In Escondido: Buy one (house), get one free.

In a sign of how difficult it is to sell new homes in Southern California right now, a San Diego developer is offering a "buy one, get one free" deal, pairing million-dollar homes with less expensive homes.

"We thought, 'Why does it just have to be on Pop Tarts and restaurants? Why not buy one home, get one free,'" Dawn Berry of Michael Crews Development told 10 News in San Diego.

More: "Michael Crews Development is offering new, 2000-square foot cityscape row-homes worth $400,000 in Escondido for free -- if you buy one Royal View Estate home in San Pasqual Valley starting at $1.6 million.  'You know it's a straight-up legit deal; no prices have been increased, there are no hidden costs. Michael is just giving away a free home for people that buy at Royal View,' said Berry."

"Adam Rossman of Michael Crews Development added, 'People have been coming in saying, 'How can you do this?' Well, it's our way of dealing with current market conditions to move some inventory.' "

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo Credit: Michael Crews Development

Comments

[tew]

And so how do the sales prices get recorded in the county books (upon which official stats and property taxes are based)?

[Hula Girl]

Awww. Too bad. Promo ended My 31st.

Do we know if anyone actually got a two-fer?

"Certain terms and conditions apply - ask your salesperson for details".

Details, please.

[CD]

Check out OCrenter website he has given the REO numbers for LA county and the rest : Armageddon.
Bubbletracking.blogspot.com
Can we remove the word bottom from our vocab for along while ??????

[Patek Philippe]

Dawn Berry should now be lumped into the same class as Kendra "bubbles are for bathtubs" Todd.

Dumb cute saleswomen. Nothing more.

Call me a misogynist...I don't care. This is a pathetic marketing trick that has been used for a long time.

Pop Tarts.

I rest my case.

[Geek Seek]

Next developments: Inventory blow-outs on Home Shopping Network, and give-away coupons with every happy meal. (I have intellectual property rights on those two and am licensing useage -- please send royalty checks directly to your local bank).

Anyone check in to see if houses are being auctioned in any significant numbers on ebay?

[tealeaf]

CD: Any attempt at reporting or presenting any sort of facts, figures, or trends, particularly on a blog, will be immediately and unabashedly discounted as "bubble head blog spin" by the permabulls on this board.

Nevermind that foreclosures tripled last month versus May 2007.

Never mind that filings more than doubled.

Never mind that listings, even in 'prime areas', are being dwarfed by NOD filings.

Leading indicators aren't important - this is sacred land, especially on the westside.

And the increases we saw are not from nutty financing. The land is sacred, and everyone wants to live here.

Also, do not expect any numbers that present any evidence to the contrary - just sniping and "busy open house" anecdotes.

A one line, smart-alec response / "damage control" follows this "worthless" message.

[JK]

Hula Girl, there were no takers.

[gmarquezjm@yahoo.com]

"offering new, 2000-square foot cityscape row-homes worth $400,000 in Escondido for free -- if you buy one Royal View Estate home in San Pasqual Valley starting at $1.6 million."

I wonder if you can go in and just say "forget the free house, just drop the price of the house I'm interested in by $400,000". Hmmmmmm...

- arroyogrande

[sandiegan]

$1.6MM house is actually a $1.3MM house.
$400K townhouse is actually $300K townhouse.

Selling the two for $1.6MM is a wash, though there may be some significant savings in transaction costs for both parties.

I wouldn't want to live in either place.

One is remote.

The other is urban Escondido.

[Nelcisco]

Patek Philippe- I love your line of cool pricey watches, maybe you can give a 2 for 1 deal.

[1]

Starting at $1.6MM? Paleeze. I don't want a $1.6mm house.

[shockg]

Interesting and accurate comments from Sheila.......

with respect, Mr. Viles, the content and/or editing of this blog is seriously in need of an upgrade. it is a disgrace to you and to the LA Times that you continuously provide a forum for hateful, ignorant and low-class white supremacists.

you are not an instrument of the government, nor is the LA Times, and there is nothing like the First Amendment preventing you from raising the level of discourse to "civilized" from what is now pure, bottom-feeding dreck. In fact, I believe you owe it to those of us who wish to read the news and chat about real estate, not participate in an online KKK meeting, to nip this kind of sewage in the bud.

I would much rather live under seige in Glassell Park than in any neighborhood with most of the drooling losers who write into your blog. Perhaps it is karma keeping them all from getting that house they feel they so richly deserve "cuz there white 'mericans" not all the evil brown-skinned people who persecute them by doing all their shit work for cheap without complaining?

Seriously, this is beneath you. Or isn't it?

Posted by: sheila | February 25, 2008 at 05:33 PM

[E]

Hello Dominoes...I'm calling about your buy 2 medium pizzas with the free 1BR condo on the side.

I was wondering...if I upgrade to 2 large pies can I get a 2BR?

Oh...you still have plenty of those...great. Don't forget to include the dipping sauce and the granite counters.

Sure...I can be ready to close in 30-45 minutes.

It will be cash.

Thanks. See you soon.

[tealeaf]

wow - dredging that one from the February bowels of the blog, eh shock?

You're like the Scott McClellan of LA Land...

[Laker]

I think this buy one get one free is a BS.
A true buy one get one free will happen shortly. It will include buy one San Pasqual Valley house for $1MM and get another one for free, or buy one escondido "town house" for $250,000, and get another one for free.

And shockg , sheila ; you guys are the ones that boil and whirl the pool and thus bringing up all the dreck, and sewer. Peter is awesome as he brings in the news as they are and let us discuss it. If you don't like the new keep burying your head in the sand. Eventually, you would pull it out sooner or later. To bad Peter is not getting paid by the NAR (not yet...) That is this blog is getting really popular. I've talk to many people that are reading it and not commenting...so it has a lot more traffic than we think. If i was from the NAR, i would think about funneling some cash to this blog's author to "thank" him for his "great" and "would be improved" work.

[Todd in WeHo]

I'm still waiting for the price of house #1 to be reduced by $400k. Maybe then I'll be interested.

[Miami Melt Down]

This is too much. About a year ago a friend asked me where I thought the bottom would be and I replied half jokingly "when you see--buy one, get one free." The hilarious part is we aren't at the bottom yet...but we are getting close.

[Jeff S]

I am not familiar with the neighborhoods down there but don't really see the point of this promotion except to prove how desperate the builder is. Why would someone want 2 homes in those communities?

I could see a promotion of buy $900k condo in West LA and get $400k house in La Quinta free as a winter home(see Peter's other story). That makes sense.

This? It really seems more like a joke.

By the way, I am not sure what all the sniping is back and forth on this blog. I read it fairly regularly and don't really appreciate the personal attacks. I wouldn't mind if Peter did a little more of editing of these comments to keep us on subject.

[Ken M]

2 for 1 sounds about right. That's how much I believe housing has becomes overpriced throughout most of California's housing market. If credit restrictions were not so lax they would never have gotten as high as they are.

[LA]

I'm with Jeff S. Would happily support tighter editing by Peter to minimize the mud-slinging. This blog is a great source of news and information. Let's leave our personal and political biases out of it.

[peteviles]

LA writes, "I'm with Jeff S. Would happily support tighter editing by Peter to minimize the mud-slinging."

Jeff S. and LA and others: You folks are right. The personal back and forth is getting tiresome. I'll hereby try to keep the personal stuff off the blog. Argue all you want about housing or the economy, or even politics, but let's can it with the YOU ARE A MORON! stuff. (that's a summary of the most recent unpublished comment).

Pete

[Kurtiss]

Careful! Check with your accountant first. If someone gives you a $400,000 home for free, you may have to pay federal and state income tax on an additional $400,000.

>>>And so how do the sales prices get recorded in the county books (upon which official stats and property taxes are based)?

[Chris]

No one cares.

[Steve]

Deceptive headline.

This is clearly not a 2 for 1 deal - instead you are paying $1.6 million for property listed at $2.0 million, a 20% savings - less than the median price drop for the area.

[Greg]

This is great! It will give me somewhere to park the free SUV I'll get with the purchase of my new hybrid.

[David]

Just announcing the offer has given the developer plenty of media exposure for free. Even if he/she explains that taxes are due on the $400K 'freebie' and the buyer walks, sooner or later the free media coverage will drive someone into his sales office who shrugs their shoulders and says 'what the hell, I'm already here'.

[Mike]

You have to buy their $1.6 million house FIRST, and you get the free $400k house?
How does one figure out the property taxes on this 2 in 1 purchase?
the developer takes his money n runs, the owner is stuck with dealing with the Property taxes, and the CA's property accessor's 'this is what u have to pay dude!",
Are the houses flawed? You know those FEMA trailers? those folks in there are sick, too much formaldahate? Are these houses that way too? Then you have the damn HOA, which sinks its teeth into everyone, 'pay pay pay', for grass you did not cut, etc.
sorry, I understand the delimma for the developer, if he moves them- kaching for him, but what about the new owners? Are they getting a raw deal?
Do the math!

[chas]

I am waiting for the "buy one get two free". This will be in about 16 months.

[JIm]

2 things:
P.T. Barnum ,,,a sucker is born every minute

NOTHING IS FREE

[steve in k.c.]

May I default on the first one and then still keep the second one? Thanks in advance.

Honey get the kids, and load the van...we're moving.

[TClar]

What's worse then having a Southern California house? TWO Southern California houses! TC

[fretless]

Buy High. Sell Low.

Make up the differnce in volume.

[Kelly Schutt]

This is just a simple buzz marketing campaign which is probably exactly what the builder was going for - media exposure and more people on the phones and in their doors! They claim they have gotten feedback from it so their buzz worked - good for them! Well done! Frankly, it's kind of refreshing to hear the media talk about something different other than foreclosures and shortsales.

[oldbiker1]

I live in Escondido -- probably the main reason he had that sale was that the Cityscape houses were not selling. They started out at $525K a couple years ago and now are at $369K and still no takers... it's too expensive for the area -- that part of town is all apartments and it's on Midway, which has a lot of traffic.

[ojisan]

How about if I buy if I buy the 400K house and get the other 1.6MM for free?

[Michael]

A testament to over-consumption.

[D]

Peter Viles wrote:

let's can it with the YOU ARE A MORON! stuff.

Careful Peter, that's the only reason most people frequent this blog so much.

[ideal4investors]

This is a publicity stunt. The developer is not expecting any takers-- just free publicity from gullible TV stations and newspapers. Having said that, I did report on this story on my blog!

[drphil]

Totally ABSURD, the last of a guilded age.

Soyanara.

[Just too much]

This house that lists for 1.6 million sells for around 500K in Texas. The one that lists for 400K sells for less than a 100K as well. With the price gouging that goes on in California, he should be able to give away a half a dozen of these junky tract homes and still turn a decent profit. Wood and concrete costs don't vary that much from state to state ... the land cost will, but not the hard material costs or labor. If you've seen the quality of the workmanship and materials of these homes, you "ain't" getting any deal here.
Bottom of the line hollow core doors, faucets, toilets, bathtubs, etc ..... Why do Californians put up with this??

[Crazy Eddie]

I'll make an even better offer. I'm selling my sneakers. And if you buy them, you can have my house, car, wife's car, and in-laws house. The sneakers are nice and worn in. You'll really enjoy wearing them, and how can you go wrong with getting 2 FREE cars, and 2 FREE houses with them? The price for the sneakers is 10 million dollars. Please send all e-mail responses to nothingisfree@bsscam.com

[walt stawicki]

I'm waiting them to offer me money to occupy the places. If they are sooo desparate. Will house set valla for small stipend. Hey, does no one remember the "wait that's not all, we'll throw in a Mercedes 500 with every order" that was recently noted in another (national) pape? Desparation, and no its not overconsuption at the consumer level, its over produsction, overconsuming at the wholesale level- pipes, wallboard etcetcetc

Hire me, I'll keep the wandering uncouths from occupation of your property. but wait, I'll also cut the grass, wash the windows...

[Steve]

For those who have asked about property taxes, they are figured on value, NOT sales price, although sales prices are sometimes used to help establish values. Believe me, the county is NOT gonna give you a break since you got the home for "free". They certainly do not reduce the property taxes when you get a "free" house as an inheritance.

Sales tax will be based upon the contract price, not the value. In regards to the IRS wanting you to claim the "free" house as income, I do not know the answer, but I doubt it, since you do not have to claim any extra income if you buy a forclosed property for significantly less than its value. You will most likely pay capital gains tax if you turn-around and sell one of the houses.

[Wilson]

Novel thought--how about give the house away in an essay contest?

[William]

I'll take that thanks. 10 houses, default on them all, and sell the 10 free ones for $10k (cash in my pocket) each. Total profit for doing nothing: a very long holiday in Latin America or Brazil. Sounds like a very good deal to me! :)

[Jeb Suart]

Sheesh. I'd rather live in Fontucky.

[Uncle Billy Climbs Mont Pelerin]

Wilson: There was an essay contest about 10 years ago. The prize: a house in Manhattan Beach. There was coverage on local news. It seemed a little too good to be true, and turned out, in face, to be rigged. Class action suit ensued and many people got their money back. The really goofy part is that they were exposed because the "winning" essay was so badly written that it was obviously a fraud. Hmm... wonder who owns that house now.

Disclaimer: it was not my essay that won.

[FRedStates]

Coffee is for Closers! The models at Rio Rancho are much better and Shelly "The Machine" Levine would never stoop to such nonsense!

http://www.FRedStates.com/

[David Alan]

just too much,

You put up with it because of the weather. It's a 'god like' attribute, the 'perfect So Cal weather', right ? As a former San Diego boy, then moved to Temecula, then to Nacogdoches county - East Texas, all I can say is, 'you have permission to move, the only person who can prevent it is, you.'

We got sick of the PC Socialism of the people's republik of Kalifornia, and spent the past 4 years searching America for great places to move TO.

The initial phase is deciding to dump California. There's a lot to love there. I loved San Diego of the 70s & 80's but it got to be a damn rat race. So, once you get sick of taillights for hours each day on your commute, you have to be resolute about leaving.

After that hurdle, then the next hard par is, 'WHERE TO ?'

We checked several states, east, north & south.

Top places: Bristol Virginia, Moscow Idaho & Nacogdoches, Texas.

Anyhow, the whole country is open. Anyplace you land is likely to have more reasonable land & home prices. If you land in a smaller community at least 2 hours from a major city, you'll find five star homes for about $ 300,000. At that range, you buy into the nicest neighborhood herabouts. 'Normal' homes are $ 90-120,000, middle class 120,000 - 200,000 upper middle / extravagant 250,000k & up. If it's more than $ 400,000 it probably is either 7,000 sq ft or has 100 + acres of land.

Of course, incomes are less here. About half of what you'd be paid in California, but the homes are 1/4 the prices, so you come out ahead. Property taxes are generally higher, maybe 1.5 to 2 times CA typical rates, so buy no more house than you really desire.

We love Texas, and 'put up with' the harsher weather. Mainly it's more humid, but the temps are about what So Cal sees.

More freedom & liberty, more property rights & frendlier people - as a rule.

Plenty of room here, y'all come on down now.....

[San Diego Real Estate]

Too bad the free house is a manufactured home...they didn't tell you that did they!

[JonSE]

Arizona builders generally build schlock houses, but whenever I look at the quality of construction on a house built by a refugee California builder throwing up houses here in Arizona, I see real crap. I have to ask myself, why does anyone buy such junk. If we were more discerning in our purchases, demanding quality and not accepting crap, and thought of housing as something for the long term, maybe the price bubbles would e less likely to occur.

[Deep_Depression_Here_We_Come!]

LOL, try dropping the price on the $1.6 mil home to $200,000 and maybe you'll have some luck.

What a joke of a promotion. Everybody but those living under a rock know that the entire economy is imploding. Ask bankers about the drastic increase in their non-performing assets, their deteriorating liquidity, and the slow pay trends in their underperforming loan portfolios.

You people have no idea how bad it will get. Read all the links at housingpanic.com and you might get a clue.

[jeff]

Pricematch opportunity. Print out this ad and bring it to your local DR Horton or K Hovnanian homebuilders and ask them to match it. (then duck!)

[Trevor]

Who wants 2 houses to begin with? Maybe if they were in different states or something that would be fine as a vacation home, but they are both in the same county only a few miles apart.

[wally]

LOL guys its San Diego. Remember the fires and 1 million people evacuated? What good is 30 homes if their burnt to the ground?

[Joey]

Escondido is an illegal alien haven. Unless you are a Mexican national, there is no reason to live there.

[Richard]

Post to "Just too much": California prices are likely too high--but the comparison to Texas just is not apt. Median housing prices are related, in some loose sense, to median income, which is why prices in San Francisco and New York approach the stratosphere: those are places where venture capitalists and investement bankers price everything up.

Prices are low in Texas for the same reason that they are low in North Dakota or the North-Eastern part of Nevada: there are no jobs, no attractive retirement possibilities to be had there.

[JABE MARSH]

Sheila I have no idea what you're venting about. Read this in Drudge and have not come across any racially/culturally insensitive comments other than yours. Maybe you've read something I haven't I've read this short article and related comments and have found nothing hateful other than your comment. "low class racists" as opposed to high class racists?
Maybe in your enlightened state you would consider me high class.
Take no heed though, I'm just an "merican" with a degree working my ass off in "shit work", competing with an imported third world workforce with which you so vehemently defend. Trying to compete which is why I longer live in socal. Although I could have stayed, got out of the "shit work" and just been a guy that pays shit wages to the illegal imported workforce to do the "shit work", taking advantage where I can, and no longer do the hands on labor. Is that better, is that more culturally sensitive to people of your ilk? You people make me sick.
Trying to compete doing the hands on labor in Denver Colorado.
There's a reason why 2 million natives (Americans) left the golden state in the last decade. Jabe Marsh.

[josh]

Well we can thank Mr Bubbles (Greenspan) for this mess. The Federal Reserve goal is to drive this country into financial ruin and they will probally be able to do it now that they set policies to debase the one solid investment a US citizen use to rely on for equity outside of savings. Mr. Bernake is at the printing pressing now speeding them up to further debase our currency to try to get this country out of the mess. I suppose they will bring back the no dock loans to put people into these houses while the rest of honest hard working americans will sit back and watch our money be blantantly confiscated and given away to the masses.. sounds like socialism to me but I am told I am just over reacting or am I ?..

[CyberZoneMall.Com]

The proof is in the pudding! Revisit this offer in 6 weeks and give us the results. My money says the offer is worth 15 minutes of fame and not much more ... unless they're
offering them at sub-prime.

[Tom]

Only in lotusland....................

[dominmatrix]

We lived in Escondido three years ago and managed to sell--sooooo glad we got out. Loved the weather, hated the traffic and was unwilling to learn Spanish, since English is a second language there.

[TheDescendingSpiralofIdiocy]

Why don't they sell each for 500K, to reflect the still overpriced equity?

[Olden Atwoody]

I'm looking for the "Buy the $1.6M home in Escondido, and get a free 19 year-old live-in GF for 12 months".

[Lemmy Caution]

>>Can we remove the word bottom from our vocab for along while ??????<<

Hmm... let's see...

Mila Kunis has very nice.....

Nope, "bottom" will have to stay in our vocabulary.

[Mel In FL]

I have three (3) words for buyers.....................
PAY IT FORWARD

[Sky Masterson]

Texas? Has anyone here been to Texas? Baaaaad idea unless you like to sweat, fire ants and closed minds. The houses are cheap for a reason.

[eve jayne]

I hate developers. I hate rich people. They destroy. Why dont the rich pigs build little tents that are sturdy so the middle class can have a decent place to live? You cannot hide behind your gated communities no longer. See you on the freeways.

[Name]

Everybody is talking about 1.6 MM. What is that: 1.6 millimeters? Aaa...millions...how come MM?!

[wink]

It would be nice if some of these schlock building developers lost a little money. Then, maybe they would get a clue and figure out people don't want to buy crappy quality, crappy designed and crappy costing houses.

[zucco]

Another thing to watch for: if you own more than one house and your mortgages are with the same bank as your primary residence, beware of vague, sneaky clauses in the contract that essentially state that if you default on one, you default on them all - meaning if you have an investment home that goes sour and you have to dump it, the bank can legally foreclose on your home and/or call the mortgage in full. Especially dangerous if you hold 80/20s.

[RacerX]

Yeah, just drop the price of the one house. I don't need two.

[FRedStates]

I lived in San Diego on and off for 6 years while in the Navy... an outstanding city in which to live... and there ain't nothin like a sunset as seen from the beach next to the Hotel Del Coronado...

http://www.FRedStates.com/
Your Anti-Obama Superstore

[Scooter]

This is a simple 20% discount on a $2,000,000 ($1.6M + $0.4M) transaction.

400,000 / 2,000,000 = .20 or 20%

The buyer will still have to pay taxes and fees separately.

[Blow me]

I'll just take my $1.6 mil at $1.2 mil. I don't need a $400k dump row house.

[mike o.]

This is not news, just a marketing ploy. During a live interview with the developer, the interviewer forced him to concede that not one sale had been made. Why let your paper be used like this?

[Joshman]

Houses that ugly do not deserve to sell. Sprawl is ugly, but those homes are over the top.

[Mark]

Believe it or not ... the RoHo story is true! I pass by them on my way home. Though not situated in the best of neighborhoods they are certaintly not in a bad part of town.

[Bill Lyons]

Wow! Perfect for the TP family looking to upgrade from the doublewide with grandma

[Outta SoCal]

Escondoodoo is a Mexican ghetto. I would not pay a penny to live there. I can't believe I was actually able to move out of the once-Golden State last year and cash in on our equity before the bottom really started falling out. The air is clean up here in Washington state and I could actually afford to buy a home for under $400,000 in a great neighborhood with great public schools in the SE Seattle suburbs. Cali continues to become a third-world cesspool. Damn shame because two decades ago it was the greatest place to live.

[Dan]

Name, it's 1.6MM because "M" is actually one thousand. "MM," then, is one thousand thousand. It's frequently misunderstood and I'm pretty impressed so many folks on here are getting it right.

[Move to Canada]

That's it. I am moving to Canada.

[Foreclosure Questions]

U N B E L I E V A B L E !

You wonder just how ugly this thing is going to get.

[LeeAnn]

My dad spent one night visiting his cousin in Escondido. He parked his truck in the driveway. The next morning it had been broken into and things were stolen, a camera, leather jacket, etc. He called the police. They came but said they could do nothing. He told Bob he probably wouldn't be visiting him again.

[Michael Leon]

This is so funny to see. But this is not a new "trend", my father helped build those houses at Cityscape, and Michael Crews just can't seem to sell them. Naturally though, they are in a really bad intersection in town, with a view of some old crummy apartments. I would never buy one of those houses, just because of the location. And I'm sure 90% of the people in my area think the same.
So what is Michael Crews to do? Well just give them away to any old yuppie who buys his luxurious 1.6 million dollar home. Funny, because you would need to rent out the free house, just to be able to afford the mortgage payments on the nice house.

Don't be fooled by this. Those 1.6 million dollar houses only cost $250,000 to build. You are only paying for location.

[David McS]

Don't let MM creep into the lexicon. The number M as used by the Romans is 1000, and MM is 2000. Using Dan's logic - M(M) or M2 would be more correct. The Roman symbol for 1 million is M with a line written over it. As that symbol is missing from our keyboards then M alone will suffice. Furthermore, we use Kilo (K) for 1 thousand and small m for 1 thousandth. Your MM's can stay in the candy jar and perhaps you could try KK for a million instead. Heaven forbid that 1000 KK would be worth one ex-californian, texas residing white supremacist.

[Kathy]

Once again the Rich make a killing! Horay for the Free Market! The Rich get richer and The Poor live under overpasses.

[David Alan]

Back to Richard:

Au contraire, there are plenty of jobs to be had in Texas. There are few unemployed folks near Nacogdoches. Sure the 'employment zone' is a bit nearer to large cities. We're 180 N of Houston & 160 SE of Dallas. Texas has plenty of jobs in every category. Comparing it to NE Nevada is fallacious. The beauty here is striking - the Piney Woods region is NOTHING like El Paso, btw. Most folks see either El Paso or the desert region of West Texas and make the incorrect assumption the whole state is like that.

Just like the Mojave Desert is definitive of the all of California, right ?

Retirees can keep active anywhere, there are active communities of them here, too, for about half the price of So Cal. Most of them have golf courses, clubhouses just like in Palm Springs or other So Cal / Arizon enclaves.

My aged mother is about ready to move here from San Diego for that very reason.

and to Sky who said:

Texas? Has anyone here been to Texas? Baaaaad idea unless you like to sweat, fire ants and closed minds. The houses are cheap for a reason.

Great, sir, sounds like you should stay on the west coast - you would hate the Bible Belt !

I solved my fire ant problem for $ 10 at Lowes (first aisle, inside garden), bought a house with A/C, and learned that 'closed minds' (as an accusation) was usually indicative of those with firm conviction as to right & wrong, and thus a firmer basis for a society that values essential rights & property rights.

That has proved to be true. Here, neighbors greet & visit with one another freely. In our experience, that had widely ceased to be true in So Cal some time ago. You cannot build a community ethic based on subjective moral relativism, as it divides people.

But, you are right one way: The culture is very, very different. If you can't tell that you're supposed to marry the opposite sex (I hear certain 6 of 7 CA Supreme's have that blindness....), it might work out better to stay in a morally confused state (apologies to my dear Christian freinds still stuck in So Cal who are despise what CA is being driven to become).

What is funny is that the lack of basic morality generally takes root, and common sense (or common wisdom originating in God's Law) is rejected, and you get impulsive, sensual pagan foolishness driving the agenda.

Sadly, California seems to lead the Nation in this area.

This makes for bad economic news. Situation ethics & gambling make for bad economic policy. Lack of Thrift (unwillingness to sacrifice pleasure now, for progress later - which value Christian teaching, alone, had imparted as the "great economic moral engine") is driving the nationwide economic housing & loan crisis, and it's worse in CA as a much larger percentage of the population, like lemmings off a cliff, partook of the collective mass delusion.

"If enough of us engage in foolishness & shortsightedness, we won't have to pay the price, right ?"

Can "Sodomifornia" reverse course ? You bet. What will it take ? Certainly the cost will not be cheap, or the course easy !

Repentance, revival & reformation on a mass scale - if those concerned, largely Christian Californians will roll up their sleves, stop dreaming of a 'rapture' from their problems, and get to the hard work of acting the part of wise, Principled citizens, and thus, leading by example.

The moral freefall currently underway in California and the 'housing crash" are interconnected, and only a collective moral blindness prevents a people from seeing this Truth. Those who reject moral restraint upon their behaviour, in time, become slaves to every from of tyranny, even in terms of economics & housing . (It also bears mentioning that plenty of areas in America, not just California, have suffered from the same delusion, due to the same causes. Just not as severly and as widely, in most cases.)

God save us, from ourselves !

[Ryan]

To "Richard",

I make 6 figures in Houston without a college diploma. The job market is insane right now.

Housing is very cheap in Texas because there was a major housing crash that bottomed in 1984. Homes lost 50% of their value from the peak and the people here have not forgot about it. There were homeless colonies living under freeway bridges. They were called Reagan ranches.

Prices are very good to this day. I live 10 minutes from work in bad traffic, in the city of Houston, 3-2-2 car, 2000 sq ft with a 14,000 sq ft lot, in a very nice neighborhood where neighbors still wave to you. The community park is across the street. Oh yeah, all of that for a mere $130,000.

The ocean, San Antonio's river walk, Mexico, and New Orleans are all within a days drive.

I've lived on the West coast, the rockies, South east, Florida and the Eastern seaboard. Nothing compares in overall value to right here.

You haven't seen anything yet in California. This is only the beginning. You'll wish you lived in North Dakota by the time all of this is over with.

[sirmikey]

Ryan...

Houston is nice... from December to January. until they invent personal portable air conditioner/dehumidifiers Houston will never be a good deal to me. so-cal maybe overpriced, but they got Houston beat in terms of tolerable weather.

[tealeaf]

Once again the Rich make a killing! Horay for the Free Market! The Rich get richer and The Poor live under overpasses.

Posted by: Kathy | June 04, 2008 at 03:41 AM

Kathy: ever been to countries that don't have a free market? Sure: we can debate healthcare (show me your stats, I'll show you mine), but the chasm between the haves and have nots is even wider and there is zero middle class, fugettabout a shrinking middle class.

Capitalism isn't perfect, but it is better than the alternative.

[Boomer55]

I live have lived in SoCal since 86. Sold and bought a home one hour north of Houston. Ranch house in gated community, on 7th fairway, on peninsula into a 9 mile long lake. 2500 sq. feet. Over 1/2 acre. Bought it in 2001 for $149K. Now, 7 years later, still worth $149K (but recently received a flyer saying they could lower my property taxes for a fee - could it be because the home value is lower?). Property taxes are $4500 per year (no state income taxes but - no state income). I definitely prefer SoCal weather. I do not miss the mosquitos the size of a friggin 747. The people of Texas are a friendly lot and the cost of living is cheaper. Two different realities - one not necessarily better than the other. Depends on how you look at it.

[sekar]

good offer, I want to buy two

[SD]

Kathy: you are amazing. You seemed to turn a blog about housing in Escondito into a moral argument about homosexuality. ??? go figure that you think we want your opinions about something totally off subject just because you are bitter that you live in Houston.

I'm so happy for you that you will be greeted with a smile at those pearly gates, you self-righteous hypocrite

[TXngetn_rich]

I love this country and this economy!

Crash baby, crash baby...

Let the privateers and entrepreneurs roll in, and suck up all the foreclosures. Then, we'll unload our inventory in 5-10 years, and be even richer!

Stop your crying and don't expect your government to bail your ass out of debt or a bed investment decision.

In addition, keep buying that $5 gas because you keep driving up my gas stocks.

It's the natural cycle of economics!

Whhaaaaaa America!

[Foreclosure Doctor Online]

Wow! Interesting post! I never thought I'd see the day where houses are sold with a two for one strategy! I really hope this housing crisis turns around soon, and houses regain their value.

[Nataniel Raz]

How much is your home worth? Well, it all depends where you live.

The real estate market is still shaking. New data suggests that home prices have hit a new record low. In every new study that comes out, homeowners from Miami, to Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles, have seen their home value go lower every time.
Is that disappointing? Of course it is.
Should we sell? Is not a good time.
Should we stick to it? Yes, if you can.
Have we hit bottom? Nobody knows.

Banks are facing their worst foreclosure crisis.
Don’t take me wrong, it’s good if you are in the market to buy a home for yourself or if you are an investor, but if you are not, and you own a home, most likely the value of your property is down at least 15 %.

Why do banks care if you are loosing your home? By having to sell repossessed homes, banks have to literally slash their prices down. It gets very costly for them, after all, they have to pay property taxes, maintenance costs, and whatever utilities that need to be paid, all of this expenses for a house that it’s just sitting there, vacant, and the bank is getting nothing in return.

The latest study by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index of 20 cities, revealed the news that for 22 consecutive months home prices dropped. Only from April to May, 2009 the decline was of 0.9 %