Monday, May 11, 2015

No Bubble Here: $1.5 Million for 750 Sq. Ft. Flat, Rent a Bed for $1,000/Month, or 20 Beds in 7-Bedroom House for $21,000/Month

The incredible luxury of having a bedroom to yourself is out of reach for all but the very well-paid. Having an apartment to yourself requires serious money.


Those who say there are only two sure things in life, death and taxes, should add a third sure thing: realtors and stock market mavens will deny there's a bubble even when it's obvious to everyone the bubble has already reached insane levels of overvaluation.

And so here we are yet again, with housing and stocks both hitting price levels that make no sense in terms of traditional measures of value. And since these pesky metrics make it impossible to claim there's no bubble, those benefiting from the bubble have to claim that this time it's different: not only is the current bubble rational, there's no reason it can't keep expanding indefinitely.

In a zero-yield world, it's perfectly reasonable for corporations to borrow trillions of dollars to pump up their own stocks with buy-backs. Profits may be sagging but thanks to the miracles of Cargo-Cult mumbo-jumbo such as margin expansion, profits don't really matter that much. What counts is the central banks have our back: to guarantee a profit, just buy stocks now before the central banks push valuations even higher.

Housing may not be in bubble territory everywhere, but it's reaching bubblicious heights wherever global hot money is pouring into the domestic economy: for example, the San Francisco Bay Area. Global hot money has two increasingly desperate goals:

1. find a positive, low-risk yield

2. shift the staggering gains reaped from corruption and central-bank financialization bubbles into hard assets such as Impressionist paintings, real estate, etc.

On a global scale, trillions of dollars are sloshing around, frantically seeking a low-risk yield or hard asset.By some estimates, $2 trillion has already fled China as corrupt officials and cronies are rushing their ill-gotten gains out of China before the hammer of social unrest comes down on their fortunes.

Much of this hot money is landing in the U.S. and Canada, as the U.S. dollar's strength generates global demand for just about any asset priced in dollars.

The San Francisco Bay Area is being inundated with a second tsunami of hot money--cash seeking to invest in the next Facebook, Uber, AirBNB, etc. The current tech boom is another this time it's different story: this time (we're assured) is different from the 1999-2000 dot-com tech bubble because now companies are profitable and the global market is expanding for all the mobile apps and systems being designed/coded in Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

(Never mind the same line drove the blow-off top in 2000. This time it's different.)

And since the billions of dollars keep flooding in, it makes perfect sense to put in a bid of $1.5 million for a 750-square foot fixer-upper flat in Haight-Ashbury when the asking price is $775,000. By all means, don't fool around nickel-and-diming the deal by bidding $785,000 or $800,000--just cut to the chase by nearly doubling the asking price.

If you've managed to escape China with $5 million in bribes, what's $1.5 million? If you work for a tech start-up that just got bought out by a cash-rich tech giant, and your options are now worth $10 million, why wait around while that flat goes from $1.5 million to $2 million? Better to buy it now before it becomes even more expensive in a few months.

This is of course the bubble mentality.

Meanwhile, renters are being offered one of three beds in a small bedroom for $1,000 a month across the Bay in Berkeley. You have to share the bathrooms and kitchen with 19 other people, but hey, you're only a 25-minute BART ride away from all the action in downtown San Francisco.

Here is a rental listing for a 7-bedroom nothing-special house with 20 beds for $20,995 per month--such a deal! Instead of paying $3,000 and up for a studio or $4,000 and up for a 1-bedroom flat in S.F., you can share a small bedroom with two friends (and crowd into the kitchen with 19 other friends) for only $1,000 a month. (Please note the CraigsList listing may be removed at any time, so this link may no longer work.)

The advert claims that the 2,700 square foot house is "Huge and Beautiful," and maybe a suburbia-sized house over-run with 20 people strikes you as huge. Personally, I think a more apt description might be Jean-Paul Sartre's famous line from the play No Exit that"Hell is other people", especially when your bladder is about to burst and a few of your 19 housemates are hogging the bathrooms.

For only $3,675 per month, you can rent a 2-bedroom apartment in Berkeley and share it with 3 friends. With only two people per bedroom, this lowers the monthly bed-rental nut to only $925/person. (Please note the CraigsList listing may be removed at any time, so this link may no longer work.)

So a worker with a $15/hour job (the new minimum wage in San Francisco and some nearby cities) who works 35 hours a week will take home around $1,700 per month after payroll taxes and deductions, leaving around $700 for everything other than rent of their bed--their share of utilities, transportation (just getting to their job via BART will cost over $160/month), food, clothing, and whatever fun can be afforded after all expenses.

In other words, the incredible luxury of having a bedroom to yourself is out of reach for all but the very well-paid. Having an apartment to yourself requires serious money. For those who don't have trust funds or a big-bucks job, the options for affordable housing are slim: one enterprising young man paid $500/month a few years ago for a 7-by-5-foot laundry room, but it wouldn't surprise me if the rent for the 35-square feet space has doubled since then.

But no, housing and tech companies are not in bubbles. That $1.5 million 750-square foot flat will cost $3 million shortly, and the buyer who nearly doubled the $775,000 asking price to $1.5 million will be revealed (along with everyone else who buys into the bubble now) as a stone-cold genius.

Look at the rental income potential. An enterprising owner should be able to cram at least 6 people into the 750-sq.ft. flat at $1,000/bed, and generate $6,000 a month ($72,000 a year) in rental income. With mortgage rates so low thanks to the Federal Reserve's zero-interest rate policy, the new owner might even be able to skim a profit if a 7th desperate soul rents the closet for $500/month or the sofa for $900/month.

Looking ahead, it's clear the next buyer who pays only $3 million for the 750-sq. ft. fixer-upper will also be a genius, because the sky's the limit: in a few years, those who didn't snap this flat up for $6 million will regret it, because $10 million is right around the corner.

Pity the poor corrupt Chinese official who escapes the Second Cultural Revolution with only $3 million, or the techie whose options are only worth $3.5 million. They'll soon be priced out of the Bay Area, and probably New York and West L.A. too.

But there is still a slim chance these poor millionaires can own a piece of the Bay Area: the corrupt official can go in with two other corrupt officials and together they will still be able to buy a one-bedroom flat in San Francisco. The techie can pool his meager $3.5 million with two other bottom-of-the-barrel tech millionaires and still be in the game.

Heck, if the three go with triple-tier bunk beds, the living room will still be open for entertainment and dining. If they stick it out a few years, they'll be able to sell to even greater fools and skim millions in profit. The sky's the limit here, pal, you snooze you lose, get in now or get lost. 



Get a Job, Build a Real Career and Defy a Bewildering Economy(Kindle, $9.95)(print, $20)
go to Kindle edition
Are you like me? Ever since my first summer job decades ago, I've been chasing financial security. Not win-the-lottery, Bill Gates riches (although it would be nice!), but simply a feeling of financial control. I want my financial worries to if not disappear at least be manageable and comprehensible. 


And like most of you, the way I've moved toward my goal has always hinged not just on having a job but a career.

You don't have to be a financial blogger to know that "having a job" and "having a career" do not mean the same thing today as they did when I first started swinging a hammer for a paycheck.


Even the basic concept "getting a job" has changed so radically that jobs--getting and keeping them, and the perceived lack of them--is the number one financial topic among friends, family and for that matter, complete strangers.


So I sat down and wrote this book: Get a Job, Build a Real Career and Defy a Bewildering Economy.


It details everything I've verified about employment and the economy, and lays out an action plan to get you employed.


I am proud of this book. It is the culmination of both my practical work experiences and my financial analysis, and it is a useful, practical, and clarifying read.


Test drive the first section and see for yourself.     Kindle, $9.95     print, $20


"I want to thank you for creating your book Get a Job, Build a Real Career and Defy a Bewildering Economy. It is rare to find a person with a mind like yours, who can take a holistic systems view of things without being captured by specific perspectives or agendas. Your contribution to humanity is much appreciated."
Laura Y.

Gordon Long and I discuss The New Nature of Work: Jobs, Occupations & Careers(25 minutes, YouTube)
The Old Models of Work Are Broken 




NOTE: Contributions/subscriptions are acknowledged in the order received. Your name and email remain confidential and will not be given to any other individual, company or agency.

Thank you, John K. ($120), for your outrageously generous contribution to this site-- I am greatly honored by your steadfast support and readership.

Terms of Service

All content on this blog is provided by Trewe LLC for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.


Our Privacy Policy:


Correspondents' email is strictly confidential. This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by a third-party advertising network (Investing Channel) may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising; if you wish to opt out of Interest-Based Advertising, please go to Opt out of interest-based advertising (The Network Advertising Initiative). If you have other privacy concerns relating to advertisements, please contact advertisers directly. Websites and blog links on the site's blog roll are posted at my discretion.


PRIVACY NOTICE FOR EEA INDIVIDUALS


This section covers disclosures on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for users residing within EEA only. GDPR replaces the existing Directive 95/46/ec, and aims at harmonizing data protection laws in the EU that are fit for purpose in the digital age. The primary objective of the GDPR is to give citizens back control of their personal data. Please follow the link below to access InvestingChannel’s General Data Protection Notice. https://stg.media.investingchannel.com/gdpr-notice/


Notice of Compliance with The California Consumer Protection Act
This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by a third-party advertising network (Investing Channel) may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising. If you do not want any personal information that may be collected by third-party advertising to be sold, please follow the instructions on this page: Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information.


Regarding Cookies:


This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by third-party advertising networks such as Investing Channel may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising; if you wish to opt out of Interest-Based Advertising, please go to Opt out of interest-based advertising (The Network Advertising Initiative) If you have other privacy concerns relating to advertisements, please contact advertisers directly.


Our Commission Policy:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I also earn a commission on purchases of precious metals via BullionVault. I receive no fees or compensation for any other non-advertising links or content posted on my site.

  © Blogger templates Newspaper III by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP