Carlsbad New Tract, Plus

Written by Jim the Realtor

October 17, 2010

Walt wanted my take on the former KB Home tract in southeast Carlsbad (see below).

The last three minutes are free-wheeling about the market in general:

17 Comments

  1. tj & the bear

    I’ll never understand “have to buy”.

  2. Jim the Realtor

    I’ll elaborate.

    It’s not “have to buy” like “have to breathe”.

    It’s more of a strong inclination to buy – usually people who have a lease expiring and know they will buy eventually, so let’s just get it over with.

    Others include those who appreciate a low mortgage rate, and want to lock in now, plus those who have family ties to neighborhood and know that they will buy soon.

    They are the “A” buyers.

    They are getting comfortable with the discomfort and inconvenience of trying to buy a house.

    The “B” buyers are those who are renting month-to-month and comfortable. If they find a real good fit, they might think about making a low offer, but otherwise not interested in paying what seems to be retail when there is so much commotion. Convinced big storms are brewing, and happy to wait them out. Never get that close to buying though.

  3. Genius

    Just got back from Japan, and you should hear them talk about their economy. We may very well be going down that road, and it frightens me. You can call me a “J” buyer.

    I love you Jim, just thought you should know.

  4. Noz

    These McMansions are some of the tackiest garbage I have seen.

    You see this stuff all over Porter Ranch, Simi Valley…terrible…terrible. Over-sized environmental disasters.

    The quality is so God-awful and absolutely no character….and the layouts…my God….the architects have no clue.

    Definitely a reflection on the people who buy em.

  5. Jim the Realtor

    Genius, You’re not a buyer, you are a heckler.

  6. Nicholas Weaver

    People pay a ridiculous premium for “new” contruction, so they buy these incredibly poorly made, unremarkable new houses.

  7. Genius

    Got the money, but not crazy enough to buy. Thanks for glossing a long time supporter a heckler.

    I still love you.

  8. Local Boy

    I agree with Jim about the 5 to 10 year comment. With rates this low however, the way to build equity now is through mortgage paydown–$750 (or so)a month per $100,000 of loan, and you own your house in 15 years. For these homes, with 20% down, $4000 in PI payment and you own your home in 15 years–while it is still faily new. If you are planning to stay put, it is a great forced savings–especially appealing for someone in their 20’s or 30’s.

  9. shadash

    I think for whatever reason there’s a percent of buyers that will extend themselves to whatever banks will allow. The ability to pay back the money borrowed isn’t even considered. As long as the gov Fannie and Freddie are funding the whole circus who cares?

  10. Art Eclectic

    LB – Jim is totally right when he talks about playing the long game. The days of moving every 5 years as you could trade up are over for most people. If I had realized where things were headed when I originally bought, I’d have probably pushed myself to buy in a better neighborhood – but it is what it is. I still have plenty of equity, but the leap up into the “nicer” zip code is too great. It made more sense to dig in, refi into a 15 year and fortify the bunker.

    I ran the numbers six ways to Sunday and the 15 year pay off of the existing property was the safest financial move in an extremely uncertain time.

  11. The Blur

    3,500+ square feet of brand new construction in the $6’s will get people’s attention. Thanks for the video, Jim. I wonder how these compare with those new LCG’s with similar pricing. LCR’s HOA fee is a head-scratcher for me; $200+ with no pool or community area?

    I feel same as Shadash. I feel like I’m the only one out there interested in actually owning a house outright one day. 3% down FHA loans fuel the fire, but these new rules of the game appear to be permanent. If I knew 3% down was going away on X date, I’d wait until X date to buy. But I don’t see this happening and my patience is wearing thin.

  12. Jim the Realtor

    The Blur,

    Congratulations on the new arrival – and welcome Junior Blur to bubbleinfo.com!

  13. François Caron

    That second loft next to the banister might be big time trouble waiting to happen if you have older kids. Just a bit of rough play, and it wouldn’t take much for someone to flip over the banister or even crash through it.

  14. clearfund

    Francois – My guess is that you finish off the pool table room as a bedroom and fill in the walls.

  15. Blur Jr.

    Thanks Jim! Let me know when those bubbleinfo onesies are ready!

  16. Geotpf

    Wow. I hate those houses. I hate the fake balcony. I hate the two useless tiny rooms in the front. I hate the double loft. I hate the fact that such a house has double the square footage of the house I live in but probably less usuable square footage. It’s like an old fashioned house from the 1880’s or something-lots of tiny rooms as opposed to a few large ones. And I’m not even getting in to the tiny lots, high Mello Roos/HOA fees, or the basic white tile. Bleah.

  17. LongTimeRenter8Years

    My issue to buy as a potential Buyer “A” :

    Normal home , Good school, some parks to take the kid around and make some friends :
    650K + 500 Mello per month.
    Now if I have to pay 130K cash & do this for 30 years, is this worth it at 4.3% interest rate.
    I am assuming my property tax & HOA comes back to me in form of taxes.

    ** Now if someone says, we dont have mello roose and its a new home, then I am interested. 🙂

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