irviniteeee
Active member
Not here
Orchard Hills 4 - "The Summit" Updates
- Thread starter ratchet_resident
- Start date
NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
These 2 houses sold for 3M and are the market for 7k-8k/month.
It must be all cash offer or else they will be losing money. With 3M, I rather invest in stock market than a house since being a landlord is difficult in CA.
I work with a lot of very high income tech folks and I don't know any buying 4M+ properties! There just aren't that many people in tech making 1M+ a year consistently unless you're talking director level or higher at a FAANG company.
People who are buying those houses are paying cash, they're rich, not HENRYs.
www.businessinsider.com
There are plenty of dual income tech folks (or 1 tech, 1 physician, big law attorney, etc) making 1M+/year in the last few years when you include RSUs/bonuses. Also remember there are many trade-up buyers as well who are selling their 1.5-2.5M property to move into a 4M+ property. 4M just isn't what it used to be. I would say 5M+ gets really exclusive and the buyers are probably more cash based with foreign money and/or rich parents.
However, it's often in tech that someone's income might bounce up and down to the tune of 100k, 200k per year purely due to when stock grants were awarded. My company's stock is not very volatile and i'll make ~40k less this year just because of when one grant 'expired' and the newer grant didn't appreciate as much.
Tech is a weird industry.
Then eventually that grant runs out and you're back to ~250k a year or something but that run up was wild at the time.
But back to the original point, rich tech folks aren't buying 4m houses because the income is so bursty/inconsistent. Someguy is right, you can't qualify for a loan like that or even make extravagant long term purchases. It's also not a long career for most people. The average tenure at Facebook/Google/Amazon is something like ~3 years.
Then a lot of people move to less stressful, easier jobs. And there's not a lot of those high paying jobs in Irvine either. Google and Amazon have good size offices, but that's not enough to support 4M houses in Orchard Hills .
It's mostly cash buyers or really well to do doctors i'm guessing. look how many new medical centers are being built in Irvine. The UCI one, the new big one by the Spectrum. Probably a lot of pretty well paid radiologists, oncologists, cardiologists moving to Irvine in the next couple years.
irvinehomeowner
Well-known member
If you are a single making enough to afford these homes, then you're not a real baller if you only have a 2car garage. 
someguy
Well-known member
I suspect a lot of these homes will be empty safety deposit boxes for people with a high inclination for owning/trading real estate. Or perhaps they'll be house sat by college aged progeny, grandma and grandpa raising their grandchildren, or a full time mom and her son. All of whom mysteriously have no problem affording a $4M+ house.
As unreasonable as those 2 car garages (2.5 at best if you look at the floor plans) are for houses of that size, they will have some incredible views. It's going to be a small slice of the market that is able and willing to pay those prices imho.
As unreasonable as those 2 car garages (2.5 at best if you look at the floor plans) are for houses of that size, they will have some incredible views. It's going to be a small slice of the market that is able and willing to pay those prices imho.
miniDragonPaw
New member
Along those lines, I feel it is Chinese people wanted to diversity away from Chinese assets. They can't buy stock or bond in US. So, the only thing of significant value are houses. It is nothing but a safety haven for their money.
These 2 houses sold for 3M and are the market for 7k-8k/month.
It must be all cash offer or else they will be losing money. With 3M, I rather invest in stock market than a house since being a landlord is difficult in CA.
ThirtySomethingWEquity
Active member
I work with a lot of very high income tech folks and I don't know any buying 4M+ properties! There just aren't that many people in tech making 1M+ a year consistently unless you're talking director level or higher at a FAANG company.
People who are buying those houses are paying cash, they're rich, not HENRYs.
Loco_local
Active member
One of the local DOGE boys said he was making seven figures and walked away from millions. I was wondering if that was normal for Berkeley computer engineering grads or if he was exaggerating.
A former Silicon Valley engineer wrote on Substack about why he left behind 'staggering' stock grants to work for DOGE
Gavin Kliger, a former software engineer who now works for DOGE, explained on Substack why he joined the effort.
www.businessinsider.com
CalBears96
Well-known member
I call BS. There's no way an employee with 4 year of experience is making 7 figures. The article says he graduated in 2020. Databricks is a startup, so his stocks aren't worth anything yet.One of the local DOGE boys said he was making seven figures and walked away from millions. I was wondering if that was normal for Berkeley computer engineering grads or if he was exaggerating.
View attachment 10281A former Silicon Valley engineer wrote on Substack about why he left behind 'staggering' stock grants to work for DOGE
Gavin Kliger, a former software engineer who now works for DOGE, explained on Substack why he joined the effort.
Loco_local
Active member
Yeah, Rolling Stone said his Substack post titled also access a piece by Kliger titled “Why DOGE: Why I gave up a seven-figure salary to save America” is blank. Maybe he made $1,000,000 a year to work at Twitter?
www.rollingstone.com
What We Know So Far About the Young Techies Working for DOGE
DOGE employees include young software engineers who haven't graduated from college and tech veterans of Elon Musk companies Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI.
www.rollingstone.com
woodburyowner
Well-known member
There are plenty of dual income tech folks (or 1 tech, 1 physician, big law attorney, etc) making 1M+/year in the last few years when you include RSUs/bonuses. Also remember there are many trade-up buyers as well who are selling their 1.5-2.5M property to move into a 4M+ property. 4M just isn't what it used to be. I would say 5M+ gets really exclusive and the buyers are probably more cash based with foreign money and/or rich parents.
ThirtySomethingWEquity
Active member
Most post series D "deca-corns" like Databricks, Stripe, SpaceX etc. all have liquidity events multiple times a year that allow employees to sell their RSUs, so the money is worth something, just less liquid than a typical big tech company that has a vesting schedule of months or quarters.
"Walking away from millions" isn't the same as making millions a year. Stock grants awarded usually vest over 4+ years. If the stock goes up a lot from that initial vest price, that's fantastic.
However, it's often in tech that someone's income might bounce up and down to the tune of 100k, 200k per year purely due to when stock grants were awarded. My company's stock is not very volatile and i'll make ~40k less this year just because of when one grant 'expired' and the newer grant didn't appreciate as much.
Tech is a weird industry.
someguy
Well-known member
We're getting petty far into the land of speculation, but since we're at it...
1) I don't think it's that common for a household to be a pair of tech workers earning over $1M liquid full remote (or with in office requirements within reasonable commute from Irvine), but for the ones that do
--> Fed and CA tax is a real MFer when you're grossing that much. After tax is closer to half that.
--> It's common to have a significant portion of comp in that range paid with RSUs that vest over many years, (as 30w/equity mentioned). Have fun getting a bank loan based on stock compensation you don't have access to.
--> Just because a household earns $1M gross doesn't mean they're piling up money. Tech DINKs have the same expenses we all have (food, housing, transportation, hobbies) and they often have expensive taste.
2) There's definitely some physicians who crush it financially (7 figures gross), but it's rare, harder than ever (see: cost of education, pressure to work for and competition from a giant medical organization, shitty insurance reimbursement rates, expensive liability insurance) and takes decades into their professional careers to achieve.
3) Similar with lawyers who crush it. Yes achievable, but rare and typically after decades.
And all of the above, we're talking about people who likely had to use their brains and make sacrifices to earn their wealth. Surely they're too smart to blow $4M+ on a 2 car garage tinderbox in OH4
1) I don't think it's that common for a household to be a pair of tech workers earning over $1M liquid full remote (or with in office requirements within reasonable commute from Irvine), but for the ones that do
--> Fed and CA tax is a real MFer when you're grossing that much. After tax is closer to half that.
--> It's common to have a significant portion of comp in that range paid with RSUs that vest over many years, (as 30w/equity mentioned). Have fun getting a bank loan based on stock compensation you don't have access to.
--> Just because a household earns $1M gross doesn't mean they're piling up money. Tech DINKs have the same expenses we all have (food, housing, transportation, hobbies) and they often have expensive taste.
2) There's definitely some physicians who crush it financially (7 figures gross), but it's rare, harder than ever (see: cost of education, pressure to work for and competition from a giant medical organization, shitty insurance reimbursement rates, expensive liability insurance) and takes decades into their professional careers to achieve.
3) Similar with lawyers who crush it. Yes achievable, but rare and typically after decades.
And all of the above, we're talking about people who likely had to use their brains and make sacrifices to earn their wealth. Surely they're too smart to blow $4M+ on a 2 car garage tinderbox in OH4
CalBears96
Well-known member
I doubt that Twitter would pay a fresh out of college engineer $1M a year. He capped, for sure.Yeah, Rolling Stone said his Substack post titled also access a piece by Kliger titled “Why DOGE: Why I gave up a seven-figure salary to save America” is blank. Maybe he made $1,000,000 a year to work at Twitter?
What We Know So Far About the Young Techies Working for DOGE
DOGE employees include young software engineers who haven't graduated from college and tech veterans of Elon Musk companies Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI.
sgip
Well-known member
RSU's would make up the difference between base pay and bonus.
ThirtySomethingWEquity
Active member
yeah it's not the offer amount, it's the vested amount. If you got an offer from Tesla in ~2020 and it paid $100k salary and grant that is 100k a year in RSUs *over four years*, guess what, by year 4 you were making probably 150k in salary (assume small promo/raises) and....a whopping 1M in stock.
Then eventually that grant runs out and you're back to ~250k a year or something but that run up was wild at the time.
But back to the original point, rich tech folks aren't buying 4m houses because the income is so bursty/inconsistent. Someguy is right, you can't qualify for a loan like that or even make extravagant long term purchases. It's also not a long career for most people. The average tenure at Facebook/Google/Amazon is something like ~3 years.
Then a lot of people move to less stressful, easier jobs. And there's not a lot of those high paying jobs in Irvine either. Google and Amazon have good size offices, but that's not enough to support 4M houses in Orchard Hills .
It's mostly cash buyers or really well to do doctors i'm guessing. look how many new medical centers are being built in Irvine. The UCI one, the new big one by the Spectrum. Probably a lot of pretty well paid radiologists, oncologists, cardiologists moving to Irvine in the next couple years.
CalBears96
Well-known member
I get the gain from vested amount. Don't forget what company I work for. But you have to understand that he's been working for 4 years, at Twitter and Databricks. Twitter didn't move much from second half of 2020 to 2022 before Musk bought it. Whatever RSUs he was getting, it didn't even double and he would only get half of it if he only worked there for 2 years. Same at Databricks. The point is, he didn't work long enough at each company to get a huge gain from RSUs.
Most doctors don't make more than half a mil especially when they are an employee. And if so, they have to be doing high reimbursement surgeries or procedures, cosmetics. Imagine if you make half a mil every year, how long do you have to save to afford a 5+mil house after taxes and expenses? Bottom line, if you are paying cash or have enough down payment to qualify for a loan to buy a 5+mil house, you are not likely to be younger than 30s unless your family is rich and you have to be very disciplined in savings and investments. People who have more than 10 mil net worth are mostly CEOs, business owners, entrepreneurs or not needing to work because their family is rich.
CalBears96
Well-known member
Yeah, I think in order to afford $5M+ homes, it would have to be couples that are both highly paid professionals/engineers. I don't think a highly paid specialist doctor with a stay home/normal paid spouse would feel comfortable enough to buy such a home.