reservations all throughout the entire process with statements like "We just assumed the appliances were staying"! Threaten to "back out" at the slightest hint of compromise and just be a general PITA every step of the way! When you're done w/them the LAST thing they'll ever want to do is to flip another house!

OH.... o.k.

I wasn't sure if it was one of those Vegas "cash back deals" or NO payments for the first year! It's about time they have some "PMI" for the buyer! Any other states have similar programs?

Another bonus of Ventura is Kaiser is available. Dude, the freaking hell we are going through with UnitedHealthCare.

Kaiser has their issues, too. There's a reason it's the cheapest HMO out there.

skibum, I have had good luck with Kaiser and I understand their billing, Shot? $15.00, got a cold? $15.00, mauled by a Grizzly? $15.00, bee sting? $15.00

Last Dec Mrs-X had an Asthma attack, Mrs-X is 4 months pregnant, I called UHC's advice nurse, the work advice nurse and the hospital, all 3 said "go to the emergency room" we go to emergency room, UHC pays this as a non-emergency emergency, and pays the attending Dr. the network rate, Dr is not in the network. Cost me $1200 out of pocket and I have spent 4 months trying to fix it. None of this crap happened at Kaiser.

Cost me $1200 out of pocket and I have spent 4 months trying to fix it. None of this crap happened at Kaiser.

Geez, that bites.

I'll admit that sounds worse than Kaiser. Kaiser's issues are:

good: cheap coverage, decent care *in general*.

bad: cost-cutting means, occasionally, you will be denied care for things they consider "cutting edge."

For most young, generally healthy people, Kaiser is great. Really sick people I think get less than optimal care there.

(Not healthcare advice).

skibum,

Kaiser now has a PPO plan available for when you need/want to go out of network. Typically pays 80%, with 20% out-of-pocket after deductible is met.

I had Kaiser for awhile. They're great until you get REALLY hurt/sick. Then... not so much.

I had Kaiser for awhile. They’re great until you get REALLY hurt/sick. Then… not so much.

SFBB, Exactly.

Kaiser now has a PPO plan available for when you need/want to go out of network. Typically pays 80%, with 20% out-of-pocket after deductible is met.

HARM, 20% out-of-pocket is fine until you need a bone marrow transplant ($100k or so), coronary bypass operation (same price range), or other major intervention, if there happens to be some tweak on it that Kaiser deems "outside of the standard of medical care."

Maybe you're right - we should talk about healthcare sometime - how does it relate to housing? FB's forgoing basic healthcare to cover housing payments? Aging boomers and their effect on healthcare vs. housing?

Hello all!

I really love this blog and I'm looking to find doom bloggers who know something about the Valencia/Santa Clarita area of Los Angeles.

I've been sitting out the market for two years hoping sanity would come back to prices, but I've lost patience and decided to buy. I can't put my family's life on hold any longer.

Anyone got tips or info about buying in the Valencia area? I've pretty much identified the neighborhood, fired up my Foreclosure.com account, and started working the area with a buyer/rebate agent.

Thoughts?

smarter jukubots, please!

Surfer-X,

Mazel tov!

Hey, I'm not a bot! I guess my post does sound very botish though.

Seriously, any Valencia area info would be great.

astrid tanks!

And just to add to the conversation, yes UnitedHealthcare blows. Kaiser has been great.

Oh fine...sorry to J. Pake if he or she is a real person. :)

Or a smarter bot! I should not insult my future robot overlords either.

there ya go...

SAN FRANCISCO / Bill Clinton calls U.S. health care 'uneconomical'

SF
Sunday, April 15, 2007

The dire state of the nation's health care system is threatening the country's well-being, former President Bill Clinton told a receptive crowd in San Francisco on Saturday.

'Our health care system is immoral because it doesn't provide health care to everybody,' said Clinton, the keynote speaker at KCBS Health Etc., a daylong symposium at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. 'It's wildly uneconomical. We pay more than everybody else in the world for less.'

'It is sowing the seeds of its own destruction,' said Clinton, who said health care is one of the top three problems the country faces, along with economic inequality and energy dependence.

Like a patient professor trying to break down a complex issue for his students, Clinton used a plethora of statistics, and a touch of humor, in his indictment of the current state of American health care.

He said the United States spends 16 percent its national income on health care, compared with 11 percent in Canada and Switzerland, the countries with the next highest spending. That gap represents $800 billion a year, he said.

Yet the United States ranks only 37th in the world in overall health care, insures fewer of its citizens, and pays more for its drugs, Clinton said.

Almost a third of U.S. health care spending goes to administrative costs, the highest in the world, he said.

"We're letting the health insurance financing tail wag the health-care dog," he said.