Comments on: San Francisco is #1 Best City for Young Professionals http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/ San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley House Price and Mortgage Insanity Blog Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:21:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Brian http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/#comment-11438 Brian Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:27:39 +0000 http://www.burbed.com/?p=2085#comment-11438 "Debt is debt. Net worth is ASSETS MINUS LIABILITIES. You have a $750K mortgage, you have zero savings, you are negative $750,000, according to Finance 101." LOL, looks like someone failed Finance 101. “Debt is debt. Net worth is ASSETS MINUS LIABILITIES. You have a $750K mortgage, you have zero savings, you are negative $750,000, according to Finance 101.”

LOL, looks like someone failed Finance 101.

]]> By: madhaus http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/#comment-11437 madhaus Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:01:14 +0000 http://www.burbed.com/?p=2085#comment-11437 <i>Debt is debt. Net worth is ASSETS MINUS LIABILITIES. You have a $750K mortgage, you have zero savings, you are negative $750,000, according to Finance 101.</i> Ummm, you forgot something. If you have no savings, a $750K mortgage and a house worth $750K, then you are not negative $750K but ZERO. Slightly underwater after selling costs, but definitely not 3/4 mil in the hole. This is Finance 101. You can argue that the house is the bank's, not yours, but they don't go after you for the $750K after you sell the house, they just take the proceeds. Debt is debt. Net worth is ASSETS MINUS LIABILITIES. You have a $750K mortgage, you have zero savings, you are negative $750,000, according to Finance 101.

Ummm, you forgot something. If you have no savings, a $750K mortgage and a house worth $750K, then you are not negative $750K but ZERO. Slightly underwater after selling costs, but definitely not 3/4 mil in the hole.

This is Finance 101. You can argue that the house is the bank’s, not yours, but they don’t go after you for the $750K after you sell the house, they just take the proceeds.

]]> By: Pralay http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/#comment-11436 Pralay Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:07:21 +0000 http://www.burbed.com/?p=2085#comment-11436 <i>Let’s chill on some of the baiting, shall we?</i> ------- Come on, burbed! I truly believed it. Or was it just a joke? Let’s chill on some of the baiting, shall we?
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Come on, burbed! I truly believed it. Or was it just a joke?

]]> By: DreamT http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/#comment-11435 DreamT Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:23:53 +0000 http://www.burbed.com/?p=2085#comment-11435 buckborden - your assertions are generally in line with mine but your question definitely isn't. "If real estate is SO REAL or more “real” than cash, then why are folks walking away from their “wealth” when it loses value?" -> well they don't, they walk away from debt not wealth. I also have some problems with other definitions you use. Real estate is land much more than a building (land accounts for about three times as much value as the house sitting on it). Owning fully mortgaged real estate still give you specific rights, preferred access and ownership protection that you do not have as a renter, so saying 'it ain't yours' is somewhat simplistic (not wrong, just simplistic). Short of major flooding (and even then) land is here forever, whereas cash is fabricated and can become entirely worthless within a few years (such as during currency conversion as with the Euro - old currencies could only be exchanged at banks for a certain duration), and don't get me started on inflation. I don't consider net worth and wealth to be equivalent (you used both words interchangeably apparently) because net worth is a raw number, whereas wealth, as wikipedia says, provides "a type of safety net of protection against an unforeseen decline in one’s living standard in the event of job loss or other emergency (...)" That's why equity in your primary home may be included in measures of net worth, but is typically not included in measure of wealth because it's illiquid - it takes a bank to approve a second mortgage on it for example. Where's my gift? :) buckborden – your assertions are generally in line with mine but your question definitely isn’t. “If real estate is SO REAL or more “real” than cash, then why are folks walking away from their “wealth” when it loses value?” -> well they don’t, they walk away from debt not wealth.
I also have some problems with other definitions you use. Real estate is land much more than a building (land accounts for about three times as much value as the house sitting on it).
Owning fully mortgaged real estate still give you specific rights, preferred access and ownership protection that you do not have as a renter, so saying ‘it ain’t yours’ is somewhat simplistic (not wrong, just simplistic).
Short of major flooding (and even then) land is here forever, whereas cash is fabricated and can become entirely worthless within a few years (such as during currency conversion as with the Euro – old currencies could only be exchanged at banks for a certain duration), and don’t get me started on inflation.
I don’t consider net worth and wealth to be equivalent (you used both words interchangeably apparently) because net worth is a raw number, whereas wealth, as wikipedia says, provides “a type of safety net of protection against an unforeseen decline in one’s living standard in the event of job loss or other emergency (…)” That’s why equity in your primary home may be included in measures of net worth, but is typically not included in measure of wealth because it’s illiquid – it takes a bank to approve a second mortgage on it for example.
Where’s my gift? :)

]]> By: nomadic http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/#comment-11434 nomadic Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:13:18 +0000 http://www.burbed.com/?p=2085#comment-11434 buckborden, I don't think you'll find anyone who has no equity in their house and no savings claiming to be wealthy. (The few I've come across just whine about their mortgage, when they shouldn't have bought in the first place.) As you pointed out, the measure of wealth is assets minus liabilities. There is still a large percentage of homeowners with actual equity in their houses and won't be walking away from them. buckborden, I don’t think you’ll find anyone who has no equity in their house and no savings claiming to be wealthy. (The few I’ve come across just whine about their mortgage, when they shouldn’t have bought in the first place.) As you pointed out, the measure of wealth is assets minus liabilities. There is still a large percentage of homeowners with actual equity in their houses and won’t be walking away from them.

]]> By: buckborden http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/#comment-11433 buckborden Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:56:17 +0000 http://www.burbed.com/?p=2085#comment-11433 DreamT, Debt is debt. Net worth is ASSETS MINUS LIABILITIES. You have a $750K mortgage, you have zero savings, you are negative $750,000, according to Finance 101. How can that be categorized as wealth? Cash is cash; real estate is just a building, and if you don't own it outright, IT AIN'T YOURS. Believing otherwise is a delusion. And furthermore, if real estate is SO REAL or more "real" than cash, then why are folks walking away from their "wealth" when it loses value? Answer me that, please, dear gifted one. DreamT,

Debt is debt. Net worth is ASSETS MINUS LIABILITIES. You have a $750K mortgage, you have zero savings, you are negative $750,000, according to Finance 101. How can that be categorized as wealth? Cash is cash; real estate is just a building, and if you don’t own it outright, IT AIN’T YOURS. Believing otherwise is a delusion. And furthermore, if real estate is SO REAL or more “real” than cash, then why are folks walking away from their “wealth” when it loses value? Answer me that, please, dear gifted one.

]]> By: nomadic http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/#comment-11432 nomadic Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:56:14 +0000 http://www.burbed.com/?p=2085#comment-11432 ...been running around all day. <b>madhaus</b>, in answer to your question in #14, it can be done. (That is, building equity in flyover land.) I mentioned it because I did it. I owned two houses out there (1993-1997 and 1997-2001, one at a time!) which yielded around $200,000 to bring out here. Then we rented for two years to get used to the prices here. I still think it was worth giving up all the extra space to come here. …been running around all day.
madhaus, in answer to your question in #14, it can be done. (That is, building equity in flyover land.) I mentioned it because I did it. I owned two houses out there (1993-1997 and 1997-2001, one at a time!) which yielded around $200,000 to bring out here. Then we rented for two years to get used to the prices here. I still think it was worth giving up all the extra space to come here.

]]> By: burbed http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/#comment-11431 burbed Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:54:05 +0000 http://www.burbed.com/?p=2085#comment-11431 Let's chill on some of the baiting, shall we? Let’s chill on some of the baiting, shall we?

]]> By: Pralay http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/#comment-11430 Pralay Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:51:33 +0000 http://www.burbed.com/?p=2085#comment-11430 <i>Finally being wealthy is basically having the option not to work for as long as wished while sustaining one’s lifestyle level. </i> ------- Damn, I thought some people work for the purpose of getting frequent flyer mileage. Finally being wealthy is basically having the option not to work for as long as wished while sustaining one’s lifestyle level.
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Damn, I thought some people work for the purpose of getting frequent flyer mileage.

]]> By: Pralay http://www.burbed.com/2008/07/10/san-francisco-is-1-best-city-for-young-professionals/#comment-11429 Pralay Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:33:37 +0000 http://www.burbed.com/?p=2085#comment-11429 Regarding post #35, the link to male/female ratio stat: http://www.xist.org/earth/pop_gender.aspx Regarding post #35, the link to male/female ratio stat:
http://www.xist.org/earth/pop_gender.aspx

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