Rent-to-Buy Ratio

In the current housing situations, with the home price dropping 10% annually, is this the right time to buy a house and live the American dream of owning a house?? Well we all know the housing price has drop, but how much lower can it go? Today, I read this article talking about “rent-to-buy ratio,” (http://www.ocregister.com/news/rentbuy-ratio-for-2075632-news-metro) this article further assures my thinking about the current housing market, that the housing price is still too high. This article gives you another point of view about the housing price. I think it is very helpfully in purchasing the biggest asset of your life.

“The P/E ratio (price-to-earnings ratio) of a stock (also called its "earnings multiple", or simply "multiple", "P/E", or "PE") is a measure of the price paid for a share relative to the annual income or profit earned by the firm per share. A higher P/E ratio means that investors are paying more for each unit of income.” (Wikipedia.org)

The rent-to-buy ratio is like the P/E ratio of stock, to calculate the ratio; you take the home price divided by 12 month rent. The higher the Rent-to-Buy ratio means higher housing price and it is better off renting the property. The lower the ratio means lower housing price and it is better off buying the property.

The housing prices are determined by the usual supply and demand of housing, when housing demand increases the home price will increase. Also the rent will increase, because people who can’t own or buy a house will resort to renting. However, if the housing prices increase, and the rent stay relatively the same, it means there are speculator in the market which bump up the price.

Back in 2005-2006, the height of our housing market, the rent-to-buy ratio shot up to 31.5 in LA, and 29.7 in OC. To put it in perspective, with an average rent of $2,000 per month ($24,000/year) and a ratio of 30 will yield a home price of $720,000. If the rent stated the same and the housing market came down to yield a ratio of 20, your home price would be $480,000, that’s a difference of $240,000 ($720,000 – ($24,000 x20)). From the article the different between the LA’s peak ratio and the first quarter 2008 is 7.4 (a difference of -23.5%); therefore, a difference in ratio of 10 point is possible; giving that current housing price has not bottom out yet.

In conclusion, if currently you are looking to purchase a house and start your American Dream, then don’t let this opinion hold you back because your home value have drop 7 point from the peak. However, if you can wait the saving would be greater over time.

*~Ethan~*

*~^BBM^~*

"Everything and anything may change us, but we start and end as a family"

One of the greatest thing that I envy and adore about Ethan, is the relationship that he builds with his family. If you dont know Ethan personally, you will see him as someone who has no love, could care less about everything including his friends and family.....but when you get to know Ethan, you will come to see that he's a great person with a good heart who has unconditional love for his friends and family. Out of all his cousins, I can see that he cares most about his "3 sisters" To everyone, these sisters are only his real life cousins, but to Ethan, I know that he sees them not only as his cousins, but more so as his "sisters". And this is where....BBM comes in.

I've heard some stories about her past...but that's after I have gotten to know her. I remember the first time I saw her, it was very unexpected. Ethan called me to tell me that his sister wanted to meet me, and that we were going over to her house for dinner. I remembered I asked Ethan "How many people will be there?" He answered me "Just 5....my 3 sisters and us two." I thought to myself...."Ok, just 5, thats not TOO bad....." But when we showed up at her house, there was.....1,2,3,4,5,6,7......yup! 7.....for dinner, then a few more showed up after dinner. I know that I should feel flattered because they were there for me and to meet me for the first time, but everything was so unexpected, and because I knew how much Ethan cared for his sister, I wanted her to like me. From dinner, I can see the kind of personality that lies in her.The three qualities that caught my attention was....Straightforward, Demanding, Controlling.....To some people, actually~maybe to most people, this may sound bad. After you get to know her, you realize that these 3 qualities in her are actually on the positive side, its 3 good qualities. ....She is straightforward because she doesnt like to keep things bottled up inside. She wants to be as truthful as possible, as honest as she can be. Demanding only because she cares for the well being of others, she wants to have what is truly the best for herself and for the people she cares about. Controlling because she doesnt want to see other people get hurt. She likes to be our protection, a shield that protects us from getting hurt from anything. It's just like being parents. We always think our parents are mean, confusing, annoying.....but they only want what's best for us, because they are the people who love us the most. In BBM, I see this quality. After dinner, we talked more and more....it was very awkward at first, because we didnt have a topic that we can both talk about. But as we got to know each other more and more, we now cant stop talking! She slowly became a part of my life.

Now, when I see her, I see her sweetness, her naive, her kindness, her unselfish heart....and the love that she has for the people that she cares about. Her sweetness~~~I know through some people's eyes, we sometimes see and think that she doesnt sacrifice more than her significant other, and that he loves her more than she loves him.....but what I came to realize is the love and affection that she shows him when we are not around. A relationship takes two to be able to work it out, and in their relationship, I see two. Her naive~~~she is a very gullible person, one who believes everything she hears, never doubts her family and friends, and who would give a stranger 100% of her trust. She is someone who is also known as "Believing that everyone is innocent until proven guilty." Her kindness~~~No matter how one treats her in life, she is someone who will suck in the bad, and still put on a smile, just to make the people around her feel better. Her unselfish heart~~~out of all her qualities, to me, this is the most touching quality of her. She not only opened her heart to accept me and my past, but she also opened up her home to me. She slowly walked into my life, and now there is not a weekend that goes by without me seeing her.

Out of the 4 BB's, she is the most fragile one. Looking at her, makes the people around her want to care for her and love her even more. But, as much as I know she appreciates it, she rather care for others than have people care for her. There are so many "THANK YOU" I want to say to her, but seems like actions speak stronger than words. I want to use my love and effort to show her how much I appreciate all the things she does for me as well as show her how much I care for her. There is no way for me to repay her back right now, so the only thing I can do is to treat and love Ethan even more because I know that she cares for him just as much. And that seeing Ethan happy, will also put a smile on her face too.

Next year, she will be walking down the aisle, and the man that she will be spending the rest of her life with, is a very lucky man. Seeing her walk down the aisle, I know that I will shed tears of joy. Its just like seeing my very own sister finding her true happiness and living the "happily ever after" life. There's nothing more I want than to see her smile, because when she is happy, I am happy.

I dont know what the future may be for Ethan and I, but no matter what happens, she has already walked into my life, and became a part of it. I not only see her as a friend, but also my sister....my dearest BBM!

The love of a family is life's greatest blessing.

"The family you come from isnt as important as the family you're going to have"

*~Katelyn~*

*~^BBD^~*

"It is by chance that we met, by choice that we became friends"

I've come to realized that I am a person who is easily touched. By reading a friend's blog, to hearing about some tragedy on the news, to watching a drama on TV, my eyes can tear up when I get sucked into it...let's just say....I'm an emotional sucker for people who are helpless. With that said, I am sitting here now~writing this blog.

I just found out that one of my friend had a blog yesterday, so I spent half day reading her blog. From the first entry to the very recent one, I've read them all. From her blog, I've somehow gotten to know her better. I saw the side of her, I never saw before.

The first time I met her, I didnt know what to think of her. I thought she was very cute yet she may be very mean too. Long silky black hair, 2 pretty eyes, a small tiny nose, thin rosy lips, wearing a pair of dark framed glasses, with dimples to die for. I'd always loved to see her smile, because she had the cutest dimples! The very first time I met her, this was how she looked. The first time I met her was because of Ethan. We didnt really talk much the first time, but I always thought she looked kinda mean. I didnt know why, but it had to be the first impression. 

As I got to know her little by little, I started to see that she was a very strong, aggressive type of girl. She had the energy and mind of a "21st century" woman. She was someone who I would see more so as a business woman rather than a stay at home mom. I dont know why, but its that feeling she gives me when I am around her. She was someone who I can see as a leader in every aspect of life. Whether its for her career, her family, her friends, or even her relationship, she was someone who I would see leading the path for everyone behind her to follow her. 

Lately, as I got to know her just a little bit more in depth, I've come to realized the saying "Dont judge a book, by its cover". Because......she is someone who needs alot of love and nurturing, she is just a simple typical girl who seeks to find her true love, she is a soft hearted person who likes to listen to what others have to say, and most importantly, her dream is to have a family of her own with little kids that she can care for and be nothing more than a stay at home mom. 

Her relationship, is one of the hardest thing for her to manage right now. The time, commitment, love, sacrifice, and effort, she put into building this relationship is not easy. I am sure just like any girl, all she wants is a happily ever after ending. I'm sure that all the hard work that she put in to build this relationship now seems overwhelming, but when that day comes, the day when she finds herself being a wife to that very special someone, and a mother of her adorable little kids, all the hard work will be forgotten. She may not say so, but I can feel it. People say that a woman's intuition is always never wrong, and my intuition is telling me that she may look like she is very strong, but deep down inside, she is very fragile. But I do believe that if you really put your heart into it, it will happen. So, if she is reading.... I just want her to know that no matter what happens in life, through ups and downs, I'll be there for you every step of the way. Just believe in yourself and that the choice you made is the right one. 

Looking at her, made me realize alot of things in life. It got me to open my eyes and see that what we use our eyes to see of others, is only a protection that the person builds to protect themselves from getting hurt. Looking at her and reading her blog, made me feel like.....there is one more person in my life that I need to care for. 

"True friendship is seen through the heart, not the eyes"

*~Katelyn~*