[IHB] Is Irvine affordable?

[traceimage]

To them I say "kudos to you, but I'm too Jewish and have been raised not to think like that." 

Um, what?

 

[Irvinecommuter]

Yeah I remember you mentioning that a few months ago.

The thing is, people can have $250,000 in their bank account, but have $800,000 in debt obligations, a teller would really have no way of knowing the latter unless maybe the loans were serviced through the bank. My CPA has 1,500+ clients in the Tustin/Irvine area (both individuals and businesses), and says he can count on two hands the amount of clients he has that have $100,000 free and clear.

Yeah, I kind of all into that category....those damn low interest student loans and car loan.

Ditto.  Law school loans and car loan FTW!!!!

 

[Nous]

To them I say "kudos to you, but I'm too Jewish and have been raised not to think like that." 

Um, what?

I'm Jewish, and my family would kill me if I bought a place knowing it was going to go down in value.  They have raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase.  That a better explanation?

 

[traceimage]

To them I say "kudos to you, but I'm too Jewish and have been raised not to think like that." 

Um, what?

I'm Jewish, and my family would kill me if I bought a place knowing it was going to go down in value.  They have raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase.  That a better explanation?

Ok, then why not just say, "My parents raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase," rather than attribute it to your Jewishness (thereby ascribing this quality to the millions of Jews around the world)? Lots of people already think Jews control the media and caused the current financial crisis. No need to contribute to stereotypes, imo.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I think "being smart about money" is a good trait... I wouldn't mind being stereotyped like that.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

To them I say "kudos to you, but I'm too Jewish and have been raised not to think like that." 

Um, what?

I'm Jewish, and my family would kill me if I bought a place knowing it was going to go down in value.  They have raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase.  That a better explanation?

Ok, then why not just say, "My parents raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase," rather than attribute it to your Jewishness (thereby ascribing this quality to the millions of Jews around the world)? Lots of people already think Jews control the media and caused the current financial crisis. No need to contribute to stereotypes, imo.

But what's the benefit of being a minority unless you can make broad general stereotypical statements about your own ethnicity?  I mean it is true that Asians cannot drive

 

[qwerty]

To them I say "kudos to you, but I'm too Jewish and have been raised not to think like that." 

Um, what?

I'm Jewish, and my family would kill me if I bought a place knowing it was going to go down in value.  They have raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase.  That a better explanation?

Ok, then why not just say, "My parents raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase," rather than attribute it to your Jewishness (thereby ascribing this quality to the millions of Jews around the world)? Lots of people already think Jews control the media and caused the current financial crisis. No need to contribute to stereotypes, imo.

I knew what Nous was talking about - i just applied the most common stereotype about Jewish people (that they are cheap and good with money) - dont stereo types arise because they are true?

 

[usctrojancpa]

Yeah I remember you mentioning that a few months ago.

The thing is, people can have $250,000 in their bank account, but have $800,000 in debt obligations, a teller would really have no way of knowing the latter unless maybe the loans were serviced through the bank. My CPA has 1,500+ clients in the Tustin/Irvine area (both individuals and businesses), and says he can count on two hands the amount of clients he has that have $100,000 free and clear.

Yeah, I kind of all into that category....those damn low interest student loans and car loan.

Ditto.  Law school loans and car loan FTW!!!!

At least half of my 6 figure student loans are fixed at 1.75% and the other half are at Prime - 0.50% or 2.75% and the car loan is 2.49% through PenFed (and is partially tax deductible for me). 

 

[Irvinecommuter]

Yeah I remember you mentioning that a few months ago.

The thing is, people can have $250,000 in their bank account, but have $800,000 in debt obligations, a teller would really have no way of knowing the latter unless maybe the loans were serviced through the bank. My CPA has 1,500+ clients in the Tustin/Irvine area (both individuals and businesses), and says he can count on two hands the amount of clients he has that have $100,000 free and clear.

Yeah, I kind of all into that category....those damn low interest student loans and car loan.

Ditto.  Law school loans and car loan FTW!!!!

At least half of my 6 figure student loans are fixed at 1.75% and the other half are at Prime - 0.50% or 2.75% and the car loan is 2.49% through PenFed (and is partially tax deductible for me). 

My interest rates are fine...it's the principals that get me. 

 

[usctrojancpa]

Yeah I remember you mentioning that a few months ago.

The thing is, people can have $250,000 in their bank account, but have $800,000 in debt obligations, a teller would really have no way of knowing the latter unless maybe the loans were serviced through the bank. My CPA has 1,500+ clients in the Tustin/Irvine area (both individuals and businesses), and says he can count on two hands the amount of clients he has that have $100,000 free and clear.

Yeah, I kind of all into that category....those damn low interest student loans and car loan.

Ditto.  Law school loans and car loan FTW!!!!

At least half of my 6 figure student loans are fixed at 1.75% and the other half are at Prime - 0.50% or 2.75% and the car loan is 2.49% through PenFed (and is partially tax deductible for me). 

My interest rates are fine...it's the principals that get me. 

I hear ya, but those low rates do make for an easy monthly payment.  Having about $100k in student loans and only having a monthly payment under $400/mo isn't too bad.  I'm more than happy making the minimum payments and let inflation eat away the principal balances.  I will pay off the variable rate balance as soon as the FED begins raising rates, whenever that will be. 

 

[traceimage]

I think "being smart about money" is a good trait... I wouldn't mind being stereotyped like that.

It's a slippery slope. "Smart about money" is all well and good, but it's not very far from that to "that cheap bastard Jew'ed me down" to "the Zionist Jews who are running these big banks and our federal reserve -- which is not run by the federal government -- they need to be run out of this country." The last one is an actual quote from a former LAUSD substitute teacher at the Occupy LA rally a few days ago.

 

[Nous]

To them I say "kudos to you, but I'm too Jewish and have been raised not to think like that." 

Um, what?

I'm Jewish, and my family would kill me if I bought a place knowing it was going to go down in value.  They have raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase.  That a better explanation?

Ok, then why not just say, "My parents raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase," rather than attribute it to your Jewishness (thereby ascribing this quality to the millions of Jews around the world)? Lots of people already think Jews control the media and caused the current financial crisis. No need to contribute to stereotypes, imo.

So, like qwerty said, stereotypes are as such because they have some for of factual basis.  Now, keep in mind I didn't not say Jews were cheap.

Like IHO said, I don't see how "being smart with money" is a bad thing.  If someone came up to you and said "All (enter your race/gender combination in here) are attractive.", would you be bothered or flatter?

As for Jews being to blame for all the world's problems, so what?  People have been saying that for millenniums.  No matter how you cut it, the financial crisis was caused by the American people, most of whom just want to pass the blame onto someone else.  Blame the banks or the government or someone else, but never admit that your vote and your consumer behaviours helped put the players where they were to cause it.

As a funny side note, I once had a person ask me if I had horns.  And I'm not joking, she came from a small VERY christian town in northern Florida.  Her whole life her pastor told her Jews had horns and she wanted to see.  At the time I was a little bothered, but it makes such a great story now I can't help but smile a little thinking about it.

I guess my point is if I'm spreading a notion that Jews are good with money and when something hears the word Jews and thinks "Oh, they are good with money", then I think I'll deserve a pat on the back for spreading positive images.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Hmm... not sure if this is a good derail or a bad derail.

As long as no one pulls a Mel Gibson.

(dang... did I just stereotype him?)

 

[traceimage]

To them I say "kudos to you, but I'm too Jewish and have been raised not to think like that." 

Um, what?

I'm Jewish, and my family would kill me if I bought a place knowing it was going to go down in value.  They have raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase.  That a better explanation?

Ok, then why not just say, "My parents raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase," rather than attribute it to your Jewishness (thereby ascribing this quality to the millions of Jews around the world)? Lots of people already think Jews control the media and caused the current financial crisis. No need to contribute to stereotypes, imo.

So, like qwerty said, stereotypes are as such because they have some for of factual basis.  Now, keep in mind I didn't not say Jews were cheap.

Like IHO said, I don't see how "being smart with money" is a bad thing.  If someone came up to you and said "All (enter your race/gender combination in here) are attractive.", would you be bothered or flatter?

As for Jews being to blame for all the world's problems, so what?  People have been saying that for millenniums.  No matter how you cut it, the financial crisis was caused by the American people, most of whom just want to pass the blame onto someone else.  Blame the banks or the government or someone else, but never admit that your vote and your consumer behaviours helped put the players where they were to cause it.

As a funny side note, I once had a person ask me if I had horns.  And I'm not joking, she came from a small VERY christian town in northern Florida.  Her whole life her pastor told her Jews had horns and she wanted to see.  At the time I was a little bothered, but it makes such a great story now I can't help but smile a little thinking about it.

I guess my point is if I'm spreading a notion that Jews are good with money and when something hears the word Jews and thinks "Oh, they are good with money", then I think I'll deserve a pat on the back for spreading positive images.

Then I guess we will just have to disagree. Being attractive and being good with money aren't the same. Attractiveness is a pretty innocuous, and being good with money...isn't. When one group is "good with money"--it's not that much of a leap for all those other groups (who aren't necessarily good with money) to think they are being swindled and taken advantage of by the [greedy, sneaky, etc] people who are.

And all of this stems from medieval Europe, when Christians were not allowed to lend money for interest, so the Jewish population had to step in and do it. Hence Jewish bankers controlling the world.

 

[Nous]

To them I say "kudos to you, but I'm too Jewish and have been raised not to think like that." 

Um, what?

I'm Jewish, and my family would kill me if I bought a place knowing it was going to go down in value.  They have raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase.  That a better explanation?

Ok, then why not just say, "My parents raised me to factor costs as part of my desires in a purchase," rather than attribute it to your Jewishness (thereby ascribing this quality to the millions of Jews around the world)? Lots of people already think Jews control the media and caused the current financial crisis. No need to contribute to stereotypes, imo.

So, like qwerty said, stereotypes are as such because they have some for of factual basis.  Now, keep in mind I didn't not say Jews were cheap.

Like IHO said, I don't see how "being smart with money" is a bad thing.  If someone came up to you and said "All (enter your race/gender combination in here) are attractive.", would you be bothered or flatter?

As for Jews being to blame for all the world's problems, so what?  People have been saying that for millenniums.  No matter how you cut it, the financial crisis was caused by the American people, most of whom just want to pass the blame onto someone else.  Blame the banks or the government or someone else, but never admit that your vote and your consumer behaviours helped put the players where they were to cause it.

As a funny side note, I once had a person ask me if I had horns.  And I'm not joking, she came from a small VERY christian town in northern Florida.  Her whole life her pastor told her Jews had horns and she wanted to see.  At the time I was a little bothered, but it makes such a great story now I can't help but smile a little thinking about it.

I guess my point is if I'm spreading a notion that Jews are good with money and when something hears the word Jews and thinks "Oh, they are good with money", then I think I'll deserve a pat on the back for spreading positive images.

Then I guess we will just have to disagree. Being attractive and being good with money aren't the same. Attractiveness is a pretty innocuous, and being good with money...isn't. When one group is "good with money"--it's not that much of a leap for all those other groups (who aren't necessarily good with money) to think they are being swindled and taken advantage of by the [greedy, sneaky, etc] people who are.

And all of this stems from medieval Europe, when Christians were not allowed to lend money for interest, so the Jewish population had to step in and do it. Hence Jewish bankers controlling the world.

That's no different than the leap to thinking an attractive person is gold digger or shallow or stupid.  The person who thinks they got swindled can just as easily think they got a deal because the seller was passing a savings on.  There is a difference between stereotypes and prejudice.

If you think that the hatred shown by people stems from medieval times, you might want to ponder how long it has been since then and how many are still live from that time period to further that mentality.  If Jews had left banking back shortly after the medieval era, then there would be no way to push that prejudice now.  People will remain hating Jews for the same reason people still hate blacks, gays, and virtually every distinction you can make between people.  People are raised to hate and blame others for things they can't control or don't want to be blamed for.  And that's never going to stop (at least not until we are invaded by aliens), so why worry too much.  Unless someone tried to pull another holocaust, just let those how hate with no good reason remain lesser beings.

 

[akim997]

this thread reminded me of the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode...  Larry fires his manager who has a hot wife...  picks a guy because he has an ugly wife... 

Money?  What money?  I've got down payment money, but it is FAR overshadowed by my grad school loan and my wife's law school loan...    We are so far deep in school debt (>$200K), I've just assumed that our combined $1800 per month payment is a fixed cost.....    Could I sell my house, take my cash, pay everything off and be happy?  Well, yeah, but something won't let me...    Value of getting into a permanent home > being completely debt free (I don't know why).    I'm comfortable with some amount of leverage in my life... and unfortunately, I don't make enough (like some people seemingly) to buy everything I want in life (like a house) with cash...

My parents used leverage and it turned out pretty well.  Ended up with a bunch of commercial properties bought in the 70's and 80's.  Fast forward to 2011, you have properties with low tax bases owned free and clear.  Cash flow is bueno.  If my mom wants to sell, she can just 1031x it into something else...  People who are too afraid of leverage don't understand it.  Not everything in life is a pure financial decision... (otherwise, no one would get married and have kids.. haha)...    read Gary Becker and he would argue the contrary...

 

[usctrojancpa]

this thread reminded me of the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode...  Larry fires his manager who has a hot wife...  picks a guy because he has an ugly wife... 

Money?  What money?  I've got down payment money, but it is FAR overshadowed by my grad school loan and my wife's law school loan...    We are so far deep in school debt (>$200K), I've just assumed that our combined $1800 per month payment is a fixed cost.....    Could I sell my house, take my cash, pay everything off and be happy?  Well, yeah, but something won't let me...    Value of getting into a permanent home > being completely debt free (I don't know why).    I'm comfortable with some amount of leverage in my life... and unfortunately, I don't make enough (like some people seemingly) to buy everything I want in life (like a house) with cash...

My parents used leverage and it turned out pretty well.  Ended up with a bunch of commercial properties bought in the 70's and 80's.  Fast forward to 2011, you have properties with low tax bases owned free and clear.  Cash flow is bueno.  If my mom wants to sell, she can just 1031x it into something else...  People who are too afraid of leverage don't understand it.  Not everything in life is a pure financial decision... (otherwise, no one would get married and have kids.. haha)...    read Gary Becker and he would argue the contrary...

Not all debt is created equally.  Debt/leverage used responsibility can help to build wealth (mainly via cash flow real estate investments).  I could pay off my student loans and car loan today and bring my underwater rentals to their values but that would basically use up all of my cash.  The interest rates that I pay are equal to or less than the rate of inflation so there's no need to pay off that debt and my rentals together generate me a small positive cash flow (not including the tax benefits).  Most of that cash that I have was used to generate more cash by trading options in the stock market over the past few years (a good chunk of that cash is for my downpayment).  It takes money to make money!  But yeah, just like a lot of other Irvine buyers....those FCBers sometimes really make me feel poor.  :'(