Number 1 question today: What will higher rates do to home prices and sales?

[irvinebullhousing]

You made all the right choices and that leads to financial freedoms. Congrat.

 

[usctrojancpa]

so I can retire early and stop with the mandatory overtime


You will LOVE retiring early. I did it when my youngest wasn't even a teenager and my kids tell me all their friends parents are at least 10 years older than me..... so know I was not old by any means.

Unless I were destitute you couldn't PAY me to go back to work.

So what do you do to keep yourself busy now that you are retired?  I don't know if I could ever fully retire, I think I'd get bored.  Plus I love real estate and it's a lot of fun for me along with being able to help folks out.

 

[nyc to oc]

so I can retire early and stop with the mandatory overtime


You will LOVE retiring early. I did it when my youngest wasn't even a teenager and my kids tell me all their friends parents are at least 10 years older than me..... so know I was not old by any means.

Unless I were destitute you couldn't PAY me to go back to work.

So what do you do to keep yourself busy now that you are retired?  I don't know if I could ever fully retire, I think I'd get bored.  Plus I love real estate and it's a lot of fun for me along with being able to help folks out.

I must hate my job too much. I can think of plenty of things I'd rather do than work for pay at my current day job. It sounds wonderful to have a job that you love so much that you can't imagine retiring because you would do it for fun.

 

[eyephone]

so I can retire early and stop with the mandatory overtime


You will LOVE retiring early. I did it when my youngest wasn't even a teenager and my kids tell me all their friends parents are at least 10 years older than me..... so know I was not old by any means.

Unless I were destitute you couldn't PAY me to go back to work.

So what do you do to keep yourself busy now that you are retired?  I don't know if I could ever fully retire, I think I'd get bored.  Plus I love real estate and it's a lot of fun for me along with being able to help folks out.

I must hate my job too much. I can think of plenty of things I'd rather do than work for pay at my current day job. It sounds wonderful to have a job that you love so much that you can't imagine retiring because you would do it for fun.

1099 the way to go...

 

[Ready2Downsize]

I do whatever I want, never set the alarm unless I have to get up for an early plane trip, read my bible, watch movies, gardening, shopping, surfing the net, crafts (or redoing things in the house, things like crown molding, wainscot, painting stripes on walls... lol!), visiting people or family (used to check in on my mom a lot when she lived at her own house but now she's in a home, so I don't see her as much), cooking and baking, put together postage sets for wedding invites and one of my favorite things........ take vacations. LOL! I cannot get enough vacations.... lol!

I do sell some stuff on ebay/etsy but ebay is mostly junk that amazingly hoarders buy and etsy is more of a hobby, not really a full time thing.

One of the hardest things for me is remembering what day of the week it is. For me who cares? I have no real commitments.

 

[Paris167]

Generally higher interest rates lead to slower home purchases\affordability - however, the question is... Do these same laws apply to buyers in Irvine?


I have a feeling it won't affect Irvine buyers much...

why would it not affect irvine buyers?  Im curious to know what your thought process is. 

It will but on the margin.  But from what I've seen, Irvine buyers tend to be very conservative buyers underbuying a home...meaning that they may be pre-approved to buy up to a $1m home but rather will want to stay under $800k-$850k.

Truth!
We could have easily bought Trevi but who wants all that house for our small family of 4? I think most savvy Irvine buyers underbuy to what they need and keep additional capital for investments. I have never thought of our primary residence as an investment because until the day I decide to sell it, it doesn't matter. Obviously you don't want to lose money so you want to buy a home is an area where you hope it holds value. And if when I sell it I gain a little equity then great. But for now my primary home is a liability. The true wealth building assets are the investments that bring you positive cash flow every month, it makes $$ for you while you sleep. Those are the true investments you want to save your $$ for. And most Irvine buyers, as highly educated as they are know this and capitalize on it.

She said "we could have easily bought Trevi" like people on this forum cared or asked.....

I really don't CARE that "you don't care or asked" - it was my way of getting the point across with an example. 

 

[Paris167]

Generally higher interest rates lead to slower home purchases\affordability - however, the question is... Do these same laws apply to buyers in Irvine?


I have a feeling it won't affect Irvine buyers much...

why would it not affect irvine buyers?  Im curious to know what your thought process is. 

It will but on the margin.  But from what I've seen, Irvine buyers tend to be very conservative buyers underbuying a home...meaning that they may be pre-approved to buy up to a $1m home but rather will want to stay under $800k-$850k.

Truth!
We could have easily bought Trevi but who wants all that house for our small family of 4? I think most savvy Irvine buyers underbuy to what they need and keep additional capital for investments. I have never thought of our primary residence as an investment because until the day I decide to sell it, it doesn't matter. Obviously you don't want to lose money so you want to buy a home is an area where you hope it holds value. And if when I sell it I gain a little equity then great. But for now my primary home is a liability. The true wealth building assets are the investments that bring you positive cash flow every month, it makes $$ for you while you sleep. Those are the true investments you want to save your $$ for. And most Irvine buyers, as highly educated as they are know this and capitalize on it.

Yes, I agree. You want to keep in mind who is going to buy your house from you when its time to move on. If you get an excessively grand house, you are really limiting your pool of potential buyers and will take longer to sell. I see  some of my older co-workers now nearing retirement age, trying to downsize and sell their huge houses--nobody wants them! one has been on the market for 3 years and comes with an acre of land, >5000 sq foot estates in villa park, north tustin, anaheim hills, yorba linda...unfortunately, I think a fair number of younger affluent buyers don't want that kind of headache--now there are more dual income households, as opposed to a generation ago, more stay at home spouses who have the time to maintain this kind of property). I see a really big grand house (beyond what is comfortable for a family) as a headache and maintenance cost/liability, not an asset. An acre of land sounds nice until you realize you have to irrigate it all because we essentially in a natural desert/scrubland. I'd rather have the smaller house to live in and rental properties on the side so I can retire early and stop with the mandatory overtime

My sentiments exactly. And many younger generations (including those Tiny house movements) are sharing the same concerns. Many of their priorities have changed - from spending time maintaining large homes to living in smaller homes with less maintenance and using that free time to enjoy life, travel, live and love life.  When my kids get older we will likely move closer to the coast, again to a smaller house but just closer to the beach.
Although I don't ever see myself retiring because I love what I do and would do it for free - it is always nice to have the financial freedom to retire at any moment and not have to stress about it.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Man... R2D makes me so jelly.

I don't think I can retire either, and not because I would be bored like USC, but because I'm in that minority in Irvine who stretched to live here.

But I would do it again without a thought, although I would be pickier about where I would buy but even stretch more if I had to (for a 3CWG not on a super busy street).

Prices were high during the bubble years at 7%+, so I imagine it will affect those like me who are on the edge of affordability... and as USC said, the majority buyers in Irvine are over qual'd (much to the chagrin of Larry when he kept searching for schadenfreude).