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| 5/24 |
| 2004/10/4-6 [Reference/RealEstate] UID:33912 Activity:high |
10/4 "If you live in Mountain View, California, and someone gives you
$1 million, you might be able to pay off your mortgage, but you
can't retire"
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041002/bs_nm/tech_google_dc_3
This is the exact reason why I moved out of Silicon Valley, one
of the most inhospitable places to be as a tech worker. Moving
out was the best decision I ever made. I now have a nice house,
a nice car, and a pretty gf... thing that are difficult to obtain
had I stayed.
\_ Google brain drain here we come! All those smart Google people
are taking their $1m to some place nice out of state to raise
their families.
\_ Wow, you're so cool. Tell me something else neat. --googler
\_ That must be why the stock went to 138.37. Let's see you
short it, smarty pants.
\_ where did you move to?
\_ get a clue, get rich first then move out
\_ by then, going bald already.
\_ Mountain View is a relatively inexpensive area to buy a house.
The part that borders Los Altos is pricier, but still not as
silly pricewise as South Bay can get.
\_ Who the heck wrote this? Have they actually priced out MV
houses? Houses anywhere outside the high crime areas are
rediculous. Maybe not LA or PA rediculous, but still bad.
ridiculous. Maybe not LA or PA ridiculous, but still bad.
\_ I sold my Mtn. View house 6 years ago for $550k, and other
houses around that one have been hovering around $800k for
the last year or so. That's pretty damn awful growth for
6 years (in comparison, I moved into a $650K house that's
now $1.3M). Median for Mtn. View seems to be high $700K,
average low $700K. Like I said, relatively inexpensive.
\_ You must be a Republican if you think high $700k is
inexpensive.
\_ I am probably not a Republican, but you certainly
are not a logician if you don't understand that
inexpensive != relatively inexpensive.
\_ Overall it is $545K for MV. $675K in 94040, $532K in
94041, and $530K in 94043. That is not too bad for
the Bay Area.
\_ These numbers don't tell you much. True valuation
is based on $$$/sq ft for single family, condos,
and townhouses.
\_ Yeah, some places a $100k salary is actually considered high
\_ You can't retire on $1M if you expect to live an extra 40+ years
unless you decide to find a nice third world country or someplace
in BFE America. Choices, choices...
\_ But you *can* take your $1m to almost any other part of the
country, buy a house in cash better than anything that even
exists in the SFBA, and take an nice easy slacker job for spare
cash that will still allow you to enjoy life.
\_ I know this will be very hard for you to understand, but some
of us value things other than material possessions - things
we may not find in Colorado or Las Vegas. There are all sorts
of different ways to measure quality of life other than the
size of your house, the size of your car, and the amount of
plastic surgery your wife has. I'm glad you're happy where
you are, but please stop belittling people that make different
choices than you. ok tnx.
size of your house, the size of your car, the size of your
penis, and the amount of plastic surgery your wife has. I'm
glad you're happy where you are, but please stop belittling
people that make different choices than you. ok tnx.
\_ hear hear.
\_ Where did you move to? -serious
\_ Do yoy make as much as when you're in the Bay Area?
\_ You will probably make 15-20% less in, say, the Midwest but
salaries for CS/IT are pretty high everywhere. My friends
who moved out of state definitely came out ahead, especially
after selling their houses in this seller's market. The
problem is that they will never be able to move back here if
they want to - or, rather, it will be difficult.
\_ Assuming they moved somewhere that will grow faster than CA,
they would be able to move back no problem. Have you seen
Vegas prices? My friend's house gained $400k just in the last
year.
\_ Once you leave CA, you won't want to come back. I've
already started my search in other states for both jobs
and housing. Taking a 20% or even higher pay cut and I'll
still get a *way* nicer house, an easier job, have a few
hundred grand in the bank, and work less for nicer people.
You can keep CA. No sane person would want to come back
once they hit gold (or silver) and cashed out.
\_ A lot of people who leave miss it and want to come
back. Get back to us after you've lived 10 years
in Missouri, Minnesota, or Reno.
\_ I live in Chicago, and I kind of miss the
Bay Area. But then, I found my dream girl
here in Chicago, so overall, I am happy. I
didn't leave the Bay Area on choice. I left
for school and then found a nice job in
Chicago.
\_ Chicago, Boston, NYC, and some other places
have similar quality of life to CA. None
of them are particularly cheap.
\_ It is amusing that you say this, because I have
talked to three people this *week* who have told
me they sold their San Francisco house for a house
in the suburbs and now regret it a decade later
because they cannot afford to move back now.
\_ Nowhere is going to grow faster than CA that also
doesn't have plenty of land. Thank the illegal
immigrants for that. If you sell a house in CA for $600K
and buy one in NV for $600K then you are not financially
ahead moving. The assumption is you buy a cheaper
place elsewhere. I had a friend who moved back to San
Diego and found he could only afford a condo, although he
sold a house when he initially left.
\_ The bubble has already popped in LV. Home prices are now
declining there.
http://csua.org/u/9bv |
| 5/24 |
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| news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041002/bs_nm/tech_google_dc_3 news) nears the end of its first quarter as a public company, industry watchers say one of its emerging challenges is how to keep soon-to-be wealthy workers from cashing out and moving on. Finance 10 Tech Toys for Travelers Stars of the Paris Auto Show Air Travel: A New Departure "The loss of key employees is a real risk for a technology company after it goes public," said Eric Jackson, an early PayPal executive who left after the online payment company's IPO and acquisition by eBay Inc. com senior vice president Bill Coleman estimated that around 60 percent of the 1,900 Google employees with the company at the end of March each now hold stock options worth at least $1 million. While some workers may choose to go back to school, start a new company, or join the ranks of high-tech early retirees, analysts also note that $1 million is not what it used to be. "If you live in Mountain View, California, and someone gives you $1 million, you might be able to pay off your mortgage, but you can't retire," said Coleman, referring to Silicon Valley's sky-high home costs. On the other hand, Coleman estimates that 400 to 500 of Google's longer-term employees will have stock options worth $5 million or more. Jackson and others caution that post-IPO workers may struggle with boredom, burnout and a lack of purpose after the big push to go public. To be sure, Google -- which has vowed to remain unconventional -- is seen as a very employee-friendly company. It has even promised to beef up perks, which already include an in-house masseuse and free lunches prepared by the former chef to the Grateful Dead. While such extras are nice, if Google fails to instill a continued sense of mission among employees, "they're crossing their fingers and just hoping that good people will stay," said Vince Poscente, a management strategist and author. Poscente also cautioned that employee exits can snowball. "If one entrepreneurial-minded employee has a great idea and isn't happy with his company any more, who is he going to call? Meanwhile, the same high stock price that promises to make Google employees rich could hamper hiring by making it harder for new employees to cash in on their own options. "New employees need an awful lot of shares to catch up to the old employees," Coleman said. Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker predicted that a big drop in Google shares was unlikely. Morgan Stanley was a lead underwriter for Google's August IPO. "It's probably unlikely that these shareholders will sell into big declines; the outcome here could be a potential ceiling for the stock price in coming months, rather than downward pressure," said Meeker. Wi-Fi Network Solutions Wireless network solutions for hotels, cafes, and other venues. Quickly launch a secure hotspot with Wandering WiFi's hardware, software, services, and support. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. |
| csua.org/u/9bv -> money.cnn.com/2004/08/25/real_estate/investment_prop/vegascools/index.htm August 26, 2004: 2:32 PM EDT By Sarah Max, CNN/Money senior writer BEND, Ore. So after enjoying the nation's most robust real estate market, homeowners there may soon discover what gamblers have always kno wn: Fast money moves in two directions. Between the second quarters of 2003 and 2004, single-family home prices i n Las Vegas shot up 524 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors. It was the greatest 12-month increase ever for any metropol itan area. It wasn't unusual for sellers to get a dozen offer s on a house and sell it in a single day. Buyers many of them "investors" from out of state wer e so eager to get their foot in the door they made offers on property wi thout even seeing it. "They gave instruction to their agents to buy anything between $250,000 a nd $300,000 that looked like a good rental or a property to flip," said Daniel Butterworth, an agent with Re/Max Advantage in Las Vegas. Now, seemingly as quickly as it heated up, Vegas real estate has cooled d own. "In the last 60 days the market has died," said Leslie Carver, with Prude ntial Americana in Las Vegas. Now, not even one person has looked at some of these houses in a coupl e of weeks." The boomtown of year Warm weather, affordable housing and amenities, such as shopping, restaur ants and golf courses, made Las Vegas a popular destination for out-of-s tate newcomers. Between 2000 and 2003, according to US Census Bureau estimates, new dom estic residents accounted for a 259 percent increase in the population of Clark County. "We got a big influ x of investors over the past six to nine months," said Butterworth. There were so many "investors," in fact, that builders in new development s began refusing to sell to anyone who didn't plan to occupy the house. "They wouldn't work with agents and they didn't want investors," said Ca rver. Now, said Butterworth, builders are contacting agents and offering even m ore than that standard 3-percent commission. Other sellers are rethinkin g asking prices and adjusting their expectations for how long it will ta ke to sell. Lessons from the oasis According to Lee Barrett, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, things have indeed slowed down, but the market is still hea lthy. In July, 79 percent of all listings sold within 30 days, according association statistics. Play video (Real or Windows Media) graphic graphic Based on the number of out-of-state driver's licences being traded in at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Clark County, Las Vegas is still bri nging in 6,000 to 7,000 new residents a month. And the number of houses and condos sold in July is about what it was in April. "We've gone from an exceptional market to a normal market," said Barrett. Investors and even permanent residents ha ve flooded the market with new listings. There is now a five-month supply of homes on the market, verses a slim 1 7-month supply during the second quarter, Barnett explained. And the tot al number of properties on the market is nearly twice what it was in Jan uary, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. "Sellers had false ideas about the value of their house and the time it s hould take to sell, and that wasn't fair to buyers," Barrett said. "People expected to make a $100,000 after just a couple of months," added Butterworth. The unique sharpness of the rise of Las Vegas may exacerbate its relative (and relative is the key word) decline. Still, there are lessons in all this for the rest of the country. Across America, other notably "hot" h ousing markets seem to be cooling down as well. profiled in May "Six months ago buyers were writing offers above asking price before they had even seen the property, just so they had a chance." In Orange County, meanwhile, there is a five-month supply of houses on th e market, verses a one-month supply earlier in the year, said Vinh Ha, a n agent with Re/Max Realty Services. "The market has really slowed down in the past couple of months," he said . "I think it just got to where people were fed up with high prices." |