My Apologies to my friends in SF, NYC and LA

[Lesley Resnick]

My apologies to anyone who lives in a gateway city for what I am sharing.  

I was looking in the MLS and saw this:

saint Johns county (Jacksonville) 

custom home

6 bedroom / 4 bath 

3848 sq ft 

new -  paint, roof, 2 hvac, stainless appliances, 

screened heated in ground pool 

glass lanai

community boat ramp 

access to Julington creek amenities - large planned community with pools tennis, etc

Saint John's county - top school system in Florida 

$510k 

There was a post last week for a condo in SF that was 600k and 800 sq ft.

Here is the interesting part - 

Mortgage = 2500  ($500 per 100k at 4.75)

Tax            = 600 a month  

insurance  =  200 a month

HOA = 100 a month

total            = 3400 per month 

estimated Rent = 2600

As an investment is terrible.  However, this is a great deal for the renter, it is $800 a month cheaper than owning and no maintenance.  The owner is taking an 18% loss per month.

Are other people seeing this in other cities?  Is anyone renting high end real estate as opposed to purchasing it to live in?

[Thomas S.]

Most high end investors are not interested in making cash flow they are simply parking excess cash as a tax write off. The filthy rich live in a different financial world than the real people.