Comments on: The Rent vs. Buying Dilemma: Mortgages the Southern California Way. 3 Factors to look at: Increase Rental Prices, Housing Price Declines, and Tighter Credit Markets.

By: sarah

sarah — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:14:58 +0000

I also disagree with rents rising. We moved into our gorgeous and spacious 1 bedroom apartment with lovely views of the hollywood hills and our own deck & garage in February 2010. We pay less than $1000/month. The landlord had tried to for 6 months to get someone in, the starting price being $1300. Many of my friends, especially in West Hollywood, negotiated their rent down around that period. More did than didn’t. The thing with LA is that so many people move here, but only so many people can sustain themselves here. With the rate of unemployment so high, lots of renters have returned to wherever they came from, creating a renter’s market! Thanks for the articles, we were thinking of buying, but now we’re not so sure. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

By: tim foster

tim foster — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 04:20:15 +0000

[…]
A couple quick thoughts.
1. The bubble will not burst until 2008. That’s when a majority of Arms will come due and foreclosures will start to saturate the market. In 2009/2010 you will see people think they are picking up real estate at a low value, so we will get another small peak in real estate. End of 2010 will start a recession type period and home values will really plummet over the next four years. I do not want to put all the stats here, but read some of the literature by Harry Dent.
2. People who claim that Southern California is a desirable place to live and there is a lot of demand for housing have to realize that there was not a worldly climate change that suddenly made Southern California so great. It has been desirable for a long time. It is merely speculators with deep pockets looking for a quick buck that made buying desirable.
http://www.johnbeckland.com/
[…]

By: CHESSNOID

CHESSNOID — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 04:13:12 +0000

Great post Dr HB. I grew up with the value that renting is equivalent to throwing your money away. I think the environment we are in now has changed that idea. Your analysis on the numbers makes sense.
Keep it up. I enjoy reading your blog.
Cheers!

By: Nathan

Nathan — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 18:42:18 +0000

I’m just a beginner – but if I understand this correctly, renting would only make sense if:
property appreciation rates increased; or
rents increase/property values decline such that the rental rates are more inline with monthly mortgage payments.

By: Mike J.

Mike J. — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:53:03 +0000

Just found the site. I really enjoyed the article. This whole housing thing is out of control in California.